We were finishing up dinner and I was drawing on one of the many coasters that Stickermule, the company I get my magnets from, sent me as a promotion. They’re made from compressed paper so they’re soft and spongy to draw on.
I drew the eye, gave it long lashes then cut it out. It was small, less than a half-inch in all. The next day I put it in an envelope and sent it to Emily.
What else would I do with one eye?
I’ve seen the small plastic container that Emily keeps her paper eyes in. The ones she uses in her collages. I knew my eye would be in good company and eventually end up on the face of some creature or floating in an abstract collage.
Seeing Emily’s delight of eyes reminded me of how I used to often draw a single eye. It goes back at least as far as First grade for me. For years I had a paper Christmas Stocking that I made in first grade. Right between the Santa head and a candy cane, I glued a single eye, that I had made, onto the stocking.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Emily and I were talking about how our work has influenced each other. Today I texted Emily a picture of my latest potholders.
I got the batik dress with the eyes all over it in a thrift store in Brattleboro Vermont a couple of years ago. But it took me this long and with a little help from a friend to think to sew the eyes into potholders.
So that’s what I started doing today, and what fun it was. All those eyes….
