I really enjoyed the book, I galloped through it really fast, and since then I've been re-reading it slowly with a pencil in hand, to underline the bits that resonate for me. It's interesting because it's very much her experience of the creative process along with anecdotes about people she knows. Some chapters have a big scribbled YES next to them, others got me thinking - oh that's interesting, my experience was a bit more like this... It's set me off thinking about people in my art class at school and college, people I haven't thought about in years. It's even got me doing a bit of writing after a couple of years drought! Here are a couple of the things I've written. The first is in response to how Liz Gilbert writes about loving our work even the failures, the second is in response to her writing about the lottery of success.
Myth #1
Nicky
not Nicola
17
long black hair
but boyish.
She purged her record collection
to make way for Slade.
( I got Kate Bush
and the Boomtown Rats.)
She painted in oils
a lifesize Noddy Holder,
rendered the reflections
of his lacquered guitar,
the textures of his craggy face
and rocker hair.
Centre stage in the art room
everyone admired it.
Until the morning it was discovered
smashed in half.
Nicky wasn't satisfied.
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The one to watch
Not up in the light filled studio,
he and a friend were in the basement
across the road, under the dark room.
A spotty teenager, with paint
on his clothes, on his face,
rumor he ate it too.
I remember seeing a sketchbook
with drab colour mixes, greys and browns
and notes scribbled beside.
He was not the one the girls chased
he hung out with the lads
a bit intense a bit wild.
Was I missing something?
Did anyone realise
he was the one to watch?
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I'd love to hear if you've read Big Magic and whether you liked it or not :)
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