The Lost Art Graveyard

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'I'd like you to write a 2,500 word autobiography,' says Eric Maisel. The wind howls outside and the rain lashes down. 'I can't,' I think. 'I won't,' my mind shouts. I can't penetrate that whirling bundle of protective noise - the one that every artist uses to hide the creative centre of the soul. Tentatively, I put down a note about my first creative experiences, with my wax crayons in the back garden at Woodford Green.

I remember a picture on the wall of our little Victorian School, and my astonishment when I noticed the artist was - me. I remember a week in the Scottish Highlands, painting for dear life. I remember sadness, the years when my art seemed like a love lost forever. I remember when I caught a glimpse of it again, a brief flash in the graveyard. I stand in the graveyard. It's not so scary. People picnic here in the summer. They bring their babies, their weddings and their loved ones at the last. The rain has stopped, the wind pauses. I beckon to Lost Art. I have plenty of time.


Jennifer Pittam is a winner of Coast-to-Coast Writing competition 

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