Fancy Fish

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nostalgic

IN A NEW POST CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PICTURE THAT MAKES YOU NOSTALGIC.

As with most of our photo challenges, we’re keeping this one wide open to interpretation. Some ideas:

• A meaningful family photograph.
• A snapshot of something or someone that reminds you of your past.
• A “throwback” image of a thing or activity you once loved.
• A picture of your home, home city/country, or a place that you long for.
• An image edited with a vintage filter

Most of you don’t know this but I actually studied Fine Art Drawing and Painting. Our little flat is practically an Art Gallery in its own right!

Fibromyalgia has sadly put a stop to this aspect of my art. My manual dexterity is pretty poor these days. I’m so grateful that I still have my photography!

For this challenge I chose to take photos of parts of one of my treasured watercolour paintings. These are Black Moor Fancy Goldfish. They “swim” together with five other goldfish in a painting from 2002. This painting now hangs above the sofa in the sitting room as I’m just loathe to part with it!

My paintings stir up many memories for me. Sometimes I feel sorrow that I can no longer paint but mostly they transport me to the time the painting was created and all the wonderful emotion surrounding their conception.

I kept fish for many years, whilst still living with my parents, lodging with my friend Lou and when I first moved into my current flat. With two of us living here now we sadly don’t have the space to keep the tank going.

Here are three of my fondest memories that this painting evokes.

1. My first ever goldfish, called Jaws, who ate every other fish we ever tried to introduce to the tank. He was HUGE! Even the cats from next door were scared of him 🙂
2. My mum, watching me through the conservatory door whilst I worked on this very painting. I always hated being watched while painting, and she was always very sneaky!
3. Coming back home to find that, somehow, Lou had managed to move the 50 litre tank and it’s contents across the sitting room……..again! Lou was even shorter than me, about 4’11”. I never did find out HOW she did it! This painting reminds me of Lou in a good way.