Drawing/Print: Grimaces / Street Life in Kentish Town /Blue Train - Coltrane

RTomens

 

I drew, I printed...I grimaced...there's a lot to grimace about these days. Still, count your blessings...you're alive. 

Tiers for fears.

A magpie alights on the chimneys of the roof opposite...I watch it strut over them...without a care in the world...other than where the next meal's coming from.

A reason to be cheerful: Bean About Town (Kentish Town) is still serving great coffee during lockdown. More to the point, situated as it is under the canopy (just North of the station) there are fixed seats in close proximity. The general public do hang out there but it's also a favourite place of...what should I call them? Street people? I often see the same chap there that I've been accidentally meeting in Kentish Town for a few years now. He's not full-on 'street' but seems to know loads who are. He's on social security. One of his associates was there the other day. She asked me if I could spare her some change but now, as opposed to before, I can honestly say that I'm also unemployed. I chat about Art and politics with this guy. It's a street relationship, neither of us being inclined to invite the other into our homes. 

I'm 'keeping it real', as LJ and I often joke to each other whilst mingling with the filthy proletariat. Joking aside, street people aren't like everyone else. For all their dreams and occasional aspirations they remain on the margins and won't ever bore you with what happened to them at work. They don't work. Not working today is becoming more common. Some who work now may well find themselves 'on the street'. No laughing matter. If street people have a 'warped' perspective on life, it strikes me that the more lockdown insanity continues, the more people will also look at life through a warped lens. It's enough to warp even the clearest of minds. Trusted stable factors such as jobs (relatively), community, pubs, shops are all being warped beyond recognition, either through nonsensical anti-virus rules, or simple disappearance. 

Still, the coffee served from this wagon is top quality. I hoped to win a free one the other day. Jazz was being played quietly and a woman in her 70s was leaning over the counter as if listening. I asked her if she was trying to recognise the track. She mumbled something about 'Paul somebody'. Then it changed and the girl turned it up a little, realising we were discussing the music. 'Oh, now, you know this one!' I said with a smile. Perhaps that was a little cruel, I thought, as she leant over again, looking nonplussed. The girl serving challenged me to name it. 'Blue Train, John Coltrane'. She checked the player for the title and was duly impressed. I asked if I'd won a coffee. No, I hadn't. No matter, a great coffee and a snippet of Blue Train was good enough.

collage, print, drawing, Coltrane