In my previous post, I left off reflecting on the origin of the circular motifs that persist in my work. I didn’t quite finish that thought. So, let’s get back to it. Shall we?

I clearly remember that the first time I got interested in circular motifs was when I was probably seven years old. My dad had bought me a toy. I can’t even remember if this toy was specifically for me. That part is vague, as memory usually tends to be. We were three daughters who grew up together. So if I’m going to be honest, I don’t really remember whether it belonged to me or one of my sisters. That’s because, Yep, you guessed right. We were all supposed to play nice and share the toys in our “toy chest”. But that doesn’t matter. Because in my mind, this toy was mine since I was so attached to it. Let me tell you, I have such fond and vivid memories of this toy, you won’t believe it. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve always described it as “my” toy.

Give me a minute. I’m going to try and describe it to you.

It was a hybrid between an Etch-a-Sketch and a Spirograph. It had a stick that functioned as a pencil of some sorts. A drawing tool, if you will. A pencil. You can move it around to draw. However, you can’t lift the pencil up when drawing. It’s attached to the toy. The toy had a screen (gold in color) and this is where you view your drawings.

The Spirograph Part

And the part that fascinated me the most were these die cut shapes – at least that’s what I’m calling them. You insert the shape into the space around your fixed-in-place pencil thingy and then move the pencil around the shape. Thus in effect you’re tracing the shape onto the screen. And when you do this repeatedly, you’ll end up with spiral patterns of circular shapes that are amazingly intricate. That’s the Spirograph part of the toy. To my young self, those geometric patterns I created with that toy were so incredibly awesome; mind-blowing.

The Etch-A-Sketch Part

For the Etch-a-Sketch part of the toy, the screen where the drawing appears has these beads embedded behind the mechanism. So, when I turn the toy over and shake it, the beads erase the drawing, just like an Etch-a-Sketch does. And then, I can start drawing all over again.  

I loved that thing. The way I could create totally new patterns as a result of the interactions between the circles was simply magical to me. I spent hours with that toy;  simply drawing. I must have been six or seven years old. Yes. I couldn’t have been much older than that. And this is definitely my earliest memory of me drawing. 

Frankly, I don’t know why that drawing experience has stuck with me all these years.  But it has. And it keeps showing up in my work as an artist. Without a doubt, I can say this is the origin of the circular motifs in my work. I’m glad that I was interested in discovering their origin. This reflective practice has revealed so much to me. I find it incredible that a childhood toy will have such a direct impact on my current life. But it sure has.

Thanks for coming along with me.

Till next time,
Warmly,