Pinky's Book Link

Sunday, August 30, 2020

What are you fixated on lately?



First thing every Monday morning, to get rid of the ‘wriggles’, I ask the kids in my year three class to tell everyone about their weekend in one phrase. 

Usually the words they blurt out are, ‘sleep over’, ‘Minecraft’, or ‘dirt bike riding’. 

Occasionally, someone with the bright light of scholarly promise will say something highly inappropriate, like ‘reading books’, ‘listening to classical music’ or ‘painting portraits’ and this will elicit groans and eye rolls from the peanut gallery.

Usually that someone is me.

Two years ago, my weekend phrase might have been, ‘long boozy lunch’, ‘karaoke’ or devastating hangover’, but since giving up drinking alcohol, the quality of my recreational activities has evolved into more sublime, highbrow pursuits.

“Would you like me to show you some of my paintings?” I ask my captive audience every Monday morning as I reach for the projection screen remote control.

Only a couple of the boys surreptitiously exchange cagey glances and grumble under their breath. The rest of the class use their reasoning skills and applaud the opportunity to delay the weekly spelling test for a few precious minutes.

One hundred per cent of the girls and ninety-three percent of the boys adore my paintings. 

I feel the seven per cent of boys who scowl and boo when my pet portraits light up the big screen are objecting more to the subject material. It’s against the code of behaviour for a cool, eight-year-old boy to like a picture of a cutesy chihuahua. If I painted a hideous monster with green blood spurting out of its eyes and laser guns, I’d get the thumbs up for sure.

“You should put your paintings in a museum, Mrs Poinker,” says one little girl.

“You mean an art gallery,” I reply, chuckling in modesty.

She looks confused. “No, a museum.”

If you’ve been wondering why there have been no posts from Pinky lately, this is the reason. I’m obsessed with painting.

It started with me painting ladybird rocks.





Then it progressed to painting real things on rocks. 




After collecting a lot of rocks from various shopping centre car parks on the Gold Coast, I decided to ditch rocks and try canvases which have less bumps instead. 

That was five weeks ago.










Now, I can’t stop painting.


While this passionate fixation is a blessing for those of you who only read Pinky Poinker because you are related to me by blood or are a friend who I know too much about, it’s been a curse for my Facebook friends and Instagram followers.

And I’m starting to wonder if I should just give up the writing altogether. 

I'm also starting to wonder where I'm going to put all these paintings.