Bodies of Water
Boys on scooters
Three boys on scooters scoot up and look at me from behind their handlebars. This is their playground and we, a group of artists, are temporarily inhabiting it.
They throw their scooters on the ground. One sits on the blue sheet and asks me what I am doing. They ask if I am an artist and for some reason that I don't understand I hesitate then say 'sort of'.
I tell them that I am interested in Hockney, swimming pools and canals. One of them has learnt about Hockney at school. He tells me something about Hockney's landscapes. I start to explain that I'm from Yorkshire and Hockney had painted the .... he loses interest.
He picks all my Sharpy pens out of the tin and asks if he can have them. I say 'no' but he can use them. He points out that there are two black pens and asks if he can have one. I say 'no'. I notice when I clear up that there is only one black pen.
He tells me he cannot draw explaining that his drawing is Level 1. I try to challenge this assertion. He looks at the drawing I have started and tells me he looks forward to seeing if it's good or not.
He and one other boy make quick pen drawings or maybe they could be more accurately described as writings. They scrawled their names and the words 'chica poop' accompanied by an illustration of a four legged creature 'pooping'.
He and his friend use my blue drawing ink to write their names on an already graffiti covered pillar. He asks if he poured the drawing ink in the water if would it turn the canal blue? I laugh and tell him he would need much more ink. Later I notice a long dead fish floating near the canal bank with blue marks on it.
They hang around all afternoon but stop drawing when one of them notices he has ink on his hands and becomes really concerned about it not coming off. I give him a wet wipe which I save as an artifact of the encounter.