Alphabet manuscript in progress, for fun.

A is for animals with nothing to say
B is for the baseball that's heading your way

C is for coats that don't fit anyone
D is for doctors who ruin the fun

E is for eggs growing legs in your dreams
F is for fingerprints you can’t help but leave

G is for growing an inch in your sleep
H is for holes, impossibly deep

I is for inching across the floorboards
J is for jumps that don't know what’s in store

K is for kissing a frog, just in case
L is for lurking at windows all day

M is for mussels slipped into the stew
N is for night-lights that go out on you

O is for one, one, one, only one eye!
P is for pictures you see in the sky

Q is for questions from someone much taller
R is for raising your voice to a holler

S is for spying while creeping about
T is for tattlers who point it all out

U is for uniforms on their first day
V is for a visitor who won't go away

W is for the wild in things seen everywhere
X is for X-rays to show what’s in there

Y is for the yowling of beasts running free
Z is for the zoo, where you ought to be.

Friendly reminder: Copyright© 2010 Kristy Caldwell

Wendy defangs Peter

The first painting I ever wanted to attempt on a child-centric theme was to be inspired by J.M. Barrie's original Peter Pan. The effect of reading the book, however, was to sweep clean the space in my head that had been condescendingly roped off for "child-appropriate amusements". Childhood is dark, and the best part of Barrie's vision is his casual acceptance of this: “Off we skip like the most heartless things in the world, which is what children are, but so attractive; and we have an entirely selfish time, and then when we have need of special attention we nobly return for it, confident that we shall be rewarded instead of smacked.”

I imagined a reunion in which Wendy, now a dental assistant, takes care of a pointed tooth compromised by, oh, decades of sweets or maybe a glancing dagger. By this act Wendy is essentially defanging Peter, and the scenario becomes—whether I like it or not—a metaphor for his perpetual prepubescence in the face of her adult experience. You can't stop the moving train of subtext.

Off-topic one-offs

I've always been drawn to narrative over anything else. Narrative, to me, encompasses characterization, something hard to accomplish in a single-paneled work. But it's fun to try.

Remnants of an abandoned story

Every half-decent idea is destined for a second chance via indefinite archiving on my external hard drive, where this project currently resides. During the couple of days that I was hot for the possibility of this book I drew like a madman. I can't manage a spontaneous line when tracing pencil, so I always dive right into inking. Also, having to follow a path that barely even exists in my brain keeps me focused.