Understanding
by June Graham Picture of the sea by Liz Rule During our second workshop, we printed sea-related images on fabric. Jane asked us to make an image of a fish or other object which would symbolise the person we lost I chose a mermaid. Why? I think I chose a mermaid because Liz was and still is, in my memory, someone beautiful. Tall and striking-looking, always making a effort with clothes ad make-up, I feel I have to represent her with a beautiful image. If I dig deeper, I realise that there is something elusive about a mermaid. She is a mythical creature. Did a sailor ever let his heart be stolen by a beautiful woman perched on a rock with her fish tail skimming the surface of the water, or are mermaids just stories from the imagination of lonely travellers? I know one thing: I want the mermaid to be real just like I want Liz to still exist somewhere, somehow. She has become like a mermaid glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. When a memory stirs my bruised heart into feeli...