Beautiful Silence

By Prisca Kemp

Effie (or Euphemia, ‘beautiful silence’) is a vocal, small creature. She is my kind of Therapet. Here she is on a rough morning, lying motionless on the bed beside me. She is silent today; she waits for a nasty flare-up to pass.        

There is a quiet revolution taking place. Discomfort and distress have a recurring form, it seems. Waiting and uncertainty are lightly tainted with hope. All these shape her life and mine in a certain way: one treads cautiously; and then, at times, one also forgets to. Effie’s soft form sunk into the duvet evokes felt powerlessness when pain strikes. Pink is for stillness and comfort, shadows for threat and fear. 

Sennelier Oil Pastels, created for Pablo Picasso, are a wonderful medium for exploration and layering of colour. Finer lines are scratched in with a small knife