Tuesday, 25 February 2016

The reading stopped at, “Not my fault, old cockalorum” (13.1165).  

Catherine Meyer sends in her own rendering in colour and comments: 

Soon after we startet the reading, we reached the passage about scents: “Wait. Hm. Hm. Yes. That's her perfume” (13.1007). „hm, hm“, I said to myself, that could be a painting theme. And a few lines later I knew I would try to paint Molly's seductive scent. Joyce describes that fragrance so distinctively that all I had to do was paint what we'd read – the scent: “It's like a fine fine veil or web they have all over the skin, fine like what do you call it gossamer, and they're always spinning it out of them, fine as anything, like rainbow colours without knowing it” (13.1019). 

And then: “Know her smell in a thousand. Bathwater too. Reminds me of strawberries and cream. Wonder where it is really. There or the armpits or under the neck” (13.1024). I was smiling at myself when I had the idea of painting a strawberry bosom and a milk creamy arm. As Fritz said, “gossamer” can mean both 'very fine' and it can refer to Indian summer (“Altweibersommer”). So the colours are held in autumn tones.

Sending it in for this blog, Catherine jokingly refers to her painting  as „here comes everybody’s armpits“. We are enthralled by them. Thank you, Catherine!

Catherine Meyer © Zürich 2016