September 2009

I've called this piece September 2009 simply because in that month I spent a lot of time in Walkden Gardens in Sale enjoying life properly for the first time in a long time.  I had quit teaching the month before after a long argument with the authority that paid my salary as a teacher.  I won't go into details however in part my bad back and autism had their part to play in my departure from teaching.  I was glad to go and don't regret a thing although at the time it meant a lot of financial uncertainty.  I had hated September when I was teaching because I always felt that I was putting myself away again after the 6 weeks holiday where the real me could exist.  I was depressed in those days and it is even more clear how down I was when I reflect back to that time now.  September 2009 was thoroughly enjoyable.  The sun was shining (literally), my back was a lot better and I could walk again and there was no teaching!  I could just take everything in and enjoy it instead of having feelings of anxiety/dread/needing to be at home planning and marking etc.  I don't think teaching is a bad career, although it is stressful for anyone.  I do think that teaching is intolerable if it's in the wrong school or environment.  That September was like the first experience of freedom after being incarcerated for so long.

This picture is the first in a number of postcard size pieces that I am planning on exhibiting in the near future.

September 2009, fine line pen and coloured pencil drawing, A5 (2015)