Many years ago, I wrote a 3 book series called Software Superslug for 7-9 years old. One of the first thing things that happened when I came to Norwich was that a local school staged a wonderful musical performance of the series. – under the brilliant direction of the headmistress, Margaret. Nylon tights over the face and neck had the perfect masking effect.
The inspiration for my idea came from the slime patterns appearing nightly on the pouffe in the sitting room.. I thought we had a gastropod version of Picasso breaking and entering. So one night I crept down with a torch to try to spot this artistic snail. I followed the trail and saw ….not a snail…but A SLUG.
My reaction was one of disgust and horror. Even so I let him be. I wanted to continue to observe and record the patterns. I began to think about the affection we have for snails, compared to the repulsion we feel towards slugs.
It’s all because of skin contact. We can pick a snail up by its shell,
which gives the snail – and the human – a barrier, whereas slugs – uuuuugrrr! are so very naked! Imagine finding one in your mouth, as a friend once did.
Then I began to think about this different status – the relative safety of snails inside their homes, the artisty of their shells, their culinary appeal. So I wrote the story – of a slug who aspires to be a snail -as a metaphor for the class system. Two more books followed: the last one – The Nutty Novelty Knitting – adds sexism to the theme, because the father of the family, Mr Potter, develops a passion for knitting. Not any old knitting like socks and mittens, but slugs, snails, knicker-bocker-glories, fish and chips, tea pots.The books were published between 1997-1990 .They did well and are long since forgotten – except that I spotted one recently on amazon in the Rare Books category.
So it was with great delight and a sense of deja vu that I saw the illustrations by artist Jessica Perry on my previous facebook page and shared below, in full colour. I have long been an admirer of her drawings of a stoical Mole who lives underground and comments cheerfully on the mundanity of existence.
So what is the point of this story? That inspiration can come from anywhere – mine was a slime trail on the pouffe. I could just have wiped it away. So inspiration is about paying attention, being curious, even over the smallest things.
Jessica’s drawings take everything a stage further. The colours are beautiful, the drawing characterful and funny – and she accomplishes the extraordinaryy feat of turning these slimy creatures into something endearing and cuddly. I love them. And if my stories were I even a tiny part in Jessica’s inspiration: that’s what it’s all about – each one of us feeding into the universal compost heap that makes art and nurtures the next generation.
( I do wonder about the Earth being God’s compost heap, full of wondrous creatures but with a particular species whose urge for creation is matched by a lust for destruction , only satisfied by periodic blood letting – their own or their fellow creatures’ – to enrich the heap.)
