When Doroteja shared with me that her brother annoys her when he gets angry, I told her a short tale about an angry spirit from a bottle and encouraged her to draw how that spirit might look like. (You can read the fairy tale here.) These were her first sketches:
The first drawing is reminiscent of a powerful whirlwind exploding from a bottle.
The second drawing was not so clear, so I asked Doroteja what it reminded her of. I knew she didn‘t have any clear intentions before drawing because I encouraged her to draw what is invisible using abstractions. However, what each of us will see in an abstract drawing is a reflection of our thinking, memories and values. So when I raised up the sketch in the air for both of us to take a better look at it, we both saw an angry fish with big lips.
(That‘s natural since children often feel close to animals. And so do I. That‘s partially why I decided to work with children and fairy tales.)
I said to Doroteja that this fish looks like it swims through water swirls or maybe even flies between clouds and windwhirls.
Then I asked her:
”What would you do if you would meet such an angry fish in a fairy tale?”
To which she replied:
”I would put a leash on it, hop on its back and fly. Then we would fly to the water and I would throw it there since it‘s so angry.”
I don’t know how about you, but I was in a joyful surprise after such an answer. Firstly, I was amazed how easily she came up with such an original narrative. Secondly, how she sees herself: confident, courageous, using life’s challenges to her advantage and at the same time not thinking about destroying anything along the way. In my eyes, such a girl is happy and I am very happy for her.
Later, when we finished drawing and went outside to play and take photographs, Doroteja brought a dog on a leash from her neighbours. This way I understood why Doroteja thought of putting a leash on the angry fish. These are associations derived from memories of personal life. Doroteja may have wondered, ”How can I curb such a dangerous monster? How about to harness it with a leash like I do our neighbour’s dog.”
At that moment, I felt as if I had deciphered Doroteja’s dream, which I can now turn into a great portrait idea.
Precisely this amazing story led me to draw the first idea for a portrait. I placed the composition in an oval frame (which I had already discovered while studying at university) because it further accentuates the impression as if you were looking at the world of magic through a keyhole or as if you were watching it in a dream.
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