For this assignment, we had to imagine a piece of artwork which doesn’t exist and describe it in any way in 150-300 words. This description was then to be swapped at random in the next seminar for someone else to interpret into a painting.

For my description, I decided to use short phrases from my favourite books (these books included: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, Women by Charles Bukowski, Jazz by Toni Morrison, Half Of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Submarine by Joe Dunthorne, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath) and create a flowing narrative to be interpreted. Below is the result:

“She had long hair and bad skin. She’s sick. She’s really sick. I don’t think you should get to see her after the way you’ve treated her. The well sucked her sleep, but the notion of leaving frightened her. She had a happy dream. She did not remember what it was about but she remembered that it had been happy, and so she woke up warming herself with the thought that she could still have a happy dream. She was seventeen years old but trailed with the twelve-year-olds. ‘What happened to your skin?’ I ask. She looks beautiful. ‘You look beautiful.’ I should have said that last night. I shoved my feet into slippers, dragging my blanket with me, for the morning was bright, but very cold, and crossed quickly to the kitchen. She stops breathing and her stomach goes like a drum, and her heart is like a fist pounding from inside the tight skin of a drum.

He remembered her quite well. His face lit up, he described her as a charming girl. He talked about her as if he had seen her recently.”

When we switched descriptions this is what I received: