November 12, 2009

The Two Pollies


Polly Jackson


Polly Jones

My mother kept a goldfish pond in her back yard. In July her very rotund female laid her eggs and her husband did his duty resulting in lots of roe and very many teeny-weeny fry.

Mum rescued a glob of the fish eggs and raised them in a bowl inside the house away from their parent's canabalistic tendencies.

Many died-off but 3 remained. We brought them back to Toronto in the back of the car in an old mason jar. They weren't much bigger than sesame seeds.

So I introduced them to Ming's old bowl and the resident snail. We call him Monstro. We hope for the best for our three new fish.

I've always loved goldfish and goldfish images. Some of the earliest art I bought for myself was of Japanese carp hand-painted on silk.

Goldfish also remind me of two of my favourite blog artists - Polly Jones and Polly Jackson; a Texan and an ex-Texan. Their work is wonderul; full of light and life. I like their treatment of goldfish, carp, koi, whatever, very much.

www.pollyjackson.com
http://pollyjones.blogspot.com/

10 comments:

T. said...

Baby goldfish from your mother's pond! This is so wonderful, as are the paintings.

California Girl said...

Lovely story and lovely art. Happy to see you posting. Hope you are doing well. I know it's tough with the holidays coming up.

Sandra Leigh said...

Both paintings are lovely, but the second one truly makes me want to be there, getting to know whoever lives in such a beautiful, colourful place.

I like goldfish, too. My goldfish always had names, and their names suited their fishy personalities.

Rinkly Rimes said...

Woken up at night with a sore throat, but your blog entry and the brilliant paintings have quite cheered me!

StimmeDesHerzens said...

greetings to the pupchen
there is always some kind of continuity...after my dad died a lost finch came my way and Lily and I put her in a cage and she ended up having babies, and...I thought it was my dad in spirit being with me...

Polly Jones said...

Thank you for putting my painting here with the Polly Jackson! I love her koi. Good luck with your fish. Unfortunately the model for my painting, Bob, is no longer with us.

svs said...

A lovely post.

xoxo

S & GG

Ima Wizer said...

Ahhhh, what a sweet tribute! How fun to be associated with Polly Jones, a Texan, And she is a fabulous artist, WOW!......anyone from Texas will tell you that "you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take the Texan out of the girl". SO TRUE! How did we both find you way up there in Canada??
I love it that the baby fish are with you......how thoughtful of you to grab them and take them home....I think that is marvelous!
Thinking of you, dear Hazel. All is well, you know that, I know you do. xoxoxox

Diane said...

Hazel the paintings really are wonderful, as is your tender impulse to bring the fish home. I hope Monstro is not too intimidating for the wee ones...

StimmeDesHerzens said...

checked in today, to wish you a ~Happy Thanksgiving~ to you and your family!
Beth