All She Ever Asked For Was The Right To Twinkle

Once upon a time I went to college, and spent two years drawing people every day. One of the projects intended to fill our head with ideas was “Pop Art” “ we got paraded in front of various canvases by Warhol, Ernst, and Lichtenstein in the Tate Gallery in London for the day, and pretended we were clever. Apart from Roy Lichtenstein’s work, which I still adore, I was fascinated by Andy Warhol’s prints of Marilyn Monroe. Back at college, I was sat in the library one afternoon and happened across a magazine article about her. Rather than get on with the economics essay I should have been writing, I tried to draw a picture of her, spectacularly unsuccessfully. It annoyed me so much I tried again, and again. Then one day “ while drawing her “ I started reading “ and that led to buying a book, which lead to another book. We have an entire bookshelf somewhere in the house, filled with books by Eve Arnold, Normal Mailer, and even Truman Capote. Through the movies, the stories, the quotes, and the numerous biographies she became a part of my life. At times I have wished I could have known her. Happy Birthday Marilyn.