Small things 1

Stylized print of a dead bird. It's a blue tit, lying on its back. Yellow belly, all kinds of blueish greens for the wings and tail. The head is white with black collar and eye-line and a bright blue cap.

On the day of the funeral a dead Blue tit lay on the ground. Right in front of the door through which dad would leave his house for the very last time.

The title is Small things because of his motto. Whenever he’d done something with a bit too much enthousiasm, or made a clumsy mistake: Oh well, you’ll always have small things (that go wrong).

A few years ago we were all making things in the printmaking studio. Family outing with mom, dad, brother & wife, and the four of us. Dad set and printed his motto in wood type. This March, it made it onto his funeral card:

A card standing next to a small lighted candle.

Making the print of the Blue Tit is both processing and a way to get back into the groove. It was good to be printing again, working in the studio. I printed thirty and will donate 10% of the proceeds to the oncology department of the Radboud UMC.

Small things 1 - A death.
family

27 April 2025