Magicplum's Blog

Just Before This Bus Is Evacuated, Engine Smoking…

magicplum — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 04:43:07 +0000

Bus seat beneath me.

Muslim man next to me reads from his prayer book,

Looks up, tuts and sighs at the traffic.

His eyes look sad.

Woman talks about the traffic on her phone,

To someone.

Baby cries, behind me.

A chunk of chocolate in my mouth, melts.

Sun falls from the right, through the window, warms my hair,

can see glints of red in the strands.

feel calm.

wish the bus didn’t break down,

don’t often feel calm like this.

Magic Unfurls

magicplum — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:23:36 +0000

Magic Unfurls by Maria Warren

On the March

magicplum — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:27:10 +0000

On the March by Maria Warren ~ Acrylic and mixed media on paper.

December Will Be Magic Again

magicplum — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:51:45 +0000

For me, the most magical Christmas song. Wishing everyone a magic December :-) x

Generosity, squished.

magicplum — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 21:54:57 +0000

It was about a month before Christmas, a few years ago. I was sat at the back of a bus on the long seat warmed by the engine beneath. On the seats facing me were a woman and a boy. He looked about eight or nine years old. He called the woman Nan.

They were talking about Christmas.
She said to him “I’m gonna give you money for Christmas this year, I don’t know what to get you. You can get something nice for yourself”.
The boy smiled at this.
The bus rode on for a little way before she asked “What will you buy with the money I give you?”

He replied immediately, “I’m going to give half of the money to charity and then buy myself something with the rest”.
My heart filled with that swelling kind of feeling that you get when you hear or see someone doing or saying something really kind, that makes your eyes fill a little too.

His nan replied “I’m not gonna give you any bloody money if you’re gonna go and bloody give it away”.

My heart sank.

Family Portrait, sketch & painting.

magicplum — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:59:32 +0000

Family Portrait ~ sketch and painting by Maria Warren.

Fox in the Woods

magicplum — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 03:00:39 +0000

by Maria Warren
(Acrylic on paper. Original size – A4)

Leave Your Personality In The Window

magicplum — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:04:27 +0000

My son and I were on a train today. He had a little note pad and a pen, making some drawings. Then he wrote something on a clean page and showed it to me. He tore out the page, folded it and slipped it into the gap at the bottom of the window frame so that it was poking out. It said:

I am happy, funny, vegetarian and 11 years old. What are you like? Leave your personality in the window.

That was the first of many notes he left all over the place today, including Tate Modern and Wagamamas. The one that most amused me – slipped under the card label on a beef and tomato sandwich:
‘Try the Cheese Ploughmans, it’s much better!” :-)

Am I?

magicplum — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:31:01 +0000

Am I? ~ Maria Warren
Pencil and charcoal on paper.

Listening

magicplum — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:50:41 +0000

Listening ~ drawing and sculpture by Maria Warren