Poetry and Painting

Dive into the world of Stuart Lindsay’s beautiful, funny and perceptive poetry and Suzy Dittmar’s quirky illustrations.

You can buy the book or some of the original artwork, plus other original watercolour paintings by Suzy Dittmar as well as high quality prints, by sending us an email and letting us know what you require: info@risboroughrocks.co.uk

 

Risborough Rocks Press
Hardcover book, full colour, 180 x 260 mm, 72 pages
£20 plus £4.50 postage and packing
ISBN: 978-1-39999-4011-5

 

Stuart Lindsay grew up in 1960’s and 70’s Newcastle in the far north of England, Suzy Dittmar on a similar latitude but across the North Sea in Kappeln, Germany. The part of Germany whose hardy coastal inhabitants are known as “Fischköppe” (Fish heads) to irreverent Southerners, while of course in England, people from the Newcastle area are known as Geordies.

Back then, feelings would sometimes take Stuart by surprise: ambush him. Later, words might join the ambush – in the form of poems. His favourite poems take up a small space on the page and a large space in the heart.

You may instantly recognise and relate to some of the sentiments expressed/implied in these poems. Others might make you feel intrigued or wistful, or you might even feel moved to taking a tiny step towards living more closely in line with who you really want to be.

At least that is what happened to Suzy when she first read Stuart’s poems. She tried to give visual expression to the humour and the sadness, the indignation, the joie de vivre and the mystery evoked by them. And had a lot of fun in the process.

Stuart says, “People who like this book do so because it is beautifully produced and has many original, colourful, and imaginative paintings. The artwork is sad, amusing, affectionate, melancholic, and imaginative. It complements and adds to the meaning of the poems. The words seem to resonate with a lot of people who have read them – that’s not surprising because we’re all in this together, aren’t we? I think the book would make an ideal gift for a friend – but you might like to keep a copy for yourself: I won’t tell.”

 

Suzy says, “It’s nice having people who have bought the book tell me what their favourite poems and illustrations are – it varies such a lot depending on what has been happening in their lives and what they need more of or less of at that moment in time. There is a sense of common humanity – we all want to be seen, heard and understood individually, and of course we also feel relieved or even happy when other people have similar experiences. At the end of the day, when it comes to feelings, it’s a matter of noticing them rather than suppressing them, allowing them to be there, if you like with a mantra of “Let me feel what there is to be felt right now” and focusing on doing something that’s in line with who you want to be in the face of that feeling.”