I was shopping at the Artist Market in Melbourne, when I came across shelves of antique/pre-loved books. My brother's birthday was coming up and he's an avid reader, so, i had a goooood look. There was a leather bound book about observations of Oxford published in the 30s. Beautiful and astute, but not really something to read more than once. Hmmm, looked at fictions. There was a book about Mexican version of Dantes Inferno, depressing ending of course, not really birthday present material. Another book about a university student in the 20s/30s navigating his way through different groups of people, intellectuals, rebels, well-to-do types. Another depressing ending. Most other books like that, very interesting concepts, well written, witty and wise, but otherwise, desolate endings. Hmmm, lets change shelves then. Cooking books, ok, no, religious texts, definitely no. Poems... eck, poems about romance and love is, well, no thanks. Hang on... this has a squiggly line drawing of a Crow on the front. Hmmm, depressing maybe... no... funny... and fascinating.... with words that paint. You see things in your minds eye as you read. The flow, the lessons and the pointlessness of it. Thats the one. Crow, by Ted Hughes. As i read, I sketched. Then painted and sketched more, but i couldnt stick them inside the book without it being annoyingly messy... so, i decided to enhance the poems with sketches inside the book. Here's a sampling of what I sketched inside the book. #bohomouse #sarahjones #sarahjonesartist #fanart #inksketch #authorart #literatureart #birdpainting #sketching #gothicart #linedrawing #novelart #artist #australianartist #aussieart #poempainting #peoplesketch #watercolour #paintedpages #poetry #winsor&newton #poet #painting #art #tedhughes #crow (at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClC36rUvw27/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=