I have always been drawn to creative, eccentric folk with unique personalities from the dapper to the dandy, the cat lady, to the siren - or just plain old outrageous ladies! Their stories amuse me and provide a wonderful source of material for fun drawings.

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One of my most favourite poems, written by Jenny Joseph, celebrates the opportunity to develop eccentricities at any time of life. Jenny's poem is aptly called: "Warning".

"Warning"

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When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

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You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

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But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

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Jenny Joseph