Once a teacher. . .

Yesterday I photographed No. 2 pencils.  I’ve photographed pencils before, but I had this image in my head that wouldn’t go away: bright yellow pencils with my orangey wall as backdrop. I even made an early morning (well, 8:00- early for this retired person. . .) trip to the grocery store to buy brand new pencils.

I think I’ve already written of my lifelong love affair with office supplies, something I inherited from my grandma, Mimi, who would drive my mother crazy in her later years by asking to be driven to the stationery store (this was way before Office Max was born) because she needed a new pen. We would stand around and watch as she carefully tried out each pen before deciding on the right one.  She wrote with fountain pens, sometimes the cartridge kind, but usually a beautiful Parker fountain pen with turquoise ink.

When I was a little girl, I loved the beginning of the school year and the passing out of brand new school supplies.  We even got modeling clay to keep in out desks; I distinctly remember the smell! When I started teaching, I loved the boxes of new supplies I would unpack each year and pass out to my students.

So today, I am thinking about school supplies.  And brand new sharp pencils.

Pencils: dark side

Pencils: bright side

After I took these photos, I saw that a new assignment had been posted in BeStill 52- a still life portrait.  This could be a self-portrait, I suppose.