Meisje en vogel c. 1890 - 1930

This small drawing by Totie depicts a girl and a bird. I imagine the artist, maybe doodling in a sketchbook, pen in hand, thinking, what if I draw a little girl? What if she's wearing a blue dress and staring at a little bird? And I imagine Totie thinking about spring, sketching a garland of leaves and flowers around the girl and the bird. It makes me think about childhood and those moments when the world feels full of wonder and possibility, but also, maybe a little lonely? You can feel the artist's hand moving across the paper in those delicate lines. The sketch is loose and free, full of life and movement. Artists, you know, we’re always in conversation with each other, borrowing ideas, and riffing off of what’s come before. And, like a good poem, it's open to interpretation. It can mean many different things to many different people.