Tuesday 2 August 2011

St Jerome and the Sleeping Cat - Joan Lennon


I'm adaptable ... ish. I can write in cafes and hotel rooms and in the quiet car on trains. I can even write with music, as long as it's classical, doesn't have lyrics and I have easy access to the off switch. I can write in a house full of people, as long as they're not, you know, in the same room. Or talking just outside the door. Or obviously having more fun than I am.

But really, for me, there's always been a perfect place to write, and this is where it's always been. A room like this, with a sleeping cat (size doesn't matter), cushions, a comfy robe, good lighting (I'm willing to use a lamp - not everybody can produce their own) windows onto a view, a bit of birdsong offstage. And solitude.

You can feel the serenity. You can practically touch the contentment - and the focus. How does Durer do that? I don't know. Art's a mystery.
Link
I wrote recently about how writers are like flamingos, how we need each other. And I still think that's true. But this is the other thing. This room, or as close to it as we can find.

And a sleeping cat.


Joan Lennon's website
Joan Lennon's blog

10 comments:

catdownunder said...

Miaou! Purrup...purrup...purrup! :-)

Lynda Waterhouse said...

serenity, contentment and focus will be my watchwords for today. The cat does have to be sleeping - not purring, rustling among the notebooks, weaving precariously around the objects on your desk, hovering by the keyboard.....
serenity...contentment....focus

The Time Sculptor’s Secret said...

I could stare into this picture for hours, thanks for sharing. I love the picture your words paint here... every word rings true for me! How wonderful to work in the warm, steady glow of creative contentment. Jane Gray

hilary said...

How lovely (pause to stare at present work space which includes three teenagers, one hosepipe, one stepladder, the remains of some tents and a cat who never stops yowling until all the doors are open).

Still, deadlines, deadlines, and the pot must be boiled. It is sometimes useful, for those of us without the comforts of St Jerome, to realise that hanging also concentrates the mind.

Cathy Butler said...

Your Jerome reminds me of the Irish monk and his cat Pangur Ban, another productive writer/cat combo, although this cat is awake: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/pangur.ban.html

Rosalie Warren said...

Mmm, picture of heaven. My choice of how to spend eternity, if I get the chance. (As long as my loved ones are somewhere not too far away... and the sea lapping just outside.)

Dianne Hofmeyr said...

Lovely snippet Joan...Yes it looks blissful. I've written outside a safari tent watching elephants not so sure about a lion's presence though. In Jeromes's case I suppose he was docile and certainly looks very relaxed having had the thorn removed no doubt. But lions purr even louder than cats!!!

Stroppy Author said...

Strangely, I have a friend who owns Durer's sketch of the lion in this picture and he has it in a study which is just as calm and focused as St Jerome's room. Maybe it's something about having a lion in your room.

madwippitt said...

The reason for the dopey smile on the lion's face and calm serenity is in fact due to the proto-wippitt curled up on the floor to the left. They are the perfect writing companion as St. J has obviously discovered!

Emma Barnes said...

Love the picture, love the thought. Even though I'm allergic to cats...

(I always like that poem too - I and Pangur Ban my cat... Obviously there are affinities between writers and cats.)