It was relatively difficult choosing an English nursery rhyme that could tie in with my previous concept. It had to do a lot with war and how reading news about horrors of wars can change your perception and sensitivity to things around you.

So I think I probably have to start from scratch and find a solid concept. As of right now, my concepts for the nursery rhymes are a bit weak.

I thought that I would just reiterate our aim for this project just to make sure that I’m on the right track:

To manipulate alter and deconstruct graphic imagery to transcend its original meaning through the creation of the indicated narratives.

I came up with a few concepts in my head:

1. ” The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe”.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

There was a Christian version of the rhyme published as well, which I thought was interesting as it shows the old woman to be softer and kind.

There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children,
And loved them all, too.
She said, “Thank you Lord Jesus,
For sending them bread.”
Then kissed them all gladly
and sent them to bed.

For this, the concept would clearly be family related. The line ‘She had so many children she didn’t know what to do’ stuck out to me, probably because I come from a big family. I was thinking of having a concept that was personal to me, and incorporating my family stories and pictures into it. I also thought that maybe I could use childhood/baby photos of all 8 Darke children as dingbats and also include personal family mementos that could describe us a family.

However, I still feel this is not solid enough as a concept. I would still need to develop it.

2. A Sailor Went To Sea

A sailor went to sea, sea, sea

To see what he could see, see, see

But all that he could see, see, see

Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.

For this rhyme, I feel that MAYBE it could tie in with my previous concept- about perception. There was barely any information about the meaning or origins of this rhyme, so I had to make my own interpretation.

Reading this nursery rhyme, I feel that it talks about the sailor seeking adventure and wanting to see the world. What’s interesting is that when he arrives at sea, the line reads “BUT all that he could see”, suggesting a negative connotation- as if “the bottom of the deep blue sea” was disappointing and he wanted to see more.

Maybe something happened to him that changes his perception? Maybe the sea is a metaphor? Something obstructs him from being able to see/do something greater? He was affected by an incident? See where i’m going with this?

I’m still at the conceptualising stage, but I’ll be creating more dingbats based on these tentative concepts. Hopefully inspiration for my final concept will strike when I play around with the compositions just like before! Stay tuned for another post this week!