Catharsis in Charcoal | Ball and Mitt

I created these pieces without initially realizing, but they each tie into my childhood. I played around with many different ideas of art for many of the different stories that are in our edition, but I settled upon three pieces that spoke to me the most in terms of how I could frame them artistically. The Polaroid camera I used as a reference while drawing was similar to one that my mother owned when I was young. My father was one of my softball coaches in elementary school, and we would often go to the park with my brother to throw a ball around. My grandmother’s favorite flowers are orchids, and we get them for her every Mother’s Day. All of these pieces called to me, in some way or another, and they ended up connecting to me in more personal ways than I thought they would.

Ball and Mitt

This piece was created with James M. Maskell’s In the Backyard in mind, a nonfiction piece that has been published in our latest issue. It was created using charcoal. I chose to portray the ball in an old mitt because the story felt lived in. It was a feel-good, relatable story that gave the reader a sense of home. The worn mitt hugging the ball gave me that same sense.