Dating from the opening school day of the 26th August, School
Sketchbook two introduces the ‘Natural Forms’ project that extends throughout
the youngster’s ‘school’ output up to Christmas of 1990.
The second document is well preserved with only four of the original pages
absent from the book (page 11 sees a draft of red ink reprimand the artist
for the removal of these pages, presumably as a result of the nascent
chronicler’s superior standard of quality control). The images that
deface the exterior of the second Schoolbook come not from the our youthful
subject but from the grotty dexters of her peers - in no way is it a coincidence
that the prevalence of this graffiti corresponds with the commencement
of the young artist’s eighth school year.
The interior of the second Schoolbook continues the natural theme of the
initial book with the fauna and foliage of Gravesend detailed by Naomi’s
precocious hand. The majority of the document is populated by what appear
to be preliminary sketches of assorted flowers. Preliminary the respect
that despite their uniform excellence, the entirety of the Schoolbook-bound
illustrations is realised in a larger form exterior of the document, each
with its own minor alterations (see amongst Extraneous
Drawings #18-40).
One regards the urgent necessity of these floral drawings as responses
to the claustrophobia of the hospital ward in which her father lingers
on the crest of his imminent demise. It should also be mentioned that
it was for these loving creations that the burgeoning diarist gained external
recognition with the award of the North Kent Student Art Prize (see NP.1).
As well as producing many eloquent botanical realisations, the second
Schoolbook introduces the spectator to an exchange that will dominate
Naomi’s subsequent output – that between the student and her
teacher Ms. Anita Demaio. Initially Demaio’s comments seem a tad
derisory though they sharply progress to pernicious spite. The thirteenth
leaf of the document bears witness to Naomi’s reprimand over the
appearance of her moniker after a successful execution whilst page twenty-seven
sees the gifted scholar harangued over her “limitations with scale”
(this example is particularly humorous as Naomi once disclosed to me that
the paper the children employed was provided by no less than Demaio herself).