Troubled soul?

As a five-year relationship fizzled, by the mid- to late-1980s I was probably what could be called a troubled soul. Anyway, this selection of miniature drawings - scanned at 150 percent - capture something of that mood.

Was I just two-faced?

Or multi-faced?

These drawings all arose out of my subconscious, so I look on them as others would, wondering just how someone could come up with such things.

This is a recurring subject for me. I like the idea of a mouse on the end of a cat's tail.

Cats are just so characterful.

But there is always the chance of a vulture lurking somewhere.

This is like one of the creatures in the Yellow Submarine animated film.

And this guy could have been in some circus.

This goes beyond The Who's quadrophenia.

This guy reminds me of a friend of my youth, Wayne "Skeg" Rowland.

Such a demure lady.

Not quite so demure.

It's clear where my mind was heading. This I did before seeing the Mr Bean series.

What was this fascination with things African?

And here it is again - totally against the apartheid precepts.

Ja, there's no mistaking where the old mind was for much of this time.

I've heard of the bearded lady, but one with a moustache?

And what are the chances of a second moustached lady?

I had used this technique of shading back at art school. It certainly gives the female form an erotic sensuality.

Mea culpa.

And again.

Ah, at last, the Bard to the rescue, putting all these things into perspective.

But who was this - a throwback to my military days, which, in fact, were still with me, as I was regularly conscripted in the 1980s by the PE unit, Regiment Piet Retief, for one-month camps. These I did in their HQ after applying for "non-combatant" duty.

This could be a subliminal self-portrait.

Not this, I hope.

And this seems to sum up a time of floating aimlessly.

My one-time wife's dad had worked for Syfrets, which is where this paper came from.

The little logos used as inspiration for an abstract figure.

A shell of a guy.

Freudian analysis would no doubt pick up something here.

There are layers of meaning here, I tell you.

Fighting for peace.

And surrendering.

Is there some Egyptian influence here?

Another motif I've enjoyed using - those fingers coming together.

Just another face in a crowd.

And another.

And another.

Shadows and reflections on the beach are much within me.

Crowning glory.

Making a stand.

Figure in a landscape.

This needed some running repairs. What's it like with a nude across your face?

Or a pancake hovering over your head?

Or a second face behind your outward visage?