Interview with an Artist's Daughter

An 8-year-old girl picks up her reading books from the round red table and places them with freshly discovered pleasure in her thin blue book-bag.
I haven't interviewed you for a while. How are you?
Fine, thank you.
She hangs the book-bag on the back of the chair.
Anything new to report?
Apart from reading? A smile. Actually, as a matter of fact I did some drawing in the morning recently. And my mother has been doing the most detailed and exquisite drawings about two meters long. She's been working very hard. She's also been working at my school. It's really weird seeing her walking into class and saying 'How are you?' and doing art with us.
How about your reading?
Again she smiles at the thought of it.
Well, I have been reading this amazingly fabulous book. Actually I've never read this kind of book before because it's a kind of an animal story ... but not only an animal story, it's also teaching you about the army and the war.
Which war?
The big one just over sixty years ago. She looks at the TV screen: images from the war zone. It's also quite a sad story.
Does it have illustrations?
It's got these quite small and detailed little drawings, which I think are really good.
Has your mother made you appreciate drawing more?
Definitely. She also inspires me. She took me to one of the biggest galleries with a friend the other day. I was drawing while we were there. My mother helps me lots. She always gives lots of tips. Before you do a face, for example, she always tells you to draw a line down the middle longways and then a line across half of the face sideways, then she tells you to draw the eyes on the middle line, and ... one hint ... add a fringe otherwise it will look a bit silly.
What about your 5-year-old brother's art?
Well, my brother's art is like real life drawing these days.
Thank you.
Can I go now?