Maha’s Diary – Trains and Tubes to Oxford House

Maha is our new Heritage Participation trainee and is keeping an illustrated heritage blog of her time.

Greetings Oxford House friends,

My name is Maha Shami. I am an Artist and the Heritage Participation Trainee at Oxford House. My Oxford House Diary uses reportage illustration. Reportage is a type of visual documentation where an artist’s captures a moment in time. This is where I draw from life to document what is happening around me at Oxford House. Using a visual diary allows me to express my thoughts and emotions. I write to do lists and make sure I keep track of what needs to be done at work. I have a passion for storytelling, and I want to share that with you. Today’s post is about travelling to and from Oxford House!

I get the overground and the underground to travel to and from Oxford House. I used to absolutely despise commutes but having things to do on my commutes has really helped me. My commute is about an hour long on a good day and I have read 21 books since the summer, and I think this habit of reading while travelling has made a massive difference! I am currently reading The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

Since I draw or read on my commutes, I really enjoy them. Do you enjoy your commute? It’s worth it if you’re on your way to Oxford House events! Whether you’re looking to discover our archive or check out our fantastic exhibition or experience some JAZZ, you’ll find it here!  Check out our website to see what’s on.

I initially painted this page using acrylic paint. On the train I decided to use white pencil to draw the train. It was dark so the blue fit and I liked the space stickers.

I used a felt pen to draw these on the district line. It was very cold on this day.

I used coloured pens and a highlighter to draw this image on the train home from work.

I used colour pens to draw this on the underground. People keep moving so I tried to overlap my lines. This is my favourite of my travel drawings.

I used a Faber Castell polychromos brown pencil to draw this on the district line.

I used felt pen to draw these people and one person is missing a head. I haven’t attempted to remedy this.