HOW POETRY INSPIRES ART

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Art, Drawing

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Hallucination

THE ANNUAL ART-POETRY COLLABORATION was on exhibit last month at South Seattle Community College. For me and other artists and poets it is also the imagination challenge. My interpretation of Lily Men-Sin’s poem “Hallucination” is above; a mixed media piece using photography, newspaper, and acrylic on gessoed chip board. The excitement for me, at least, is creating art that I would not have thought to create. I’m guessing the same is true for the poet’s as well. I hope that this tradition continues far into the future; it is an immensely enriching experience.

Hallucination

A crash
Disturbs my presence
 
I look over
At a site that shocks me
A conflagration
Across the Seattle skyline
The sight of my town
Being annihilated into bits and pieces
 
A great hullabaloo catches my attention
Helicopters flying in circles
But not helping put out my city
 
I have never felt so malevolent
I had a plan
The fractious side of me has taken over
I wanted the helicopter to go down
Down and burn along with my city
 
As I scamper over to a shop to take a weapon
Someone bumps me
Back into reality
 
The crash I have heard,
Were just kids skateboarding nearby
I look over at my city
And enjoyed the sweet simplicity of life
                                  —Lily Men-Sin

 

A pastel painting of an old abandoned Dodge truck was my submission to the poet. Lily wrote a poignant poem of remembrance. The painting was inspired by a photo I snapped an of old truck at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near of Phoenix, Arizona several years ago.

OldDodge

This Old Dodge
 
My grandfather’s truck was precious
He would take me out on school nights
For a smooth ride downtown
On summer days we’d go out to a drive-in movie
Laying on top of the hood
After my grandmother died
We took turns crying on each other’s shoulder
 
Today, I have no one to cry with
I have yet to shed a tear
Trying to stay strong for my own sake
Walking into my grandfather’s house
Has never been so hard
I take a step outside for a breather
I walk around and spot an unfamiliar rocky trail
I walk
Walk
Walk
And walk
Until the trail ends
A rusty old blue dodge
Parked ever so carelessly
Buried inside uncut grass
 
Memories overflow my brain
My legs automatically walk slowly towards the car
The loud screeching noise as I open the door
Chase crows our of the trees that surrounds me
My body perfectly matches the indented seat
That he eventually made for being in this car so many times
I open the glove box
Tears deluge my eyes
Inside is a candid picture my mother took
Of me and my grandfather laughing hysterically
Sitting on top of his precious old dodge
On the back of the picture was a note he wrote
“I love her more than this car.
The older it gets, the rustier it is.
While older she gets, the more beautiful and strong she is.”
I cry
Cry
Cry
And cry
 
—Lily Men-Sin

 

RADISHES IN A PICKLE

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Canning & Preserving, Pickling

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A COUPLE POSTS AGO I wrote about the wonderful radishes growing in the garden. There are quite a few of the daikon and black ones and I thought they might make an interesting and tasty pickle.

A week ago I pickled them using a recipe based on this one I found a few years ago on A Way to Garden.

I made one quart using daikon and black radishes, some daikon radish greens, sliced ginger root, garlic cloves, white peppercorns, and whole coriander seeds. I let the jar sit on the counter loosely capped until Saturday and then into the refrigerator. They are salty, vinegary, tangy, and garlicky; just about everything desirable about pickled anything. The ginger however, is hot, hot,hot—that was a surprise!

 

THE SHOESTRING PROJECT

18 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in Art, Inspriation, SIlly

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The dyed shoelaces

IT BEGAN WITH A DESIRE TO CHANGE UP SOME WHITE SHOELACES. It evolved into a larger project. Once the shoelaces were dyed, I was left with the dye baths:

My acrylic dye baths

I used a squeeze of acrylic paint and added enough water to submerge the shoelaces; I left them a couple of hours and then hung them to drip dry. But then I still had all of that watered down ‘paint’. I couldn’t dump it down the drain. So, I decided to dye some…

STRING! (I had added some yellow too.) I laid out the string to dry, overlapping the strands to create some multi-colored strands. I know I can use the string in some kind of project, right?

Balls of string!

But I still had the liquid ‘dye’. I was inspired by this post on Aunt Peaches. And, I just happened to have a lot of coffee filters. So, I dyed a bunch.

The dyed, drying filters

Then I separated and stacked them.

 

They are quite lovely. And just waiting to be put to use (not as a garland, though), maybe in a collage or mixed media piece. Along with the string. Open to suggestions…

And, all for the want of a snappy looking shoelace!

It’s fascinating to me how one idea generates another. I love the creative fuel that results.

RADISH FEVER!

26 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by in EAT!, Fall, Vegetable garden

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French Breakfast, black, New Crown Daikon, Round Core Shrinmei & Easter Egg.

IT’S A FEAST OF RADISHES HERE at Backyard Farm. Most were planted mid-to-late August. The smaller French breakfast type are now getting a bit hot and woody/spongey. The large daikon type radishes are probably good for another month or more if they don’t become buggy as they grow larger and some of the black radishes are golf ball size or larger.

Pretty round core and assorted radishes.

So far, the favorite is the red centered round core – so pretty, tasty and photogenic! Lots of paper thin slices tossed with a bit of lemon juice, finely chopped parsley, some olive oil, and salt make for a wonderfully sassy and refreshing salad. The daikons are sweet with just a little heat; the black radishes have some heat, need peeling, and good for raw eating if sliced paper thin, but are probably best when cooked (like turnips).

Got a favorite radish variety or ways to eat them?