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“”It doesn’t matter how the paint is put on, as long as something is said.” — Jackson Pollock
So many wonderful artists and poets are choosing to stay safe from COVID-19 in the comfort of their homes. What if I send the poets some visual art and rouse them to consider writing an Ekphrastic poem? I remembered the quote by Robert McKee: “A fine work of art — music, dance, painting, story — has the power to silence the chatter in the mind and lift us to another place.”
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Thanks to local artists Nancy Gates and Jim McDonald, I was able to send photos of their paintings to poets all around Napa Valley and beyond. What follows is a miracle collection of poems that, when standing next to Jim or Nancy’s paintings, create an exquisite duet. But, dear reader, these wonderful poems can stand on their own.
“No matter what people tell you words and ideas can change the world.” — anonymous
Sarah Miller was stirred by Jim MacDonald painting of a blue sky and intoxicating clouds:
People are also reading…
clouds lolling on the breeze
Eileen Tabios wrote about Jim’s painting of a starry night:
the immediate sky dampens
Nancy Gates’ “Mystical Crane,” flying through the evening air burnished by the sinking sun impelled Suzanne Bruce to write:
of a setting sun white crane
mellow horizon an unceasing reach —
And from Marita Dorenbecher:
wings down, the great egret slows
under the red sky warning
the sun still glows golden
Nancy Gates fashioned a red barn in a familiar rural setting. Peggy Prescott responded:
The most iconic of pastoral images
traditional red barn beside a silo
filled with abundance, fruits of life
of hard, honest, humble work
Jim McDonald gave the poets a painting that to me is an aerial view of a multilayered landscape. Brenda Davis was roused to write:
After being rooted in dark earthy layers
I rise from the hard ground
Jim McDonald’s painting of an open door into a room energized Karen Pierce Gonzalez to write:
Closed without a knob to turn,
it won’t open. Open it could let me in.
inside, I could look out the window
and see myself staring back —
Hold this verse by Lorraine A. Visovsky the next time to visit an art gallery.
or single impressions of a whole
the artist’s thought when all done
They evoke different feelings
calmness, tumult, simplicity
Google a famous (or not) painting. Be curious about what shape your verse may take. Consider visiting Sam Chapman’s “Flowers from Monet’s Garden” in Yountville Community Center Gallery until April 8 for inspiration
“Painting is silent poetry and poetry is a painting that speaks.” — Plutarch
Lightforms is one of eight installations featured at the 2022 Lighted Art Festival, which opened Saturday in downtown Napa and will continue through March 13.
Check out the week in cartoons
Lisa Benson cartoon
Clay Bennett cartoon
Clay Bennett cartoon
Tim Campbell cartoon
Jack Ohman, editorial cartoon
Lisa Benson cartoon
Jeff Danziger cartoon
Jeff Danziger cartoon
Jeff Danziger cartoon
Clay Bennett cartoon
Jack Ohman, editorial cartoon
Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee
Lisa Benson cartoon
Tim Campbell cartoon
Lisa Benson cartoon
Jeff Danziger cartoon
Jeff Danziger cartoon
Clay Bennett cartoon
Tim Campbell cartoon
Jack Ohman, editorial cartoon
Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee
Jack Ohman, editorial cartoon
Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee
Clay Bennett cartoon
https://napavalleyregister.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/the-poets-corner-painting-to-poem-at-home/article_1729c936-247c-5d5b-82af-4ddf7a3bca00.html