Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A Poem is for Everyone!

Yes, it is true!  

Everyone can read a poem 
and ENJOY it. 



I promise you, poetry is for everyone.
So many people say, "I don't know anything about poetry." The seem to apologize for not knowing anything about poetry. Usually when someone says something like this, they are really afraid to even talk about poetry.

Why is that?

For some reason they think you have to be "educated" in understanding a poem.
I say, if you are an English major, or taking a poetry class in school, then you will be learning a lot about different kinds of poems and poets.

But if you are just reading a poem, and want to enjoy it, then go right ahead!

What is poetry really all about?

It is all around you; the air you breathe; the warmth of the sun on your shoulders on a summer day; the peas that are cooking on your stove; the music on your radio; the sound of the creek running in the spring time; swimming in a cold mountain stream, and every other thing you may experience.

Don't worry about what "form" the poem is!
Don't worry about rhyme, or meter or other fancy words that some people like to throw around.

Poetry is all about you, and what touches you inside when you read something.
Poetry is the very air we breathe.

It's for everybody!







Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Rhododendron Dreams

Rhododendron Dreams 

 

Spring Time  in Western Pennsylvania




What a beautiful morning  here in Western Pennsylvania. 

The world here is alive with sights, sounds,smells today.

My senses are acutely aware of it all because I have just returned from my early morning workout at the gym where I do high intensity interval training. After my workout, my body is 

in sinc 

with the world of nature when I come home.  I grabbed my camera and
shot a lot of photos of the enormous, 20 ft high, 

Rhododendron bush in full bloom




I wanted to capture the early morning light the fully open 

lavender-pink blossoms - hundreds of them. 

I am alive and so is all of 
Nature today!
I have always loved taking photographs.  My loss of  sight has not decreased
the passion I have for those unexpected  and succulent images.  My methods have chanced though.


Two years ago, I sold my 35 mm cameras and all the attachments I had treasured and used so much over the years.  Now, I just take out my GE1040 digital camera and I approach my subject, point and shoot. It is always a big surprise when I finally get to see what I captured.  It is very strange 
to some people around me that I cannot see what I am shooting, but yet, later through technology, 

I can see the shots on my large screen 
computer monitor. U use  ZoomText. 

How I love my ZoomText! It is pure magic for me. It enables me to fully participate as a photographer in the visual world, just like I always did before sight loss.

I am writing about these things, this morning, to say that it  is another
way to capture subject matter and images for poetry! There is no separation
for me bet wen fine art and poetry. My process is the same for creating both,
though the instruments and methods are different.  It is the tools and the
adaptations of tools that enable me to continue to do the things I have always loved to do - write poetry and make art.



When I begin to think about my subject and how I will create a poem from this image, I begin to remember my physical contact with it, too. It is only partly a visual image. My other senses are there as well. I use them all when I begin to create the photograph or the poem. It all begins with awareness of the moment - fully aware of it all.  It is a kind of awakening from a deep sleep - it happens slowly, in layers.

The question is: 

How to take a great photo or write a great poem from an 
image  you cannot see?





Here is my own process:

First, become aware of the  physical aspects of your subject. It has a living presence. It is a tangible thing.Pay attention to the smell of it. It breathes, moves, shifts, changes, lives, and dies.


This morning I listened to  the lone crow calling from the woods surrounding my home when I was outside with my camera.I heard the rushing waters of the creek below the meadow behind my home. Mingled in with the water's flow, I heard the softer sounds of the wild geese who are down there as they are every spring. Then, a layer of sharp staccato jabs of sharp trills, from a bird, punctuating the top layer of the morning's landscape.

I touched   the dripping wet leaves as I moved through the trees along the path.  My feet were  cold and became wet  because the dew was heavy on the grass.  My clothing  started to  cling to my torso because  water spots dropped on me.

I breathed in the  early morning cool air and noticed that the day  seems subdued and hazy. But my body was throbbing with energy and excitement as I walked, parting the branches along the way. It all felt so good, so right.My physical contact with my subjects and everything that surrounds me, and
my subject, will come into my photograph.  I will be trying to capture the livingness of this day, through this one particular photograph. If I am very aware of it all, I will have a good photo today! If I am really dedicated to my pursuit of this image and this moment in time in my own life, I will even
have a poem eventually.  

Art and life are one.

Finally, inside the house in the solitude of my office where the clock ticks
on the wall behind me, I begin the additional work   that will take the images from the morning's experiences. I will take them from the camera, blow them up through the computer photo program, and then begin to crop, select, and edit my photos.  For the poem that might come forth from this morning's work with the camera and the photo editing, I will begin to record some words about my subject.  I will write a blog about today's adventure in the early morning. I will post some photos on my Facebook Page for my friends around the world to enjoy.  I will even write a short message to my friends on the Writer's List this morning. And, I will probably begin the work of turning these images into a poem.

I will consider all aspects of it. My blossoms have center stage, they are
stars, each of them,  on a plant  I had plunged  into the soil about 43 years ago. It was a very small plant in a little plastic container at that time.  As the years have passed it has grown into the magnificent blooming waterfall-type of wall - bursting forth with magnificent  flowers that I saw
this morning.  

Life happens slowly, like the growth of this plant that reaches up into the second story of my very old house here on River Road.

Life is LIVED in the smallest details of those years, 
in this place. 



If only I can capture just a small moment 
of it all today!

Maybe you would like to take a walk today and see what you find blooming in your world!  Go ahead. You might be surprised at what is out there.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Your DISABILITY can be TURNED to an ABILITY


Be a Winner!

How do you SEE yourself?

When you think about what you do as an artist or writer, what kind of image of YOU comes to your mind?

I can say that I choose to see ME as a WINNER.

I see ME as successful in my life.

Success is in inner FEELING that we have. It does not depend on any outward circumstances. It is internal. It is a STATE OF MIND!

After I lost my eyesight in 2007 it seemed that I would never again be able to make art or write.  I decided very quickly that I wanted to take charge of my own circumstances and that would happen through my own determination and decisions. I chose to continue on with life as I had known it – making art, writing poems, and being the creative being I always was.

To do this, I had to LEARN to ADAPT. Yes, it was true my life had been greatly altered.

Despite the circumstances, I determined to again make ART and to WRITE.

I began working towards my goals a little at a time. I knew I had to learn new ways of making art and writing. Step by step, I did just that.


Last weekend, one of my bead worked pieces was honored at the Associated Artists of Butler County Spring Art Show –

I got THE FIRST PLACE AWARD in the Mixed Media Category!! The winning art work is “Party on the Allegheny River.” 

This work was created from small smooth stones I gathered on the Allegheny River near Oil City, PA as I was out in a CANOE. This was AFTER MY  SIGHT 

LOSS!



Above:  Party on the Allegheny, side view.




Below:  Girl on a Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies







This is very special to me because this was one of the first bead work pieces I was able to do after my sight loss experience. It was a struggle for me to again do this kind of delicate bead work. The beads are so small that most people can barely feel them between their fingers when they pick one up.  But, with perseverance, I learned HOW to do it and HOW to get a very miniscule needle through those tiny holes in the beads.  I do it non-visually!


Another of the bead work pieces I designed and completed was a self-portrait of me as a child. This piece is called _Girl on a Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies_ and features a vintage pocket mirror with a photo of me as a small child on it. I used this idea as the centerpiece for my art work.  It had been given to me by my mother, long ago.

Surrounding the photo mirror is  an array of Stone Carved Roses made from CORAL GEMSTONES.  This picture features many, many tiny Japanese beads.  It is a fine and intricate type of bead working – every item on this piece is made from and surrounded by BEADS.

I chose to do it in a vintage print, from the 1940’s because that is the era when the photo would have been taken of me on the bench. I wanted a nostalgic feeling in the art work and it was important to begin with a fabric from this decade.

The exciting news here, is that THIS PIECE is currently on display at an international invitation exhibition – the Small Works Salon – at the New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA.  I will attend the opening reception there on May 25th and have a JOY of knowing that MY ART WORK is worthy of such a wonderful international art show.

I share these things with YOU so that you can get the feeling of finding success and a winning attitude in your own creative life.

You can BE whoever you DECIDE you WILL BE.

If you have a disability  it does not matter

You can FIND your OWN way

CHOOSE to overcome that challenge.

You will see! 

You can do it, too!