Songs, Rivers, and a Gift
For most of my young life I dreamed of someday creating art for album covers. So it’s with giddy excitement that I’m showing off another album cover I’ve done! It's an honor to contribute art to the music of James M Gregg, a.k.a. West Riding. Take a listen to the latest and greatest - “Narrow Road to the Interior” which is based on the writings and wanderings of Zen poet, Basho.
I described my painting in the liner notes: Over the past few years I have been developing a series of round artworks, about the size of a teacup, consisting of mostly flowing lines of ink. This design in particular was unique from the rest, in that it was not bounded inside a closed circle, but was open and allowed space to flow in and breathe. I knew it was destined to take on a more evolved form when James shared "Wake Butterfly" and "I Long To Be Where I Already Am" with me. Taking the small drawing from inches to feet was a technical challenge, to be sure... and took two weeks to fully render. The light tones, and directional lines suggest flight, travel, and air.
The resulting painting I call "Aria" is 2 X 2 feet and consists of textures and transparent veils of acrylic color on canvas. Click here to see the whole piece (without me in the photo) :)
River
once you hear the trickle
you can’t help but look for it
sparkling through the tall grass
we can touch the water—
breezes cool the edges
shimmering the shore
boulders that shadow
pathways of skimmers
dashing minnows trace and
sway, in pebbled forests
that shade low cauldrons
cold, where tadpoles shelter
at noon. Together,
we’ll sleep in the stones.
grab one and throw it!
the dance, interrupted—
ripples roll out madly
like laughter in a field.
my river wanders on,
from energy and constancy
from cycles, sun, and gravity
from the movement of water
even in winter. Entranced
by it all: cloud-white mountain
down rain and soil tapestry
weaving this path
flowing home.
To say “thank you for reading my newsletters” here is a relaxing gift - a printable coloring page. If you know, you know - there’s no age limit to these. Crayon away! or use sharpened colored pencils and/or fine tip pens for the fancy results. The speech bubbles are poetic opportunities. What the doe says, what the snail dreams, is up to you….
I would love to see what you (or anyone in your crew) comes up with! If you send me something I may share *with your permission of course.
Hey, everyone. Hi. 👋
I’ve been spending less time on Facebook (I keep trying to leave completely but never do.) BlueSky is a great Twitter replacement - but meh, not much interaction there. My Email is often overflowing (as yours may be, too)…
I do want to hear from you, particularly when it comes to art or poetry. What’s your favorite style that you’d hope to see more of? Would you like a print of something? (I can make those!) Do you want more freebies? Did you love a particular poem you read? Please keep in touch - in whatever way feels right.
Thanks, and Take Care,
