A Poem Flew

Thank the muses that a poem flew into my heart

this morning. Whenever I am the target of these
arrows of fancy I write gratefully and fastly. I
witness the pen moving and the ink--
this time the color brown--
flowing onto the page as the sun
sometimes sparks off the wetness
and then--like when the coffee maker
makes its final spurt--it is done. My hand stops moving as words drip to an end and the mind ques quiet and I earnestly read what has transpired in this attack of physical words in familiar hand on the page that is now full. For a moment my body is calm, my mind at rest. 

[Note: this is not the poem that came to me in a flash--that poem, over there, was written in blue and this, as I've said before, is of brown ink with an occasional spark of sun.]

Hello Dairy Hollow!

So, this is day 2 of my stay at the Writers' Colony and I am slowly acclimating to being alone with my

creative self although, she is still hiding in the bedroom. Last night she was peeking through the closet door watching me read Natalie Goldberg's new book, "The True Secret of Writing, Connecting Life with Language." Today she may step out of the closet. You see she doesn't think she belongs here--says she's a fraud and no one really likes her poems or her silly old art. Now, isn't this ridiculous when there is no "no one" here? It is only Creativity and me in a wonderful soft blue-green writing studio. But I think she may come out today in here where I am writing in 28 colors. Oh, what fun I'm having using all of the colors--even brown and mustard, fuchsia and black.

Never Dreamed this Moment

This is a photo of the markers I use to do my art. I wrote some words on top to express how it felt to be so happy sitting under a pyramid shaped skylight in the sitting room of my Dairy Hollow get-a-way (the Writers' Colony in Eureka Springs). I published a poster, had it framed and it hangs on my living room wall on Walnut Street in Kansas City. It remains the joy of my art. I am a lucky woman.

Tulip Time

Yesterday, I picked up two new posters--nicely framed. I believe that one of them, Tulip Time, is the best piece I have ever done. During a long April walk in Eureka Springs, I took a picture of a tulip patch. Then, I put the tulip patch photo on my computer and into Photoshop. There are many options that will intensify or dim or change the look, feel and color of the selected image. Tulip Time was maxed out and I immediately smiled. I loved the effect of super glorious color on the naturally simple tulip--oh, the gentle manic process of art. I added text from the morning's journal--over and under and all around the image--including the morning birdsong I tried to replicate with musical notation--can you see it? in purple? little musical notes? The finished (17.5" x 9.5") piece was printed on canvas which adds, I think, a bit of legitimacy to this particular ART project.

Note:Written during my stay at the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow where all I did was write and make art--and eat the tasty dinners prepared by marvelous Cindy. It is a wonderfully supportive atmosphere in which to explore and produce art of any kind. I highly recommend it.