Poetry: Fine Feathers

Fine Feathers

a poem written by Lois Heger

in response to the lovely jacket,

Fine Feathered Friends,

created by artist Jill Becker.

How outrageous that art could hug a woman

Patterns that dance around her shoulders

Embrace her torso with pulsing vibes

Guinea feathers that flirt with her cleavage

As if Icarus' feathers

Fallen from their

Man made wings

Floated down

To land in a silken shrug

Around the shoulders of a lovely girl

Fine Feathered Friends, modeled by Annalisa Jose

with artist and creator Jill Becker at right.


photo courtesy of Alfredo Rego

Poetry: The Hunt

Hunting Owl

Poetry by Lou Taylor,

responding to the The Hunt,

a beautifully dyed, hand-painted, and quilted piece

by artist Leslie Rego

Fierce raptor

Intense focus

Created for the hunt

Eyes shining

In the night

Skimming the trees

Stalking prey

Wild beauty

Lovely and dangerous

photo courtesy of Paul Riccardi

Poetry: Bastrop Burning

Bastrop Burning

by Lois Heger

inspired by the three riveting works of artist 

Allison Brown-Cestero:

Bastrop Burning: Epicenter 

Bastrop Burning: Rift

Bastrop Burning: Lost Pines

I still smell it, smoke's

Invasive smell intrudes, resides

Concentric circles pulse from a

Golden orange emptiness

Dark as the dizzy boundaries a hole in the center

Brackets of green fading out

Fall away from the hot colors

Torn away as rented fabric

Holes and chars reveal under-layers

All the way to the core

Pines down and dark and gone

And the spiral of

Released seed falling

They say it comes back better after a burn

In earth time, not long

In girl time it's forever

Lost Pines

Poetry: Letters Home

A Love Story

by Edna Kitchen

Inspired by the art of Judy Carpenter

"Letters Home"

Our souls dangling by a single red thread

Of a chain that once held us together

Like a ghost struggling to find

Its way back home

Bursting forth through the sweet golden

Memories of your touch

Ceasing to exist in the thick blue torment

Of our lonely separateness

Your letters home are all I have

A whisper of a promise

That one day soon

You will return to me

To weave the threads of our lives once more

Into a greater destiny

Unraveling nevermore.

Poetry: The Dance of Life

The Dance of Life

written by Alice Zimmermann

in response to the vibrant and beautiful artwork of

Shirley Metcalf,

created on silk noil.

Red, vibrant, orange, yellow joy

Light and whispy

Edgy and twisty

In twirls and swirls

I move

This way and that

Arms flowing, eyes closing

Hips shaking, shoulders rolling

Head bobs, toes tap

Hair flies, fingers snap

Hands waving, feet shifting

Knees bouncing, skin glistening

I move

This way and that

My Spirit soars in kaleidoscope reds

I dance myself out of my head

Until I see my self as all

In all

...and I move

This way and that

Poetry: Golden Mean

Golden Mean,

inspired by the incredible artwork of Jean Dahlgren

and written by Lois Heger

1.6180339887...*

A golden

A wondrous

(void)

Yet two disparate

Opinions converge

Pliable.

*this poem is based on the numeric value for the golden mean with each word having the number of letters in it as the corresponding number in the formula.  Liberties were taken with the numeral "0" whose place is held by the word "void".

Poetry: A Time for a Change

A Time for a Change

A poem written by Patricia Osoria

in response to the beautifully dyed, pieced, and quilted

artwork of Laurie Brainerd.

Nothing seems to fit together anymore

Flow has stopped

Start.  Stop.  Start.  Stop.  Start.  Stop.

Hemmed in.

Bound.

Restless.

Time for a change.

Poetry: A New Equilibrium

Today's poetry selection, A New Equilibrium by Lois Heger, was inspired by three fabulous pieces based on the square, all by artist Ann Graham.  

Enjoy!

A New Equilibrium

by Lois Heger

These squares of life which I inhabit

A series of nesting blocks

All is orderly, color knows its place

With neat stitches I keep all my facets where they belong

My yellow brilliance pushed toward the outside

From craft to art, comfort to chaos

My square peg is edgy not smooth

In a wordless explosion of self

White bits of me are

Waiting for the meaning to settle

Scattered square fragments

Honoring the past

Knowing there's more

Bold colors and action and energy

Just held in check by other dabs of energy, my energy

Now the filed is serious, hard edges, sometimes troubling

yet owning a new centeredness

Yellow brilliance front and center

A new equilibrium

Poetry: Wade In

A lovely poem, written by Lois Heger,

inspired by the beautiful art work of Karen Turckes.

Wade In

By Lois Heger

Wade in the water

Spoken in a language of feelings that words can't touch

Numbers can't calculate or define

This is women's work

A swath of color

A splash of silk

A float of organza

Transparent to barely being

Yet strong enough to cast a shadow

Soothing salty fluid hits air and becomes foam

Light bends through a canal of blue

And casts patterns deeper than we could imagine

Beauty is in the troubled water

But also power in the

Water that whispers in colors

Don't think

Wade in

Do your work

photographs courtesy of Paul Riccardi

Poetry: Attraction and Simple Gifts

Two pieces of beautiful and thought-provoking artwork by
Diane Sandlin,

accompanied by poems written by Gioconda Costello.

Attraction

a poem by Gioconda Costello

Round

Spherical

Gravitates

To angular

Black and white

Embraced by

Blue and red

Opposites

Enveloped into

One

Simple Gifts

Gioconda Costello

Mountain

Valley

Space

Simply

Viewed

Yet

With

Layers

Of Depth

photography courtesy of Alfredo Rego

Sacred Turtle Petroglyph

Below is the first in the series of poems inspired by one of the Twelve Voices From One exhibition pieces.
   
Honu, about which Sacred Turtle Petroglyph was written, was created by artist Angela Maroun.  It is a lovely piece of art which draws you in so that you can fully appreciate the layers and layers of fiber techniques involved: dyeing, embroidery, needle felting, etc.  

Sacred Turtle Petroglyph

by Lou Taylor

Trinity of ancient turtles

Sacred trinity

Etched in stone

Created in felt

For our enlightenment

Reminder of mortality

We were not

The first ones here

Honu is pictured in the lower right.

Artist Angela Maroun (l), Poet Lou Taylor (r)


These photos are courtesy of Paul Riccardi,  Maroun's brother.
Riccardi is also an artist, and you can see more of his work here.

Twelve Voices From One Exhibition Opens!

The Twelve Voices From One exhibition opened at 

the Radius Gallery in San Antonio, TX

on Thursday evening, March 29th.

Pictured above are the participants in 

the Art Cloth Mastery 2010 Program,

whose works were featured in this exhibit.

seated l to r: Judy Carpenter, Leslie Rego, Laurie Brainerd, Jill Becker,
 Allison Brown-Cestero;

standing: Karen Turckes, Shirley Metcalf, Jean Dahlgren, Ann Graham, 
Jane Dunnewold, Angela Maroun, Annalisa Jose, Diane Sandlin.

We would like to share photos taken during the opening, 

followed by resumes and bios of the individual artists.
All images will enlarge when clicked upon.
(please click on the individual artist's names in the sidebar to visit their page)

Enjoy!

l to r: "Isometric Square"
"Birth of a Square"
"City Square"


Ann Graham

Ann Graham, Laurie Brainerd, Judy Carpenter

top to bottom:
"Meditation"
"Breathe"
"Open. Allow. Receive. Accept."
all measure 21 x 21 x 2"

Laurie Brainerd

"Time for a Change"
15 x 15 x 2"

Laurie Brainerd

"Outside"
17 x 17 x 2"


Laurie Brainerd

l to r: "Circles Interrupted"
"Letters Home"
"Killin' the Blues"


Judy Carpenter

"Plum Blossom"

Judy Carpenter

Judy Carpenter, Shirley Metcalf

l to r: "Our Synergy" 70 x 42"
"Our Dance" 70 x 40"
"We Do, We Cope, We Are" 70 x 42"


Shirley Metcalf

l to r: "Horizon Beneath the Sea"
"Illumination"
"Ocean Wave"


Karen Turckes

Karen Turckes

Shirley Metcalf, Karen Turckes

Karen Turckes, Leslie Rego

"Four Seasons"
41 x 90"


Leslie Rego

"The Hunt"

40 x 36"

Leslie Rego

Angela Maroun

top piece on left: "Bastrop Burning: Epicenter" 20 x 48"

bottom piece on left: "Bastrop Burning: Rift" 25 x 23"

at right: "Bastrop Burning: Lost Pines" 55 x 43"

Allison Brown-Cestero

l to r: "Sanctuary"

"Points of Light"

"Golden Mean"

Jean Dahlgren

Diane Sandlin

"Attraction" - Diane Sandlin

"Equilibrium" - Diane Sandlin

"Simple Gifts" - Diane Sandlin

l to r: "Chakra Spin"

"Joy is Within Me"

"The Path has Many Layers"

"Hearts with Strings"

"Sacred Heart Chakra"

"Energy"

"Walking Gently on the Path"

Annalisa Jose

l to r: "The Path has Many Layers"

"Hearts with Strings"

Annalisa Jose

Jacket at right by Jill Becker (l),

 modeled by Zenna Jane James

Jacket at left by Jill Becker (r),

modeled by Annalisa Jose

Jacket by Jill Becker

Four Seasons by Leslie Rego

Leslie Rego with "Four Seasons"

Jane Dunnewold, Annalisa Jose, Jill Becker, Zenna Jane James

We wish to extend our thanks to Alfredo Rego, who photographed the evening,

the folks at the Radius Gallery,

and Jane Dunnewold, without whose knowledge, inspiration and love,

none of this would have been possible.

More photographs will follow, so please return periodically!

Poems written about individual pieces of art will also follow later this week.