Posts Tagged ‘art’
a storm of birds
We are expecting major snowfall/freezing rain in the next couple of days. I think the birds must sense this because there is a veritable storm of birds at the feeders this morning.
~
~
We have evening grosbeaks, a downy woodpecker, chickadees, nuthatches and mourning doves. By far the largest numbers are the redpolls and goldfinches. We also have red and grey squirrels, but they didn’t show up this morning.
~
~
The birds fly in from our surrounding trees and feed for a while, coming and going. Then a dog barks or a car goes by and the whole flock leaves at once. Only a few brave grosbeaks cling to the feeder. Eventually, all the birds return and begin to feed.
~
~
We keep the feeders full during the cold weather and feed with nyjer (thistle) seed and black-oil sunflower seeds.
~
~
Watching the birds is lots of fun. Each species seems to have its own feeding-personality:
- the chickadees land, grab and leave as quickly as possible;
- the woodpeckers cling to the feeder and only leave when they’ve had their fill;
- the finches (redpolls and goldfinches) arrive as a flock and stay, to feed mostly on the fallen seed under the feeders;
- the grosbeaks, much bigger than the finches, mingle with them and hang on to the feeders even after other birds have been frightened away.
~
~
Bird watching is a great way to spend time during these days of pandemic lockdown. Still haven’t seen my first cardinal! And this year I haven’t yet seen a purple finch, so common in previous years.
~
~
All my best,
Jane
Gargoyles?
I am working on my poetry manuscript ‘a glimpse of waterfalls.’ As always, I workshop some of the poems with my writing group Wolf Tree Writers. Wolf Tree has been together over thirty years and has assisted me greatly in improving my poetry.
~
This past week I read a poem to Wolf Tree called ‘from a window on the 3rd floor.’ In the third stanza, a gargoyle is mentioned. We talked about how a gargoyle is an ‘Old World’ (European) reference. It made me curious about gargoyles in Canada.
~
~
A gargoyle is a sculptural architectural feature used like a waterspout to transport rainwater away from the building. A gargoyle often depicts a grotesque other-world figure and also serves to frighten daemons away and remind people of the perils of doing harm. Sculptural features which look like gargoyles but which do not convey water are called grotesques.
~
~
Canada has many examples of gargoyles, occurring wherever architecture is gothic in design. There are many examples in Montreal, including on the campus of McGill University (Redpath Hall and Library), on churches (Christ Church Cathedral) and on private buildings (the Elspeth Angus and Duncan McIntyre House). The Peace Tower (Parliament Building) in Ottawa has numerous gargoyles and grotesques. For more information see https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/how-why/gargoyles-and-grotesques-parliament-hills-sinister-sentinels/
~
~
from a window on the 3rd floor
~
I nudge curtain, interpret
streetscape, sirens
stream down the glass
fractal paths where drops
meet and coalesce
meet and coalesce
~
the puddle on the cobbled street
a pool at the base of a waterfall
edged in rock and fern
candy wrappers, paper coffee cups
brick an escarpment, rain spills
from ledges of stone
edges of stone
~
above, a gargoyle gushes
glimpse of reckless sky
heartened, I consider
merits of solitude
building facade
pavement pulses
red and blue
red and blue
~
~
Are there any gargoyles in the architecture of your area?
~
All my best!!
Jane
lily-of-the-valley
~
lily-of-the-valley
~
Convallaria majalis L.
~
where they came from
I do not know, perhaps
~
from my mother’s old home
in a shovel-full of lilac
a sheet of white writing paper
in a green box crammed with letters
~
perhaps from my grandfather’s farm
tucked in beside the creeping Jenny
a green and white plate printed
with a saying about home
~
perhaps from a seed in the gravel
spread on the paths or the road
a line of red pebbles
in a spill of quartz
~
every summer the colony spreads
green flames lick at gravel
white bells, delicate perfume
scarlet berries
~
a letter not written
a plate hung on the wall
a pathway leading home
~
~
All my best!
Stay safe!
Jane
ghosts are lonely here ….. new poetry collection
This spring, I began to gather together the various poems I have written over the years. One of my recurring interests has been abandoned buildings and other discarded human-built structures. And now, here is my book of poems about abandoned humanscape … ghosts are lonely here.
~
My book is available in paperback and includes 45 poems and 14 of my original pencil drawings. Most of the poems are about abandoned structures in New Brunswick, Canada.
~
~
We live in a time when built landscape is often in a state of abandonment: old churches, old bridges, old schools, old buildings. Add to this abandoned vehicles, abandoned boats and deteriorating stone walls, over-grown roads and decommissioned rail lines, and we exist in a landfill of nineteenth and twentieth century projects, abandoned to time. These poems listen to the histories and stories of the abandoned. The poems are sometimes sad, sometimes resentful, always wise.
~
~
~
To order ghosts are lonely here, click here.
~
Have a great day.
Jane
Do you love picking berries, herbs, other plants from the garden? I think you’d like my book of poetry ‘within easy reach’ (Chapel street Editions, 2016). It is illustrated with my drawings and contains notes on various example of the edible ‘wild.’ Order it here.
~
~
where we step
~
my brother and I explore
the old home place, overgrown
and unused, the house fallen
into the cellar, a sock
tossed into the dresser drawer
but, barefoot not an option
~
even shod, we are careful
of our feet – nails, glass, bricks
from the chimney, unease creeps
beneath the grass – we watch for
the water well, covered but
with rotted boards
~
hard not to love where we step –
the mint enfolds our ankles,
rose and rosemary, our minds
chives lace our sneakers, fold
flowers from purple papers
lavender leans on the walls
~
silver, graceful and wise,
the sage surveys our ruin,
thyme is bruised,
everywhere we step
~
~
Stay safe.
All my best!
Jane
creating my niche
create: 1: to bring into existence;
2a: to invest with a new form, office or rank;
2b: to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior;
3: cause or occasion;
4a: to produce through imaginative skill;
4b: design.
– Webster’s Dictionary
I am very interested in creative endeavors and I like being creative. I am happiest when I am writing, painting, drawing, sewing, weaving, knitting, and so on.
Although I best like to write, I find creative activities substitute for one another. For example, when I am not writing for an extended period of time, I am often embedded in some other activity, such as painting.
Weaving exemplifies the lure of my various creative undertakings. The producing requires knowledge and skill, and builds confidence. The process is enjoyable and time is made available for thought and concentration. The threads and fabrics are luxurious to the touch and the colors are bright and joyful. When I am finished a project, I am so proud of the resulting textile, I want to show the world.
My loom is a simple floor loom, 24 inch wide. I bought it at a country auction, about 20 years ago. My sister and I were among the stragglers at the auction, trying to outlast a heavy rain. In the corner we saw a bundle of varnished wood and some metal parts. “I think that’s a loom”, whispered my savvy sister. When the item came up for auction, there were few bidders remaining, and no one know just what ‘it’ was. At $25, it was a huge bargain.
My loom and I have not been steady company. It takes forever to install the warp threads, and sometimes weaving is hard on my back. But the fabrics we make together, my loom and I, are beautiful and comfortable and good for the soul.
What creative endeavors shape your niche space? What materials do you use and what do you love about them?
~
~
yellow line
~
the road is fabric
weave of asphalt
ditch and yellow line
warp of guard rail
fence and heddle
~
trees in plantations
lines on the hayfield
shadows on road
hip and curve of the earth
weft as she turns in her sleep
~
shuttle piloted
through landscape
and watershed
textile in folds
texture the yearn of the loom
~
faults in the granite
potholes in pavement
rifts in the fabric
where weavers might falter
revisit work of earlier times
~
learning the lesson
taught by the loom
~
choose your weft wisely
balance color and texture
maintain your tension
fix mistakes as you go
~
rest when your back hurts
~
listen
to the whisper
of weave
of yellow line
~
~
All my best,
staying at home, staying safe,
Jane Tims
the yellow line
Strawberry Kool-Aid Hair with Ribbons
~
~
Strawberry Kool-Aid Hair
with Ribbons
~
strawberry Kool-Aid hair
with ribbons
she pushes the button
to cross Dundonald
serious with her boyfriend
her backpack heavy
~
she is like
the student on roller blades
skilled with traffic
not slowing near the top of Regent
reckless to the river
~
or the man
a block from here
a man with a briefcase
leaning across the fence
making a bouquet
of pussy-willows
~
~
All my best.
Stay safe.
Jane
heroine
~
heroine
~
her hair
is a stroke of pink
on the brown audience
~
more compelling
than the script
or the decorated stage
~
not surprising to see
her name on the program
Rose
~
in black but for the hair
even her lips
implore the audience
to pardon the difference
~
she, the heroic one
not Romeo
or Juliet
~
not the dead
but the left-behind
~
~
All my best.
Staying safe,
Jane
spring flowers
Our dominant ground greenery at this time of year is from the leaves of lily-of-the-valley (Convalleria majalis). Like emerald flames they light up the yard. And now they are in bloom. The fragrance is amazing!
All my best
and please stay safe at home.
Jane
next book in the Meniscus Series: the illustrations
For the last two days, I have been in a drawing mood. Not many authors illustrate their books (not including those who work on graphic novels), but I love this part of the process.
~
~
I have had lots of discussions with readers about the right and wrong of illustrating. Some think it takes away from the reader’s wonderful ability to imagine characters and scenes. Others think the illustrations take a reader deeper into the author’s intentions. As an author, I think drawings help get my ideas across. Since my books are told as narrative poetry, my words tend to be vary spare and I think of the drawings as extensions of the narrative.
~
I include two types of drawings in my books: portraits of the characters and sketches of the action.
~
The portraits are useful to me as a writer. They help fix the character’s face so the image does not migrate from book to book. I am really proud of the portraits and looking at them inspires my writing.
~
~
I am also proud of some of my drawings of scenes from my books. When the drawing is close to the idea I want to portray, sometimes it suggests new details in the text. Some drawings are not so good but I rarely re-draw. Instead, I think of these as representative of the weirdness of planet Meniscus. It reminds me of a line from my favorite TV show Lost. Daniel Faraday, on his first visit to the island says,
The light… it’s strange out here, isn’t it? It’s kind of like, it doesn’t, it doesn’t scatter quite right.”
On Meniscus, the pencil doesn’t behave quite right.
~
~
In every book, there are 23 +/- 4 drawings. Some are portraits or repeats of earlier scenes. Today, I did two drawings, both unique to Meniscus: The Knife.
~
All my best,
staying home
and staying in my two-family bubble,
Jane
