The Writers Who Inspired Us

April is National Poetry Month

Recently, in one of my writing groups, someone issued a bit of a challenge.  We were asked to consider the influence of a poet  who has had a lasting effect on us?  

The question is:  

What poem  inspired me?

I thought about it for some time.  How can I even begin to single out one? I have been thinking about this for awhile, since the beginning of National Poetry Month. I would think of one poet, or one poem, and would say to myself, “this one is it!” But something was not quite right, so I would continue to contemplate the  many writers I have loved over the years. I taught  a wide assortment of  poetry courses over my years as an English Professor – how to choose which one is the most influential to me? What poet brought me the core values I have embraced for my entire lifetime? What poetry answered the questions of life and death, and gave me a world view that is lasting beyond the trends and fashions of the changing times?

Was it in my own college years that I found that special one? Robert Bly took me on journeys to ancient times, as we walked together through snowy fields; I thrilled to the language of the 16th century poets and wrote papers on romance and death through the eyes of John Donne.

I looked back to my high school years - the Beats were living and breathing inside my thoughts and actions. I still love them, and I learned so much about life from them - things that still thrill me today as I look back.

No, move back further - what about the poetry of grade school years? Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees." He gave me a life-long appreciation of nature and the universe and my place in it.  And, the wonderful stories that were read to me by Mrs. Mathews, in her story time breaks at the North Star School. 

My summertime reading - came to me.  My mother would take me to the local public library where I would collect an arm full of books to bring home. Oh, the smell of them! The feel of them in my hands! Heaven on earth. Just me and a book, on the old front porch - reading through the summer afternoons there on the glider. Walter Farley and Louisa May Alcott -

took me to a world of wonder and delight.  I cried along with the tragedies of "Black Beauty" and I walked along with the children and had tea parties "Under the Lilacs" of Louisa May Alcott's imagination.

Authors and books stay with us forever. In the final quarter of my life, they are still there, alive and thrilling. My memories abound with the people, places, and life lessons I have learned from all those writers and poets.

Finally,  last night, in a conversation with another writer it came to me – in an instant, I knew for sure the  one key source of my own writing, from a very early age.

My source is an ancient one – 

the Psalms of the Bible.  

King David 

was  my earliest source of creative writing, and I would always connect poetry with singing.

I would have heard them read in church from the time before I could speak. The various Psalms have been at the core of my life.

When my younger brother was dying on New Year’s Eve our entire family was there surrounding him in his home as he lay unconscious.  My brother departed from this world at dawn on the first day of  2007.  We said the 23^rd Psalm to him while he was in his final minutes that   night. 

Three months later, my sister,  youngest brother and I were tending to our Mother as she was beginning her final journey to the next world, I sat beside her with my Bible and I began to read her a number of Psalms because I knew those words would bring her comfort and peace. I sang to her, and I read to her that afternoon.

Last year, once again, I was with my Aunt Bettie, in a hospice, watching over her and holding her as she was getting ready to leave this world. Again, it was the songs of faith, and the Psalms that I shared with her. This time, my sister Patti was there with me again, as she had been the other two times. My two granddaughter’s were there, and our little 3 year old great-granddaughter was there as she gently  slipped away. 

For several years, I had been writing my own personal “Meditations on the Psalms.”  It was a way of worship for me. I would read a Psalm and then keep it in my heart during the day. Throughout the day, I would jot down notes, little meditations, on that Psalm.  Many of the Meditations were published by a gallery in New York. They appeared in the gallery newsletters over several months. I had not thought about them for quite awhile, until I began working on my writing archives and came across them once again.

Below  is one of my “Meditations.”  

Psalm 138 

 The link below will take you to a recording of the  original source if you want to compare my meditation with the original that inspired me one day in 1999.

You can listen to this Psalm:

http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Ps.138

“An Interpretation on Psalm 138”

           by Lynda McKinney Lambert

I am standing here,  Lord -

my heart full of praises for you.

I am sometimes aware

that the angels of heaven

surround me as I sing.

In my imagination,

I  stand against a gentle breeze-

still on the mountain top,

looking at your Holy Temple.

The sun warms my face.

How could I refrain

from singing today

as  I think about your faithfulness,

and the promises you keep?

Your trust is guaranteed.

You know there’s been days

when I’ve been weak -

my condition has been shameful

Yet, you respond to me

with encouragement and new dreams.

Wouldn’t every person in this world

like to hear your voice today?

Surely they would give you thanks

because you know them personally.

They will see that you are great.

Through the greatest dangers

we have come hand in hand.

You cleared the way before us

and quietly rescued me.

Is it  because you have plans for me?

The vitality of life passes before

the presence of  your glance.

Let this day develop as you say

and for only one reason -

I am your creation!

Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright 1999. All Rights Reserved.

Lynda

 

Easter Sunday - One Awesome Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1D9NRG1HRo

Click on the LINK  above to see this wonderful video today.

 "Easter  Sunday Morning"

The early morning choir twitters -

Chirps  deep inside  the dusty bushes,

accompanied by  low, long mournful tones

of wheels turning against the pavement.

A hidden lemon chiffon sun brightens the  sky

somewhere behind  layers of  melancholy  mists -

softly  warming  the  mahogany branches

of starkly naked springtime trees.

I made no special plans for today-

no periwinkle blue  shoes or silken  amethyst  dress.

Instead, I recline on soft linen  pillows

and  write on ashen  journal pages. 

Tranquil.  I listen and watch.

A gloomy opening of a hillside cave

unravels  through my thoughts.

From somewhere in the Eastern world,

stories of old dreams continue to be told.

 I contemplate  the meaning of this day.

Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright, 1999 and 2013.

 All rights reserved.

Listen to this lovely  Video:

One Awesome Savior

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1D9NRG1HRo

d

STOP! Look BACKWARDS!

Looking Backwards for Inspiration

So many times when we think of things that are inspiring, we have that feeling we need to be looking forward to something off in the future. Maybe we think we should re-examine our goals that we have set, or our “5 year Plan,” or just check in with our “to-do list.” All of those things are good and necessary to do so that we can stay focused. They all help to keep us on our path that we have laid out – reminders of where we want to go and what we want to be.

But, today, I want to talk about 

the value of “Looking Backwards.”

I started looking backwards after the first of the year. It has taken me on an amazing journey into my own history!

I began to work on my archives, as an artist. I was wondering just how many exhibitions I had done since I started my art career in 1976. That was the year when I first picked up the artist’s paint brush, and learned how to mix a “palette” and how to make a painting. Within the next three years, I had worked diligently at making art, painting.  In only three years, I began to exhibit my work in my local area when there were opportunities.

To my utter disbelief, I immediately began getting the paintings juried into exhibition, and I also began winning awards at nearly every show I entered.

It was not long until my work was juried into a prestigious art exhibition in New York City – the Audubon Art Exhibition! How exciting that was for me.

For the first time ever, I went by myself on a plane to NYC, and I attended the opening of  that show. There was my work – on view – and it felt so “normal” for me to be there and see that work. I can still remember exactly what painting it was. It was a picture of an old western Pennsylvania house that I saw often when I was out driving. It was located on a two lane road  on a hillside; trees surrounded it and cast soft blue/violet shadows on the white house. One day I had stopped to capture that scene with a photograph and then I had taken the photo into my studio to do the painting, “View from New Castle Road.” I still love that painting!

This special painting hangs in my home, and reminds me that I have accomplished something good in my past. It also is a marker that it was the beginning of my public career on a national level.

Once I started painting, I did it just about every day. The first few years I painted on the kitchen table after the children left for school. Sometimes, I had an easel set up in the dining room, and I painted there from objects I had set up for a still life.

Eventually, my art took me off in a new direction. I entered a fine arts program at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.  I majored in painting, and I began doing tapestry weavings. My weavings were like paintings, in my mind.

After I received the BFA degree, I was honored to receive a scholarship and fellowship to go to West Virginia University, in Morgantown, WV. There, I work diligently on the MFA degree. I continued to paint, as that was my focus there, too. In addition to painting, I also discovered a piece of plywood one day, and that inspired me to try to make a woodcut print.

For my MFA Thesis exhibition, the large gallery was filled with immense paintings and large wood cut prints. I had created a world for the visitors to walk into – it was my world, created in my studio.

As the years went on, I continued to show my work everywhere I had an opportunity or invitation. One of my woodcut prints went to the Osaka Triennale in 1991, the year I graduated from WVU. Other woodcut prints were selected for the Ambassador’s residence in Paupau, New Guinea as part of the “Artists in Embassies” Program by the US Dept. of State.

Presently, I have been making art seriously for thirty-seven years. I decided it was time I “LOOKED BACKWARDS” to see where I have been and how I got to where I am today.

I found this job to be enormous. I had to sort through every program, newspaper and magazine article, and documentation I had gathered over the years. Fortunately, I am a highly organized person, and I had everything in order, chronologically. The job took me two months of intensive work though.

I found so much to be proud of along the way on this journey to the past, to my artistic beginnings. It encouraged me and gave me so much information about myself and the works I have created over the years. This was a very inspiring thing to do, and I finished it with renewed enthusiasm for my present work, and for the work that will still be created in my future.

Looking Backwards at my Art Works is so satisfying. It gives me a feeling of being where I am supposed to be - at this time. It gives me a better sense of where I came from, and pushes me forwards to think about where I am going in the future. These paintings from my PAST are my friends, like ANGELS looking over me, whispering to me,

           "Keep on going. 

                    You are not alone.

                           I am with you." 

I was amazed to discover that I had been in over 300 exhibitions and had won over 100 awards in those exhibitions!

With this task brought up-to-date, I can now send off my records on CDs to the galleries and museums that have my work in their permanent collection. This is a good thing to do for your archives so that there will be records that will go with your art works for future scholars to investigate. I will be preparing the CDs soon, after I gather some photographs of myself and my art works and add them to the CDs too.

Next up on my horizon, now, is to begin the task of organizing all my poetry and writing and putting them all into order chronologically.

Once this is done, it will be an easy task to keep them updated periodically. All the hard work will be finished.

Sometimes we need to give ourselves a little pat on the back for a job well done! Looking Backwards can be the place to begin to realize just what you have accomplished in your creative life.  I was able to realize all the nuances and details of my creative journey by “Looking Backwards.”

John Bramblitt's Journey

I had 

A VISION

In 2009, I started writing my blog,

  “Walking by Inner Vision” 

 It was to begin to write about my own journey into the new experience I had entered. This new experience came 2 years earlier, in October 2007; I was suddenly thrust into the world of sudden blindness.

(Ischemic Optic Neuropathy)

This event changed nearly everything in my life.

Writing about it became  a way for me

to speak about my life

now that it had entirely changed.

   

 I  am an Educator,  Visual Artist and Author,

I discuss how I have learned to continue

to be a  creative artist and writer once again.

            Today, I want to focus on another artist who lost his sight, yet, began to paint after going blind. I think you will enjoy hearing about:

John Bramblitt’s  journey!

You can click on the THREE LINKS to see video’s of John Bramlitt and his visionary paintings. You can listen to John as he tells his own story to overcome blindness through ART.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwPzBRRuq3g

John Bramblitt is a Texas artist who is blind. He lost his sight around age 11. He began painting after he lost his sight.

This video was done when he was still an undergraduate student.

John says he  loves creating both fine art and writing.  It’s not unusual for find an artist who also loves to write.

I think it is often a  winning combination that most artists embrace.    As

John said,

 “It is only the tools that are different.

 The process remains the same.”

 He says when you look at a “how to” book on both painting, and writing, you’ll see the process is the same for each. I affirm this truth that John has discovered in his journey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-ZS9M8CUis

John is shown in this video doing a workshop and speaking with a visitor. We can see him showing how his work begins. He is describing how it begins with an initial drawing on the canvas. The drawing is raised, giving him guidelines to follow when the painting process begins.

http://www.bramblitt.net

This link will take you to John’s  website.

There you will find general information on John Bramblitt. There are links on  his career, photos of some of his paintings, his blog link, and more.

Spring Forward

Tonight: we will turn our clocks forward here in western Pennsylvania.

We remember what to do by recalling this little saying,

“Spring Forward; Fall Back.”  

Turning the clock forward by one hour gives us such a different perception of time and  season.   

Spring is nearly here. 

 We had a snowstorm just 3 days ago. That snow quickly melted because the temperature was warm. A few patches of that crystal coldness are still here this morning. Soon, little purple and yellow crocuses will be pushing through the layers damp winter grass, last fall’s dry leaves, and the delicate white patches  of slowly melting snow.

            A magnificent, stately Maple tree stands just beyond the window in my office, looking towards the  west. Bob and I planted that tree when we moved to this house in 1967.

It was a small sapling at that time, forty-six years ago. Today, it is still bare and dark against the bright blue morning sky. In a few more weeks the delicate green leaves will begin to burst out from those dark gray branches. You can set your clock by it – it happens just that way every year when winter transitions into spring.

This week, I found a poem  I wrote in 2004. This poem is written in the Japanese  Haiku form. A Haiku has three lines, and traditionally it will have a reference to a season.

Spring Haiku

Bright saffron flowers

disrupted crystal blankets 

to announce, "It's Spring!"

Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright, 2004. All Rights Reserved.

7 Steps to Develop a Writing Project

Do you want to write something like 

a memoir, essay,  or short story?

Maybe you even have a NOVEL waiting there inside your head?

Is there something you have had on your mind for quite some time?

You think you don’t know how to begin to write it down?

 Maybe you have made a few attempts, but then gave up on it ?

In this article I give you some EASY STEPS on how to begin!

7 Steps to
Develop a Writing Project 

Step 1:  BRAINSTORM.  .  .

Brainstorm for ideas before you begin writing. 

This is not just vaguely thinking about something, it is about taking concrete steps towards your writing goal.



When you begin with Brainstorming, you will be

looking for an IDEA, a THOUGHT, WORD, a QUOTE, a THING.

Write down some things that are meaningful to you. This is your essay and you want to express what is on your mind via the writing project.
You can begin with only one word that comes into your consciousness.



Question:

How will you BRAINSTORM for your central theme?

This can be done a number of ways. It can be very complex; it can be quite simple.

 One very good approach is to make a list very quickly. Use your intuition and begin writing. Don't even stop to think about what you are writing. Just let those fingers fly and make your list.

Once you complete this quick list,  you can sit back and look over your list; read it through several times until something really pops out for you. There may be a number of things on your list that will later become a story, poem, or essay. But for now, you will just choose one item from your list. This selected item will be your "central theme" for your work.





Step Two: 

SELECT your TOPIC
and Write One Paragraph


To SELECT YOUR TOPIC. choose one idea from your Brainstorming List and write one paragraph. Use that word or idea and write a very short paragraph with it.

After you have written one paragraph, put it aside.

On a new sheet of paper, write another first paragraph.

 Develop a number of ideas as possibilities to pursue.

You will make a number of "first paragraphs" and each of your "first paragraphs"  will be on a separate piece of paper. You have now created some "possibilities" to pursue.

Select just one of those "first paragraphs" to be used in your new piece of writing.

Some writers like to do this step as a "Cluster Chart." I would say this would be the person who has vision since it is a visual chart that you would make. If you can do that, it will work very well for you.

This kind of exploration begins by putting your one idea into a circle in the center of the page.

Then, begin working out from that central idea, putting down a paragraph, sentence, or thought into another circle that has been connected to your first one.

When I had vision, this is how I would do it. Now, I do it by making the list I have outlined above. It works just the same and I can do it on the computer.

 If doing the "cluster chart" then I would take each of the clusters, and write one paragraph for each of them, on a separate sheet of paper. This would give me my assortment of possibilities from which I will begin my work.



Step Four: 

Adopt a "Persona"

Think about "who" is going to be speaking in your essay.

Who is telling this story? Why is it this person? What will you accomplish by choosing to write in this person's voice? Consider all your options here, and be sure you understand exactly what you will accomplish by using this particular persona.



Step Five:

Think about the "mood" you want to create in the essay - how will you capture it?

Question:

How will you create images to capture the mood?

It can be helpful to read over some ways that other authors have used to create a mood in their work. Take a look at several pieces of work that will be similar to what you want to create. As you read, you will become aware of the mood  in each of the works.  through each work. Look for ways that you can feel that mood as you read the work. This can really help you in figuring out how you will do it in your own writing. Mood can be created by giving characters a voice, writing good descriptions of a place or a room; by using symbols that create images for the reader, by descriptions of weather, lighting, music, art works, smells, sounds, tactile elements, etc.



 Step Six:

Write a THESIS STATEMENT into the first paragraph of your essay. 

This important step is often the one that fledgling writers fail to do. It’s the one step that can never be skipped. 

Your “thesis statement” is typically written in the very first paragraph in almost all writing projects. That first paragraph will be a stepping stone into the rest of your story - if it is not there you have left your reader lost at sea.

Once again, It would be good to read a few works like the one you are planning to write. In each of them, look for that Thesis Statement. Practice the art of recognizing a thesis statement when you begin to read.  Look for a statement that expresses one clear goal in the first paragraph of an essay.

You can visit this site for more information on how to create a thesis statement:

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml

Step Seven: 

Write out THREE GOALS 

or MAIN POINTS you wish 

to convey in your essay.

In a way, this will be your road map. Your three goal statements will give you a clear idea of where you want to go with this writing project.

This step will keep both you and your writing focused. If you can clearly identify your three goals before you write, it will help get you to your destination.
  

Keep Your Eyes on the Brass Ring

Watch for the Brass Ring:

A 5-Step Plan for the New Year

by Lynda McKinney Lambert

Copyright 2013. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All Rights Reserved.

As my sister, Patti,  would attest, I have an opinion on everything.  She would say to this, "YOU are not kidding!" I say this with a smile and a little chuckle - because I have an enormous sense of humor on most things. 

Lynda Lambert with her First Prize Winner 

at an art exhibition in 2012

Keep your EYES on YOUR PRIZE!

I read on a Writer’s Discussion Group recently  about  publishing.

I realized how fortunate I have been for the past 20 plus years of publications of my poetry, articles, and book. Maybe my experiences have been different due to my profession in art and literature. I do not know.  I can offer some advice here through my own experiences. I can let you know what has worked for me in my career. Some of it might work for you. 

My own career has been as an arts administrator ( executive director of a museum and community arts center ) and a tenured college professor of Fine Arts and Humanities.   Both of these occupations provided many opportunities to flourish in my field of fine arts and literature.

For both positions,   publishing of our work is essential over our whole career. Promotions are based in part on visibility in the community and in our field.  Published works in literature and exhibitions in fine art set a benchmark; an example to our students; credibility in our field; and tenure and promotions in the academic institutions.

There is no question about it at all; if we teach a subject, we are experts in that field and publication of work is an enormous part of who we are. Can you even imagine an English professor who does not publish? An Art professor who is not in major exhibitions in museums and galleries?  Each has to provide a detailed list of “Professional Achievements” every year. That is what keeps the discipline alive and thriving;  no one reaches a goal and sits down to rest with the laurel wreath on her head. 

My poetry is published several times a year in various publications.  Those come about because I send  them out to the publications, usually. It has never been a struggle, but has just happened naturally as I worked at developing possibilities for them. Rejections are our normal condition and the sooner we get used to it the better. Move on! You can decide how many times you will send out a piece of work every month. That is in your control. Getting it out for consideration is totally in your control  No one but you can decide how many poems you’ll send out this month. But, just do it and wait for your reply to come back from the publication.

One way my works has been published is because I have been active over the past 20 years in giving conference presentations.  By doing this your work is presented by YOU to an audience who has come to the conference and has an interest in the topic you are presenting. This also opens doors for your work to be published.  Typically, it will be selected by someone at the conference who is working on a book, or by the conference coordinator who is compiling a book on a particular topic.  After your presentation, you are contacted by the editor and asked to be included in his/her book. I have never sought out these opportunities, but they have come to me because I was "out there" with my colleagues, discussing my work and research and was presenting on it.

When my  book  ( Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage ) was published  it was because the publisher  had met me through a mutual interest.  The publisher lived and worked in Washington state; but her mother lived in Pittsburgh, PA. The mother had read about me in a newspaper, sent it on to her daughter in Washington, and the rest is history.  They edited my book, did all the design work, did all the business details on it, and sent me the drafts several times as it progressed.  It was not difficult at all, and the book arrived in time for an enormous art opening that I was having to celebrate 10 years of my work in Austria. I was able to have that opening of the exhibition, be the book-signing launch of the book.  It was an international event and very exciting. My book is no longer in print, but is still available through amazon.  And, occasionally, I have checked on it, and found it for sale in several other countries and at prices that knocked my socks off. I wonder, how in the world did my book get to India, or other such countries? It was published by a small press that focuses on a very narrow audience.

( I received  personal letters from the President of Austria; President Bush; and a number of Austrian ambassadors and officials who complimented me on the book and praised me for “being a good will ambassador for Austria. )

When I read of the struggles of getting published, it is surprising to me because that has not been my experience. All of the professors I work with have had books published, give presentations at conferences, etc. It is just part of our job to do this.  It is really an extension of our teaching, and our lectures. It comes naturally as we work at our discipline every day. 

My advice would be to get your work out before an audience who is focused on what you are doing.  There are conferences in every discipline there is, and that is your target audience. There you will meet others in your field, have great conversations with others who are lecturing and publishing, and make the contacts that can get your work published.

Since this is the first week of the new year, it might be a good idea to write out a road map from where you are, and where you want to be at the end of this year. Then put in all the steps and goals you have to reach along the way. Put dates on them, and one by one start working towards each step that comes next.

The way I work towards what I want to achieve is this:

1.  Write a 5 year plan of goals- be specific and write out exactly what you want to achieve in the next five years. This is where you lay down the PICTURE of your PRIZE. 

What is YOUR BRASS RING:?

What is it you want to GET at the end of your 5 year journey? THINK BIG.  What you envision, is what you’ll be working towards for the next five years.

2.  Break the five years down into 5 one-year plans of goals. What is the big picture for each of your five years? Be very specific and write it all out.

3. Write out 12 plans;  one for each month in the first year of your 5 year journey. It is good to begin working on this near the end of the year, or at the very beginning of the new year.  This is the beginning of your journey. You are laying down 12 little stepping stones that will take you through your first year. Keep it simple – one little step at a time. With your text outline, also write out your budget. 

What do you need to allot for your goals here? You’ll need postage most likely; envelopes; paper. If you are an artist, you need materials to make your art. Put these things in your monthly budget.

          Your budget will be an important part of this entire 5-year plan.

Write out what you need to do and how much money you'll need to do it.

4.  You now have a good road map to follow to get to your end goals in the 5 year plan you have written down.

5.  You will make adjustments in your plans as you go. Some of the monthly goals will be met on time; some will be delayed and can be carried over to the next month, etc.

Like any good budget and  road map, you make adjustments as you go, but you keep your eyes on the prize at the end of the road. You will be amazed at where you can go, once you have a concrete plan to get somewhere.  One friend recently told me “Keep your eyes on the brass ring.”

Whatever it is, stay focused on that prize.

If you are feeling lost at sea, maybe it is because you have not thought out your plan carefully.

Where do you want to be? and How will you get there? Begin writing!

It is good to keep your plan before you every day.

Read it over all the time. 

Burn it into your consciousness.

Morning Hour

Happy New Year

January 1, 2013

May you FIND just the RIGHT

WORDS and IMAGES  

for this new year. 

  
Morning Hour

In the early morning hour

a nippy breeze

wrapped  around my bare feet

like  soft gray cashmere clouds.

                         

My own reflection

slowly materialized-

I was exposed, naked,

on a clear icy glass

surface.

                       

                                   

Outside the frozen windowpane,

an icicle boundary

surrounded my view

of the aging Douglas Fir.

I turned for a closer look

through the silent porthole

                         

           

Quick movements

in the shadow

revealed

one tiny  ruffled bird,

a solo performer

hunkered down, deep,

on snow-clogged branches.

                       

             

Inside this room,

a blizzard-

a scattering of words still lingered-

Waited  to be gathered,

In a winter bouquet-written on a page,

in spite of the bitter cold.

We have been here

for a thousand years

In the early morning hour.

Copyright 2013. Lynda  McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.

Poem and Photographs by Lynda McKinney Lambert, 2013.

The Story Behind the Art

Girl on a Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies

   
     It’s a warm day near the end of August.  A little dark haired girl sits alone on a wooden bench looking straight ahead.  She peers silently out over her world, and into the future, where we stand watching her today.

     Her starched and pressed cotton dress is plaid, with a wide white collar that lays over her shoulders.  She patiently waits there in her  back yard for her cousins to arrive.  They are coming to celebrate her birthday. It is 1950. 

     We walk towards her and as we get near, she watches us carefully as she continues to smile.  Just above her head, we notice that she is sitting under the old deeply textured branches of the Black Walnut tree. It is the centerpiece of the back yard.

     Besides the tree, the little girl sits surrounded by fields of late summer flowers in full bloom. Queen Ann Lace and gentle  butterflies are mingling and floating casually among the lacey blossoms. The scene is still, frozen in a moment of time by a Brownie Box Camera. The photographer this day is her Mother. 

     This vintage photo of the little girl is   in very pale black and white.  It had been laminated long ago to the back of a small round pocket mirror. Her Mother had carried the mirror in her handbag. In her old age, the Mother had given the mirror to the little girl who was now a grandmother. The mirror had cracked in half at some time in the past, but the beautiful photograph was in perfect condition. This photograph was chosen to be the central image of the art work that would become _Girl on a Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies_ here on the wall of the gallery.

     It’s quite a small work of art. It is a personal and private scene.  The work measures approximately 12 inches, square.   

     The images on this art work have been hand worked, over top of a cotton fabric from the 1940s. The vintage fabric  is in Black and White, but much sharper and bolder than the photo of the little girl. Sharp, crisp white flowers and butterflies dance about on the surface of the ebony  black fabric background.

     There is a surprise burst of brilliant color on the black and white scene though.  Over the entire surface, brilliant hot red leaves and flowers are overlaid.  And, bursting forth from those slender and delicate stems, are brilliant red red roses that have been carved out of red coral gem stones. Bouquets of these red coral roses are waiting to be gathered, it seems. Yet, they will forever bloom there, regardless of the passing seasons in this world that is suspended forever outside of time itself.

     The joyful old fashioned  roses circle around, intertwining with the  photo of the girl on the bench. And, the circle of the mirror  has been surrounded by layers of delicate and glistening  Japanese seed beads. They have been patiently worked, layer upon layer, by the artist who was once the little girl in the photo.  The glass beads are so small and they capture the light from all directions. This makes the little girl in the photo seem to shimmer in her round space in the center of the picture, and gives it an unreal appearance. It is  seems like we  have entered into a dream world or a vision.

     Throughout the picture on the gallery wall, is a myriad of other flower shapes made from Mother-of-Pearl, and natural gemstones. In this small space we can see visions of earth and sky as we enter into the moment of time when the little girl sat patiently waiting for her birthday party to begin.

     I created the  art work

 Girl on a Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies 

 from a piece of 1940s printed fabric.  I chose  a  vintage reproduction  print fabric for this work because that is when I would have been a young girl. I was born in 1943. This  nostalgic fabric became the structure on which I  began creating a story of a childhood memory - a moment in time that brings the viewer into the world I lived in as a child. It’s a snapshot of a long ago summer day - flowers, butterflies. 

     After meticulously working the entire surface of this fabric with gemstones and beads, I began to work a beaded serpentine spiral around the border of the square.  The spiral travels around all four sides of the art work. It has been surrounded by layers of red, white, and black beads that go in and out on the front and back of the surface.  The edge work holds the front of the work to the back fabric. The back fabric is also a 1940s print, in brilliant lipstick  red. On the red surface there are   bursts of white flowers that look like shooting stars coming from the black center of each flower.

     Once this piece was finished I had to think about how it would be presented on a gallery  wall. How would it hang?  I took a walk in the woods and found just the perfect size of twig and the idea came to me that the piece would hang from a twig, suspended in space. To finish the piece, I made some loops from the same Japanese seed beads that I had used in the picture – and these loops hold the fabric piece to the branch that hangs above it.

Once the beaded and layered fabric was attached to the twig

Girl on the Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies 

was now complete. 

This fiber work has been selected to appear in the Hoyt Mid Atlantic Exhibition.  It will open to the public on October 9th and be on display there until November  2, 2012.

Hoyt Art Center, 124 E. Leasure Avenue, New Castle, PA, 16101