I challenged myself to try Spark, a creative exchange between artists and poets. Artist Betty Nichols sent me an image of her art.
A process I’ve been playing with lately is paper collage. To get my head around this abstract painting, I decided to recreate it in collage. The paper I selected informed words I collected to write from. Here is my response collage.
While searching for things to cut out, I found an article that included advice from Maria Shriver on how to make a difference. The first bullet point, “Sit with yourself” became the title. I cut out radicchio to get the red color. Doing research I found that radicchio is the “crunch VIP of salads.” The black flame came from a bee print paper. I let the list and collage sit for a few days. The process worked for me.
Sit with Yourself
The chicory radicchio is said
to be the ultimate crunch in your daily salad,
rich in vitamin K.This red dagger isn’t dangerous.
The flame that is the yellow body of a bee
harmlessly flying from tree to tree
pollinates, perpetuating life.This red dagger isn’t dangerous.
When you are faced with the sharp points
of a knife you use every day,
look closely. The stain of death
may be the blood of birth,
the path of its blade leading to light.This red dagger isn’t dangerous.
A snow-filled valley will green in spring.
Sit with yourself.
Margaret Simon, all rights reserved.
Give it time.
Posted at Spark here.
I sent Betty a blues poem, and she responded with tissue paper art. See our collaboration here.
At first I was completely intimidated by the idea of writing a poem to someone else’s art. By making it my own through my own art, I was able to find a way in to the original painting. The idea of sitting with yourself to make space for creativity comes up for me a lot these days. Creativity requires space as well as time for incubation. I hope you can find time and space to incubate and create. The process is its own reward.
Reflections on the Teche 