"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Monday, July 25, 2011

The Artist and The Writer

I recently collaborated with artist, Tony Duce, and he provided the image below for one of my poems, Still Life. I’ve long wanted to collaborate with an artist like this and it was a very exciting, informative process. Tony posts his drawings and paintings on his blog, Duce: Drawings, Paintings, Words, writing words to go with his images to give them a story. He has created images for other poets in the past, and I felt fortunate that he consented to work with me on this one. I love how he connected to my poem. I particularly like the way he drew the nude with her back to us while facing us in the self portrait. Hands played a large part in the poem and I love the way he drew them in the background.


STILL LIFE

in the chipped china plate
you won’t throw away,
in arms that drape shoulders
graceful as the legs on the bistro chairs
enclosed in a frame.
The ruffled tutu of the fuchsia
falling off to ground
is frozen by the chance
of a backward glance.
The sun sets a twenty-second fire
to the ridge across the valley,
fleeting as the shrug of your shoulders
to have missed it.
The self-portrait I couldn’t finish
stands in the back of the closet
behind sketch pads full of hands.


Visit Tony for more information on the painting itself and to view some of his other amazing work. I hope to collaborate with him again in the future. As I told him, seeing my poem come to life under his hand makes me want to concentrate again on poetry and take a hiatus from the angst of novel-writing.

So what do you think? Have any of you done something like this before?

15 comments:

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

That is so cool! I love both your poem and his art. Wonderful creativity.
Favorite line: the sun sets a twenty-second fire to the ridge...

Yvonne Osborne said...

Thanks Tricia!!

Wine and Words said...

Very nice...both of you. How wonderful that I follow you both and here you are in cahoots! Your poem was wonderful, especially the last few lines about the self portrait and hands. Yes...Anthony captured it well, but there was never really any doubt, was there :)

martinealison said...

Dommage que le traducteur google ne réponde pas aux justes mots...
Gros bisous

Yvonne Osborne said...

Annie,
Thanks! No....there was never any doubt.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Martine,
My French is very poor, but I thank you for visiting.

G-Man said...

Yvonne....
Loved your poem.
The pic was fantastic!
Thanks for visiting me twice last week. I would love to see you back for a Friday 55 once again, but I know the Summer keeps you occupied.

Jemi Fraser said...

Very, very cool! I love the connection between the 2 pieces - perfect :)

Yvonne Osborne said...

Galen,
Thank you very much. I've missed the Friday 55's and hope to get back into them soon. I'm probably pretty rusty. Thursdays and Fridays are very hectic with the farmer's market and I'm ready for the off-season but not winter. Thanks for visiting me!

Jemi,
Hi! Thank you very much. I thought Tony did a great job. Don't you just want to wander around inside that painting?

Yvonne Osborne said...

Galen,
Thank you very much. I've missed the Friday 55's and hope to get back into them soon. I'm probably pretty rusty. Thursdays and Fridays are very hectic with the farmer's market and I'm ready for the off-season but not winter. Thanks for visiting me!

Jemi,
Hi! Thank you very much. I thought Tony did a great job. Don't you just want to wander around inside that painting?

Liza said...

What a wonderful idea to combine the images. Love both the poem and the painting.

Unspoken said...

i think it sounds like a creative blast! Nicely done :)!

Yvonne Osborne said...

Liza,
Thanks!

S.W.,
It was. Thanks!

J.B. Chicoine said...

How cool is that! What a beautiful poem--and to have an artist interpret it! No small feat, there. I am very impressed with both of you.

I've attempted to write stories based on some of my art, and also to paint something depicting a story. For me, it's far more difficult to take words and extract an image. I love the idea of doing it in a collage...

Yvonne Osborne said...

Hi JB!
I thought Tony's idea of using a collage to interpret the poem was genius. It turned out didn't it? I'd love to figure out a way to print the image out or something, but I'm rather computer illiterate. Thanks for commenting on this one!