Fire in the belly, watercolor and poetry

Fire in  the belly,  6 by 6 watercolor, handmade India paper

I didn't know what was inside me to paint today, until I came across a poem. Years ago, a blogger and poet I met somehow online, K. Lawson Gilbert of Pennsylvania responded to a painting of mine.
Her poetry struck chords with me, and some of my paintings with this school teacher and word artist. She doesn't blog much, like most folks, because life is life, and we creative types run in spurts, I think. But to be stunned with imagery, you should read her poetry on her blog, Old Mossy Moon.
One of her poems appears on Coffee with Clark's  homepage, under an abstract painting of mine "Silence" which she entitled, "Meditation"
She also wrote about my snow scene "High Lonesome," a title and theme I have adopted from my Dad's art and my love for the wide-open remote West.
And one of the short poems she wrote about that cabin scene was this:
       "Out on the plains,
       the snow piled up.
       But inside the cabin,
       the two were warm...
       words were their clothes -
       their bodies a language
        of poetry and prose."

If that doesn't  awaken your senses, I don't know what will. Here's the 2009 painting that inspired the poem, and the blog link: High Lonesome
So finding that poem today, here's what I painted tonight--I hope it does justice to the poem.
There are two stages to the painting before the one you see above. Know, I didn't know what would come next.
Reminds me of Jim Morrison, and "Fire in the Belly." It just happened, and that's exciting. Don't ask me to explain.
For those of you who wonder, here's the story of the finished painting, in two steps:

 

Meditation on a winter walk in art

"Silence"

Winter is almost over, but the voice of the wind and cold outside jars my memories. A couple of years ago, such a mood and Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" inspired this abstract painting, which appears in the right sidebar of the blog. And my blogfriend poet K. Lawson Gilbert brought it to life with her word images, also in the sidebar at right.
But on this cold evening, it seems fitting to bring them back for another walk together.


 "Meditation"
Just out the window,
black silhouettes of trees
remind me of those
halcyon days with you,
when we climbed out of the
cellar toward enlightenment.
Now, at a glance, the wild
birds swing into view,
obscuring the real world
of young men dying
to get home, and the
snow that falls on
our brains stays solid - never
melting into springtime.
On the ferry, we sit and
compare notes as to whom
in life has suffered the most;
men, women, boys, or girls?
Suddenly, in a revelation, you
say it is the Buddha over on
Main, who sits on his plywood
altar, surrounded by plastic
flowers, subjected to all the
passersby, who have never had
a Zen thought of their own…

--K. Lawson Gilbert

Poetry to take your breath away

The muse runs deep and rich with blog friend and poet K. Lawson Gilbert of Pennsylvania.
Her most recent poem, "N.C.'s Studio" takes my breath away in its richness.
http://oldmossymoon.blogspot.com
You must read it.

Pressure and grocery lists

My friend, and poet  and seeker K. Lawson Gilbert, says I can make grocery lists interesting....

Hmmm...the pressure, thepressure. "The Horror, the Horror."

Ok scribes, what favorite deceased author of mine is that phrase in and in what story, my favorite?

Hint: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

Coming up, an interesting grocery list, I hope.