Leftovers Series: Wedge Salad
Wedge Salad, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12 inches, 2012.
This painting, from an ongoing series of still lifes of food, was created for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition's annual 12x12 Art Fundraiser in 2012.
My source material was a leftover beet salad plus the prosciutto-and-pears appetizer from The Wedge Pizzeria in Oklahoma City. (Hint: Don't visit their website unless you're prepared to get hungry.)
OVAC? Oh, yeah, I may have mentioned them a time or two.
When nothing's working, it's time for a change.
Sometimes, the painting you thought you were making tells you that it's actually something entirely different.
That's When I Knew - in progress
Detail of a painting in progress for the upcoming Art Now exhibition at City Arts Center in Oklahoma City.
The Lady Victory - Poems by Jane Vincent Taylor
Ennis Quadrangle, Patron Saint of Honne and Tatemae, acrylic and collage on stonehenge paper, 2009 by Sarah Atlee. Some rights reserved.
I am pleased to announce that my friend Jane Taylor has a new book of poems available, published by Turning Point Press.
The Lady Victory is a wonderful collection imagined within the walls of a home for unmarried pregnant girls. This is the setting for Jane's poems, but that tells you nothing of the warmth, love and humor to be found among the pages.
Jane chose my painting Ennis Quadrangle, Patron Saint of Honne and Tatemae for the book's cover. She and I talked about things that go unsaid, either because they are forbidden, or maybe just thought of as dangerous words. I can imagine many things going unsaid inside Victory.
See my previous post to learn more about the meaning of Ennis Quadrangle.
Here is one of my favorite poems (reproduced here with permission):
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from Part II: Dear Little Flame the Love Letters of Sister B.
26
Dear little wind behind the rain,
I wonder if you received the crocheted hat I made for you. I should have saved it for your birthday, but my favorite is Thanksgiving. They probably think these gifts come from your mother. She would have sent you pink but I thought purple. She would have dressed you in leotard and tutu. Little violet, your mother loved to dance. She had all the Victory girls doing the Pony on the screened-in porch. I secured permission for her to stage a mini Oklahoma. Mother S. insisted they leave out Ado Annie's song - Can't Say No. In my three year stint at Victory only your mother knew what to do with guilt and shame. She made everybody love her. If you ever feel like dancing, you best not fight against it. Everybody's born to something.
Born to write to you, Sister B.
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The Lady Victory is available at Full Circle Books in Oklahoma City, or from Amazon. Jane is the featured author and will read selected poems at Full Circle's Final Sunday Poetry Reading on 24 June, 2012. (See Full Circle's Events page for details.)
Later this summer, Jane is teaching a writing course titled The Poetry of Home at Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center. There are still spaces available - I wish I could go.
Rhymes With Jenny, Smells Like Saturday
Rhymes With Jenny, Smells Like Saturday, acrylic on unstretched canvas, 22 x 22 inches, 2011. Some rights reserved.
At the opening reception for You're Pretty at the Leslie Powell Foundation Gallery in 2011, some ladies approached me and said, "Okay, we want to know. What rhymes with Jenny and smells like Saturday?"
I had to tell them that I didn't know. The phrase was in my head when I woke up one morning. This happens with delightful regularity.