Painters and Poets

And a new poem, "River Otter"

I recently peeked in the small room at our library where they have a perpetual book sale, with no particular notion of what I might find or want. I saw a shelf marked “poetry” and glanced upon the title Poets on Painters¹, which I was able to take home with the spare change I had tucked in my wallet, unaware of the curious delight I’d find in reading it.

This book includes a series of essays written by twentieth-century poets about the “art of painting”.

Poet Elizabeth Bishop on Painter Gregorio Valdes

Untitled Work by Gregorio Valdes

I first gravitated toward one of the three women poets in the book, Elizabeth Bishop, who wrote about her experience with artist, Gregorio Valdes. She described his Key West studio as, “…three rooms with holes in the floors and weeds growing up through the holes. [He] had covered two sections of the walls with postcards and pictures from the newspapers…. [and] had an old cot there, and a row of plants in tin cans. One of these was Sweet Basil, which I was invited to smell every time I came to call.”

I was immediately intrigued by Bishop’s descriptions of Valdes’ studio space, and read onward…

As an artist, specifically a painter, I was immediately intrigued by Bishop’s descriptions of Valdes’ studio space, and read onward to find more between the pages of this unusual library book purchase. Bishop continued to share her ongoing relationship as a patron to this man who started his art career as a sign painter and finished it with a sign on his studio of, “Artist Painter” (earning him a showing in New York before his death). Her descriptions of his art seemed to be from a place of curiosity more than admiration, writing, “Gregorio was not a great painter at all, and although he certainly belongs to the class of painters we call ‘primitive’, sometimes he was not even a good primitive.” Her interest seemed to be in his own perceptions of his art compared to that of the viewer. She wanted to understand the artist. After she notes that whether his paintings are viewed as good or bad seems to be entirely a matter of luck rather than intention, she writes, “…some people receive certain ‘gifts’ merely by remaining unwittingly in an undemocratic state of grace. It is a supposition that leaves painting like Gregorio’s a partial mystery. But surely anything that is impossible for others to achieve by effort, that is dangerous to imitate, and yet, like natural virtue, must be both admired and imitated, always remains mysterious.”

I find Bishop’s curiosity about Valdes from a poet’s perspective interesting. In reading her prose, I see someone with a keen eye who writes her observations with a painter’s intuition.

Poet Stephen Spender - Painters as Writers

In understanding this painter-poet relationship further, I continued to another chapter in the book, reading the essay, “Painters as Writers” by Stephen Spender, who notes, “The writing of painters seems to be wrung out of the immediate necessity of expression.”

He continues, “A good writer knows himself because verbal self-consciousness is his vocation. Painters, even in their writing, seem groping towards self-knowledge: the bright screen of the external world hides them from themselves”.

While I don’t agree with all of Spender’s assessments which seem, at times, gratuitous toward his particular art form, I do feel the weight of this specific statement.

As a painter, I do find myself often working with an immediacy of expression. To me, painting is best performed as a dance with bold, exaggerated movements and where decisions are made quickly but with an elegant purpose. It is an intuitive language - one that I can form into the shapes, colors, and patterns I need to express myself. Writing and poetry can often feel like they are of another dimension. I view them with naive curiosity yet at the same time I want to play with the words as if they were paint, hoping that will take me to someplace in which I can better express myself.

I can see my writing and poetry as having the element of “luck”, such as Bishop described Valdes’ paintings. And I can see myself blinded by imagery, as Spender portends.

Either way, I still choose to write, learn, and grow regardless of the outcome - trying to understand myself and where I fit in this world. By continuing to work on my poetry, I see it as another step in expanding my journey and being open to more of life’s possibilities.

And one way to learn and grow is to work from a prompt - this week supplied by Pádraig Ó Tuama’s

Poetry Unbound

post, “Forming form” in which he introduces a Malaysian form of Poetry, the Pantoum, which I used as my jumping-off point for this poem (in progress), “River Otter”. (Even though I did not stick to the proper poetic form, I would highly recommend reading more about it in Tuama’s post.)

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River Otter

I seek an unremarkable deviation
walking 1000 steps to each disappointment
where I once found
past streetlight, duplex, and a barking dog

1000 steps to and fro
anticipation was defied
a field of killdeer in its place
not one wary stare

I waited for a sign
near the muddy shore
wanting for his playful glance
me, crouched behind a piney branch

While crayfish hide
on a shore in the depths of winter
I stay silent
Willing the surface to break one more time

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Painters and Poets, an Open Call

I love there is a long history of painters and poets working together and aspiring to be more than one or the other. The words of poets can elicit remarkable imagery, while paintings can provide both translation and inspiration. I am always drawn to art shows, exhibits, events, readings, texts, and books that pair these beautiful art forms.

I feel lucky to have contributed art to one such publication, “The Poeming Pigeon - Issues #12”.

Their latest call for art and poetry is now OPEN for submissions.

To all the painters, poets, and painter-poets/poet-painters out there - keep up the wonderful work! We are lucky to have you in our midst.

Cheers,

Jennifer

1. The link to Poets on Painters is an affiliate link for my Bookshop.org Book Recommendations, for which I receive a small commission on sales made via this link.