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| Patricia Frischer - Silent Conversation (detail) |
Front Porch Gallery, in
collaboration with Surfing Madonna Oceans Project is holding the fourth
annual Save the Ocean art and poetry exhibition through
Feb. 29, 2024. In conjunction with this exhibition, a Ekphrastic Poetry
Writing and Collage Workshop was held. That means the poetry is inspired by a work of art and
that part of the workshop was led convincingly by Dr. Marit Anderson. Cathy
Carey, the new Director of the Front Porch Gallery, led the collage
component.
I went to this workshop to gain insight on how I might use this technique for brainstorming sessions especially for board retreats and happy to say how successful it was at a recent one I participated in with the Encinitas Friends of the Arts board. We kept in mind our goals to rethink our vision statement. Made collages and choose words to describe them. We forced those words into a sentence and from that sentence the group discussed the most important element revealed. Tapping into the subconscious to think outside of the box really does work!!!
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| Dr. Marit Anderson in front of Chery Tall's Zephyr |
Dr. Anderson actually has a degree in Human Behavior (not English or Poetry) and was full of quotes like my favorite one from Albert Einstein, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” She asked all to use all of our senses; vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell and mind (that would include imagination and memories.)
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| Cathy Carey - Birch Aquarium |
Cathy Carey gave us open encouragement to us all sorts of materials besides magazine images including adding colored papers, paints, pens, or even 3-d items. We could go completely abstract, surreal or even use the collage as mosaic to create a realistic illusion.
The advantage of this exercise, is not only that you look more closely at the work of art, but you get insights into your own emotions and feelings. The exhibition was to showcase the fragility of our environment, but actually each artist made their own statement and I found the show more upbeat than educational and more lively than alarming. The same was true of the poetry created in the workshop.
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| Mac Hindenbrand - The Hawaiian Chain of Wood |
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| Mac Hindenbrand -The Hawaiian Chain of Wood (detail) |
The work I personal choose to explore was by Mac Hindenbrand. Titled The Hawaiian Chain of Wood it is a grained piece of wood with inlays or many other woods depicting the string of Hawaiian Islands. I added a word for each of those senses which included silence, salt, smooth, fresh and conversation in my first pass. Looking longer I came up with grain, punctuation, curves, illusions, lapping and travel.
Silent Conversations
Fresh and salty thoughts
Smooth my day
Constantly lapping curves
Traveling illusions
Punctuate the sands of time.
Thinking of those words, I cut out what I thought were
random images, but my hand was definitely guided by the poetry. Here is the
collage I created.
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| Patricia Frischer - Silent Conversation |
That in turn produced this set of sense words: warm,
rhythm, absorbent, bumpy, ancient, adventures. Then, the poem produced was:
Bumpy rhythms signal
warm adventures which
are absorbed into antiquity.
Can I apply this to the subject of the exhibitions? For me, I can say that the
current warming climate, even earthquakes can be seen not just as a threat, but
as adventures which will eventually become recorded as another cycle of life of
our planet.
Going back to the first poem:
Silent Conversations
Fresh and salty thoughts
Smooth my day
Constantly lapping curves
Traveling illusions
Punctuate the sands of time.
We need to think deeply and completely about our environment
if we are to meet its challenges. Seeing things we thought were false that are
not, and vice versa while looking backward to find repeating patterns.
Or it could all just be a bunch of hooey!
Dr. Marit Anderson facilitates the Awaken the Poet Within meetings the 2nd
and 4th Saturdays of the month at the Encinitas Library Study Room
noon to 2 pm. A virtual session is the 1st Saturday of the month.
Email: drmartyanderson@sdcglobal.net
for more info. and meeting links.
Katie Wade, the Senior Director of Creative Engagement tells us that The
Front Porch Gallery, through these new workshops, is offering creative
engagement for the community with hands-on making, discussions and new ways to
look to enhance longevity and enjoyment of life.
The Front Porch Gallery: 2903 Carlsbad Blvd, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Open: Wed – Fri 11 to 5, Sat noon to 4
Patricia: Thanks for this insightful and personal account of your experience at our Ekphrastic Poetry & Collage Workshop on February 15th at the Front Porch Gallery in Carlsbad. You managed to make sense of, and clearly describe, a workshop that included viewing magnificent art, making poetry, making collages, making new friends, making magic, and getting to make a mess while having fun. Reading your article gave me Big Smiles! Hope to see you again.
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