Saturday, August 29, 2015

Smudged








Artist in his Studio by Rembrandt




Smudged 

There is an ache born of longing
written in soft charcoal smudges
The yearn for all that once was and
will never be again - the inexorable
pull toward a future flowing with
fresh unfamiliar faces -vanquished
dreams –this oncoming smudge of
mumuration rising born of all that
was and all that is certainly to come
whirling – into agony stunning even
the most steadfast hopeful soul into
wide-eyed, mouth gaping, stillness –
stillness as the final smudge of that
single infinitesimal fleck of charcoal
erases – this is knowledge, known,
denied, this life lived in the spaces
between  







avmapping.blogspot.com/2011/11/video-murmuration-of-starlings-...






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Warmups.... #1  & #2




#1 (my father was a Rembrandt loving oil painter - who I adored)

She pulled from his peg on the door
His shirt, a tunic, a sash and finally
on tiptoe knocked the black hat
to the floor – on bare feet she
rushed down the stone corridor
out the gate through the red
dust and into the empty studio
She dressed before she turned
paint brush in hand willing her-
Self to become Him for just one
single moment and see the world
as he did stilled long enough to
transport into colored oils….



#2 
In the stillness of long shadows

In the stillness of long shadows
falling softly we stare into the
Quiet - eyes wide and wondering
Where we are and what awaits
in the stillness of long shadows

falling softly




29 comments:

  1. I like how you ended this poem.. there is a stillness in the painting that you captured perfectly with that last coda.... wonderful

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  2. I like that first warm-up! They are all very cool, but that is my favorite.

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    1. Yes that was my favorite too ... I mistakenly thought that Bjorn wanted something far further from the painting ...

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  3. I am with Bjorn,.you nailed that ending like a gymnast! Your love of art is evident; how cool is it that your dad admired Rembrandt so? The prompt must have felt like a small gift. Amy

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    1. Thanks Amer - tres cool and yes a gift always welcomed as is writing in same space with you :)

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  4. Loved both the pieces :D so wonderful :D

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  5. All three were masterpieces

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  6. Where we are and what awaits
    In the stillness of long shadows

    This is a true picture of woes of the artist. One is still not free to determine the end result of the painting. Great presentation Dr Pearl!

    Hank

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  7. Your poetry provides an insightful examination of the intention of the artist or poet. Sometimes the end result is a sketchy blur of the real emotion.

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    1. Thank you Kerry for your insightful comment - I found it very interesting

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  8. A beautiful collection - life is often the smudges...the bits in-between

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    1. Thank you Jae Rose - your stopping by and commenting means a great deal to me <3

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  9. "life lived in the spaces between" is a phrase that reaches out to me. So much happens between the 'beginning' and the 'ending.' And perhaps it is these things that are the most memorable of all.

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    1. Thank you so very much Mary - I appreciate your comment and frankly I like hearing that phrase written back to me - seems a great deal happens "in the spaces between"

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  10. I adore your warmup #1. All three are excellent, and the repetition of "smudge" in your main piece is very effective.

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  11. Poetry and art (not enough can be unsaid)
    Your portrait in three leaves just the right space to live in...

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  12. I very much enjoyed the literation of smudge of murmuration. Well done and viva la

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  13. "this oncoming smudge of mumuration rising" - a breathtaking phrase! As is the "life lived in the spaces between"........Loved the first one. Love the little girl dressing in her father's smock......and your closing lines in the third piece are so evocative of the deep stillness described. An impressive write!

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  14. Awesome ! #1 was my favorite :-)
    ZQ

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  15. Pearl this was beautiful and I have to say my favorite was the first warm-up....I loved this perspective.

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  16. I love the first warm up...to slip into the artist for a moment to see the world right before he translates it with oil...beautiful work

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  17. Whether we push charcoal, paint or words around we are all artists teasing out impressions and feelings that somehow touch observers so that they feel something beautiful inside them. Beautifully painted Pearl.

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  18. Enjoyed the smudge powm but adored warm up #2. in silence, we are most effective. warm up #1 told a story - a daughter's love

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  19. I was moved by this far more than the others from the prompt. Thank you.

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  20. Pearl, you KNOW I have got to be particularly enamored of:
    "In the stillness of long shadows"

    LOVE all. But that line? Ahhhhhh.

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  21. The stillness and the permanency of painting rightly expressed

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