There's somethin' happenin' somewhere
Baby, I just know there is.
--The Boss
Courting some new creative mentors here. Prominently, the unlikely duo of Mary Oliver and Bruce Springsteen. I also took a monotype class this month. A lot of fun.
Mary
Mary Oliver (1935-2019) claimed Whitman, Wordsworth, Emerson as mentors and friends. I'm working on friendship, but I do already secretly claim Mary Oliver as a mentor.
Here is a quote from her 2004 essay "Upstream":
"And whoever thinks these are worthy, breathy words I am writing down is kind. Writing is neither vibrant life nor docile artifact but a text that would put all its money on the hope of suggestion. Come with me into the field of sunflowers is a better line than anything you will find here, and the sunflowers themselves far more wonderful than any words about them."
And so... come with me into the meadow. But you know, the meadow itself is far more wonderful than any image of it...
Meadow with C
Monotype, 10/2019
Pond, Brownsville
Monotype with colored pencil, 10/2019
Bruce
Bruce Springsteen turned 70 this fall. The local station was playing his music all day. I'd never been a particular fan, but one thing led to another and pretty soon I was listening to him read his memoir Born to Run, catching up on all his many albums and falling into a deep, deep swoon. I guess it's not the news, but it turns out he's been poetically effing the ineffable this whole time.
You Cannot Rei(g)n In My Heart
Monotype with colored pencil, 10/2019
Starting to Fall
Monoprint with graphite, 10/2019