Inspired by ....

41/2x41/2 panels using encaustic with collage. These were done ages ago but thought I would repost for Throwback Thursday. I was inspired by the poem 'Japan' by Billy Collins. The poem is about a Haiku and I have taken an excerpt from that poem and printed below.

It's the one about the one-ton
temple bell
with the moth sleeping on its surface,

and every time I say it, I feel the excruciating
pressure of the moth
on the surface of the iron bell.

When I say it at the window,
the bell is the world
and I am the moth resting there.

When I say it into the mirror,
I am the heavy bell
and the moth is life with its papery wings.

And later, when I say it to you in the dark,
you are the bell,
and I am the tongue of the bell, ringing you,

and the moth has flown
from its line
and moves like a hinge in the air above our bed.

Two Directions

Clay, silver and acrylic paint, approx. 5" x 7". This month is the celebration of poetry and on that note here is a favorite of mine...pure and simple by Billy Collins:

In the Evening

The heads of roses begin to droop.

The bee who has been hauling his gold

all day finds a hexagon in which to rest.

In the sky, traces of clouds.

the last few darting birds.

watercolors on the horizon.

The white cat sits facing a wall.

The horse in the field is asleep on its feet.

I light a candle on the wood table.

I take another sip of wine.

I pick up an onion and a knife.

And the past and the future?

Nothing but an only child with two different masks.

Today is a surprisingly hot day for Springtime at the beach. Our neighborhood pool is opened and if this heat continues, I will take my first swim of the year tomorrow.

On my reading list is "Drawing Closer to Nature" by Peter London, a very thoughtful book on art making but not a casual read.