Welcome to Collaboration Station Week 1.  This is a place where artists and writers can come together and inspire each other and hopefully have a little fun too!  We hope you will enjoy our efforts as much as we do…  give it a try! 
Here’s how it works:

Week 1 - Each Monday an ARTIST (in this case I'll volunteer) will post a visual, and anybody who wishes to responds with a written piece -- poetry, story, article, essay -- whatever.  No restrictions here.  The floor will be open for two weeks for written submissions. (Of course, anyone can jump in and leave a written piece later!) 

Week 2 - Each Monday a WRITER (volunteer, or nominated by anyone and agreeing) posts a written piece -- poetry, story, article, essay -- whatever.  No restrictions there.  Then, anybody who wishes to may respond with a visual (again, no restrictions).  Floor open for two weeks for visual collaboration. 

AND SO ON in alternating succession. 

 

Here is the first visual. Words from the artist: “I posted this collage piece in the 10 Minute Friday Poems with a Buddy Forum which had a theme on Mental Illness and in my gallery too.  This collage is about Dissociative Disorder which is a form of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)."

Thanks again to KateSinging for inspiring this idea, and of course to Marney for providing this lovely playground for us all!!!   ~Lori

 Dear Lori and Everyone,

Here is my response to Lori's engrossing collage.  I learned so much about seeing by doing this.  I know it sounds simple, but the more you look, the more you see.  That is certainly true here where layer after layer reveals itself.  Making a poem as a response is itself a way of seeing and feeling more.  I love doing this!

    Lori, this poem is for you with many thanks for sharing your vibrant, intriguing, beautiful art.

    KateSinging 

 

 

Flamenco

 

You are the ghost of yourself, running

in tandem with your shadow.

Fire eats every morsel of the house

and licks a golden tongue over night’s cheek.

Anything can burn –

your sister’s hair like winter wheat,

the comic mask that forces a laugh,

that dark eye that glanced you on the stair.

 

Even the spotted wing of a monarch

seems ablaze, its scalloped edge

like singed lace rustled

by a flamenco dancer,

consumed by music.

 

Only the child’s hand remains cool

in contact, touching an adult double

with plump fingers that point

to a child-sized butterfly

and a sky blank as paper

to fly away in.

 

 

KateSinging

5 February 2008

 

GOSSAMER WINGS

Spiral stair descending
Lavender brick steps pave my path
Hands in applause pattering

Escape is seldom an option
Or do you mean escape to the inside –
quick change artist , yes, I am that,
I reign as queen of camouflage
and have a character repertoire
that deserves the theatre’s mask -–
yes, appropriately --
comedy of errors.

And do you remember my name?
My foot strikes the rippled floor
now alight with bits of flame
Be aware.  The matches flare.
The eyes of the wise see the scheme
While Inferno’s maze
melts vision into confusion
And the safe house where I huddle turns ablaze.

“Climb on,” a whisper.
“Upon my back.
Do not hesitate, my gossamer wings are strong.”

I do not fear the ride,
nor deny my pleasure at being accepted as I am,
Relief swallows fear
A gentleness wraps me in soft tissue
And the brush of wings dusts away the tears upon my cheeks.

by Bo 

 Lori,

I keep all of my writings for my personal use only.  Wondered if you would be okay with me keeping your collage in my files too - I would like to keep the combo together.  I would attribute the work to you, and keep your addy on file just in case.  In any case, the collage was great for inspiration.  I think this is a great idea.

Bo 

KateSinging-- Thank you so very much for you words and creative energy and for kicking off this idea! This poem is very special to me. Even though I made this poem for my step daughter there are elements of myself in it.  Oftentimes I have felt like a ghost of myself running alongside the situation, as a helpless observer unable to put out the raging fire, and the familiar panic/anger/despair threatens. You will often find the butterfly in my work.  It is a symbol of many things for me -- escape being one.  The last line of your poem captures my butterfly and caught my breath as well : "and a sky blank as paper to fly away in."  That would for Lori represent the blank paper or canvas of my mind that I speak of in my blog that I "escape" to create my way out of my pain.  I would like to take the step out of my mind and bring it into reality.  That would be growth and freedom for me.  I think that slowly I am doing that, one day at a time.  What we have done here is proof of that and I thank you for being part of my creative process.  I love this too!!! 

Bo-- Thank you for your amazing poem! Because of your poem I have a new understanding of who I am! This is so wonderful. It's like my subconscious was trying to remind me all along but I wasn't listening. Let me back up... sometimes my collage work is like dream work.  I'll work really fast and arrange things subconsciously.  Later I'll look at the piece and try to figure out what I'm trying to tell myself.  That's why I picked this piece for you poets to put words to... I saw what I thought Dissociative Disorder felt like and how I related to my stepdaughter about it, but I couldn't really put it all into words.  Now you've put it there for me.  I now realize I am the butterfly in the collage.  I'm always there offering her the chance to use her creativity as a means to express her pain and so possibly find another means of healing, but so far she has yet to make a move...  In my heart and mind she's stuck in this collage looking at me while her house burns. But I feel at peace somehow having this answer.  Thank you! Thank you! I feel so free... like I've dropped a great burden. Truly amazing. Oh, and of course you can use the image. (What did you mean by "addy"? Do you need more from me?)  ~Lori

Here's my collaboration with Lori's gut-wrenching collage:

FIRE

I run away

I run toward

I hate

I love

I despise

I desire

I reject

I embrace

I am the fire

The fire is me

The fire burns me

The fire consumes me

The fire satisfies me

The fire gives birth to a new me

I must

I can't

I am compelled

I dare not

I dare not not dare

WHAT SHALL I DO?

HELP ME!

~~Aunt Bobby

Dear Aunt Bobby-- Thank you for your poem. My first response was lost in the server switch glitch.  I didn't save my post or response unfortunately.  So I'll thank you again.  Your take on my collage is very striking.  I love how you identify with the panic of the fire...  Trying to remember what I said the first time around is distracting me, consuming my mind so I'll give in and move on.  If any of you saved the posts feel free to repost them.  Otherwise I think that now the next thing to do is to leave the floor open to the writer who will post their piece for Collaboration Station Week 2 in a new post under that heading?  Of course this week remains open for further posts and writers who wish to add their interpretations...  So, KateSinging, would you like to be the first writer/poet to post next if that's agreeable to everyone?  The only reason I suggest this is that she was the original inspiriation for this forum, and she posted the first poem.  (I'm going to be gone all day Monday... I'm being taken out for my Birthday to one of the oldest streets in Los Angeles for an authentic Mexican meal at Olvera Street.  I'm celebrating the umpteenth anniversary of my 29th birthday!!!)  Anyway, thank you all for your wonderful collaborative creations and I can't wait to see what happens next week.  ~Lori

The idea of a collaboration between visual artists and writers turned out to be a superb one, Lori.  Kate, Bo, and Aunt Bobby tackled the project with diversity and richness in their writing accompanying your artwork. You were a well-balanced team with your skills supporting each other extremely well.  I eagerly await future collaborations blending words with artwork.

Happy, happy birthday, Lori.  Kick up your feet and let your wild side shine!  You're a gem.

- chameleon 

 Hi Kate Singing!

What a beautiful poem. It takes a beautiful person to see the beauty in another. Too often we look but we do not see and we hear but we do not listen. Your poem is a loving tribute from one heart to another. Thanks for sharing!

 Thank you so much, Julie!  How kind of you.

I love your roses, too!

KateSinging 

Lori, what a compelling piece you created. And happy birthday! KateSinging, Bo and Aunt Bobby, your poems captured different facets and deepened my appreciation. And the images drew me in and wouldn't let me go. Thank you, Lori, for allowing us to share in this piece with you.

I stand
seeing double
yet neither allows me escape

Fire!
I run
she runs
into the smoke
why didn't I run away?

The steps
too steep
my tiredness
too weighty
yet fear
confuses me,
has me running into the fire

Oddly enough
I hear applause
even as I hear “Stop!”
and the laughing mask
on the funhouse mirror
falls away

Confused, choking
a giant butterfly swoops me up
and with her fragile, brilliant strong wings
lifts me high

She allows me to circle in, around and through
into the smoke, and out again
with a perspective I didn't have before

The fire is a force
as is the smoke
and so are my joys,
my tears, my fears

 That's another lovely take on Lori's art, Journeyer.  I especially love that part about the butterfly:

"she allows me to circle in, around and through

into the smoke and out again

with a perspective I didn't have before" -

which just captures that combination of breathless daring and edgy freedom.  There's something so strange and repellent in the idea of a butterfly flying through smoke, something powerful that sets me on edge.

Thanks for joining in!  Hope we get to see more of your poetry in the next collaboration station or over in the 10-minute poem forum!

warm wishes to you -

KateSinging 

Well, hello, my artistic friends.  At the kind suggestion of our dear friend, chameleon, I am sending out a wake-up call to all those who are napping in the waiting room at the Collaboration Station.  As some of you may have seen, I wrote this poem (?) in my "Sooz Prayers" section of the Gratitude Garden Form, at the end of June.  It was written for someone who is in my life and who I do my best to treat with kindness and compassion.  Is anyone up for adding a piece of art to go with it?  Here it is, for your convenience: 

Bless the Girl

 I met him on the Internet, she said. 

She doesn't get that love isn't something you advertise for ... and free, too.

He's nice.  I'm totally smitten.  She doesn't get that smitten

is just biology at work.  She gave him her heart and he

stopped calling after that.  She doesn't get that. 

She went back for more.  She thinks she can cure

cruelty with love. She says I don't need anything back.  She doesn't get

her own value.  She gives it away for free. 

He meets her on his porch, delivers her belongings: it's over.

And then the next night: can you come back?  She doesn't get

anything: he gets everything. 

I say to her please, you're messing with your own value.

She says, I never thought of it like that. 

I pray: bless this girl.  It breaks my heart that

she doesn't get it. 

Hi Sooz and everyone!

Your poem, "Bless the Girl" is all about emotion.  I was caught up in the connectedness this heartful poem gave me and which is sure to provide plenty of  powerful inspiration for all of us visual artists. 

Because we're on to Collaboration Station #8, Sooz, would you mind re-posting it there for all to see?  It's at http://artellacafe.com/forums/t/4927.aspx
The Collaboration Station is certainly one of the best writing together with visual art sharing opportunities in Artella Land ---it's all about spirit, where there is no one answer --- only limitless possibilities. 

Stretch your creative muscles as far as they'll take you! 

~ chameleon