Travel and eastern philosophies have been a major influence on my artistic style. I began taking art courses many years ago in Montreal and have continued doing so since moving to Ottawa in 1992. My long-standing interest in Asian art forms led me to study with both Japanese and Chinese sumi-e painters. For the past several years, I was a Heraldic artist for Rideau Hall; perhaps that's why I enjoy abstract painting so much now. After a past career in science and computer science, I changed gears completely and pursued a career in arts & heritage. Well, we know where THAT’S at. The only ”real” jobs I can seem to find are connected to writing. My involvement with a local haiku group over the past several years helps me to grow as a poet; everything else I write comes from the muse – a capricious, off-kilter and fractious thing which seems to be pissed-off lately. As a painter, I often incorporate text, poetry or Asian elements into my work. Over the past year, I explored some new approaches in mixed media through the Ottawa School of Art and Enriched Bread Artists, where I participated in a couple of small exhibits. I've also participated in exhibits at the Japanese Embassy, various branches of the Ottawa Library and the Ottawa Writers' Festival. Currently, I am Professional Development Chair for a large group of mixed media artists in Ottawa; I try to create every day – I was born with the germ for writing in one form or another. It seems to have manifested itself in poetry as my particular form of expression, meanwhile I try to earn a living by writing technical stuff and taking small commissions to help pay for books or workshops. Generally, what I dislike most about writing bios is writing bios.
Valentine’s Day-
another school shooting
makes The News
Cardiologist’s office
pinned to the wall-
a paper heart
Full moon again,
seeing my reflection
in your eyes
Homeless
an outstretched hand-
offers his heart
Like the winter plum
a master taught me to paint,
this beauty does not exist here.
My imaginary friend
keeps me company
This Lady
expired
from a chocolate excess
far better than love,
such a sweet death
desired.
Her Romeo
too late
to reclaim
his sweet dove,
lies dead on the heath-
a predictable fate
Sometimes my muse has a warped sense of humour! It’s not my fault – at least it’s short and (yikes!) sweet.
Powerful overtones.
a halo in progress, the past
about to happen.
a wounded portrait of disciples,
the hurried sketches awaiting treatment.
Three people are crowded around
the paintings-
the scene could be completed
she’s the one
(I’m still thinking about the title for this one. It seems too obvious
to me, but I’m biased as this is my background. Perhaps not to others,
so let me know.)
The Shirley Series
There is a vacuum
in the absence of a Mind-
the Void rushes in
By losing your mind,
you approach the Great Abyss
Infinity looms.
Mindlessness is good.
You contemplate Nothingness,
the essence of Zen.
May these haikus help-
If not, then there is no hope
I write for No-One
(When a friend complained to me that she had deleted her brain along with some important files, I dashed off these ‘haiku’ to her in consolation.
They are not really haiku in the pure sense except that in form they are each 17 syllables long. We in the west who are obsessed with writing haiku and other forms of Japanese poetry do not adhere to the 17 syllable rule. To do so most often results in clumsy and mechanical poetry. If you read translations you know that much is lost.)
another snowfall
the garden’s white
fragrance
[ in Invisible Tea (a book of haiku & tanka) - members of Kado Ottawa 2006]
Orchid painting – sumi-e on chinese paper
On such a snowy day, please sit down at 3:00 pm and have a lovely cup of tea
when
I’m old
with
old woman’s bones
I’ll escape
to the ocean
I won’t
stay home
I’ll watch
waves sparkle › Continue reading
i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings
This is for you Andrew, a sunset overlooking the warm Pacific. I jumped onto the base of this huge tree just as the sun moved into view between the branches. I had a crappy Kodak travel camera with me and this is the result. Taken when I was living on “the Big Island” of Hawaii, Kona coast. Cheers!
