Poetry and the Visual- How Does One Stay Fresh

[Wendilee]

Often when I am not able to take a class or work with other artists to rejuvenate my thoughts and skills, I read about another form of art. This helps to see in other ways. One of my favorite books from which I used to teach is Sound and Sense- a wonderful collection of poems interspersed with astute commentary. The author, Laurence Perrine, says, " The difference between the writer using language to communicate information and the poet is this: the practical writer will always attempt to confine his words to tone meaning at a time; the poet will often take advantage of the fact that the word has more than one meaning by using t to mean more than one thing at the same time. (pg. 35) He goes on to recount, "A frequent misconception of poetic language is that the poet seeks always the most beautiful or noble-sounding words. What he really seeks are the most meaningful words, and these vary from one context to another. Language has many levels and varieties, and the poet may choose from them all. His words may be grandiose or humble, fanciful or matter of fact, romantic or realistic, archaic or modern, technical or everyday, monosyllabic or polysyllabic.

These thoughts if changed from language of the word to the language of the visual Perrine compels me to consider my 'words' when painting. I examine my recent work analyzing in what voice I have been speaking. Do the words augment and support the feeling I am trying to engender? Do I slip into using the same language for each piece  or is each piece fresh with new words, strokes, vision?
How does one stay fresh in story as well as expression?

Using new materials always helps, a new color, a new surface. But these can become cliche so fast. One style I recently developed in order to bring energy to watercolor appeals tremendously to viewers. It would be easy to say this particular poem over and over again but it is important not to use these words unless there is a vision they articulate otherwise it becomes about a technique.

I struggle with this not only as an artist but also as a teacher.  Techniques are only techniques a word is only a word unless their use is rooted deeply and firmly in meaningful thought.