Challenge Accepted - Nothin' Like It

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” 
― Vincent Willem van Gogh

Sometimes I am torn between painting and writing. But now, I have been drawn to doing something I had never imaged.  I need to remind myself that my feelings about painting and writing poetry are not new, but a continuum of the creative spirits alive in all who have since the first scratch on a stone wall to say what was. 

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” 
― Pablo Picasso

I have been painting longer than I have been writing poetry. But poetry jumped out from my soul and I began to write.  The first poem I wrote is entitled “Journey”. It was July, 2017.  I just started to write it without thinking, the words controlling my hand.  

Since then I have written over 250 poems, published one book, and completed another (out sometime early next year). I now write at least one poem a day.  A pace I will not, nor cannot stop.  Sometimes I just need to record the words in my head.

Since the very first time the creative spirits revealed themselves to me, I have let them set the agenda each day, paint or write or both. Less than a month ago the creative spirits presented our art studio with another challenge, to create Video Greeting Cards using my poems, our art, and our voices.  Challenge accepted.

“Every now and then one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door 

and serves as a stepping stone to other things.” 
― Pablo Picasso

To meet the challenge, Suzanne and I would need the help of our virtual creative assistant, Robyn, to traverse the technical side of assembling the parts.  It began simply. Experimenting with ideas, we created our first six “Audio Poem Cards” using both of our voices to read the poems accompanied to music, sound effects and emotional images.

We soon recognized the need for help from Suzanne’s husband, Brooks, to direct us in our reading.  Brooks has directed actors in theater and television. Wow, did he do a great job!  Since some of my poems were written a year ago, we needed to be reminded of the message and emotion in each poem. We do many “takes” for each poem.  Within two days, we had produced 30 audio recordings.  Now these recordings were sent to Robyn.

Suzanne’s experience in theater as stage and costume designer helped us understand what we needed to create these Audio Cards as a small piece of theater, using a wide range of visuals and music.  We began to develop a production process interspersing our own art with other available images. What were once called “Audio Poem Cards” have evolved into “Video Greeting Cards”.  A example of our art and poem.

Percy's Poem & Suzanne's Painting

We are adding new Video Greeting Cards on our Handwords.com website as production of each one is completed.  Within two weeks, we will have produced 36 Video Greeting Cards.  By the end of September, we will have 50 and by January’s end over 100. 

I have already formatted and copyrighted with the Library of Congress more than 70 poems for the cards. I continue to write new ones daily and hope to have over 200 Video Greeting Cards in our Video Library by this time next year. 

Our Video Greeting Cards celebrate life’s occasions, love and friendship expressed with poetry for everyone, children and adults, no matter how you identify yourself.  The world needs kindness, happiness, and love.  We are doing our part.

I am proud of our collaborative efforts and results.  I hope you visit Handwords.com/Video-Greeting-Cards to listen to the poems, music, view our art, images and graphics.  

This is just one of newest creative things we do at Open Sky Studio & Gallery. Not everything can be said in words. Painting is still what we love to do. Now I want to and need to paint. 

“If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.” 
― Edward Hopper

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