Welcome to the Debut
of the August Blog Bash 2012!
I am very much excited and honored to be hosting this new feature series... and it is a great way to end the summer! This Blog Bash is an impressive talent showcase of poets, artists, and writers/authors from all walks of life. For each day of this month, one individual will be featured here on this blog, at Origami Lotus Stones, my Twitter (hashtag will be #augblogbash), my Facebook community page, and on my blog page on Writing Our Way Home. Please be patient while I post on all platforms.
**Please note that all authors/artists have given me permission to post their work on the following platforms/sites I have just mentioned. Please do not plagiarize, modify, reproduce, or distribute any work without permission from the original authors/artists. Thank you!**
If you are interested in participating in this Blog Bash, feel free to check out the details here.
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Today's Feature: Tamara Rendell
This poem functions as a description of a tabula rasa for the artist, poet, or writer. It offers a meditative, exploratory feel that is all too familiar to any artist/poet/writer out there. The blank canvas may be intimidating at first ("Artic blankness"), but eventually opens the "voice" to "dark beginnings / of shape and form" and eventually to something as "tangible [as the] rhythms of language." I really like how introspective and personal this poem is, yet it is also universal in experience. No matter what the medium an artist chooses, it is the "voice" that makes him/her separate from the other voices out there. The process of creating is almost mysterious and haunting as depicted in this short poem. Finally, "Ink" as the title is succinct, yet leaves room for the reader's imagination as there are a variety of "ink" out there--from calligraphy ink to pens.
This painting includes an excerpt from Virginia Woolf's book, Orlando (1928), which is about a man who finds himself transformed into a woman. Considering when this book was first published, Woolf was certainly ahead of her time addressing issues of gender roles and expectations in society. Rendell wonderfully captured this memorable quote from Woolf's book with a picture of a person in an androgynous form who looks contemplative/introspective and solemn. Although I have never read this book, it reminds me of Jung's views on the archetypes of the anima (female/male) as well as the Eastern philosophy of yin and yang. The black-and-white effect of this painting creates a sort of a haunting/mysterious effect combined with the person having a faraway look in his/her eyes, which helps direct readers to move their eyes to the text on the left. Notice how the text wraps around the androgynous person. It reminds me that we are using all of our senses to find Truth. After all, "Truth! Truth!" is certainly one thing we will forever struggle with as an individual and as a society. Sometimes we have to see it in order to believe it. Also, this painting makes me wonder why this particular excerpt resonated with Rendell. Perhaps a personal story? I'm now curious!
Impressive work, Tamara! Thank you so much for sharing and being one of the contributors!
(NB: Text arrangement on MS PowerPoint by Kathy Uyen Nguyen. Please note that text/graphics will be in this format.)
To check out more of Tamara's work, you can click on the following link(s): Tamara Rendell: Writing, Art & Reviews (blog/website) Please do promote this new feature on Facebook, Twitter, etc.! Thanks so much for all the support! And look, my blog now has buttons (see below) to make your life easier! Come back tomorrow for a new artist/author feature!
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