Ravensong Poetry And Writing Blog by Donovan Baldwin

BY DONOVAN BALDWIN

Sometimes we read something, hear something, and think, "How wise that is!" Yet, it's been my experience that often the wisdom is not IN the statement that we heard or read, but, in our acceptance, recognition, or evaluation of it.

Often, we are finding the wisdom in ourselves that, perhaps, we couldn't see, or did not have the words or images for.

When we look at art, no matter how skilled the artist, or lovely, or compelling, the scene or subject, it's our own reaction, our acceptance, recognition, response, that makes it "beautiful", or "perceptive" or "avant garde" in our eyes and mind. The wisdom is often within us. The beauty is within us.

Oh, sometimes we need a little help finding it, seeing it, or maybe are missing a few pieces, but, that's why we read, walk in the woods, hum along to music, speak with others... or sit and watch the world, and wonder about it... finding our own beauty and wisdom.

Labels: art, beauty, donovan baldwin, opinion, wisdom

Labels: art, discussion, donovan baldwin, Sir Joshua Reynolds

 By Donovan Baldwin

Thinking Out Loud... Revisited (From Dec 29, 2018)

In "Seven Discourses On Art" (1769), Sir Joshua Reynolds uses the phrase, "...art worthy of his notice that tends to soften and humanise the mind."

This has long been what I have understood about "art", ever since the genteel nuns of my youth tried so hard to beat the concept into my rather unmalleable brain.

I guess that's the point, at least mine.

The goal of "education" was to learn to earn. You were supposed to become someone who could contribute realistically to the common good, and make a living doing it. You also learned how everybody else thought and followed in their footsteps.

Rather a harsh reality to my mind.

Yet, concurrently, it was somehow assumed that there would be, should be, a strange group of admirable, if weird, individuals who would stray from this straight and narrow path, and produce... "art".
It was further assumed that art WOULD "soften and humanize" us humans.

Yet again, over the decades, I have come to notice that sometimes, it seemed to me, we artistes (so to speak), see and comment on the real, the painful, the difficult to deal with and/or understand.

I think maybe, in that way, we contribute to the "humanizing" of the human hordes.

Softening?

Toughening?

Perhaps both... concurrently.

Introduction of the concept of intentional malleability, at least.
Open our mind to the "other"... another way of thinking or viewing reality. Just thinking out loud... as often happens.

Come to think of it, isn't "art" sort of just "thinking out loud"?

Labels: art, article, donovan baldwin, essay, humanize, Seven Discourses on Art, Sir Joshua Reynolds

By Donovan Baldwin

Beauty in art has
No constant color or design,
For softest pastels and
Hardest, brightest oils and pastels,
Finely grained dark woods,
Hard glowing translucent marble,
Can speak excitement and wonder,
Or wonder and introspection using
The nature of their colors
Textures and design blended
With natures of medium and artist.
Beauty is not in or of one thing,
Combination and composition,
Construction and comprehension.

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colors of passion
explosions in red and gold...
love's shared ecstasy

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nonstop marathon
lovers pent up together...
treasured and pleasured

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i write fiery words
thoughts of you set me aflame...
incendiary

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forever in dance
her moves frozen but recalled...
by the artist's hands

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images still locked
within faded memories...
flicker slowly past

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painted men and maids
cavorting indecently...
in eternal lust

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when i go away
i've left my favorite words...
my will in poems

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Poetry copyright 2020 by Donovan Baldwin
Painting: September Morn by Paul Émile Chabas

Labels: art, beauty, haiku, Paul Émile Chabas, poems, poetry, September Morn

By: Donovan Baldwin

In an essay on the pleasure of painting, William Hazlitt says, "The painter not only takes a delight in nature, he has a new and exquisite source of pleasure opened to him in the study and contemplation of works of art..." and goes on to give an example of a painter spending a pleasant time contemplating not only art, but, life, nature, and the world about.

Much the same happens to the poet.

While each of us so afflicted react in our own particular and special way, I feel fairly sure that we are much the same in that we never look again at even the smallest piece of trash or the most spectacular display of nature the same way.

Commonplace things lose their commonality and, instead become causes of cantos. Wondering and wandering becomes a way of life with the goal being the coming of the words which, like the statue within the stone, revealed by the blows of the sculptor, will be pulled forth into this world and made to represent more than what the dictionary ever intended.

The poet is condemned to evermore find a poem in everything, much to the dismay and dismissal of most of the rest of the world.

Labels: art, artist, donovan baldwin, poem, poet, William Hazlitt

By: Donovan Baldwin

I write poetry.

At least I claim I do.

Sometimes it appears as philosophy, commentary, sometimes humor, sometimes just a feeling which must be let out upon the unsuspecting world... or, at least, out of the captivity of my mind.

Most people "get" the fact that poems, poetry, may be whimsy, may even bending, sometimes, like fantasy, breaking the bonds and bounds of reality.

It's about the words, the flow, the rhythm, the feelings, sometimes deep, sometimes fleeting and hard to identify, the thought behind the thought, the image, the statement of, or misstatement of, the "facts".

In a poem, the "facts" are what the poet sees, or imagines seeing, who, like an impressionist, may "see" an image, not as others see it, but, as it appears to the poet... which can sometimes be damned impossible to put into words.

But, we try. That attempt is poetry, a poem, even incomplete or just a few lines of the initial thought (of which I have several notebooks and pieces of paper) just as some brush strokes on a canvas, or chisel marks on a block of stone are a painting or sculpture... which, though conceived, might not have been born... yet.

Often, when we ARE finished,.. and we never TRULY are, we can look at our creation and see pretty clearly our "message" or madness, whatever it was we were trying to "paint", but, sometimes the reader just does not, CANNOT, "see" what we do... as a viewer in a museum may turn their head partly upside down trying to see what the painter was trying to "draw".

Problem with painters and poets, we don't always "see" things as they "really" are... or, do we?

Read more of my poetry at http://ravensong.mysite.com or find my articles at http://ezinearticles.com/expert/Donovan_Baldwin/19345.

Labels: art, commentary, donovan baldwin, humor, impressionist, philosophy, poem, poet, poetry, writing poetry

By Donovan Baldwin


Okay, I know this is not perfect, but, I was trying to clarify my thoughts about the "meaning" of artistic expression and the making of "good" or "bad" art.

I have always been ot the opinion that technical "goodness" or "badness" of a piece of art, a painting, a poem, whatever, is not the key issue in evaluating something as "art". Sure, it plays a role in assessing the artistic endeavor, just as height, weight, eye color, and so on are part of a human being, but, the humanity is more than just the technical attributes.

FOR ME, there had to be something of value in what the artist/writer had intended and how well they conveyed the idea, the dream, the image, the emotion, the message. That's one reason I like to read poetry written in English by people for whom English is NOT their native language. Quite often they convey, in incorrect English, not only an emotion or meaning, but, they often do it in ways that show novel uses or interpretations for the words they use.

In my thoughts, it's what the artist puts into the work, and what can be gotten from it, that matters, not the technical ability to perform the poetic or artistic act.

Kind of like making love to someone you really love. There may be people more skilled in the arts of love, but, being with this person, doing what you, and they, can do for one another can make it great sex.

But, I was still searching for an image or a story to explain how I felt.
Well, after coffee this morning, while looking out the window, it came to me as a story. A fable-like story, but, one that captured for me what I was thinking and wanting to say:

Death of An Artist

Artists and writers have often been involved in socially reforming movements. Many have used their skills to advance and enhance these movements, and many have died in the process.

I imagined an artist, a painter, who was trying to use his skills and vision to assist in the overthrow of a vicious and tyrannical government.

He is in his studio, prepared to paint a portrait which will arouse the people to the cause, but, before he can begin, troops of the state break in. He is warned not to touch anything, but, knowing he is going to be left with a blank canvas, he grabs a brush and begins painting rapidly.
The troops fire, and the painter falls dead, his brush leaving a bloody red trail down the canvas.

After his body is carried away, his compatriots enter his studio and see the white canvas with the few slashing marks of color, and the blood-red streak left as he fell to the floor.

They take the canvas, and it becomes a symbol of defiance and resistance which helps push the populace to overthrow the oppressive regime.

Technically, the "painting" is not a painting at all. However, to me, it IS a work of art, a work of an artist. His message is boldly and obviously visible for those who can see beyond the technicalities and into the soul of the work and its creator.

I don't know if this clarifies anything for you, but, it does for me. If you stayed with me this long, thanks for reading.

Labels: art, donovan baldwin, poetry, revolution, what is art, writing

Copyright 2007 by Donovan Baldwin

It is a small gallery on a side street in Carmel, California. There are more prestigious and glamorous sites in town, such as the Hogs Breath Inn Restaurant and Bar, owned by local resident Clint Eastwood (back when this was written), and it may be easily passed amid the maze of galleries of various arts.

My wife and I would never have seen it except for a sequence of failures, and we never would have met the lady who ran it had we been there one minute earlier, or if my wife had not loved embroidery and needlepoint.

Whatever the events, had we not encountered problems finding what we HAD been looking for, or had we not had trouble navigating the narrow streets of Carmel, and finally decided to park and search on foot, we might never have been introduced to Lu Luo, owner of Lu Lu Silk Art Gallery of Chinese silk embroidery. That would have been a shame, for then a certain macho dude, i.e. yours truly, would never have stood gazing in awe at what might be the last examples of a dying art.

We were actually looking for a scent shop when my wife, a lifelong devotee of various forms of needlepoint, glanced in a window. One more gallery in a sea of galleries, we commented on the beauty of the "paintings" and almost walked on. As we were about to leave, however, she realized that we were seeing for the first time in our lives exquisite examples of an art she had only read about and I had never even known existed...Chinese silk embroidery.

She called me back and I took another look at one of the "paintings" in the window. As I looked more closely, I realized that what had appeared to be tiny brushstrokes were actually threads, some of which seemed much smaller than a human hair. Using tiny silken threads, some of which actually are finer than a baby's hair, the hands that had held the needle had created a masterpiece equal to those of any brush wielding artist. In fact, as we gazed through the window into the closed shop, we saw that many of the works were almost of photographic quality!

Sadly, the shop was closed and we began to walk away, but as we left, we heard someone calling out for us to please wait. We turned and saw a diminutive oriental lady, who, as it happened, owned the gallery.

As one interested in art and needlework, my wife was in awe of all she saw. As a writer, I was in awe not only of the artwork, but of the story Lu Luo had to tell.

What we saw before us in her gallery were perhaps some of the last examples of an art begun a mere 2,800 years or more before. It was an art form developed for the pleasure and adornment of Chinese royalty, but modern times were drawing a line it could not cross.

Developed in Suzhou, China, this form of silk embroidery begins with a finely woven silk cloth as the "canvas", and the finest silken threads as the "paint". They are the finest threads because the artist must split each silk thread into as many as 64 smaller threads as one of the first steps in preparation for the creation of the work. This is the first stumbling block, as the artist must begin learning her craft when still a child, when eyes and hands are still keen and nimble enough to do this well. Attempts to teach even this apparently simple task to older women have failed.

Once threads have been split, each and every pass of the needle must be perfect as the artist employs approximately 40 different techniques to create effects such as fog, smoke, water, texture, or play of light. Should the artist falter in her stitches, there is no way to recover the work. She must begin again.

The effects produced with silken thread can be amazing. From the fine skin of a maid to the whiskers on a tiger's face, the range of effects is stunning...and unbelievably realistic. In one example on display in Lu Lu Silk Art Gallery, we were able to watch the morning light change to noon and dim back to the dusk of evening as we walked across the room in front of a work showing a scene in Suzhou. A skilled artist can create an original work in traditional Chinese motifs, duplicate or emulate the most famous works of western art, or convert a favored family photograph into a silken masterpiece.

As alive and vibrant as this work seems to be, its days may be numbered. The artists must begin training as children and dedicate their lives to their art. As China joins the commercial world, children learn other things and seek careers that seem more rewarding. The skills needed demand the lifetime attention and devotion of the artist, and it has become harder and harder to find those to take on the task. It is estimated that the artists working today may be the last, and the end of the art may be as little as twenty years away.

Each work demands time or artists. The larger or more complex the work, the longer it will take, and the only way to shorten the time is to assign more artists to the task. As an example, Lu Luo pointed to a beautiful picture entitled "Tang Dynasty Polo". It is a vibrant work showing Chinese girls on horseback playing polo for the entertainment of the Emperor and his court. It is approximately four feet by five feet in size, and a similar work would require a team of five or six artists a couple of years to complete or one artist several years.

My wife and I are grateful that we have had the chance to see this wonderful art, but we are saddened that in a few years, no new works will be available to the world.

For your opportunity to see this art while it is still available to the public, you can visit Lu Lu Silk Art Gallery on Mission Street in Carmel between 5th and 6th streets. You can phone Lu Luo for more information at (831) 620-1122, or visit her gallery online and view examples of the works on display at http://www.lulusilkartgallery.com.

Donovan Baldwin is a freelance writer living in Copperas Cove, Texas. He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, weight loss, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, life and the arts. He has a collection of articles on health, fitness, diet and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/.

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Labels: art, Carmel, chinese, chinese silk embroidery, Clint Eastwood, embroidery, gallery, silk