annewestlund

sharing a poetic LIFELINE with the world

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Make Visible: By Art Inspired

Art sometimes inspires me to write poetry. Below are two paintings and the poems they inspired. Please read Lin’s post A New Way of Looking: Ekphrasis for an introduction to this idea. It is often not enough to just see a painting and write; sometimes research into the subject or the artist is helpful. I researched James Joyce for the poem, “Joyce.” The painting was incorrectly titled “Joyce in the City” on another website, where I was inspired to write the poem. The correct name for the painting is Paris Street, Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte, 1877.

Paris Street, Rainy Day

Joyce

Plotting out your novel
in the rain,
or so I imagine.
I struggled with Ulysses,
didn’t get past the first five pages
to be honest.

You wouldn’t kneel
at your mother’s bedside,
standing up against Catholicism
even in death.

Your get rich quick schemes
failed, until you acquired a patron.
Still you squandered the money
every chance
on wine.

We’ll never know much about
your daughter,
the letters burned
by an overzealous relative.

Many eye surgeries later,
Joyce and an umbrella,
woman on his arm,
in the rain.

The second painting, The Little Deer by Frida Kahlo, 1946, also inspired a poem. I dug a little deeper into the research for this painting. The surrealism of the painting is reflected in this poem, “A Painting.”

The Little Deer

A Painting

You let your guard down
Didn’t see the hunter’s orange vest
Or didn’t care
Can the mute speak?
Still you run through the woods
You should be dead
A stag with the face of a woman
countenance as mysterious as the Mona Lisa’s
Run, deer, run
As if the plague were after you
As if followed by Roman soldiers
Aching to martyr.

What can you take away from this? If you need inspiration, look online for paintings to inspire your writing. They can be modern art, classical, fine art, or even photographs. You don’t have to research the subject of the painting or photograph or the artist, but it adds depth to the final work.

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Inspiration, Make Visible, Poetry, Uncategorized

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Make Visible: Preditors & Editors™ Readers’ Poll Results

Preditors & Editors™ Readers’ Poll Results

I’m happy to announce that the cover for “Lifelines” by Lin Neiswender won third place in book/ebook cover art in the Preditors & Editors™ Readers’ Poll.

Also the Poetic Muselings placed third in poets in the same poll.

Our anthology, “Lifelines”, placed tenth in anthologies in the Preditors & Editors™ Readers’ Poll.

Thank you, everyone who voted!

Critters / Critique.org hosts the annual Preditors & Editors™ Readers’ Poll which honors print & electronic publications published during 2011.

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Contest, Make Visible, Poetry

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Make Visible: End of the Year Self-Evaluation for Writers

The end of the year is a fantastic time to evaluate one’s writing life with an eye to the future. It’s a time to look at the big picture and see if you have met, exceeded, or fallen short of your self-created writing goals for the year. This self-evaluation was inspired by the About.com Graduate School post, Check in With Yourself: End of Semester Self-Evaluation. I’ve found that doing a regular self-evaluation is a great tool for reflection on my graduate school experiences. This evaluation is not an excuse for you to beat yourself up; instead it will allow you to get a clearer picture of your writing life.

Consider your responses to these questions. It might help to actually write them down. 🙂

Consider the last year:

How did my year begin?
What were my submission plans, writing goals, and marketing plans (if applicable)?
Did I allocate enough time for writing, typing and editing my work?
Were my expectations met?
What surprised me this year?
If I could do anything over, what would I choose? What would I do differently?
What are my writing strengths and witnesses?
How might I address these weaknesses?
How can I augment these strengths?
What have I learned this year? About writing? About subjects of interest to me? Personally?

After thoughtful consideration, what can you conclude about your year? What will you do differently next year?

Some ideas to think about for 2012:

Set aside regular times to write. Be flexible. If you are a morning person write in the mornings, if not, write in the afternoons or evenings. Consider investing in writing prompt books or get writing prompts off the internet, so you are not stuck for ideas. Remember, writers write!

Consider collaborating on a writing project with a writing friend or online critique group. Collaborating is a great way to support one another while holding each other accountable.

Take time at the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012 to revisit your writing goals. Are they too ambitious or not ambitious enough? Can you break your goals down into smaller, more manageable steps? If you haven’t made any writing goals, is it time to do so? Think about sharing your writing goals with supportive family members and friends. Do you have any deadlines looming? Make a note of those and give yourself time to meet them.

Reflect on any Works in Progress (WIPs) you have. Is it time to let your WIPs go or is it time to breathe new life into a WIP?

Every year is a new beginning. A new year is a great time to establish good writing habits and to reflect on the past year. It’s also a good time to congratulate yourself on what you accomplished in 2011 and realize what you did right. See you in 2012!

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Creative Writing, Creativity, Make Visible

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Make Visible: From Consumer to Creator

I bet you have lots of media in your home, like CDs, books, DVDs, even art—all made by someone else or a group of other people. Have you ever considered making your own media, your own art? As the rash of consumerism that spreads over the country at this time of year attests, there is a huge market for the products of creativity. I ask you to consider making your own music, writing your own books, directing your own movies and decorating your walls with your own art. Right away, there are objections: You don’t have the talent, money, time, skills, contacts to do this! Maybe not.

The creators of media (art) aren’t any different than you and me. “They put their pants on one leg at a time,” as my dad used to say. Maybe they have a vision to share, maybe not, maybe they have time, talent, money and all that good stuff, maybe not. It’s not about becoming a writer, musician, artist, filmmaker. This is about being creative and expressing yourself. We will still buy media, that’s not in question. It’s time to be creators of art rather than only consumers of art. Be brave! You don’t have to share just yet. Get out pen and paper, a guitar, paint and paintbrush or video camera. I double dog dare you!

Image via Wikipedia

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Creative Writing, Creativity, Inspiration, Make Visible

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Make Visible: Restoration Earth Journal Issue 1 Vol 1

“Lounging” by Anne Westlund

I’m happy to share the publication of my photos and poems in “Restoration Earth: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Nature & Civilization”. Alongside my work are other poems embedded within scholarly articles and the photos of Katie Batten MacDowell and my brother, Chris Westlund. This highlights how intimately wed our perception of nature and ourselves is with our thoughts about the relationship of ourselves to nature. When you read this journal, don’t see the poems and photos as discrete artwork, but as a complement to the scholarly sections, perhaps as a resting point on your journey through Restoration Earth. The sum is really greater than the individual components.

These poems reflect my spirituality along with my observations of the natural world. Except for “My Town” these poems emerged from the class, Ecology and the Sacred, that I’m taking at Ocean Seminary College. The photos are shots of deer and a seal, a child and her rabbit, and a drawing in the sand on the beach. To me, they all represent impermanence, a moment in time that my eye and camera caught: a deer resting, a seal waiting for it’s mother to come back, a young girl with her pet bunny, and a drawing of a geoglyph on the beach, soon to be washed away by the tide. I’m thrilled to contribute to the Restoration Earth Journal and to be a part of this publication.

This journal was released in November and is available as a free download, see below. It’s not every day that my work is featured alongside such illustrious scholars. This journal is put out by Ocean Seminary College and edited by Katherine Batten (MacDowell), D.Th and Mark Schroll, PhD.

Here is a description of the authors and writings included in the first issue of the Restoration Earth journal:

“Our debut issue has several contributions from students as well as several leading thinkers in the field of environmental studies and ecology and philosophy, including a previously unpublished essay by Arne Naess–the founder of the deep ecology movement and ecophilosophy; Alan Drengson a world-renowned professor and writer on deep ecology, environmental studies, and ecophilosopy; Michael Caley a well-known evolutionary biologist who has been running the ecosophical journal The Trumpeter for a number of years; and Florence R. Shepard a professor of biology and a widely published writer and the editor of all her late husband, Paul Shepard’s (whom many of you have read, one of his most famous works is Nature and Madness) work. Additionally, Mark Schroll is the leading expert on transpersonal ecosophy and for shamanic students he’s a very good brain to pick if you are working on your dissertation.

Our student contributions come from Mark Glasgow who has written a qualitative study on an interventional strategy associated with ecopsychology; Anne Westlund who has been generous and contributed her photography and poetic explorations of culture and the natural world; and Molly Remer who kindly reviewed a new text by writer Ellen LaConte for us.” ~Katherine Batten (MacDowell)

My poetry and photography can be found in the journal on these pages:

Cover: “Uffington Horse,” photo.

Title Page: “Uffington Horse,” process notes.

p.4: “Seal Pup,” photo.

p.33: “Attachment,” photo.

p.34: “A Natural Setting,” poem, biography.

p.62: “Tall Tale,” poem.

p.78: “The Next Layer,” poem.

p.96: “Lounging,” photo.

p.99: “Unbroken,” poem.

p.102: “My Town,” poem.

p.103: “Resting,” photo.

If you haven’t read Issue 1, Vol 1 of “Restoration Earth: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Nature & Civilization” be sure to grab your copy at http://www.oceanseminarycollege.org/RestorationEarth_1_1_2011.pdf

Restoration Earth is available as a hard copy here: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/restoration-earth-1%281%29-2011/18719482

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Creative Writing, Make Visible, Poetry

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Make Visible

“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.”
~ Robert Bresson, French Film Director

This, to me is the essence of creativity, to bring forth what might have remained hidden. This gets me to write, to embroider, to do art and craft projects. There is a whole world of ideas, forms, visions and voices that have yet to be expressed. Even our poetry book, Lifelines has the word “Express!” on the cover. It’s up to us, the creative ones (and by that I include potentially everyone) to share what’s in our hearts and minds. It’s up to us to create and bring forth our truth and beauty.

By sharing what’s inside us we connect to the rest of the world. So many times I’ve heard, “I feel exactly the same way,” after a friend has read one of my poems. We are all unique and see the world differently. Go write, take pictures, craft, dance, sing, paint. Who are you to deny the world your vision?

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Uncategorized

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Introducing Anne

Anne Westlund

Poetic Medicine

The songs of Frank Sinatra and U2
The dust off well-loved books
Flowers, fresh or nearly faded
Intimacies, profane and mundane
Words, sharp or soft or awkward
Charts, needles, leather, and locked doors
The spirit of poets past
Teenage loneliness and lost loves
Dreams, a stable full, and a day at the races
Chinese meals and Italian delicacies
Butt-numbing classes of classics
Indie films and MGM spectacles

That’s what my poems
are made of

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Introductions

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