Poetry and Mixed Media

Dear Liza,

I have been taking a break from collage for a while, doing embroidery and other things. But this last week, I had a chance the chance to sit in on a poetry meeting with my poet friend, Kitty Petruccelli, and poet January Gill O’Neil.

I knew I’d want to keep my eyes and hands busy while I listened, so I chose some acrylics in colors that seemed to go together. Then I grabbed some pictures and words out of my collage box, mostly just taking what caught my eye.

As January and Kitty talked about Poetry, the American South, and Emmet Till, I laid down some background lines and smudges. I used my old California drivers License to scrape some purple on. As the conversation touched on concerns about life in America under Donald Trump, and my scrapes became a bit more frantic.

I found this woman’s face in the same colors, and liked her half puzzled, half panicked expression.

She needed more contrast, so a Posca paint pen helped out with that. It also helped add some interest to the swoops and corners.

A scrap of singed paper and words of dark times came to hand… “Before the Nazis invaded”.

And as the poetry talk finished up, I laid down the words “Laissez nous tranquille”, which means “Leave us in Peace” and added some tiny splatters.

Thanks, Kitty and January, for a poetic, artsy, emotionally-coping sort of morning.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Poetry vs Power

Dear Liza,

Your great grandma, Billie Evans, read a lot of poems. Those that she really loved, she memorized. “So I could always have them with me,” she said.

“Ozymandias”, by Percy Shelly, was one of those. She loved the description of the great sculpture, now in ruins, in the middle of a desolate land. Mostly, she loved the twist at the end. Have a read, then I’ll give you an update on the Big Man himself.

Ozymandias

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Shelly wrote the poem in 1818, when Europe was fascinated with ancient Egypt after Napoleon’s army there brought back bits and pieces of the crumbled civilization. Broken chunks of mighty statues were all that was left. Shelly saw the futile and fleeting nature of power, and gave his take on it.

All this came to mind this morning because of two stories in the news.

Archeologists in Egypt have found what appears to be the top half of the statue of Ozymandias (also called Ramses II, the pharaoh named in Exodus), the same statue that inspired Shelly.

I’m thinking about this while watching the news about claims of “absolute immunity.” I love that Ramses II is still broken and that Shelly’s poem is still wonderful. Poetry outlasts Power.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Yellow Line to Downtown

Dear Liza,

When Auntie Bridgett and I left the Quilt Show, we weren’t ready for our day out to be over. We knew two things… we needed lunch, and we wanted to see some new things. So we headed downtown.

For lunch, we got off the Yellow Line at Pioneer Square and walked up the curvy steps to the food carts. Nine dollars got us lunch at The Whole Bowl, with one bowl being enough for the two of us! We enjoyed listening to the waterfall fountain and watching people and pigeons enjoy the sunshine.

When we were full, we headed to the Main Branch of the Multnomah Library. I had visited with Cynthia a month ago, but Bridgett hadn’t seen it. Besides, there’s always something new.

For example, did you know that the library carries books in Danish? Two different staff librarians hunted for, and eventually Bridgett found, two of Portland native Beverly Cleary’s books translated into Danish, so I can use them to practice this difficult language.

In the map room, I started opening drawers at random and found this magnificent Trimet map of the light rail lines in Portland , shown as a video game! It was huge, accurate, and adorable.

And up on the third floor I found a large display of various interpretations of Shakespeare! T-shirts, comic books, and posters for movie adaptations filled glass cases. This poster is from a movie I had never heard of, (but will watch this evening, if it’s available.) Family friendly” versions, with the bawdy bits removed, were attempted in the 1800s, and have been carefully preserved.

I even had a flash of cross-reference bedazzlement when I saw this quote from Much Ado About Nothing and realized Lin-Manuel Miranda had used it in the flirting scene in Hamilton. (The rhyme is “I’m a trust fund baby, you can trust me.”)

By this time our brains were full and our feet were tired, so we caught the Magic 15 and headed home. What a day!

What a city!

Love,

Grandma Judy