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This is my entry for Week 3 of LJ Minor Plus (http://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org). The topic this week is "Intaglio." There will be no voting. You can read the other entries here: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1105950.html
Ways of Seeing
(for Vivian Starr)
Six years ago, my Mom collapsed
and woke in the spirit world. She left behind
her dreams, etched and inked, drawn
in chalky pastels, brushed in paint
across canvas and paper. I became
her art historian, cataloging
her work. She spoke to me
through process. Her sketches,
studies, and tests. Trying out
material, techniques.
Her lifelong love expanded
into print making. Block prints,
linocuts, monotypes. A lonely cabin,
carved into linoleum, used to create
both black and white
and full-color prints.
The black one, deep and pensive. White
flecks of grass, angled
and orderly fields, a massive
mountain range, rising ominously
behind a mysterious cabin, its uneven
walls, falling into its secrets.
The color print, lively
and inviting. The cabin walls,
violet as the mountain, ridged
against a triumphant cerulean sky.
Green fields behind a dried brown
expanse of grass. A violet
creek, with red highlights,
pulling reflection
from a red tiled roof.
Studying this linocut, I can see
her hands stained with tint, biting
her lip in concentration. In these moments,
she returns to me.
- November 15, 2021
My mother passed away on November 15, 2015, about a week and a half before Thanksgiving, still my hardest holiday.
Cabin with Mountains, print by Vivian Starr
Ways of Seeing
(for Vivian Starr)
Six years ago, my Mom collapsed
and woke in the spirit world. She left behind
her dreams, etched and inked, drawn
in chalky pastels, brushed in paint
across canvas and paper. I became
her art historian, cataloging
her work. She spoke to me
through process. Her sketches,
studies, and tests. Trying out
material, techniques.
Her lifelong love expanded
into print making. Block prints,
linocuts, monotypes. A lonely cabin,
carved into linoleum, used to create
both black and white
and full-color prints.
The black one, deep and pensive. White
flecks of grass, angled
and orderly fields, a massive
mountain range, rising ominously
behind a mysterious cabin, its uneven
walls, falling into its secrets.
The color print, lively
and inviting. The cabin walls,
violet as the mountain, ridged
against a triumphant cerulean sky.
Green fields behind a dried brown
expanse of grass. A violet
creek, with red highlights,
pulling reflection
from a red tiled roof.
Studying this linocut, I can see
her hands stained with tint, biting
her lip in concentration. In these moments,
she returns to me.
- November 15, 2021
My mother passed away on November 15, 2015, about a week and a half before Thanksgiving, still my hardest holiday.
Cabin with Mountains, in color, print by Vivian Starr
no subject
Date: 2021-11-15 06:25 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2021-11-15 06:56 pm (UTC)From:So sorry for your loss. My Dad passed on Christmas Day 2016. Makes that day very hard and happy at the same time (my grands are young and so excited about Christmas).
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2021-11-17 07:56 pm (UTC)From:It's wonderful that you have these things to remember her by and this poem was a wonderful tribute to your mother on this anniversary. I know that the years have a tendency to smooth the rough edges of our grief, but my heart still goes out to you and I have you in my thoughts.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-20 01:13 am (UTC)From:- Erulisse (one L)