A Writer and Artist in the Moment: 2015

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

12/30/2015 A Fabric Garden In Winter

Sunday, December 27, 2015

12/27/15 Flowers

I never get tired of looking at flowers whether they are flower images on household objects, clothing, furniture or the real deal flowers: wildflowers, exotic hot house or tropical flowers (Orchids), indoor flowers on plants like African Violets or flowers on weeds like Jewelweed.

Beside the beauty inherent in flowers and their often alluring odors especially to bees and birds, they offer other benefits. Folklore says you can use the juice of Jewelweed for the itch of poison ivy. I tired using it on a rash once and the rash did disappear. There is truth in tales passed down the medicinal generational tree.

Jewelweed

My grandmother on my maternal side was a millinery and had a fabric store. Her husband upholstered furniture for many years. I inherited fabric (lots of chintz with floral patterns*) from my grandmother and also a love of making things from her and my grandfather. My grandmother was from the Victorian era where flowers were on lots of things and held certain meaning besides their visual beauty. http://victorianflowercode.com/

Here are a few of my flower pictures.

Here is a very old Christmas Cactus that lives with me. She bloomed the whole month of December in honor of the season.

All Images Copyrighted Elizabeth P. Glixman

*

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/romantic-decor-an-ode-to-chintz-184167
chintz/

Monday, December 21, 2015

12/21/15 One Too Many Robo Calls

I've been getting robo calls lately. Too many. I think everyone has. The robo callers have ramped up the calls this holiday season. A few years ago I had a bunch of these calls too and like any person who is wordy, I wrote a poem to tell someone, anyone how I felt about the calls and the caller Rachel.

This is a poem about technological powerlessness. You can't do much in the face of anonymity. There is no one to respond to only a dial tone. This feeling is like the feeling I imagine the man in the movie "Her " felt when the voice he loved said it was over.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/her-2013

Even though the poem is not recent and todays four time caller's name is Brittany, it doesn't matter. It was and is all the same experience. Brittany might be Rachael in disguise. She sounds like the same voices on the GPS system my friend has.

This poem was published in Frigg in 2013.

It’s Me—Rachel
Elizabeth P. Glixman

The phone rings
It’s Rachel again
with her voice that sparkles
like blue mouthwash
She could tell you anything
She could be the news anchor
telling you about a mass killing
say it with her white bright teeth showing
the edges of her lips curved upward
Her voice could give Chris Matthews’ leg
a tingle.

Read the rest

http://www.friggmagazine.com/issuefortytwo/poetry/glixman/rachel2014.htm

Sunday, December 13, 2015

12/13/15 I Am Not a One Trick Pony - New Art

First of all I don't want to insult any ponies. Ponies who know how to do one thing are perfectly fine. It is okay to do one thing. I've learned from watching horse whisperer type movies at Netflix that there are horses that are trained for one task like barrel racers at rodeos and dressage horses and roping horses so I repeat there is nothing wrong with doing one task and doing it well or learning to do it well. It takes practice and time.

I don't know if there are horses who do multiple things. If anyone reads this and knows, please comment.

Back to people. I believe it is best to focus on one thing. That is my dream. Be a novelist. Be a poet. Be an artist. Be a potter. When you keep at one thing the mysteries of that "thing" begin to reveal themselves, newness arrives. In the previous post I mentioned my writer/ artist dilemma and my decision to have a writer/ artist blog. So here goes. Ta Da. First art post.

I am into texture and color in new work. I have a series of these abstract images called That's A Wrap. I used fabric and ribbon in this 8" x 10" piece. I want the pieces in this series to be eye candy and hand candy (if there is such a thing). Of course I don't want viewers to touch the art but I want them to imagine how it will feel.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

12/12/15 New Blog Title- A Writer and Artist in the Moment: I Can Do Two Things At the Same Time- Going With the Flow

Many years ago I made art like a person breathes air. I was completely enamored with the process of placing color and line on paper and canvas. I went to art school and received a BFA degree and years later became certified to teach art in the public school system. One of my greatest joys was cutting wood to make stretcher sticks for large canvases, stretching the canvas, gessoing it and applying the paint.

I also have been a life long lover of the written word. Another great pleasure is reading fiction and poetry and so I began to write stories. Then I began to write poetry. I was completely enamored with that too. My art was left for the most part by the side of the street. Lately it has been hollering at me. Oh, no! Where to put my attention?

I've decided. I can do both. I can't ignore both sides of my creative coin.

Some days you will see my art and art I love on this blog and other days poetry.
This blog will be about both words and images. That's my decision today.