creativity

NaPoMo 2019

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It’s a perfect spring day here in Kelowna, B.C. and it put me in the mood for an installation. I headed out with a giddy feeling in my stomach, and with my supplies…poems, bull clips, a couple of promo postcards, my camera. I chose a S.E. Kelowna location for PUP today, just down the road from where we live now.

As I was walking through the stillness of the forest, I became suddenly aware that I was alone in a somewhat wild place, and I admit I began listening more intently for wild things. I recalled that it was in April 2012 that I began my Pop-Up Poetry initiative which has taken me to scatter poems and bits of poems wherever I travel, and many times at home .  Sometimes I forget about PUP, and then it comes back to mind, or someone will mention it to me, and then I’ll follow the prompt and do it again. It is just one more way for me to share my poetry with the world, and in April that means in celebration of National Poetry Month (NaPoMo).

Hope you find one from today’s install! If you do, feel free to take it home.

Next week PUP will be in Quebec! I’ll share pictures!

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Be brave

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Inside, your voice speaks: You know you can do it. You know you have something to say. You’ve dedicated years of time, talent, and treasure to this, and seen the ripple effects as others receive the gifts. Yes, there is that fine line that you walk between true humility and feeling…joyful and proud to share your poetry…that it is even yours to give. You know the excitement you feel when you get out there, that freaky, wonderful, guerrilla prickling under your skin feeling as you imagine someone finding something you left behind. You know it’s a good thing.  Be brave. 

So I do it. I am brave. I install my “Pop-up” poems in a lavish sprinkling all over the woods. I watch from a distance. I wonder is it good enough, will it touch someone, will someone find it and like it, will someone say something, or will it all remain a mystery to me of what happens next?

Last day at the retreat, one of my new circle of creative sisters says to the gathered group: “so what I want to remember most of all is this…how magical it felt to find this little poem bit in the woods, and so I’m writing it here on my expressive art piece, so I never forget that feeling, and my prayer captured in those beautiful words.”

“Fill me with God scent, Spirit favour, something good.”

Yes, God, yes, yes.

Be of good courage. Be brave.

LAE

Get yer tickets gals!!!

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DSC_0083Monday, January 27, 2014, I’ll be stepping up to the mic at Purple Vine Club, to give a talk on living a creative life. And, I’ll be reading my lions share of poetry along with some photographic images that invite introspection and a calm consideration of making the most of every moment we are given.

This event is brought to you by Cyndee Sapiano, passionate leader of the Purple Vine Club, and local go getter. Cyndee is a Coach and Family Educator, Financial Consultant and Investment Advisor. Cyndee invited me to speak.

You’ll also be treated to the unique creative insights of Carrie Harper, talented mixed media visual artist and owner of the heART School, Kelowna. Carrie is a student of all things Art and Spirituality.

And there will be snacks.

Yep, that’s how it will be and so much better if you come out.

Here’s the link to register and for tickets. Only until Sunday at 5 pm. It’s a good deal for a fun couple of hours of network connections, nosh for the body and the spirit.

Come on out. Bring a friend. I’ll be there!

Lesley-Anne

Collaboration

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I’m learning about the synergy that happens when two come together and create more than the sum of the parts. Husband and wife, wine and cheese, family and friends, darkness and stars, poetry and visual images, music and art, ideas and application… and we could go on from there.

“Two are better than one” are words I struggle to live by. I am naturally introverted, like my time and space alone, but too much of a good thing is just too much. So I meet with a friend or a colleague face-to-face, share ideas, nod my head, offer a few thoughts, and go away feeling more able to take on the world. I fight myself on this every time, but getting out is getting easier with practice.

Being alone is something every artist/writer/poet experiences. It’s knowing when to leave the studio that requires a fine tuned antennae. Wait too long and darkness can settle, upsetting the creative process. Leave too soon and no art is created. I’m figuring out the balance that works for me.

Early last evening, I knew I had to get out. With poems in hand I headed to the heart of Kelowna, and walked along the boardwalk at Waterfront Park, alone but in a crowd, everyone gathering for the musical offerings of Parks Alive. A quintessential Okanagan evening, sailboats running a course, tourists taking photos, lovers prone on the grassy hill, seniors clustering in groups to listen to the music, dogs and kids and happy happenings all around me.

I collaborated in kind, sowed poems all over Waterfront Park. I shared two poems, “Burn ~ Okanagan Mountain Firestorm”, and “Everyday grace”. Here are some photos of the experience.

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