Lesley-Anne Evans

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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How it feels for me

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Two weeks ago, unbeknownst to me, someone finds a Pop-Up-Poem in a Kelowna neighbourhood park, and posts a photo to twitter. A few days later my phone rings. A journalist, who sees the tweet, calls to ask if she can meet me to talk about pinning and busking poetry. Alya Ramadan, co-host of CBC Radio Daybreak South, wants to interview me!

And how it feels is immediate and surreal-gripping-tilt-anxious-headwhirl-voice-whispers-you-don’t-deserve-this. Yes, that’s what I hear. While I know I’m heading somewhere and poetry is involved, part of me resists being sure, or saying I’m sure. Some days I feel like a fraud. Some days I think I know, but to get on air and say anything certain… how could I do that?

Fast forward… process thinking… consider options… recognize and tell myself this truth… The interview on CBC is affirmation what I do matters. Why not embrace the amazing things that sometimes find us, and with humility and abandon, keep stepping forward. Yes, why not!

The interview aired this morning at 7:40 am. As you will hear, Alya Ramadan did an amazing job creating something fluid and interesting. I sound happy, sincere, yes, even sure. And I love the song choice, Pop Goes the World!

Listen to the full CBC piece here.

You could say I had my 15 minutes of fame and it’s done. Or, it could be another portal is opening in this wild and unexpected adventure called life.

Ever mindful,

Lesley-Anne

A busking she will go …

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English: A sax busker on the streets of the Fr...

English: A sax busker on the streets of the French Quarter, New Orleans. Photo by Gary Mark Smith. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s official. After an exciting half hour meeting with Festivals Kelowna Program Coordinator, Ryan Donn, I am licensed as a Poet Busker (street performer). The Kelowna Buskers Program has been around town for several years, and is managed by Festivals Kelowna who describe themselves as;

a non-profit society that produces community focused, family friendly festivals and events that enhances the lifestyle of our citizens and visitors.

Festivals Kelowna also do Parks Alive, Celebrate Canada Day and Arts Alive Programs… a huge focus of energy and passion involved in bringing fun, music and the arts to the very fortunate people of Kelowna. I love what they do.

Ryan tells me this is going to be one of the most exciting years for the Buskers Program yet, with new types of art being offered. Things like acrobatics, music, dance and spoken word poetry, to name a few. I’m thrilled to be on board.

Well then, it’s out I go. Be on the lookout for my “This is Pop-Up-Poetry” sign and me at one of fifteen different locations around the City of Kelowna, including several in the South Pandosy neighbourhood.

This is me hoping to see YOU out THERE!

Lesley-Anne Evans, Pop-Up-Poetry

Sunshine, summer, fresh air, people and poetry! I think I’m getting my happy on.

SDG,

Lesley-Anne

You pechakucha, I do!

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And if you, like me, have trouble pronouncing this word, here’s some immediate help!

A couple of weeks ago I did not know what PechaKucha was. I’m beginning to understand. And armed with this small and growing knowledge, along with a big dose of creative energy and OK, an even bigger dose of courage, I’m going for it! On April 26th, I’ll be part of a group of 11 PechaKucha presenters at the British Columbia Society of Landscape Architects Annual Conference ~ Depth of Field, in Vancouver, B.C. 

PechaKucha, Japanese for “the sound of conversation”, and according to Wikipedia;

PechaKucha or Pecha Kucha (Japanese: ペチャクチャ, IPA: [petɕa ku͍̥tɕa],[1] chit-chat) is a presentation methodology in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each.

A presentation on any topic, with supporting visual images (in our case all images and no words allowed) for 6 minutes and 40 seconds in total. NO LONGER! Rumor has it the microphone is turned off after your time is up. Yikes!

You would think 20 seconds would go fast. It does not. To look at one image for 20 long seconds allows for a fair amount of gazing, thus rendering some images downright boring after 10 seconds. So, to choose 20 visually engaging images is not easy. Thankfully I have a family of avid photographers with some very uniquely creative eyes. NO SPOILERS HERE!

And, the topic of my presentation… POETRY. Before I worked out the exact timing, I thought I might read 2 poems. Seems I’ll have time for 4! Just like the images, perception and reality are different. And I am finding as I overlay poetry and images how some combinations jar the senses, how some images support the words or don’t. It is an exercise in patience as well as persistence so far. (And thankfulness for a very kind woman at my husbands office who initiated me in the ways of Power Point.)

I’m not certain how it will all turn out, but I’m excited to be creatively challenged and find a new way to offer up my poetry. I’ll let you know how it goes. And for now, here’s a Vancouver PechaKucha on the topic of the future and what open media, open source and open culture might mean for us.

Which occurs to me, is in part what PechaKucha is about… encouraging an open sharing of what we are most passionate about. Hmm… sounds a lot like Pop-Up-Poetry!

All SDG,

Lesley-Anne.

Wherein pop-up-poetry meets people

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National Poetry Month continues, and PUP is still getting out there. Poetry is placed out and about in Kelowna every couple of days, and people read it (I’ve seen them) Some make contact online or mention it to me in person when they ‘find’ a poem. I get a giddy feeling every time I head out with new poems (in plastic sleeves because it won’t stop raining). I wonder where I will place them, who will find them, who will read them, what might the outcome be? I wonder, is this what it feels like to be eccentric? Nah, can’t be.

I’m reminded of a book I read a few years back, “Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast,” by Wendy Morton. About Wendy’s innate ability to share poetry without apology, and for money, which she did as West Jet’s Poet of the Skies, and Chrysler’s Poet of the Road. Wendy brought poetry to regular folks on a regular basis. Wendy began what has become a national week long celebration of literacy in Canada, “Random Acts of Poetry.”  Wendy and her ideas inspire me.

And as all ‘new things’ have come in some shape or form previously, perhaps PUP is the result of this concept messing about in my mind over the years since I read her book. That and the pop-up-stores I saw in Vancouver. That and the desire of all poets to speak out what we write down, at some point.

Here are some PUP installations for this week;

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