Saturday Haiku: Grand Tetons

green spruce trees gracing
a golden mountain meadow
beneath snowy peaks

 

_______________________________

Image: Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming

Artist: Tony Bennett (Antony Benedetto)*

*The legendary Tony Bennett retired from performing at the age of 95. His career spanned eight decades. Famous for his singing career, he also had a passion for painting. Today's post is part of a series of haiku inspired by Mr. Bennett's artwork (when he paints, he uses his given name, Antony Benedetto).

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Friday Funnies: Art History

 

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Saturday Haiku: Snowfall in Central Park

 some trees dance
where snow has fallen
winds whisper

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Image: "Snowfall in Central Park"

Artist; Tony Bennett (Antony Benedetto)*

*Last August, the legendary Tony Bennett announced his retirement from performing at the age of 95. His career has spanned eight decades. Famous for his singing career, he has also had a passion for painting. Today's post is part of a series of haiku inspired by Mr. Bennett's artwork (when he paints, he uses his given name, Antony Benedetto).

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Saturday Haiku: Snowstorm

lone pilgrim walking
in a hindrance of snowfall
bare branches swaying

______________________________

Image: "Central Park Snowstorm"

Artist; Tony Bennett (Antony Benedetto)*

(This painting by Tony Bennett was for the American Cancer Society Christmas Card for 2013)

*Last August, the legendary Tony Bennett announced his retirement from performing at the age of 95. His career has spanned eight decades. Famous for his singing career, he has also had a passion for painting. Today's post is part of a series of haiku inspired by Mr. Bennett's artwork (when he paints, he uses his given name, Antony Benedetto).

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Saturday Haiku: Respite

 

afternoon shadows

the respite of a shade tree
cloudless summer sky

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Image: "Central Park Landscape #8, New York"
Artist:Tony Bennett

Date: 1988

Medium: Oil on canvas

*This haiku was first posted on July 18, 2015

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Saturday Haiku: Trees

 

when nature beckons
any wise urban planning
will honor the trees

_______________________

Image: Central Park

Artist: Tony Bennett (Antony Benedetto) *

*The legendary Tony Bennett recently announced his retirement from performing at the age of 95. His career has spanned eight decades. Famous for his singing career, he has also had a passion for painting. In celebration of his career that has spanned eight decades, I am doing a series of haiku inspired by Mr. Bennett's artwork (when he paints, he uses his given name, Antony Benedetto).

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Saturday Haiku: The Gardener

 

a quiet moment
in the planter’s potting shed

brings nature closer

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Image: Untitled

Artist: Tony Bennett (Antony Benedetto)

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Saturday Haiku: San Francisco Bay

 

sailing out to sea
or casting a line from shore
living in wonder

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Image: "San Francisco Bay"

Artist: Tony Bennett (Antony Benedetto) *

*The legendary Tony Bennett recently announced his retirement from performing at the age of 95. His career has spanned eight decades. Famous for his singing career, he has also had a passion for painting. In celebration of his career that has spanned eight decades, I am doing a series of haiku inspired by Mr. Bennett's artwork (when he paints, he uses his given name, Antony Benedetto).

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Saturday Haiku: Sea Wind

 

the steady salt wind
harnessed by the old stone mill
while sea birds hover

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Image: "The Mill of the Galette" (1886)
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Medium: Oil on Canvas
(Public Domain)



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Saturday Haiku: Dylanesque

In honor of Bob Dylan's Birthday yesterday, here is a haiku inspired by a painting by Dylan himself:

a distant railway

traces of Woody and Pete

songs that stir the soul

                                               ~ CK















________________________
Image: Train Tracks
Artist: Bob Dylan
Date: 2009
Medium: Acrylic



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Saturday Haiku: Winter Snows

snows settle

on the mountainside

quiet days

______________________________

Image: "new hampshire: winter"
Artist: e.e. cummings
Medium: Oil on cardboard



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Saturday Haiku: Forest Path

quiet forest path

eliciting warm tribute
to the stately trees

_______________________________________

Image: "view through a forest road"
Artist: e.e. cummings
Medium: Oil on canvasboard



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Saturday Haiku: Woodlands

the forest hiker

will gladly stop to listen

to a woodland stream

_________________
 Image: "Brookside in Sunlight"
Artist: e.e. cummings
Medium: Oil on canvasboard

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Art and the Dementia Patient

One of the paintings at "Lester's Legacy"

Yesterday I attended a presentation at UAB Hospital by neurologist Daniel Potts entitled, “Bringing Art to Life. A Man. A Gift. A Mission.” It was part of UAB’s Psychosocial Spiritual Grand Rounds, sponsored by the Pastoral Care Department.  

Dr. Potts began his presentation saying that physicians are not trained in, and too often pay too little attention to the psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of their patients. When he saw how his father, who had never painted before, responded to art as an Alzheimer’s patient, it opened him to some of those spiritual dimensions of patient care. On a personal level, he began writing poetry in response to his father’s paintings.

On a professional level, Potts explained how as a physician he now looks his patients in the eye when they speak so he can better attend to them (instead of trying to get all of the data down on his computer). Sometimes a patient will communicate more by their expressions, even in their silence, than can be found in the simple facts alone. He now attends to his patient and writes up his notes later. He may miss a point or two, he said, but it is more important that he spend that patient time truly listening without the separating factor of a computer keyboard. Dr. Potts quoted one of his mentors who had said that a patient will tell you what is wrong with them if you listen.

In his presentation, Dr. Potts showed some of the paintings that his father, Lester Potts, had done. He explained to us some of the symbols that showed up in the paintings. They were images which reflected his father’s connection with those family relationships that were most important to him – and this was at a point when his father had lost the ability to communicate verbally.

There is no way I can do justice to Daniel Potts’ presentation. I can only say that I was deeply moved and wanted to try to share a little bit here. Dr. Potts has shared some of his story in a couple of short videos available on YouTube which I am including below: “Painting in Twilight: An Artist's Escape from Alzheimer's,” published by UAB Magazine, and “The Broken Jar,” which is a gallery of paintings Dr. Pott’s father did during the four year period that he painted.

He has also published a book, The Broken Jar, which contains his father’s paintings along with poetry that Daniel Potts wrote in response to the paintings.  

You can find more information at Dr. Potts' Cognitive Dynamics website. Cognitive Dynamics' mission is “To improve the quality of life of persons with cognitive disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease) and their caregivers through education, research, and support of innovative care models which promote human dignity, especially therapies employing the expressive arts and storytelling.”

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Saturday Haiku: The Goldfish Pool

fish swim in shallows
while deeper waters reflect

much more to the soul 

___________________

Image: The Goldfish Pool at Winston Churchill's Chartwell estate
Medium: Oil on canvas
Artist: Winston Churchill



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Saturday Haiku: Water Lilies

spring air is heavy

as the water lilies bloom

beneath the footbridge

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Image: Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge at the Princeton Art Museum
Artist: Claude Monet
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1897-1899



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Artsongs: Self Portrait (Rembrandt)

Rembrandt at Forty-four

How many times have people sat

Before the artist’s eyes?

He masterfully will observe

And bring their image forth.

The eyes, the nose, the countenance

Will all be recognized.

Yet something deep within is seen

Revealed by artist’s hand.

But now the artist takes a look

At his own face and form,

And taking stock of all he sees

Reveals himself to all.

At midlife he is in his prime;

He rests on strength of years.

While all his suffering and success

Weigh lightly in his gaze.

The other years were different

While painting out his life,

Yet somehow very similar –

The man we now behold.

And he will show us, yet again,

In future painting still

How he has borne the years of time

While letting art flow on.

                                                ~ CK

* Note: The painting above was once thought to be a self-portrait, which is how it was titled in my portfolio of masterpiece prints and is the view from which I wrote the poem. It was later determined that the painting was done by one of the painters in Rembrandt's workshop, hence the "Anonymous" attribution below.

_____________________________
Images:
Upper - Portrait of Rembrandt, 1650 (National Gallery of Art)
              Artist: Anonymous* (from the Rembrandt Workshop)
              Medium: Oil on canvas

Lower: Screen shot of a Google search for Rembrandt self-portraits

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Artsongs: George Washington (Stuart)

The Old General

His top coat speaks of by-gone days,

Of fashion long ago.

Perhaps his eyes could see ahead,

Or was his heart unsure?

His countenance is now at ease

With battles left behind.

Yet will his mind find peace or rest

As new frontiers awake?

He lends a steady gaze to all

Who dare to dream anew.

They take his visage as a sign

That greatness is at hand.

Still, in those eyes there is some doubt,

For who can know the end?

So many trials are yet to come

Before the dream is clear.

                                                 ~ CK

________________________________
Image: Portrait of George Washington at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Artist: Gilbert Stuart 1755-1828)
Date: 1795
Medium: Oil on canvas

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The Thing that Was Different

The Thing that was Different

I had painted that old garage before –

The first time was right after we bought the place.

Something about a new coat of paint

Gave a sense of pride and accomplishment.

The second time was after years of sun, wind and rain

Had pushed that structure to the limit.

Lots of living had taken place

Since the first painting.

We already had boxes

Of family memories

Stored on the shelves inside.

I spent a day scraping the sides of the garage

Clearing off the flakes of peeling paint.

I hired a man to help and

Between the two of us

The old garage shaped up

Good as new.

This time

When the weathered boards

Needed attention

My daughter helped me with the painting.

She had not even been born

The first time I painted this place.

Once again I saw the beauty

Of a fresh coat taking shape.

That familiar satisfaction

Of new paint

Made my heart light.

Yet under the roller I heard the crackle

Of of dry wood.

The thing that was different

Was that I could

Feel it in my body.

I knew how that building felt, soaking up

The moist paint.

I did not recall

Knowing that before.

The old garage

Has steadfastly stood;

Holding tools and projects,

Cherished items and fond memories

Throughout the years.

The thing that was different this time 

Was that after three grand efforts

In the life of the old building,

I did not think that

I would be painting this garage again.

                                                                ~ CK

Masterworks Series: Flight into Egypt

Emigres

Our Lord, allow us to welcome the stranger and treat them kindly. Allow us to see that the stranger can benefit us. Allow us to see that the stranger can benefit those from where they came.  Ameen.

                            

                                             ~ Sarah Joseph, OBE*

   

It seems we are always looking back to Egypt.

We suffer our kings;

Tentatively we give them admiration

While doing our best to stay out of their way.

Our rulers give us hope

That God will bless our land,

Yet more often they are the reason

We hope for better days.

Leaving Bethlehem by night

With my wife and son,

We cast ourselves upon

The mercy of the open road.

Fleeing one tyrant

For memories of another,

We take refuge in the land

That was abundant in wealth and oppression

For our forebears.

Rootless and homeless

We have only family for support

And the strength of our hands

For a day’s wage.

Living as refugees,

Moving from overlord to overlord,

We will make our way.

Longing for home and

Grieving for a land

Once filled with life and song

Now turned deadly.

Trees offer their fruits

As we stop to rest,

Reminding us that the earth is gracious

Even when the land is stolen and divided by kings.

Sojourning in a strange land

We will hold on to the goodness of the earth

Waiting for old kings to die;

Waiting for the time of singing.

In the meantime

We will join with the downtrodden

And dwell with the outcast

Seeking refuge together.

Perhaps we will find a place

In the shadows of the empire

To sing our songs of hope.

                                      ~ CK

*    *    *

* From Sarah Joseph's BBC Radio Prayer for the Day, 23 July 2015

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Image: "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt" at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Artist: Gerard David (Netherlandish, 1460-1523)
Medium: Oil on panel
Date: c.1510


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