What Happens
When Folk Art Gets Ekphrastic?
To find out, I invited several writers to mix it up; to play with this folkloric
image. Using their literary talents, they did just that. Jumping right into the challenge, they created inspiring storylines and conversations.
But before I show you the results for this issue, the first of two issues in Season 3, here are brief explanations of what folk art and ekphrastic are.
What is Folk Art?
Folk art, in general - art made by folk - is 'decorative' art applied to functional (everyday) items. Popular examples include weather vanes, furniture, quilts,
and hand painted plates.
What is Ekphrastic?
Ekphrastic is a term that describes the practice of using words in poetry and
prose to comment on or about a piece of visual art (i.e., painting, photograph, sculpture) and, for many, is often limited to what we call 'fine art' by trained
artists. But, in fact, ekphrastic writing about art that embellishes common
items has been around since ancient times. For example, in The Iliad Homer provides lengthy discursive accounts of elaborate scenes on Achilles' shield
(an every day, functional item).
The word ekphrasis is a combination of two Greek words: ex (out) and
phrazein (to point out, explain).
Now, onto the innovative works that open Season 3!
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Charity Shop Doll
She still shouts out protecting
the green, tells them to leave her
alone and not trample on her forest.
I hear the words: Seeds! Not bricks!
when she was torn from my arms,
tossed to lie in someone else’s upset.
For years, I had to live without our mascot,
march alone, whilst always searching.
Bricks rose turning green to a dirty brown.
Now on a tiny wooden chair, her eyes,
her arm reminds me how luck filled that
charity shop, but not the felled trees
over whose land she now sits, mourns for.
She can still hear them breathing.
Julie Stevens' poems cover many themes but often engage with the problems of disability. She is widely published in places such as Macmillan and OUP, Broken Sleep Books, and Ink Sweat & Tears. She has five published pamphlets. http://www.jumpingjulespoetry.com
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What Oma Made
for Me
Tired eyes,
arthritic hands, (abundant heart) and endless love-- the artisan’s tools Oma
used to make me a purple-ly whimsy doll. Where
go I so goes she; we hand in
hand (ma belle ami). Her button eyes
fixed to the landscape of my dreams and
Oma’s spirit stitched to
every seam. The yarn is spun of marigolds and other
hues of oranges fair such are the makings of her hair that Oma wove with pastel
threads snatched from majestic dawns, and ribbons spooled from rainbows.
Tenderly she packed the doll all cottony to soak up tears
and soften sorrows
then threaded in an amulet assuring safe tomorrows. Arthritic hands still
clutch the doll she made for me
and travel we (ma belle ami) and Oma too,
though long ago of this
world through. Yes, long ago of this world through.
e-zines
and print anthologies. Her debut chapbook is ‘Language of Spring, published by Bottlecap
Press https://bottlecap.press/products/_langknf
She lives now
in shadows of once-upon-a-time where carefully pinned-together then sewn threads of orange, pink, and purple will never unravel. They carry memories of a tender life with a child who adored every inch of her.
A joy to behold, this open-eyed treasure cuddled in the arms of a dreamy girl whose life was drained of hope when disease struck her spine.
The doll stays out of the light so as not to fade her handwoven cloth. The textured fabric still holds the child’s
forever-after kisses. Their warmth keeps
the night’s chill at bay.
Karen Pierce Gonzalez, an award winning writer and artist, has five chapbooks, five poetic
librettos, and more to her credit. Linktr.ee/KPGFolkHeart
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Mami Wata
When I was young
my mother sewed a doll
A mermaid made of
purple corduroy
Hair of gold yarn
around her face did fall
But this doll was
not meant to be a toy
Placed on an altar
hung from the ceiling
With other spirit
dolls that she had made
Meant to provide
protection and healing
Yet somehow this
one made me feel afraid
Mother Water the
meaning of her name
She makes her home
in rivers, lakes and seas
In Africa she has
a certain fame
Where locals offer
gifts on bended knees
Representing both
beauty and danger
Mami Wata preys
upon the stranger
Mercedes Dugger is
a native Californian currently residing in San Francisco with a talented poet and
his beautiful cat. Co-authored Morning Tanka, a book of
poetry, with Dane Ince. https://www.facebook.com/mercedes.dugger
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