NaBloPoMo DAY 28:
This print is titled, “Sketchbook.” The artist is Richard Curtner.
Have you ever been hypnotized by a work of art, that it spoke to you with such clarity you couldn’t take your eyes off of it?
Well, that’s exactly how I felt when I first saw this piece. It felt as though it had been made for me and only me. I was completely mesmerized. Such a stunning, vibrant work of art!
The work is titled “Sketchbook.” The artist is Richard Curtner, but to me the piece is all about writing. Which is why I think Curtner is so creative. He uses words, or textual collage, to create art. This is just one of many works he has produced. Each one has a different subject, but they’re all made up of words he’s clipped from magazines, old books and the like.
I discovered this piece, which is signed by the artist and now hangs in my home, about a year after I started blogging. I think I love it so much because in starting this blog, I reawakened in myself a passion I had long ago squelched. Not deliberately, not strategically, but by circumstances of life. By choices I made.
In my youth I loved to write. I enjoyed spinning a good yarn and writing was very much a part of my life. I continued writing all through college. But then entering the work force, falling in love, getting married and having children made writing do the following:
Take a back seat in my life.
It was so far back, you could say, it was in the trunk of the car, locked and sealed shut. For nearly two decades. Like a sleeping giant, it was forgotten, somewhere in the dark crevices of my mind.
Then divorce happened. Bleak and miserable as it was, divorce changed my life. For the better. No sooner did the D-word (I mean “divorce,” silly) creep into my vocabulary that I discovered a therapist who used journaling and group therapy as a way to help her patients survive trauma (life divorce). Boy, did it ever!
I cannot explain how I feel when writing, but that class helped stir something inside me that could not be contained. I looked forward to my weekly therapy, and was the first to raise my hand at each session, just so I could read what I wrote in response to whatever homework assignments she’d give us the week before.
“Oh, pick me, pick me, PICK ME!” My heart would clamor, unable to contain the words that wanted to fly out of me.
The journaling therapy lasted a year, at which time the group disbanded. I fell back into my routine of working, raising my kids, and going out with friends. I forgot about writing. Which meant:
The sleeping giant returneth.
When my youngest went off to college, I rediscovered writing through blogging, which opened new doors for me. Here I am, four years later, the proud owner of two blogs (this one and one that I do for work) and also a freelance reporter for three local newspapers. And you know something?
I LOVE IT!
I love the writer’s life! I want to shout it from the rafters. There is nothing more soothing, more magical, more heart-thumping, or more exhilarating than using words to craft a story, an essay or a poem.
True, the writer’s life is lonely. But give me this life any day! I will never, ever let the sleeping giant sneak back into my life. Let me say that again:
I will NEVER stop writing again. Okay, maybe never is too strong a word, but you know what I mean. To paraphrase Moses (aka, Charlton Heston), they’ll have to pry this keyboard from my cold dead hands!
Thank you, Charlton Heston, for that line. It’s so apropos because that’s how I feel. The way you felt about guns, is the way I feel about writing.
And now, some photos I’ve taken this month. Let me know what you think!
A trendy restaurant near the racetrack that I recently discovered. I love the horse motif, don’t you?
I snapped this photo while on a walk. I just love the palm trees against the sky.
The Salk Institute, a San Diego scientific research institution founded by Jonas Salk. Located in La Jolla, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the concrete buildings seem to lead you right to the water.
The Salk Institute has many angular walls. This shot seems to captures the feel of the place.
Note: NaBloPoMo is in the homestretch! Yippee!
I’m awarding a prize to one lucky reader–the one person who has commented on the most posts this month. If there’s a tie, I’ll do a drawing and announce the winner in early December.
In the meantime, Happy Black Friday!
Monica's Tangled Web 
Love this, Monica — and that artwork is simply perfect! Without hitting one over the head, it speaks volumes. As for your photos, I love the one of the Salk Institute, the one where it looks like the water is right there. So beautiful!
Actually Debbie, the water really is there. The Salk sits near the edge of a cliff and the ocean is below. It is stunning to see in person, and very humbling, too.
What is it that William Morris said? “Do not have anything in your home that is not useful and beautiful.” I can see you love this to your very core, and it certainly makes a writing statement as I imagine you look at it every day. In fact, I can imagine the number of times your eyes fall on this piece, lost in thought. Beautiful.
So true, Georgette. I find it very inspiring. For me it is like an anthem that encourages me to be all I can be and write!
I can see why you find that piece of art compelling. Most of the things ive seen that were artstic gut punching arrows to my heart have been insanely beyond my means. How lucky to be able to have such a piece in your home.
First, after spending hours engrossed in the piece, I bought the print for $40. But I kept thinking of the original. I went home, only to return hours later for the framed, more expensive artwork, I couldn’t afford it but he must’ve seen the longing in my eyes, and the love I felt for his work, that the artist gave me a significant discount, which made me rather teary and joyful. I never get tired of looking at his work.
Yes! I see what you mean by that artwork. It is perfect for you and i resonate with the theme too. What a great piece! I love your writing too; see why you do what you do Monica. But as a sight-challenged gal, please expand the size of your blog post font so I can read it easier????? I’ve got Baby Boomer eye-sight 😦 THANKS!
Thank you, Mo. Not sure what I can do about the font. I agree that it is rather small, but it’s a template created by WordPress. I think, though, that in general, you can change on your computer settings, the font size of the Internet pages you visit. Not sure how it’s done, but if I figure it, out I’ll let you know.
Wow. Good for you, Monica and I agree, what am amazing work of art!
Thank you. It is one of my most prized possessions. I treasure it very much!
You’ve lifted me yet again, Monica. I, like you, love writing. I write with passion, I write for peace, I write for joy and comfort. I have chapters of book ideas everywhere. I sit among my books..a hundred of them as I write. Through this blog I am able to rediscover what I shelved but knew sometime ago, that I was meant to do something with my writing. I haven’t found it yet, for while I write, here and there, my family comes first. And like you’ve said, some days my writing is under lock and key, in a chest where I keep all my travel mementos, journals and ideas. Some days it will bubble up a tad and float on the surface. I hope my writing will take me places. I hope I create my own characters – like the ones from my favorite books. Ones I attach myself to.
I absolutely love that collage hanging in your house. It inspires me somehow and it’s inexplicable. Love your photos as always.
Good luck with your writing journey, MM. My advice is to go with the writing flow. You never know where it will lead you. Enjoy the process, too. What is it they say? Getting there is half the fun!
I find writing relaxing, my book is a work in progress but I have done lots of little short bits.
Love the pictures Monica especially the palm trees, it would I think make a super image for perhaps a book cover.
Maybe a book cover for a Southern California mystery about a racetrack owner and a jockey? We are very close to the racetrack, you know.
I know exactly how you feel, the draw and the release through words. Your pictures Monica? Sublime.
Thank you, Val. I love writing and taking photographs comes in at a close second. 🙂
Which reminds me, I have to do more writing out side of my ezine. Was just reading something about writing yesterday. I heard you shouting from the rooftop, by othe way. Hope you have plenty of lemons for that.
Yes! Write more! Someone once said writing is like playing the piano. The more you do, the better you get at it. They have a point, so write! Though I must say, you do such a lovely job with your ezine. It’s clever, fresh and funny!