"Poetry" by Pablo Neruda

Today I would like to share one of my favorite poems, "Poetry" by Pablo Neruda. It touched the core of my being the first time I read it. It describes the creative process, the moment of pure inspiration, when the ego is suppressed and the creator merges with the universal energy to create something new.


This poem always comforts me because it shows that I am not the only one who ever felt different from everyone else. Being a poet isn't something you decide to be when you grow up; it's something that you are.  Poetry is a calling of the soul and it comes it at unexpected times.

"Poetry" by Pablo Neruda


And it was at that age… Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don’t know, I don’t know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don’t know how or when,
no, they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.


I did not know what to say, my mouth

had no way
with names,
my eyes were blind,
and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
and I made my own way,
deciphering
that fire,
and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.


And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.

"Garden Song" Birdbath on Display for InBloom Sculpture Exhibit at OakBrook Center in Oak Brook, IL

Here are pictures of my finished birdbath sculpture taken at the In Bloom Sculpture Event exhibit preview celebration on May 19, 2011 at OakBrook Center in Oak Brook, Illinois. It was a sunny day so the high gloss finish reflected a lot of light.

"Garden Song" birdbath in its garden setting at OakBrook Center.

 

 Hey, I'm Alice in Wonderland! I can be both smaller and taller than the birdbath!

Actual height of birdbath is 5 ft.

Here it is with the sign and coordinating flowers.

Enlarged sign. Thanks again, Sharpie!

Location at OakBrook Center in front of Victoria's Secret. Photo taken in evening.

"Garden Song" will be on display through August 21. It will be auctioned off on September 24, 2011 with other sculptures for charity. 

I'd like to thank my brother, Greg Gaura, for providing transportation and his invaluable help in loading and unloading the sculpture. Also, thanks to my sister, Anne Marie Gaura, my brother-in-law, Lou Shirley, and my boyfriend, Chris Holbert, for all their help.

Birdbath Sculpture Last Day in Art Studio

I should say last day in the garage. Because of the 48" base petal and heavy weight, I decided that was the best place for it. When I started working on it in early April, there were days when I had to wear a winter coat, gloves and long johns to stay warm. I had tried space heaters but they kept blowing a fuse with the necessary lights. When I finished it it early May, it was warm out and a few windless days I could actually open the garage door to paint.

The bottom tier is glossy because I varnished it before it was lowered to the floor. I haven't seen the sculpture since it was dropped off to be clear coated. Next time I see it, it will be on display at the InBloom exhibit in OakBrook Center and I'll be able to take pictures of it at a distance. 

So here's how the birdbath looked when I finished painting it:

Birdbath Sculpture Work in Progress: Final Days of Painting

Here are the final days of painting the birdbath sculpture. If you look closely you will see a purple smudge on the bottom magenta shape, which was painted out in the following picture. Because I would go around the sculpture and paint one color at a time, when I bent into the form to paint, my clothing sometimes got smeared with wet paint which inevitably got transferred onto the sculpture. But don't worry about my clothes, I rarely paint in high end designer evening gowns.

Painting the stamen top had to be done in small increments as I had to move the scaffolding to make a spiraling pattern upward with yellow, orange and magenta.

The second to the last day I had the sculpture moved off of the workhorses and put on the ground. This was because of the tilt of the top petals made it difficult to paint.

Before the lowering, I put the first coat of Lascaux UV varnish on the bottom.

Almost done!

Birdbath Sculpture Work in Progress Continues

This is a continuation of the birdbath sculpture work in progress. Here I added yellow and orange to the two lower tiers. The sculpture sat atop a skid on two workhorses so that I could paint with ease. I really didn't feel like doing a Michelangelo, laying on my back to paint the underside of the bottom petals. I did have to paint at elevated heights, however. Because my arms aren't expandable, I had to stand on a step ladder to paint the center stamen and the inside parts of the middle petal.

Here I started on the top tier. This is the point that I brought in scaffolding. Perching the sculpture on a hydraulic lift so I could adjust the height would have been ideal, but it wasn't in the budget and I don't have a lift just sitting around in the garage gathering dust.

Initially, I wanted to incorporate my personal painting style of blending colors as I had with the light blue and magenta in the above picture. I found that the technique didn't work well with the grooves in between each petal and it was difficult to continue the strokes around the edges. 

I painted out all the blended colors and decided to add purple in addition to magenta. Because I found it was easier painting larger leaves than the ones I had drawn, I altered my design somewhat from the original Sharpie outline. Then I painted over any visible lines with white.

I painted over the white lines with colors. Though it was an opaque paint, the ultramarine paint for dark blue I chose wasn't covering the way I wanted. Paints react differently depending on the individual pigment. I remedied this by covering all the dark blue areas with a closely matched cobalt blue.

Birdbath Sculpture Work in Progress

Here is how the birdbath looked at the end of the first day of painting the fiberglass sculpture. When I paint on canvas, I usually begin with yellow. I started with the green leaves first because I knew the biggest challenge would be painting the center stamen form. 

A view from another side:

Sharpie Design on Birdbath Sculpture

For the In Bloom public art exhibit, artists were assigned sponsors. When I found out that I was matched up with Sharpie, I was ecstatic! I immediately thought of all the bright colors and how  it would be fun to use Sharpies on the birdbath. After all, I love Sharpie markers and had been working with them for years in my art. When I consulted with Sharpie and Cowpainters (the company that produces the fiberglass sculptures) I was informed that ink was not lightfast and the colors would fade over time with prolonged exposure to sunlight.

I still wanted to integrate the Sharpies in some way, so I decided to use them to outline the design on the bird bath. I spoke to Donna Ramos of Sharpie and she told me that Sharpie had four things they wanted incorporated in the design: it needed to be colorful, bold, free-flowing and original. Those are four words that I would use to describe my own art as well so I felt Sharpie was a great match for me. Donna was a pleasure to talk to and very supportive. I am thankful for her help.

The bird bath itself resembles a hibiscus flower, so I chose a plant theme for subject matter. I wanted to show leaves with colored spirals representing flowers. I could have easily combined flowers in the design, but I didn't want to get too literal and overwhelm the floral structure. I wanted to create a feeling and stay true to the Sharpie directive. Here is the design I drew on the sculpture in various Sharpie colors:

Birdbath for In Bloom Public Art Exhibit

Over the years, I found out about public art exhibits to paint fiberglass statues (like Chicago's Cows on Parade) but it was always too late or too faraway to participate. So when I got an email inviting me to apply to the In Bloom exhibit, I jumped at the idea. In Bloom is the theme of a sculptural art exhibit whose proceeds go to help a local nonprofit organization, HCS Family Services. They serve individuals and families of southeast Dupage County in Illinois with a food pantry, financial assistance in times of need, and programs that empower people and help them move towards self-sufficiency.

The In Bloom exhibit will be held this May–September at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, Illinois. It features garden sculptures that will be auctioned off in September. I will be exhibiting a 5 ft. birdbath that will be painted in vibrant flowing colors. My sponsor for this exhibit is Sharpie. In upcoming posts I will be detailing the creative progress of this sculptural piece. The following pictures show the fiberglass form in its original state: 

10 Reasons Why You Should Read My Blog

10. It's typed so you don't have to read my handwriting. 

9. You like chocolate! I like chocolate! Hey, we have something in common!

8. You get to know me better as an artist and as a person.

7. You may find something wonderful that I've created and just have to be the first one on your block to own it.

6. You like thinking outside the box. I've never been in the box. I don't even know where it is.

5. I live in my own little world and it's a nice place to visit.

4. You don't have to read it, you can just look at the pictures.

3. It's free!

2. It has zero calories! Unlike chocolate.

1. You never know what I'm going to post, because I don't even know yet.

Introducing ArtLove Blog by Ginny Gaura

Welcome to my ArtLove blog. I'm Ginny Gaura. First let's start with pronunciation of my name because it gets mispronounced all the time. Ginny is derived from Virginia, so the "G" is soft as in giraffe. Gaura is the hard "G" and rhymes with Laura. I have many nicknames, the most common is Goo and Ginny Goo. I also respond to being called Mario (from Mario Brothers fame) as long as it is bellowed in a lousy Italian accent.

I'll be blogging about my creative endeavors, especially in art. I'm one of those artists who love creating any way I can. When I was a kid my favorite toys were crayons, which grew into colored pencils, paints and pastels. I still love opening a new box of crayons with their points all intact and getting a good whiff of the rich scent of colored wax. By the way, I never quite grew up and my imagination is still operating at full force. 

As an adult, I enjoy oil, acrylic and watercolor painting, hand-lettering, photography, and graphic design. I use Photoshop on a regular basis and would like to do more creative projects with video, but there are only so many hours in a day.

The written word is important to me and I enjoy reading. I admit to being a geek because I always wished that libraries were open on weekend evenings. I have more books than I have room for and my dream has always been to have a library in my house with wall-to-wall bookshelves and rolling ladders.

I love poetry in all its forms, from every age and country. I write a lot of poems on pieces of paper that get buried in piles of junk mail and discovered later. When I listen to music, I focus on the lyrics most of the time. I'm currently working on greeting card collections that feature poetry and philosophical quotations in combination with my artwork.

My intent is to share my love of all things artistic with you. I may venture off the topic into other areas of interest due to my tendency to go off in tangents. I didn't want to write a personal blog because part of me saw it as egotistical and I've spent years working to dissolve my ego. It didn't work. Ego follows me like an imprinted duckling everywhere I go.

The reality is that in order to make a living, the individual artist needs to promote. Social media and blogging are to the tools that are available today. I love creating art for art's sake and for years have put the whole marketing thing on the back burner, as a lot of artists do because we would rather be in the studio. Through this blog I will try to post at regular intervals, though I can't be certain how often. Because Tuesday has that pleasing "oo" sound like Goo, I'll definitely post then, if not more. I invite you to join me on this digital journey.