New video: Pat Passlof Triptych

Three spoken-word pieces originally created as part of Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center’s “Question Everything” exhibition. They are performed here in collaboration with live painter Blais Bellenoit. Music by Blais Bellenoit, filming by Scott Varn, audio engineering by Dave Hamilton, spoken word by Alli Marshall.

Painting by Blais Bellenoit

The poems celebrate the life and work of Black Mountain College alumna Pat Passlof, an abstract artist who lived until 2011. The first two poems take their titles from articles written about Pat; the third is an ekphrastic poem inspired by Rodin’s “The Centuaress” sculpture, which ties in thematically to Pat’s many images of horses and her feminist life.

Insta-prompts

Insta promptsLike many other creatives, I’m trying to spend my COVID-19 quarantine learning new skills, working on projects that feed my soul, and making badass art. I’m offering daily creativity prompts (Monday through Friday) on Instagram — please join me, tell your friends, share the 1-minute video series as you like.

The prompts are intended to foster some deep thought, new perspectives and (most importantly) fun. No prior artistic experience required. No judgement, no agenda, no wrong answers.

Online workshop: Ekphrastic Poetry, May 5

Taught through the Flatiron Writers Room. This class meets online via Zoom videoconferencing on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, 6-8:30 p.m.

Alli Marshall by JenBen Media-2Ekphrastic art is work made in response to another piece of artwork. It can be a story jump-started by a painting, a song inspired by a sculpture or — to paraphrase a cliche — a dance about architecture. In this workshop, we’ll focus on poetry as our medium and, while writers may use any poetic form to which they feel called, those new to poetry and/or ekphrastic work are encouraged to use freeform or prose poetry.

The workshop will include a discussion of ekphrastic art and examples of it from our own bodies of work (it’s likely we’ve all made ekphrastic art, even if unintentionally). We’ll also talk about ekphrastic art as a means of collaboration with a knowing or unknowing fellow artist. And we’ll work on outlining and/or writing poems in response to several artistic works of various mediums.

Workshop participants should have two pieces of art in mind, with an image handy.

1) One they’ve long been inspired by or to which they’ve felt called to respond.
2) One they’ve recently discovered.

These artworks can be in any medium, from literary or visual (painting, drawing, photography, etc.) to dramatic or cinematic, to performative or musical.

The workshop will include time for questions as well as tips and prompts for creating future ekphrastic poems, and resources, such as a number of museum collections and exhibitions that are online for free, virtual tours.

$40-$45. Register here.