Art/Poetry Mash-Up: LOADED BRUSH

Is the young man in this self-portrait brandishing a paintbrush? A conductor’s baton? A magic wand? To Bruce, these are virtually the same, art and music being expressions from the same source and synonymous with magic. He could as easily have become a professional musician as a professional artist, his specialties being jazz trumpet and piano.

The poem “LOADED BRUSH,” with its textual quirks — intentionally irregular capitalization, italics, and punctuation — is full of enthusiasm for artistic creation. The painting Self-Portrait as a Young Man is just as emphatic, with a swirl of activity indicating invention and creative flow. At the same time, there is a seriousness in the young man’s face, a sense that his creative mission is a responsibility not to be taken lightly.

Self-Portrait as a Young Man is a favorite of mine because its energetic lines, intense colors and varied textures give it a power disproportionate to its relatively small size. Its construction echoes its content: there is a lot going on. The central character has so many ideas, so many decisions to make, where to begin? Bruce approached this mixed media work the same way. His choice of materials is serendipitous, “mixed media” being code for a variety of materials, not all of them intended for art making. In this painting he used acrylic paint, marker, pencil, a piece of plastic sculpted from a household product, the cap from a tube of paint, a glass marble, and paper collage, applied to a support of paper laid down on canvas. Although he knew the effect he wanted to create, he also let the materials take him where they wanted to go. As he once said about his process of starting a painting, “A line may lead me, or I may lead it.”

Note the glimpse of a bell in the upper left corner of the painting; a wave to Bruce’s mother Belle, who encouraged his artistic development from his earliest years. The bell appears here and in other paintings as a benevolent symbol.

.

LOADED BRUSH

…
FUll paint brush –
The trombones
In Fat Array . . . the

—

BRass section

—

Hunched . . ready to play!

—

The
Solid
Swinging

—

Leap . . . . of a great
Swing
Band

—

Handing . . . . .

—

The
Baton to YOU ! ! !

—

HUGE

—

This
Moment

—

Of madness

—

To
Rewrite

—

The
History of things

—

The

—

Mystery

—

Of
Practically

—

EVERYTHING

—————

———

—

Self-Portrait as a Young Man
Mixed media on paper and canvas, 18″ x 14″

Artwork and poetry copyright 2010 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Season

Season’s greetings!

.

Season

…
A
Snowflake . . .

—

DIstributed on the doorstep

—

Brings with it . . . .

—

Holiday cheer

—

Days of yore . . . seem
To
Recall . . . . . all

—

The
Paraphernalia

—

Of Yesterday

—

The turkey . .
The Mistletoe

—

The malts at the
Malt shop

—

All

—

The
Finial finery

—

That haunts the

—

Haunts

—

The

—

Corridors

—

Of History

—

In the great

—

Human
House!

—————

———

—

Copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Gathering

A poem about a different kind of space, for Thanksgiving.

.

Gathering

…

Placed . .

Just so

Across from one,

To the

…..Right . . .

—

………..Of the other

—

The sister . . . .

Seated across

FRom . . the brother

—

The dad

—

From the mother

—

Grandfather . . . . .

—

At the

—

Head

—

Of the table

—

To tell

The

Tales

—

AS only

—

He was able.

—

There now.

—

All is

In

Place.

—

A kindly

Light.

—

A

Holy

Space.

—————

———

—

Copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Art/Poetry Mash-Up: SPACE

NASA recently announced the discovery of water on the moon. The moon appears in dozens of Bruce’s poems and, coincidentally, I recently rediscovered a cache of paintings that he had done featuring space travel.

It is an unusual group. Ordinarily, Bruce draws or paints whatever comes to mind at the time he picks up a pen or brush. Although his subject matter recurs over the course of many years (still lifes, figures, etc.), very rarely has he rendered a single motif in a single style in consecutive works. In the 1980s, he did a series of highly varnished, candy-colored paintings of astronauts and rocketships likely inspired by the space shuttle missions that were so active during that decade, including Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis. These paintings are sheer fun. At the same time, if you look at them long enough, you might detect enough pathos to make you wonder, what is really happening there? What is s/he thinking? If they were comics, they would have thought bubbles that would reveal their mysteries.

These space travel paintings will be photographed professionally later this month. They’re so glossy (as you can see below) that it’s hard for me to get good pictures of them myself. Also below is Bruce’s poem “SPACE,” describing, as his poems about the moon often do, our intimate connection to it, rather than distance from it.

.

Spacegirl
Acrylic and pencil on canvas, 10″ x 10″

.

SPACE

Wide Sweep . . .
Of the horizon line

—

EXpanding into self-completeness . . .

—

Leading to

—

Anagogic revelation

—

……….The ultimate

—

……….Made intimate

—

……….The
Huge

—

Dealt as a
Stack
Of
CardS . . . .

—

To
Be
Played . . . . .

—

AS

—

One
Wishes.

—

The
Dishes in
The
Sink

—

Elevated

—

To
Whirling planets!

—

To
Pass quite

—

Beyond
The
Moon — .

—

To yet another
Planet

—

And Another moon.

—————

———

—

Artwork and poetry copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Art/Poetry Mash-Up: BOX OF CRAYONS (fragment)

Crayon is one of many media Bruce has used in his paintings on canvas and works on paper. He holds great regard for his materials and views them not just as implements or sources of color, but as dynamic objects. For many years he had a habit of adding his tools right into his pictures. Many of his artworks incorporate the actual crayons, pencils, markers, paintbrushes, paint tubes and pallette knives he had used.

The work on paper below, Regretful, incorporates an actual oil pastel (like a crayon, but oil-based rather than wax-based). The label of the pastel says “Cray-Pas Expressionist.” Bruce declares himself an Expressionist artist — however, he chose this object for its aesthetic qualities and the strength it brings to the composition, not for the meaning of its text.

.

BOX OF CRAYONS (fragment)

A
Box of crayons — — —

—

Has
Missiles of meaning

—

Wandering
Over a child’s
Battlefield.

—

Bright
Orange and red
Polka dots — — —

—

Spilling out . . .

—

The margins
Of
Life —

—

Trifling with

—

Rifle shots of

—

Purple
. . . Or
Green

—

. . .

—————

———

—

Regretful
Acrylic, marker and actual oil pastel on paper, 24″ x 19″

Regretful (detail)

Artwork and poetry copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Art/Poetry Mash-Up: The Glass (fragment)

.

The Glass (fragment)
.

The
Crystal goblet
Drank light

—————

———

—

Still Life
Oil on canvas, 10″ x 10″

Artwork and poetry copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Morning (fragment)

An exuberant verse from one of Bruce’s poems, which I’m finding inspirational today:

.

Morning (fragment)
.

Life’s a
Golden
Locket.

—

Open it!

—————

———

—

Copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Happy Anniversary

Today Bruce and Emilie celebrate 48 years of marriage. That impressive number pales in comparison to the number of poems that Bruce has written about her, and their marriage, over the years. As a gift (like last year), I made an anniversary book for them containing a newly discovered trove of those poems, which they enjoyed greatly.

This painting by Bruce captures them *perfectly*.

Happy Anniversary!

Us (detail)
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 58″ x 46.5″

Artwork copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Over My Shoulder – Guest Artist Margot (Meg) MacGibeny Sturt

My father is not the only one in the MacGibeny family with artistic inclinations. Bruce’s sister, Margot (Meg) MacGibeny Sturt, is a talented photographer. She has participated in group exhibitions and sold her work through those shows and word of mouth. She is also an active member of the Photo Art Journals group on Yahoo, which recently featured her photo Deep Freeze Art Deco Montreal on its home page. As a result of that affiliation, Meg’s work was selected to appear in the new book “Collaborative Art Journals and Shared Visions in Mixed Media” by L.K. Ludwig. It is always a treat to receive one of her handmade cards with a custom photo on the cover.

When they were in college, Meg would sing to Bruce’s piano accompaniment; they even had a radio show together in Alton, Illinois. She says that she now sings through her photography. To my ear and eye it is a rich, clear voice. Her scenes of nature, including sea and sky and earth, and her occasional pictures of people, direct your attention. She captures moments that pass too quickly and details that others might overlook. She said of the photo below, “We could not move, did not move, for several minutes marveling in the beauty — we did not stay long enough to see any movement or change, but believe its continuing journey must have been spectacular…or did it just dissolve and disappear?”

Meg says that Bruce’s poetry has spoken to her over the years even more than his visual art, so this is an ideal collaboration. Enjoy this mash-up of Meg’s photograph, Over My Shoulder, with Bruce’s poem, Clouds.

.

Clouds

.

The centenary
Progression . . .

—

Of billows . .
And
Bastions

—

Proceeds . . . . .

—

Across the sky

—

Into . . . .

—

The
EYE

—

Of the beholder!

—

The seasons of
The clouds

—

Infinitely various

—

Lead

—

To
The conclusion

—

That
Rather than read

—

The
Stars

—

One
Should

—

Read

—

The
Clouds.

—————

———

—

Over My Shoulder
Saratoga Springs by the Library, 1995

Poetry copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.
Photograph copyright 2009 Margot Sturt. All rights reserved.

See more art/poetry mash-ups:

• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Marbles
• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Contrast
• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Change
• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: The Clock
• All Art/Poetry Mash-Ups

Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Fireworks

A poem and painting for Independence Day.

.

Fireworks

The
Plunge into darkness

—

Of fireworks . . .

—

Is More . . . .

—

Than color and flame

—

Is the same

—

As

—

Adventure

—

In boredom.

—

To

—

Break Up . . . . . the

—

Staid

—

Similarity

—

Of
Sameness.

—

The
Endlessness —

—

Of
Endings.

—

Burst high –

—

Burst far

—

Light
My
Night

—

With
What
You
Are – .

—————

———

—

Fireworks
Oil on canvas, 24″ x 19.5″

Artwork and poetry copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.

See more art/poetry mash-ups:

• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Marbles
• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Contrast
• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: Change
• Art/Poetry Mash-Up: The Clock
• All Art/Poetry Mash-Ups