Still life



© Valeria G. 2009

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The Limit

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All the white roses

fell from the moon,

through the open window,

over the naked body.

.. ..

I hold in my hands

the penned blueprints of a pulse,

an oscillating universe

in slow Escherian motion.

.. ..

The flesh in flower

- a sin for Sunday mass,

an offer of cosmic candles -

and I, absorbed and mute.

.. ..

A sex of moon, an

undefinable essence,

lost, in the invisible

of this half-light.

.. ..

Tremors of morning,

moistness of dew:

I open my hands

and the ink washes away.

.. ..

..
..

© 2009 ~ Valeria G

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Pensive eves

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Roses flourish in a garden of gypsum and wood

- there are things that keep themselves anchored when time runs away -

A closet full of blank postcards, intentions

stored in drawers determined to be forgotten

and in all I find myself learning how long the road is.

.. ..

There are things that arrive so late…

urgent letters when everyone has left.

.. ..

I pack happiness in cardboard boxes, souvenirs

with your name and mine.  Memories of a first holiday

that your words made unimportant. 

I still read them today and wonder if the tendency

to intellectualize caused you to forget the weight of words.

Perhaps I am over-intellectualizing…

.. ..

It may be the habit of leaving everything for the last minute

- there are things that arrive so late…

things that arrive when everyone has left -

.. ..

Wild flowers reach the moon by my window

and caress the stars with their sweet fragrance. 

Intentions kept in a flower vase aiming

to reach the sky.  - There are things that keep themselves anchored

when time runs away –

.. ..

.. ..

© 2009 – Valeria G.

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This afternoon the gardens
of Earth have flourished;
past twilights were gray
as monotonous twilight of winter. 
This afternoon spring was born again: 
the veiled horizons discovered
dormant villages;
there were roses and violets in the blue of the firmament,
there was fabulous magic of colors and essences;
it was a nightfall of those
sweet springs in which my soul
seems to wander. 

In the nothing a something of deep transparencies floated
and the turns of the breezes, in a moment
drew themselves trembling;
a wave darkened the mysteries
of the evening... 
In the religious heavens
the stars of twilight half-opened;
and my soul was lost in the vague mist
of the last quiet and melancholy gardens... 
By the trees stuffed of blacknesses
there are terrors of some somnolent monsters,
of colossal snakes rolled
and gigantic scorpions;
and seems that of the depth of the paths
some mourning men come... 
The gardens are full of visions;
there are visions in my soul…
I feel cold, I am alone, I am sleepy... 
Memories pile up in my mind,
the softest memories
of the late evenings that gave me their colors,
their essences and their touch. 
So sweet are those afternoons of the land!,
(ah, the eves of heaven!) 


© 2008 Valerie Jones

There are several works of art that possess an extraordinary quality that I prefer to call ingenuity for lack of a better word. An insular ingenuity in both a literal and a broader sense, an innocence, an ingenious innocence opening its eyes elastically, orphically, at the very beginning of Creation.

About a year ago, when I began to show to art connoisseurs pieces of art with this quality, the astonishment caused by the artists' vision and the audacious images that communicated such, was nearly tainted by an ironic smile of superiority. The imperfect lines, the not completely polished techniques… I soon realized that a defense mechanism entered into play and that, threatened with the absolute, people quickly exaggerated the importance of formal faults as an almost unconscious pretext for remaining on this side, rather than following such art as it boldly plunged into deep waters.

Yet, it is because of my love for that ingenuity that I am speaking of it here, not bound by any scholastic canon: while many search, Perceval meets; while many talk, Mishkin comprehends.

Gide observed sardonically that since nobody listens, everything has to be said again, yet a suspicion of guilt and superfluity leads the intellectual to the most extreme refinement of his trade and tools, the only way to avoid paths too much traveled.

I am not a critic, I intend only to point out the shameful ignorance of these works and to strike a blow against the misunderstandings that arise in the "art world" when these pieces gain their deserved exposure.

One might say that haste and the sense of guilt caused by artistic proliferation have lead the modern observer to reject, at times with condescension, all trovar clus. Add false asceticism and the solemn blinders of wrongheaded specialization, against which spirit is represented by structuralism is now arising.

In a work of masterful unitive intuition, Gauguin melded geometry and art, previously separate in his century; until Picasso it seemed that painters and observers would retain that synthesis, but already in Torres Garcia this sort of achievement no longer met the acclaim it deserved.

One hears much these days of diagonal (interdisciplinary) sciences, but the diagonal observer is slow to appear and these works may encounter the resistance that greets anything opposed to the direct file of received ideas. Yet, the slice has been made, as in the Chinese story of the perfect executioner, the decapitated one will remain standing, not realizing that the first sneeze will send his head rolling across the ground.

The undeniable fact that less refined works lack the technicality and experienced detail of the more formally educated ones induces the typical intellectual to see these works as no less typical autodidacts with underdeveloped faculties, which may at times be accurate, and to find in this a justification for not appreciating their true significance, which is most unfortunate.

One of the indices of underdevelopment is our fastidiousness towards anything that peels away the cultural crust, appearances, the lock on the door of culture. We know Monet is pronounced Moné, not Monét, the way we said it ourselves for the first time (and we were looked at ironically making us feel we had done something wrong); we know exactly how to pronounce Renoir or Goethe and Toulouse-Lautrec and Rossetti. And that's fine, like keeping your underarms clean and using deodorant. What is really important comes later, or not at all. For many of those who dismiss these works of art with a smile, it will arrive neither sooner nor later, and yet their armpits, I assure you, are perfect.

To look at one of these works under its light if innocence is to look at the fire in the fireplace and enter into its whirlwind of creation and annihilation, its classical moment in which it is the sacrificial fire, its romantic hour full of sparks and unexpected explosions, its baroque of blue and green smoke that multiplies ephemeral statues and cornucopias. Man has reached the moon, but everyday a few artists create in a way that knows the enchantments that would make the moon come down to earth. Ultimately, what is the difference?

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“The miseries of the hit et nunc

and the sense of the absurd

are the best antidote for timor mortis.

All sentiment acts like a boomerang,

like a javelin into the sun

against the despairing cosmic mystery.

.. ..

Nothing can better cure

the anthropocentrism

- inspirer of all our ills –

than to cast ourselves

into the infinitely large

or the infinitely small.”

.. ..

And the cat slowly licks

- without discriminating -

his face and his butt,

while the decomposing - meat,

notion and memorabilia

sit on his bowl inter alia.

.. ..

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© 2008 Valerie Jones

Hello Dear Friends,

As you might have read, I recently started a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Arts: World Artist Network.

First, I would like to start by extending an invitation to our space exclusively for Writers, called 'Writers Lounge' where you can post your pieces.

Many writers are at the same time poly-artists who also paint, do crafts, draw, etc. We have a great space for that also including a frontpage gallery that shows the latest artworks posted.

Second, to all those who enjoy writing articles and the Arts, I would like to invite you to participate of our WAN Blogs. There you can share your opinion about art trends, an exhibition you've been to, art finds, or art news in general.

If you would like to participate, let me know. It'd be great having you there, and I am sure you will find the site to be lots of fun and with prospects of becoming something great.

Both the organization and the site are still taking baby steps, so we can build it together ;)  Go to: World Artist Network and see what we are trying to do. See you soon!

I hadn't shared anything in a while, and I thought it was about time I did :P

The pleasures of Wormwood and Lord Harry

 

-Mine in existence

are all the sins of humanity-

he says, as he throws

another crimson stained pebble

 at the paved river

of his white washed world.

 

The highs and the lows

of early Sunday pristine waters

and rope tied brown togas

raise a brow to his conscience,

disguised in renaissance scholarly prayer

and mastery at leading astray.

 

A fondness for country cricket,

treachery and demise

color his downwards bent smile.

There are no monsters in his closet

nor hidden portraits as in Dorian's case.

His are in existence all the sins of humanity.

 

 

© Valerie Jones ~ 9/18/2008

A few of you may have noticed my absence from the blogs as of late. I still read quite a few of the posts, but I have been quite busy and unable to post practically anything myself.

But here is why...

For the last few months I have been working to form a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of the Arts. The idea started with a group right here on MySpace, the World Artist Network. This group has been around for almost 3 years and as it grew into a wonderful community of artists from all forms of ..painting, writing, sculpture, crafts, etc) the mod at that time and I saw potential for much more.

"Artists have a special role to play in the global struggle for peace. At their best, artists speak not only to people; they speak for them. Art is a weapon against ignorance and hatred, and an agent of public awareness. Art opens new door for learning, understanding, and peace among people and nations."

                                                                                    Kofi Annan        

From the experience of networking with so many different artists we realized of two main areas in which expanding seemed the next logical step.

On one side, the learning experience of sharing art with one another across the group enriched each artist not only in their technical skills, but in their ability to express themselves to others about their work. At the same time, being able to connect to other artists created a social network that brought support, encouragement and the will to keep creating. But all this was limited to MySpace.

On the other side, we saw how difficult it was for artists to gain exposure of their work. And even though MySpace attracts a large populous, art directors, galleries, collectors, editorials and other venues do not look for emerging artists on MySpace as much as they would through more traditional methods.

So we decided we would provide artists with more ways to connect to one another and continue learning from one another by creating artist-to-artist workshops, gallery hopping days in which to share observations about art, and some more relaxed reunions to encourage networking. We also decided to help artists reach those venues of exposure. We had our first group exhibit in the summer of 2007, and we are working to form a portfolio with our artists' works to help them reach more exhibition spaces, editorials, etc.

We also understood that for if Art could be widely related to People, then much of inspiration would be born. A better understanding of the role of Art could help in the contemporary world, therefore we decided that a receptive audience would be that much more enriching to the process and we created education programs to reach out into the community and help people learn about Art.

 

After all this process we took on creating a website that could help artists network not only with one another but with galleries, events, competitions, world and art news, etc. And we incorporated the World Artist Network as an official non-profit to be able to reach out.

I would like to invite you to check our website and our MySpace group (please keep in mind it is still a project under development) and join us for a great learning experience as well as an intelligent and art oriented network of many talented people.

 

 

http://groups.myspace.com/WAN3 - WAN Group on MySpace