sometimes it’s elusive
fragile
exhausting
this renovation thing
this endless penitential kneeling
inhaling
sawdust and glue
to make new
that which is broken
like living in a smashed mirror
or walking on ice
that’s cracking
all around you
one needs to surrender
every molecule
of attention
to that shining orb inside
called home
otherwise everything begins
to fragment
and the danger is
forgetting
which part fits where
and why
conte drawing and poem by clinock
Hi John, great poem, renovating oneself must be like that, and what a wonderful drawing, Picasso would have liked it as well I am sure! It would be nice to have a floor like that! 🙂
Pablo is us…and our floors resonate with our footsteps…I have a floor like that, nice sometimes until I polish it to reflect my face, then it challenges my steps…
I have tried this-marquetry. There are delightful kits available . Takes a lot of patience and precision cutting.
So true Carl, so true, and so many kits to give instructions. Patience I have but my precision cutting is always askew…
I try to imagine having a similar self portrait on my floor and what poetry my feet would make each time I needed to walk on through, or over…or around. Thanks for the provocative and thoughtful post. The drawing and poem are intriguing companions.
Your self portrait on your floor…walk into it…the floor will open up like a door…so many adventures waiting there…you must have visited before…you must know…
Very cool.
Thanks dear Hansi…missing all that you are in this strange world…
I believe that Leonard Cohen has lyrics that say ” the cracks are where the light comes in”
Wonderful and evocative art and poetry. Thank you.
“Ring the bells that still can ring…” Lenny says it better than I…thank you Gary…
You’ve made the fragments whole! Fantastic!
Making the fragments whole…the work of a lifetime…thanks Steven…
Hi John, this looks like it has been carved from wood, although it’s the texture of the drawing materials you’ve used, which work so well with the idea of a fractured piece. It’s a fitting and beautifully written poem too.
Your words are very kind and I appreciate them Cheryl…thank you my friend…
John I know it’s crazy but I would love to see you translate your portrait into the parquet flooring design……it would “floor” all viewers! Happy renovating!
What a great idea Robert…custom made flooring containing the portrait of the owner…there’s a creative business just waiting for some young and talented entrepreneur..
…keep coming back [as I always do with your work].
“one needs to surrender every molecule of attention to that shining orb inside called home”
Likewise I surrender to the beauty of your art and poetry! 🙂
what a lovely thing to say Marina, leaves me blushing and speechless, thank you my friend
Honestly very beautiful! We do fragment sometimes. I like the concept of coming together and making it work–“to make new that which was broken.”
Thank you Debra, yes, the act of art is one creative way to pull it all back together, ”to make new that which was broken.”
Love the words and painting too!
Thank you very much Ayse…
Love your parquet floor on paper John, so easy to imagine your drawing translated to woods installed as the centerpiece of an entry hall, or better yet, recreated in the floor of an indoor public space with inches scaled to feet… imagine silence muffled by quiet conversations and clicks of high heels, people coming and going and wonder if anyone would hesitate, avoid walking on your portrait as if it were partitioned off by invisible velvet ropes.
such wonderful, descriptive writing Nancy…you evoke this imaginary scene so clearly that all my senses recreate it from your words…thank you so much for this…
Daddio, love this piece. It is beautiful.
Thank you Sam, your words mean a lot to me…