Frisian Lands
I brought back from my holiday this picture of the Frisian landscape ( I’ve never seen so much sky! ) and a freshly-penned poem. Read it in escarp, “a text-message-based review of super-brief literature.” number of view: 41
Having seen an exhibition of Emile Nolde’s “unpainted pictures” in the Berlin branch of the Nolde Foundation earlier on this year, I came to visit his house in Seebüll, North Friesland, Germany, where he lived and worked.
The house is built on higher ground – this used to be a tidal area – providing a panoramic view of the garden below and the surrounding flatlands. The “unpainted pictures” refer to the small-scale watercolors Nolde produced from 1941 onwards, after he was formally forbidden to paint by the Nazi regime. Even before that, the Nazis considered his work to be “un-Germanic” and “degenerate.”
In order to continue working, Nolde used watercolors since they do not emit the typical smell of oil paint and turpentine that would have been easily detectable by the Gestapo during unannounced inspections. Nolde considered the watercolors of this period “unpainted,” because he had planned to render them in oil after the fall of the regime.
Some of the “unpainted pictures” are of flowers, with vibrant colors that overflow the boundaries set by the line and spill over. Perhaps this is one expression of Nolde – like Kandinsky – seeing music in color: his color notes blending across space in the way musical notes blend in time.
Nolde found ample inspiration for these motives in his own garden, which abounds with joyous color and diversity of form illuminated by the immense skies of North Friesland.
number of view: 57I am delighted and honored! My micro-poem They send light to Earth was chosen to be the first piece to be published by new e-zine @textofiction.
Brand new, “Textofiction is an online literary publication dedicated to bringing the best writing in under 140 characters.”
Read my micro-poem and think, it packs a lot in. Better still, let me know your thoughts about it! Read it here
Date of publication: 29 August 2010
I brought back from my holiday this picture of the Frisian landscape ( I’ve never seen so much sky! ) and a freshly-penned poem. Read it in escarp, “a text-message-based review of super-brief literature.” number of view: 41
The Annunciation on the Wall “Some great paintings are inexhaustible wells, forever self-replenishing,” Michael Glover writes in The Independent’s Great works: Annunciation (1438-45), Fra Angelico. In a well-written article, he refers to a number of other works on the same, very popular subject. Most of these other paintings include symbolic elaborations and allusions which may [...]
Poets, writers, artists, and composers have always tried to listen to God. Through words, paints, colours, notes, they have often succeeded, as is attested by the quality of literature, art, and music in the treasure-chest of humanity. Now, scientists are getting nearer to hearing God. Or rather, nearer to the sound of the Higgs Boson [...]
I just read The Hungry Tide, a novel by Amitav Ghosh, published in 2004. It has taken me a long time to find out about it, as well as its author, but, as they say, better late than never. Such a well-written, well-researched, good read! But the added reason I bring it here is that [...]
Responding to the “Carry a Poem”, Edinburgh’s city of literature reading campaign question: “How do you carry yours?” I sent in the piece below. I also enjoyed reading other people’s poem stories. Have a look, you might find something to your heart’s liking: http://carryapoem.com/category/stories/ STELLA’S STORY: BLUE NIGHT Thursday, 28 January 2010 I have different poems [...]
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A tribe in India has won a stunning victory over one of the world’s biggest mining companies. The Dongria Kondh, a tribe of 8000 people, with the help of Survival International and others, has won a victory over a multibillion company which proposed to mine bauxite on the sacred hills of the tribe. The Dongria Kondh’s struggle had a happier ending than that of the film Avatar, in which a tribe was pitted against a ruthless mining company. The Dongria Kondh’s perseverance, courage, and victory will encourage indigenous tribes everywhere.
Well done to Dongria Kondh, their supporters, and to Survival!
number of view: 562