Wednesday 4 November 2015

Image of the Week: Haiku Art


Creative Process: 

Prompted by a friend's birthday, my knowledge that she likes trees, plus my love of trees, it was time to draw one.  I also knew that my friend liked Haiku poetry, which is a form of poetry using a set of 3 lines that follow a pattern of 5/7/5 syllables. 

I did some research and discovered that subjects of haiku poems are often events, seasons and creatures of the natural world that reflect a distinctive Zen and Buddhist sensibility.  The haiku poet records experience by using a meditative thought process that leaves the mind open to subconscious influences.

This intuitive writing process is akin to the same form of open imagination visual artists use to create their work.  The idea is to use your subconscious imagination to interpret haiku poems visually.

You are not trying to illustrate the landscape, things or ideas mentioned in the poem. Rather, you use the sounds and sensory impressions you receive and imagine from reading the poem as your inspiration. 

Once I had completed the drawing, I wrote this haiku poem:

Forever solid
waiting in vain for the sun
the moon will suffice.

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© Wadsworth Jarrell 'Revolutionary 1972' Private Collection On Saturday 22nd July, I took my family to the Tate Modern to see  ...