friday feast: paint me a sardine

~ jama

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
                        ~ Scott Adams

 Happy February! 

Welcome to a brand new month here at alphabet soup, featuring Love and Chocolate!

I’ll be posting about things I love and eating as much chocolate as is humanly possible (health benefits, you know).

Today I’m sharing a poem about art and writing, two things I definitely love. But as any writer or artist will tell you, paintings and stories don’t just fall from the sky (though we often wish they would). There is a process — stages to go through, steps to follow, mistakes to be made.

Yeah, it’s all about the journey.

I found “Why I Am Not a Painter” by accident, and every time I read it, I smile. I’ve always longed to paint, but drawing feels like a foreign land. So I try to paint with words. I’m so glad I found this poem, because it made me realize how much the poet and the painter have in common, and how one can inform the other.

When you read it, don’t take the casual, anecdotal style for granted. There is more here than meets the eye.

WHY I AM NOT A PAINTER
by Frank O’Hara

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,

for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
“Sit down and have a drink” he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. “You have SARDINES in it.”

(Read the rest here.)

 

P.S. I checked the house. I don’t have any sardines. I don’t have any oranges. But I do have these:

Orange Sardines!

Do you think there’s any hope for me?

Today’s Poetry Friday hostess is Karen Edmisten. Drop in for some coffee and lots of great poems.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.”              ~ Leonardo da Vinci

 

28 thoughts on “friday feast: paint me a sardine”

  1. You KNOW how much I love the connection between art and writing. (Love those quotes.) What I didn’t know is that I love orange sardines, too! Who would’ve thought sardines could be…cute.

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  5. Karen Edmisten said:
    Jama, only you would actually have a plush sardine can and a very cute version of sardines. I am thoroughly impressed.
    I love this post! Also love the da Vinci quote and the Scott Adams, too.
    And, you know how much I approve of your February theme. 😉
    Thanks for the smiles and food for thought today.

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  8. I can’t decide which I like more, the Scott Adams quote, the Leonardo da Vinci quote, the fact that you are evidently bonkers (see Orange Sardines) in the best possible of ways, or the Frank O’Hara poem. Wonderful post (yet again), Jama!

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  10. Sardines & Oranges
    Jama,
    I like your poetry selection for today. I enjoy poems that can both make you smile and tell you as truth at well. I agree–it is about the journey. I find sometimes my poems take me where they want to go–not where I’m trying to take them. Those poems that make their own detours never end up the way I had planned.
    I hope while you’re indulging yourself in chocolate this month you’ll be inspired to write some delicious poetry.

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  11. Sardines & Oranges
    Elaine M. of Wild Rose Reader
    Jama,
    I like your poetry selection for today. I enjoy poems that can both make you smile and tell you as truth as well. I agree–it is about the journey. I find sometimes my poems take me where they want to go–not where I’m trying to take them. Those poems that make their own detours never end up the way I had planned.
    I hope while you’re indulging yourself in chocolate this month you’ll be inspired to write some delicious poetry.

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  15. Re: Sardines & Oranges
    Glad you liked O’Hara’s poem, Elaine. It wasn’t until the second or third reading that I understood why he referred to the “letters” that remained instead of the “sardines.” Part of the writing process is constructing, then deconstructing — and then knowing which parts to keep, just as Adams said in his quote.

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  16. Yay! Art and painting!
    I recently blogged about my favorite book for 2007: The Writer’s Brush – Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture by Writers By Donald Friedman
    Beautiful book!
    My favorite line “For many writers anthologized here, a coin toss could have determined whether to spend the day standing in a smock or seated with a pen.”
    Love the quotes. The Scott Adams’ was an ‘Art Quote of the Day’ for today.
    Great post!

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  21. Frank pretty much described my writing process. Now…how did I get here?!
    The sardines are wonderful and brought back a memory of my father. He was a terrible cook; or rather, he didn’t or couldn’t cook at all… but he used to make sardine and liver- sausage sandwiches for lunch. Uck.

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  22. I love that. I’m going to go read it again.
    Also, Jama, you are responsible for one of my kicks this week, but I gotta run now (the girls are getting out of the bath and running to me!), so I’ll explain later — or on Sunday!
    Jules, 7-Imp

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  23. I am never disappointed when I come here! You weave together poetry and quotes and images in SUCH a fun way!
    Hey, bonkers with tea sounds like a fun thing! Do you have a tea party month, with scones and muffins and such? If so, send an invitation my way!
    Mary Lee
    A Year of Reading

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  24. Double, triple uck! I can’t stand liver. I haven’t eaten many sardines in my time, but they’re full of calcium, so maybe I should try some.
    As for your Dad, to each his own! Maybe it’s best he didn’t cook, after all :).

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