Kluski (pronounced klooh-ski, with a short “oo” as in book) are a dumpling, and were one of my favourite dishes. My mother mixed the dough; then would scoop the mixture with a tablespoon and simply slip it, from the spoon,…
poem
Larsson House – A Poem
My poem Larsson House is a little different to my usual ekphrastic poetry. You probably recognise the style of Swedish painter, Carl Larsson (1853-1919), as many of his children’s illustrations are still around. A painter of the Arts and Crafts…
Peasants Eat Herring – A Poem
This drawing reached out to me across three-hundred years. It, in turn, took me back in time in memory. I love that these journeys are happening as a result of my decision to commit to this ekphrastic poetry series. Too…
Still Life with Bottles and Fruit – A Poem
Alexej von Jawlensky was an expressionist. Expressionist artists strive “to convey their inner emotions and thoughts via their works, frequently using distorted forms, vibrant colors, and vigorous brushstrokes to establish their own visual language.” – Sparks Gallery You may not…
A Table D’Hôte – A Poem
A table d’hôte translates to “the host’s table”. The expression dates back hundreds of years to the days before there were restaurants in Europe. It was originally used to mean a common table in a guest house or tavern, where…
A Roman Feast – A Poem
My first prompt for “A Roman Feast” was the image at the very bottom of the page of a Roman serving vessel. I began to imagine what was actually served in it – which led to peacock, snails and dormice….
Migrant Mother – A Poem
It’s funny what we remember, and how memory is triggered. In this case, by a soup bowl. More of my ekphrastic poems can be found here. More on the huitain form here. Migrant Mother My mother made me drink pea…
Life in Arles – A Poem
I love that you can access incredible artworks through galleries’ open access policies. I encourage you to follow the links in either the quote or the caption below and see van Gogh’s painting in zoom close up. There’s no way…
Strawberries, Nuts, &c. – A Poem
Riddle Me This How is it possible –Orange, so fresh the leaf is intactRuby-red strawberries that if wild would collapseTogether with nuts and raisins, to beIn the same still life in a nineteenth centuryComposition? What, summer and winter?Unless, if not…
For the People Waiting – A Poem
So many still lifes of previous centuries feature abundance. As The Met points out, for this particular painting by Severin Roesen: “Nineteenth-century improvements in cultivation and shipping practices enabled the extravagant assortment.” It was about status, and fortune, and horticulture,…
Cherries – A Poem
This project of mine, writing poems as a response to food-themed art, has the added benefit of making me more mindful of small things. Like cherries. They have associations beyond, well, cherries. I remembered Marcel Proust and his madeleines. They…
Fruits of Midi – A Poem
In France, the southern regions along the Mediterranean Coast are known colloquially as le Midi. It’s thought Renoir may have painted this still life somewhere in le Midi on his way to study classical paintings in Italy. There’s a more…
