"Art can educate, inspire, empower people to act." ~Judy Chicago
Last night at the Opening for "Rise - A Female Artist Showcase" with Bubble Pop Gallery: I was asked about the visual element of daffodils in some of my works: When we began studying poetry in English class, my Senior year of high school, one of the first poems on the syllabus was 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.' I was profoundly moved by this poem. From that point I came to associate daffodils with powerful friendships. They also became symbolic, in my mind, for the kinds of beautiful or powerful events that generate strong memories --the memories that bolster us through difficult times. More recently for me they have come especially to represent sisterhood and the efforts of the women warriors who came before us; ongoing battles with Patriarchy can leave us feeling terribly disheartened; as we seem to progress so slowly. It is important in difficult moments to remember those who came before, those who stand alongside us now, and those who will come after. This is what keeps me moving forward in the darkest hours.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not be but gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not be but gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Daffodils have appeared in another of my works, 'Gathering Gratitude.'
Gathering Gratitude
24x20" acrylic on canvas
sold
24x20" acrylic on canvas
sold
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