the work of Jen Raven
  • home
  • gallery
  • vitae
  • contact
  • nest

Rise exhibit with Bubble Pop Gallery

3/4/2020

0 Comments

 


"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.


Daffodils have appeared in another of my works, 'Gathering Gratitude.'
Picture
Gathering Gratitude
24x20" acrylic on canvas
sold

0 Comments

    Archives

    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    October 2010

    Welcome to
    the raven's nest!
    -- if you like
    arts-related
    mischief, this
    blog is for you.

    Categories

    All
    Accessories
    Animal Rescue
    Artist Bios
    Artist Statements
    Assemblage
    Bees
    Body Art
    BTS
    Bunny Gunner Gallery
    Cactus Gallery
    Cats
    Chickens
    Collaborations
    Commissions
    Concepts Photography
    Costume College
    Costuming
    Creature Creation
    Dandelions
    Dia De Los Muertos
    DIY
    Featured Artist
    First Friday Artwalk
    Forks
    Gallery Exhibitions
    Lupus And Fibromyalgia
    Military
    Misericordia University
    Mixed Media
    Monica Brown
    Myth And Legend
    On Location
    Painting
    Pas De Berlin
    Pauly Friedman Art Gallery
    Pennsylvania
    Poetry
    Puppet
    Reaching Series
    Roller Derby
    Sculpture
    Selkie
    Snail
    Studio Cat
    Studio Survival
    Surgery
    The Foundary
    UCLA
    USC Keck School Of Medicine
    Video
    Wearable Artwork

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.