Captured Essence
The following is an account of two of the participants experiences with the show, Juxtaposition: artists respond to poets and poets respond to artists. Their process is obviously a labor of love. “Captured Essence” by Mary Hutchins Harris and Karole Turner Campbell…
I called her to invite myself to her house, a notebook and a pen more easily carried than a canvas, but she invited me into her home. And that is how the collaboration of skills and of spirit between Karole and me began. Not wanting to take up too much of her time, I plunged in with my questions, my past experiences, my attention to the task at hand. Karole made homemade guacamole, laid out a tray of cheese, poured me some wine. Then she proceeded to ask questions about me, not just as a poet, but as an artist and a woman. Eventually we wandered through her rooms of paintings, evocative and colorful, making me jealous not only of her graciousness but her talent. She creates a three dimensional world on a two dimensional canvas, a moving personal art gallery that I envy. And as we wandered we talked of her work, her vision for what she wanted to convey, how important it is to get out of the way of the work so it can live for what it wants to be…and how my vision, my goals, my desires for my own work mirrored hers. That day and the several days hence that we collaborated on painting and poetry, I found a visionary, an artistic soul mate and a friend.
"To Haiti: And, They Came Out Singing"
The first collaboration came by way of a canvas with a foamy yellow design that intrigued us both, wondering what it wanted to be. And then a story in the news we had both been taken by, not knowing, until the final painting that it had touched us both so strongly. Although we did not know it as it was happening at the time, one thing Karole and I had talked about in the hours at the kitchen counter, sharing our lives, was the collective consciousness of the world, especially the artist’s world. When I saw the finished piece and felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, I knew that was what had happened. This was our collaboration piece for the show.
"Mary's Words"
But then…something even more extraordinary took place. After reading some poems I sent to her, she asked to hear me read my own work, my poems, out loud to her, so she could “hear my voice.” A kindness, genuine and humbling, and only fair, we joked since I had seen her work and heard it speak. But then she decided to paint while I read aloud. I had no idea what that would be like but put myself in the folding chair in the studio/garage and began to read. I still cannot find the words to articulate that experience. I can only tell you what happened. I read at right angles to her canvas, unable to see anything of the process except her body as she painted. The poems came out of my mouth and my memory as they usually do when I read them aloud but the energy in the room was totally different, like a low hum of electricity. And when I was done reading, she was still painting so I waited, watched. Then began to write as I watched her, not taking the pen from paper except to watch her squeeze paint on the canvas, look through her glasses at the something of me only she could see. When we were both done—she‘ll have to tell you about the overlap—I felt full and emptied and stunned at her work, at her taking my words, my voice, me, and putting them into colors and shapes and a place I cannot name but draws tears from my eyes.
“Mary’s Words” was created while Mary read some of her poetry and then continued to write as I painted. At one point I became self-conscious. I called out that I was “finished,” but she continued to write. I got over myself and continued to paint. If Mary had not had the tenacity and intuition to continue writing, instead of listening to me. The painting would have been a “cute” experiment instead of inspired art. – KTC
~Mary Hutchins Harris and Karole Turner Campbell
Discover more about Mary, Karole, and the other artists and poets participating!