Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Of Art, and the Artistic Heart (new poem)

 


Of Art, and the Artistic Heart

Tim Kavi


a solemn work

there is something to see

I don't know quite yet

what will it be?


but as the notes play on

the fires of inspiration

burning perspiration

show the words that speak


they keep me awake at night

sometimes wrestling with angels

dangling across the abyss

so serious is this?

I am laughing laughing laughing

postwar blisses


on canvases of many

some are blank

and some are puny

but I will damn well say it


on a written page

a flickering screen

a dusty memory

of a forgotten sage


there is a history to be told

but most importantly

a creative burst of energy

as quantum moments unfold


I know what is seen

will be revealed

in the final scene

no longer concealed


a coherent whole

finally uttered

in the words that flowed

now uncluttered


there is only what the art

reveals, sad and contrite

happy and longing for


of words, senses, and bits

of trances

and ecstatic fits

the uttered cannot be brought back

the published is what is said

the last reel

the messy editing room

other words and images on the floor

images await for expressions more


are you a lover

or just a whore?

being or seeming

what's the score?

maybe only the artist will know


for in both cases you are

undressed before the world!


of art, and the artistic heart

of life, and limb

and pounding heart


of kisses in works of love

of meanings in the messages

concealed in stories told


of prophets shaking

peeing in the wind

of actors quaking

before the cameras roll


there is only the revealed

final work expressed

revisions done at last

where all is made manifest


you who imagines

as if an iconoclast

a historical revisionist

of things made past

speak truth if you can

that dialogue will last!


of the two made one

the collapsing waves

of art, and the artistic heart


Oh, be not forgotten

that not for a moment

lost and unbegotten

your words stand sure

it is finally clear


of art, and the artistic heart.



Saturday, September 25, 2021

What My Artist Says (new poem)

 


What My Artist Says
by Tim Kavi

there won't be any stopping me now
the words are flowing
the lamps are burning oil
the afterfires are burning

and it won't matter to me
because the fire is burning 
purging the blues away
no matter what time of day

what matters is the work
the flowing words that drop
like paint on a blank page
that bring a meaning I never observed

that brings happy memories
joyful sad juxtapositions of place
in the black-shrouded dropcloth
of space, there is only me in the void

can I bravely create?
no shrinking back? no holding back!
until the words are done
the colors set

destroyed by Siva
sands wiped by monk sweeps
in the morning of my next
existence, I will keep saying

words of the artist
painting painting painting painting
I don't care what you think
let me just throw paint!

damnit, help me
or get out of the way 
can't you see my tears 
are starting to flow?

to the spaces, and creases
I don't want to go
but when the work is finished
is it a work on me?

or something I needed to say
to help society?
I don't know, I just want to throw
to hurl paint

at the whispering wind
the canvas of Nature
catches it, as it is expressed
in my deepest heart!

and around the next bend
the curtain is pulled back
revealed for what the deeper 
purpose has wrought

until the sands of time
move someone else to say it again
and again, fooling transcendence
but never cheating the permanent void

there is the going, the turning
the burning nights, the glorious sights
of Her reveal, muses eternal
proclaiming what is to be read

because on Her lips it has already
been said, across the ancient skies
since time has been born
down below her hips

the birthing of all that is
in countless stories told, 
pages worn, heartbreaks torn
in the light of history's torch

frames of flickering images
burn my sand burned eyes now
tell more stories, with much 
more disguise, but still

flickering shadows reveal 
the cave wall, of artists' 
inspiration, in a great reveal
there it is! There it is!

now showing
no hiding what has been done
just the completed picture
until tomorrow's sun.

Friday, June 4, 2021

Obscurity (new poem)

 

Obscurity (new poem)
by Tim Kavi


a message in a bottle

swam the darkened sea

landed on a sandy shore

the contents therein

hopelessly dated


a voice, daring to speak

in a galaxy of voices

an atom sparked in a shell

uncertainty making

no exact measurements possible


yet I shall speak

I shall still dare to exist

making choices no others can make,

quaking in fear, daring to utter

but only fading


how much does obscurity

diminish what the artist says,

screeching like a bat out of hell,

pronouncing like an angel,

scrolls of holy writ,


will there be no hearers?

will there be no readers?

yet I speak, are my words not worthy?

paragraphs, but only monologue?

I want dialogue!


So, I pray draw closer

as my voice withers with whispers

my throat is parched,

I long  for the smooth drinking

of words uttered "well" enough


prose that gets your attention

you dare to deem it so worthy?

based only on who or what you think?

of who I am, or what I have said,

but we are completely only human,


transfixed and far apart,

knowing now, that our lives

are so valuable, wanting meaning

to be seen again, we search

for one another (post-pandemic)


let us turn to the Other,

speaking gentle words of esteem

even kindness and affinity

for all others, we come with

sure words of a brave love.


I only hope we hear, we read,

we esteem each other!

speech acts of sincere meaning

lost in nighttime's dark scheming,

longing for the light,


we can find each other

we can build again

darkened corners of unlit

cityscapes, reduced to rubble

avoiding death, and other trouble,


we will dance again

you shall see in the light

shaking the dust off

we will go to school again

and enjoy the fruits of our labors,


the happiness of each other

finding that obscurity 

was only an illusion

a feigned sense of all that was

into the unmistakable joy of what is.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

brushes on canvas; (a work is done) (poem)






brushes on canvas; (a work is done)
by Tim Kavi

canvas on fire
with rainbows
of fantastic colors

lending a dark surprise
to misbegotten eyes
across fractured time
hypnotized

as lasting songs
fed by passion's grind
cathartic desires unfurled

as dueling arrangements
juxtaposed in symbolic 
fires of mind
intertwined and hurled

tossed and thrown
gobs of paint
by artists sublime

in heartbroken rages
of mystical verses
spoken at altars
where eagles climb

as universal cosmology
points to infinite points
across starried skies

where mountains flowed
down to the seas
where purple waves
drowned in ecstatic cries.

Monday, March 4, 2019

no fast exit (poem)


no fast exit (poem)
by Tim Kavi

hey you
not so fast 
where are you going?

I have swallowed
a globe as truth
flattened earth

has left me wanting
wondering
and now, wandering

where is the man
I once was?
the international

has consumed
all that he was
writing lines

in the sand
but it's not dismal
the voice

returns like a wave
breaking across the shore
where he still exists.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Tim Kavi Starts New Year with Latest Publication








My Latest Publication
by Tim Kavi

Hello, All!  First of all, a very Happy New Year to each and every one of you!  I hope that your New Year brings you health, prosperity, and happiness!

My New Year began less conspicuously than I imagined with the publication of Athena: Queen of the Air by John Ruskin, on January 1,2013 from TiLu Press. This work, an updated and annotated version from an 1869 work, includes new material for modern readers who are interested in Greek mythology, mythology, or Goddess themes and motifs.  In particular, the book talks about the Goddess Athena in great detail.  My essay about Athena is one of the three forewords in the 2013 edition of this book. I am honored by the inclusion.

My essay: 'Athena: Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War' was one of my blog entries here last May. You can click here to read it.  I suppose this amounts to a disclosure, as my foreword (only one of three in the book) is reprinted with my permission for the book. I assure you that there is much more in this book that makes it worthwhile to read if you are a fan of goddesses, Greek Art and Mythology, mythology, and art criticism in general.  I really hope readers of both works (my blog and the book) don't mind this fact that my Foreword is published in both places.  To me, it is simply about getting the message out to as many readers as possible.

I enjoyed reading this eBook, and if you're interested in Goddesses too, I think you'll enjoy it just like I did! I certainly learned a lot about Athena that I never knew before!  The book also contains an introduction that covers much background about John Ruskin, Athena, Ruskin's Athena and information about the 2013 edition.  Other new annotated material (never before published anywhere) includes an original essay on Athena by Kelli M. Webert titled: 'Athena: Queen of the Air and Breath of Inspiration' and finally, a chapter titled:  'A Brief Literary Biography of John Ruskin'.

Overall, the book 'Athena: Queen of the Air' is an interesting work of Greek Mythology and art criticism that discusses the Goddess Athena in great detail. I hope you will enjoy it!

From the Book Blurb:

"Very thorough, and inspiring, Ruskin, ever the Victorian Age's greatest art critic, utters praise to Athena, and in doing so, speaks some of the most poetic words ever used in English to describe the goddess."--Tim Kavi, Poet

"And so the Spirit of the Air is put into, and upon, this created form; and it becomes, through twenty centuries, the symbol of divine help, descending, as the Fire, to speak, but as the Dove, to bless."---John Ruskin

Currently Available as a Kindle and Kindle Apps Edition--by clicking here.

THANKS! ~~TK





Thursday, June 16, 2011

Gentle Hands (New Poem) with Poet comment


Gentle Hands
by Li Jili 李吉利 (Chinese Pen Name for Tim Kavi)
A poem that celebrates the work of Artist 冯涛
gentle hands
tested and found true
rode wings
of feathered friends
in view

gentle hands
sculpted lines
flowers
no darkness
never night
but in Summer's sun
so bright

gentle hands
with promise
drew
sketched
painted
inspired
by family's love
we too

gentle hands
breezes
of inspiration
birds flew in sky
landed on branches
ducks and other
fowl played
nearby

gentle hands
we came from afar
paid homage to
the creatures
who swam
and did fly

and saw
Nature's beauty
from 冯涛

gentle hands
so greatly seen
so near

from the artist
my family knew

manifested
in power and grace
they do appear.
Poet's Note: This is a poem celebrating the work of Chinese artist, 冯涛. Here my name is Li Jili which is my Chinese pen name. I recently had the pleasure of visiting his home and watching him work in Shandong Province.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Artist John Stuart Berger by Tim Kavi (Article)



Tim Kavi has had an online article published at:

http://soulfulpen.com/Imagine/?page_id=216

Title:  John Stuart Berger 
by Tim Kavi

Publication:  Imagine Magazine (Art Magazine); July 2009

This is an article on John Stuart Berger, an artist from the Sacramento California area.

Update:  The link above no longer works (as of 2013), so I have reproduced the article below in its entirety.  (I do retain authorial copyright).  Hope you enjoy it! ~~TK


John Stuart Berger
By Tim Kavi

Sacramento artist John Stuart Berger has no problem taking his inspiration from a plethora of creatures that fly, swim, or crawl, as he puts it.  Berger, who as a youngster caught the creatures and played in the woods near the house where he grew up started drawing them at an early age.     Far from being a budding entomologist or aspiring bird lover like other kids interested in creepy crawlies or feathered friends, Berger grew up to become an artist with a delightful and creative yen for the creatures that he observed and  studied. 

By growing up in the rural area of Danville, Berger had plenty of opportunities to reflect on the creatures as he played near the creek, and studied Audubon-like Field Guides for inspiration.  This inspiration has led him to draw and sketch the creatures, and after developing a basic drawing, he would play with them, exaggerating their features, or changing their characteristics. (This was on paper and not as a genetic engineer).   Although the result of this process seems at times to take on an animated quality, or a cartoon quality, Berger says that the Field Handbooks and old Biology textbooks have been more of an influence on his style, than the slight exposure he had to comic books as a kid.  Berger has called this process of drawing additional features as ‘mutating’ them.   Once this happens, Berger took his creative process a step further, where he found that his art could not only mutate the creatures but morph them into different colors and new kinds of emotional lives.

By deconstructing and reshaping them as newly morphed beings that delight young and old, fascinate the curious, and overall, brings great interest among onlookers, Berger has given us alternative creatures that inspire and fascinate us and reminds us that the forces of Natural Selection could have come up with something entirely different if they only had the shaping skills that Berger has.

Berger's artistic vision certainly depicts the new creatures in a manner that adds emotional life, color, and plenty of room for mutated identities in interesting habitats that delights the imagination.  If only evolution were concerned with aesthetics and meaning rather that bare survival.  How much more interesting creatures could be, and Berger’s work certainly reminds us of that.  Gone are the dull blacks, and grays, and other shades that Natural Selection has selected for in the past, and added are much brighter colors that would surely make such creatures much more interesting in the natural world amongst landscapes of colorful habitat.  One wonders how they might avoid predators, but perhaps in their new worlds they are avoiding them.  Or at least, in Berger’s scheme, the new creatures have not gone unprotected, for they have acquired teeth and a bite that their ancestors might never have dreamed of!

Painting in a style that some might call pop surrealistic, and others have certainly seen as surrealism, Berger’s work has been featured at a number of shows as an up and coming artist.  Berger has done his work mostly in acrylics, but has done interesting work in ceramics, and some of his other paintings feature shapes and human figures rather than the creatures morphed and mutated from his youth.  John Stuart Berger is certainly an interesting talent, well worth the attention he gets, and even more so, his original and innovative work should be considered an interesting object of acquisition among serious art collectors.  

Artist: John Stuart Berger

http://www.johnstuartberger.com/
http://www.johnstuartberger.com/about/

About the author:  Tim Kavi is a poet from Portland, Oregon. Kavi’s first collection will be published shortly by Tilu Press.  “Emerging Goddess” is a collection of poetry that many see as love poems, others see as poetry that worships the sacred goddess in her many forms, and others say describes a longing for connection and dialogue with strong existential themes.  You can see some of his poetry at: http://www.timkavi.blogspot.com .





John Stuart Berger, Artist 

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Fresh Ceiling Paint (Poem with Brief Poet Comment)




Fresh Ceiling Paint by Tim Kavi

Each day's hues
danced in the flickering
candle light
as the lover
of his creation
fell asleep in the
gathering night

intricate eyes
for detail
had guided
artistic hands
in complex
patterns of reaching
across clouded skies

perfected in
the craft
of a master
with a facial grin

until the beauty
was seen
through the windows
a peaceful sheen

calling to ascend
the lonesome artist
painted through
winter's wind.

Brief Poet Comment: This poem is about perseverance in the artistic process. As I was writing it I visualized Michelangelo working on the ceiling at the Sistine chapel. The backbreaking work (literally lying flat on scaffolding), the dogged determination, the sacred art, left for the world to enjoy many years hence. Hence, it is : 'Fresh Ceiling Paint'.--T.K