Category: Inspirational Artist Series Page 8 of 9

Inspirational Artist Series: Joshua Grant

By

On January 18, 2021

In Inspirational Artist Series

The Inspirational Artist Series spotlights some of the artists featured in our issues and anthologies, and/or who have moved us in specific ways.

Today’s guest is Joshua Grant. Josh makes a living teaching and working with kids in various environments, with the occasional novel always in the works. He is also a huge supporter of independent authors, whom he promotes via his website Diabolic Shrimp and his new YouTube show. 

Josh dedicates parts of the proceeds of his book sales to important causes, including ocean exploration, the No Kid Hungry initiative, ALS research, Children’s Hospital, and prevention of youth suicide.

Check out the interview we conducted with him earlier this month during our PoArtMo Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Ug4zrjjio

Connect with Joshua Grant:

Have a wonderful week!

Cendrine & David

Inspirational Artist Series: Daniel Lyons

By

On January 11, 2021

In Inspirational Artist Series

The Inspirational Artist Series spotlights some of the artists featured in our issues and anthologies, and who have moved us in specific ways.

Today’s guest is Poet Daniel Lyons, whose work has been featured in our magazine.

How does a poem begin for you? Does it start with an image, a form or a particular theme?

My poems always begin with an emotion I can’t quite define. The specific nostalgia of autumn air, for example. Each of my poems is an exploration of that emotion, a definition, as it were.

Are there any forms you haven’t tried yet but would like to?

After several creative writing courses at Western Washington University, I think the only poetry form I haven’t tried yet is epic poetry.

What is your relationship with your speaking voice and your written voice?

My written voice is considerably more articulate and less prone to hyperbole than my spoken voice. As a high-functioning autistic, writing is a more accessible way for me to communicate (most of the time) with other human beings compared to the spoken word.

Have you considered getting other people to read your poetry or is it important for you to be the one to perform your poetry to an audience?

I don’t know if this has ever been an issue for me. It would be strange to hear someone else read my poetry, though I have no fundamental objection to it. Given a choice, I suppose I would prefer to perform my poetry myself, simply because I consider rhythm and pacing to be the soul of poetry.

How important is accessibility of the meaning of your poems? Should we have to work hard to “solve” the poems and discover their deeper meanings?

Poetry is like abstract expressionist painting, or at least my poems are. The point is not what it means but what it makes you feel. Whatever that is, is what it means.

Has your own opinion or idea of what poetry is changed since you first started writing poetry?

I started writing poems when I was in elementary school. It used to be very important to me that poetry rhyme, also that it tell a story. Now I regard it more as a way of painting with words, a way of capturing one moment or state in time, whose past and future are entirely open to interpretation.

Anything else we should know?

Since my father and grandmother passed away in 2020, I have embraced painting as a creative outlet, in addition to working full time and attending online school with Washington State University to pursue a second Bachelor’s, this time in Political Science.

While it is one of my dreams to write about politics and history for a living, I try to keep my personal politics out of my creative work — not out of my themes, but out of my creative content. In this, I draw inspiration from my favorite novel, Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess, whose politics were about as different from my own as it is possible to be, were subtly evident in all of his work, and yet which I am always able to forgive because Burgess filled every page he ever wrote with humor, warmth, wit, and compassion. As we gird ourselves for another round of divisiveness, I hope we can all try to imbibe some of that spirit in our creativity, in our personal relations, and in ourselves.

Changing Seasons - Daniel Lyons


gilded autumn lightfall
glows on leaves golden
as the disappearing summer…
what a wonderful time to be…

the summer remnants fall
on fall leaves glowing
with the light of season’s dying…
what a wonderful time to be…

wintry air blast mocks
the warm colors that blanket
so much hibernating life…
what a wonderful time to be.

Changing Seasons is featured in issue 2 of the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal.

Bio:

Daniel Lyons graduated from Western Washington University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. He is a published poet and the self-published author of All-American Aphrodite.

Daniel lives in SeaTac, Washington.

Links:

Daniel, thank you for answering our questions and supporting Auroras & Blossoms!

Cendrine & David

Inspirational Artist Series: Stephen Milner

By

On December 7, 2020

In Inspirational Artist Series

The Inspirational Artist Series spotlights some of the artists featured in our issues and anthologies, and who have moved us in specific ways.

Today’s guest is Photographer Stephen Milner, whose work will appear in a future issue of the Auroras & Blossoms Creative Arts Journal.

What inspired you to become a photographer? Any particular story?

I have always been creative and this started with my art projects at school. It then progressed into music during my early adult life, then more recently landscape photography, which is what I now enjoy the most.

I started exploring photography in 2011, which was about the same time I started taking an interest in the outdoors. For me, the two go hand in hand and I enjoy them both more and more with every adventure I go on, and with each image I create.

New Zealand is a great place to go on adventures to explore the outdoors, plus it is extremely photogenic.

My main camera for the last 12 months has been a medium format 120 film rangefinder called the Mamiya 7. I use 50mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses. I mainly use Fujifilm Velvia 50 for most of my portfolio work. I am actually in the process of changing my Mamiya 7 to the Hasselblad 503cw with equivalent lenses.

I have a blog on my website that lists all the gear that I use and you can find that here.

What is your favorite subject to photograph?

All my portfolio work is landscape photography. In his book The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography, photographer and teacher Glenn Randell quotes New Zealand philosopher Denis Dutton who wrote The Art of Instinct. Dennis explains that the population today has a genetic relationship with landscapes, which was formed during our very early generations.

From our early presence in the world up to the present day, humans have developed habits in a response to the environment that we have lived in, which are still present today. These habits are an emotional response to situations like exploring landscapes for food and water; taking shelter from extreme weather conditions; hiking to the top of a hill or mountain, so we can better understand the landscape around us; or gaining a vantage point or the mystery of the landscape creates a desire to learn what is beyond. The desire to explore landscapes either through practical measures or from viewing an image is human nature.

This is the essence of my philosophy. I have a passion for exploring the landscape and taking images with my film camera that reflect the wonder of what I see.

According to you, what makes a good photo?

I am not the first to say that great photos can mean different things to different people. For me to consider a photo great, it has to have a clear subject, tonal values and colour that suit the subject, and a good composition that pleases my eyes. Plus, I consider a collection of photos with a common theme to be more powerful than a single image.

Do you have any photographer you admire?

The photographer I admire the most is Bruce Percy. He lives in Scotland and is well known for is work in Scotland, Iceland and South America. His more recent work has taken on a more minimal style and he spends a lot of time studying areas with his film camera. I love his work because of how simple, yet complicated it can be. He is also a great teacher and I do encourage anyone who is looking to improve their photography to check out his eBooks.

What piece of advice would you give novice photographers?

When you are a novice photographer there are so many things to learn and most people focus on the technical aspects. Technical camera and editing skills are important to learn but I feel that many people believe that a great image is created with only technical excellence instead of excellent creativity and technicality.

My advice for a novice photographer is to set aside some time to develop your creative skills. I believe they should receive equal or more attention than the technical aspects. Great photographers are great visualizers and they then find the tools they need to create their visualizations, and their images are uniquely identifiable to them.

Anything else you would like to share?

I have a few projects that I am working on. I am trying to get a dedicated film competition off the ground — the International Film Photography Awards.

The International Film Photography Awards celebrate the medium of film photography. Each year, it will recognize and reward film photographers from around the world and showcase their images to an international audience, via the International Film Photography Awards website, social media sites and award books. It is a big project and I am looking for design and funding help with it. If anyone is interested, please contact me through my website.

Hopefully, next year I will be realizing my first zine, Volcanic Aotearoa. It is a small publication of my work and is focused on New Zealand’s Geothermal and volcanic landscapes.

I am currently working on an ebook called Ten Steps to Creating Successful Images. This will most likely be ready towards the end of 2021.

Mangawhai Sand Dune by Stephen Milner

Bio:

Stephen Milner was born and raised in the UK. In 2013, he moved to New Zealand and has been living there with his wife and son ever since.

As a landscape photographer, Stephen feels privileged that he has New Zealand as his backyard to explore and create wonderful landscape photos and images.

Links:

Website: https://stephen-milner.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SMilnerPhotography
Instagram: https://instagram.com/stephenmilnerphotography
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/StephenMilnerPhotography

Stephen, thank you for answering our questions and supporting Auroras & Blossoms!

Cendrine & David

Update: New links for our PoArtMo Show of December 3, 2020

By

On December 4, 2020

In Announcements, Inspirational Artist Series

Hello, everyone!

We encountered technical difficulties at the beginning of our show last night, which forced us to start a new stream. This means that the links we shared in our latest blog post were incorrect.

Here are the new links:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoSIjjlO_xg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abpoetryjournal/videos/397158578074648

We had a wonderful chat with the talented Elizabeth Smith, whose powerful essay “Homeward Bound” is featured in the inaugural issue of the Auroras & Blossoms Creative Arts Journal. The whole interview is fascinating. Her answers about the importance of finding positivity even in the most challenging situations particularly resonated with us!

Elizabeth Smith is a freelance editor and writer with a bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University, Utah, United States. She recently co-founded a literary blog, where you can find more of her writing: https://www.thepensieve.site/. 

Personal website: https://elizabethsmithediting.weebly.com.

To read Elizabeth’s essay and the rest of the inspirational content in issue 1, visit https://abpoetryjournal.com/creative-arts-journal-issues.

In the meantime…

Continue submitting your inspirational and positive art to us!

David & Cendrine

Inspirational Artist Series: Geoff Callard

By

On November 26, 2020

In Inspirational Artist Series

The Inspirational Artist Series spotlights some of the artists featured in our issues and anthologies, and who have moved us in specific ways.

Today’s guest is Poet Geoff Collard, whose work appears in The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: 2020 Edition.

How does a poem begin for you? Does it start with an image, a form or a particular theme?

Great question. I have a couple of folders on my laptop. One is called ‘Input’. There, I collect all and anything that is inspirational at the time: an image, something I’ve read, a thought or memory. To give you an idea, the last four are: ‘A Million Migrating Monarchs’, a quote from John Steinbeck’s Noble Prize Acceptance Speech, the poem ‘if your complexion is a mess’ and the sentence; ‘..shift the shoreline between the known and the unknown…’.

In the other folder are poems I have come across that I love.

I then use the input to trigger an idea. Next, I’ll take a separate input and see if I can mix them up – find the most unlikely relationships. Then I’ll find a poem and use its form to play with what I’ve got; change the structure, rhyme scheme.

This is the ‘play stage’…

I don’t wait for inspiration to hit. Nine time out of ten, the inspiration will come from the process. Invariably, the finished product – with countless edits and fine tunes – looks nothing like where I started.

Are there any forms you haven’t tried yet but would like to?

I would love to collaborate with a video / film artist, to add images to words…words to images.

What is your relationship with your speaking voice and your written voice?

We’re on very good terms. I love performing. I will always read my poems out as I read – to find rhythm mostly. But I love the additional dimension and connection reading poetry has.

Have you considered getting other people to read your poetry or is it important for you to be the one to perform your poetry to an audience?

Haven’t considered it but I love the idea. So often, other people see something in your poems that you don’t.

How important is accessibility of the meaning of your poems? Should we have to work hard to “solve” the poems and discover their deeper meanings?

There are a number of elements to this – and probably no hard and fast rules. The short of it is that if you haven’t connected, you’ve failed.

Writing with an audience in mind is really important. This is NOT writing to try and win favour and appreciation. The best poems connect on both levels – they have an immediate connection and a deeper meaning. The very best will draw you back and reveal a little more each time. This is a little bit ‘show’ don’t ‘tell’ as well. Don’t tell the audience how you expect them to react – describe it with enough emotional depth that it will elicit a feeling unique to the reader.

Poems are, by nature, often incomplete, sometimes without resolution. It is an art form that should leave the reader wanting more…wanting to know more. So – no to opaqueness, yes to clarity and precision; no to showing off; yes to using language to create mystery.

Has your own opinion or idea of what poetry is changed since you first started writing poetry?

Yes. In many ways. I am continually reading books on writing. I know my craft has developed. I have had to relearn some of the basics of grammar.

I’m learning the discipline of economical writing; of showing rather than telling. I’ve collected hundreds of poems that I like and discarded many more.

I like the cleverness of depth simply told, tales of the everyday that reveal something about ourselves. I like the idea of poetry being loosely defined without ignoring its history.

A Mystery of Love - Geoff Callard


Small girl astride his spade;
her make-believe pony
as he bends to dig.

In the garden,
daughter riding,
her pale feet planted.
Father turning dark soil,
their laughter skipping
up the path,
flowing into sunlit
western facing rooms,
shadows still warm
on careworn carpets.

Her love, a gentle vine,
entwined around her father’s heart.

His love a tangle she would
deftly unpick,
freeing him
in a way her mother never could.

Bio:

Geoff Callard is a New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based writer. He was a featured poet at the Australian launch of the anthology Planet in Peril (Fly on the Wall Poetry, 2019) and has had poetry published in the Golden Walkman, Live Encounters Poetry and Writing, the Blue Nib, Red Eft Review. Some of his work has been and selected for volume four of PausePressPause.

Geoff, thank you for answering our questions and supporting Auroras & Blossoms!

Cendrine & David

Geoff’s work is featured in The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: 2020 Edition, a multimedia digital anthology that features a variety of different art forms by 40+ artists, including drawings, essays, flash fiction, paintings, photography, poetry and six word stories. Click the image for more information.
The PoArtMo Anthology: 2020 Edition

Page 8 of 9

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén

×