I have several practices I use to find ideas to get myself inspired to write. I read favorite and new-to-me poets. I walk, especially along my Salish Sea beach. I meditate. Last summer, when I envisioned a meditation room, I realized it contained beautiful art. I thought about how exciting it is to be in the midst of a space full of passionate expression. I decided to visit our beautiful galleries in Port Townsend to find out how they might fire up my words!
This was a successful and joyful experience for me, so I proposed a class to the Northwind Arts school. I wanted to facilitate a series of times when writers could gather in a gallery to soak up the visual creativity and transfer it into words. Northwind accepted my proposal and this fall I am teaching a series of classes called “Writing Inspired by Art,” scheduled for the second Monday of September, October and November, 5-7 p.m.
Writers working in any genre were welcome and for the first class we had poets, fiction writers and two non-fiction authors as well. One of these, who came with and because of his girlfriend, a short story writer, later told me how surprised he was that he enjoyed the class and really did get ideas.
I provided 5 prompts to use to give those attending ways to interact with the artwork. His favorite was the one about our emotions. How does a painting make you feel? He had strongly disliked one piece that many of the other class members really felt attracted to. Delving into this emotion and the why of his reaction sparked an amazing written response!
We started by all addressing one painting together and giving our different impressions. Some felt drawn to the subject matter. Others to the interplay of colors. One person pointed out the composition and the artist’s use of circular patterns that was not immediately obvious.
Using the prompts, we talked about:
How a piece of art can engage other senses besides sight.
A room where we might place this art if we owned it. Or if it was a gift, which person would we give it to?
The first line of a story this piece is telling. Then a story line.
Where the painting, photography, sculpture piece, collage took us in the memory of our own life.
The two hours flew by and everyone felt comfortable sharing something they wrote. I personally can hardly wait for the next session in October since I got 3 poems out of the experience and some ideas for the non-fiction book I am working on.
To sign up for the class, go to Northwind Arts and click on classes. Two people came from outside Port Townsend and included this class in an inspirational get-away!