What a thrill and an honor to have my work in the company of such amazingly talented artists and creatives! (Click here for some great candid shots by my dear and talented photographer friend Chris Scruggs (“The Other Chris Scruggs.)
I’m still basking and processing it all. Stephanie Pruitt has pulled off the season’s most smashing art soiree! Pre-ticket sales were record setting and last check there were over 600 visitors! Wow! What a whirlwind immersion experience. I reconnected with folks I haven’t been able to speak with in a while and made some new friends, too. I can’t thank Stephanie and everyone at OZ Arts Nashville for this unbelievable opportunity.
Here’s the poem we all interpreted, by Stephanie Pruitt. My piece represented the lushness of alliteration in the phrases “the floats and falls” and “shadow and shine”. The recirculating water was a metaphor for “The End is an invitation to begin”.
Close Reading (bold emphasis mine)
Ask questions both obvious and obscure.
Grow to appreciate the shadow and shine,
how most simmered pots of good vs. evil are an unseasoned soup.
Notice what is there and not. Notice patterns. Notice what you notice.
Embrace the barreling grasp of fear that can propel,
and the freedom of a blank page that can paralyze.
Know that scissoring backwards from the conclusion
can’t pinky promise an aha, but proves you’ve survived
the floats and falls & …ever after,
remembering The End is an invitation to begin.
ALICE E. SHEPHERD 