EKPHRASTICS-- they're poems that are elastics!!

ART + POETRY = EKPHRASTICS

"Poetry is painting with the gift of speech." --Simonides

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Ekphrastic poems - are POEMS written in response to art: dance, music-- any art, but the vast majority today are written in response to visual arts, especially painting, which we will focus on here. 

If you write a poem and would like to share it on the blog, email it to me at dianekendig (at) gmail (dot) com, using @ for at and . for dot.

Here is one painting to write about. Right click to see it large.
Artwork by Maria Blanchard, "The Ice Cream Cart"

Here are two types of supplementary materials for today's lesson in writing Ekphrasis.

*** Online art from art museums around the state of Ohio

***Online sources for reading ekphrastic poems and learning about them

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Online art from art museums in Ohio

For young children & those who love picture books

The Mazza Museum

This wonderful museum at The University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio houses original artwork from children's books. If you visit, you can find the original drawings for classics and new work by authors such as Denise Fleming and Tomie dePaola. In the meangtime, while we can visit, you can click on several exhibitions at this link and find many exciting pictures to write about:

Exhibitions: https://www.mazzamuseum.org/exhibitions/

For older children and adults

The Canton Museum of Art

We are fortunate to have this fine museum in our town, and anyone under 12 years old can visit it for free when it reopens. It is also free for everyone on Thursdays and the First Friday of every month, the day that Canton has a party downtown. We'll hope to see you all there when we have finished sheltering in place, and meantime, Here are some great exhibitions you can tour online and choose an

artwork to write about.
Exhibitions: https://www.cantonart.org/exhibits/virtual-gallery

Permanent collection: https://www.cantonart.org/exhibits/permanent-collection

There is one stunning group of artworks from amuseument parks, including several wonderful horses, like this one:
https://www.cantonartcollection.com/itemdetail.php?work_id=2117&fbclid=IwAR04ZwTIskpWbLrCzZlDSoVCwqqz-2BY6a6rCTmqSvXPq-Vpfk1s2XEO0YA

Most museums around the world have collections up that you can use also.

A poem by Stark County middle schooler about a painting at the Cleveland Museum of Art:

 St. George

A great leader spears the monstrosity of the dragon.

A woman waits, hoping for the saint.

He thrusts his weapon strongly into the dragon’s deep cavity of a mouth.

The tamed beast rears up in fright, anger?

The fan-like tail flies up from the strong, muscular abdomen.

On a gray medium, with splotches of radiant, glowing, beautiful orange; as on the woman’s dress.

A majestic background of hill and town,

with a castle standing royally like a great monument.

The knight is clad in a great silver sheath of metal, protecting him from harm.

The dragon dies, in its eyes, grandly to a great foe.

Hurrah for St. George.

Here is a poem by a Stark County student, based on a Canton Museum exhibit on kimonos:

The Golden Kimono

Unique and beautiful in every

Golden piece of thread

Like putting pieces of a puzzle together

to make a work of art-exhibitions

A brush and Aibana creating the pieces

Tying and dying making each small bulge

A perfect fit fill with detail and flush

Fixing and steaming creating

Layers and depth of colorful 

Stretching and drying on shinshi

Repeating itself to make itself

Like a flawless, elegant swan in a

Pond of lilies

Finishing with

Hand-painting, gilding, and embroidering

To make it utsukushii and sensai na

Golden is the sunset

In the sky being shadowed

By the clouds above it

As the warm colors mix

Together to create a mystery

Of colorful, amazing light.

This is the broadside she made of it

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Online sources

Ekphrastic poem by a student and teacher info are at Scholastic (click here) 

Ekphrastic poems at the Poetry Foundation


Ekphrastic poems by adults at Ekphrastic Review

One of mine at this site, "Two Sisters" on this Maria Blanchard painting

And here are photos of me and my sister that inspired me as well.

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One last note, Columbus, Ohio poet Steve Abbott has a new book of ekphrastic poetry, A Language the Image Speaks. It is exciting because every poem appears with the art it is about. It is one of my favorite books of the year. You can find a story about the poet and how to order his book here
STEVE ABBOTT EXAMINES THE ART....