Poetry Bus : Tumulus

The Poetry Bus has rolled into town again, this time under the peerless driving of TheManHimself, Mr. TotalFeckinEejit.

A few nice options on the prompt - including some class sepia photos. But I went for the audio prompt - a track from Van Morrison's Veedon Fleece. Which reminded me of the Golden Fleece, which reminded me in turn of Jason & The Argonauts, who were sometimes call Minyans, who, I discovered, were a prehistoric Aegean tribe, who also made use of that familiar feature of the Irish landscape - Tumulus graves. To wit.....


Tumulus


Lying senseless under sun
troubadours emerge at night
to citizens of twilight trading
fading hues of bottled light

I stir, the world beside me wakes
creaks on her scale beneath
the measure of diurnal pitch
each trace a blessing, firing

livid, time initiating space
from no mere spark, instead
an ember coaxed to flare,
two mysteries refracted there;

a song from time beyond recall
a voice built new from broken things


© P Nolan 2011

You can read some more responses to this prompt HERE.

Poetry Bus : Amber

Not being all that bloggerly of late, it's been a while since I posted something in response to a Poetry Bus prompt, but this weeks's prompt by 120 Socks caught the imagination. The combination of photo and word sparked off some kinda scenario and voice, resulting in the following - hope you like it.


Amber

All the missing days went down and met the rest of my life
gliding in that morning on the clearest skies money could buy
I began to cook with foggy disregard for the outcome

by the time my first guest arrived I had already begun to swoon
coming around each time to spit the metallic taste from my mouth
and scrape off the burnt offerings now clouding the kitchen

beginning again beginning again beginning again
like the audio track set to loop in the limited seating area
seemed the best chance of breaking through charred surfaces

with my home now full of people I could only hold my place
as crowds swam around me, those people asking questions
seemed to be in the minority, most were complacent

while some were advocates, extolling the benefits of exiting
or building a mezzanine or turning off the heat
others ate, glared, belched, smiled, kissed, fucked

it was all I could do to stay on my feet and even sleeping upright
I kept one eye open because I knew that if I went down this time
there'd be nobody, possibly even no thing to share when I awoke

so it was ordained.



© P Nolan 2011

Loads more responses to the prompt here.

New Artwork : UPSTART

UpStart is a non-profit arts collective which aims to put creativity at the centre of public consciousness during the Irish General Election Campaign in 2011. I originally planned to submit something from my archives, but then decided to create something new. I've been pretty busy since the holidays, so only got around to it this week, with the deadline looming. (Funny how deadlines can focus your mind like that.)

The images above are 2 versions of the artwork. The first is what I submitted in the end, but the one below it (with the scruffy type) has a lot of energy too. I guess I just felt that - as the image would compete with 'actual' election posters for attention - it needs to work as a strong, simple graphic. Also, I wondered if the very dark hand was a good idea, as it could possibly be misconstrued as some kind of racist invective? Which it ain't.

So, I'd be interested to get your thoughts? Did I send them the right one? Should I let even more scruffy type feature in my graphic work? Have you been upended by any large hands lately?

PS. This artwork (or rather the earlier version of it - from before I changed my mind) also features in the monthly round-up of work from IGI illustrators over on the Scamp blog.

Poetry Bus : L'esprit d'escalier

Target

in memoriam C.T.G.

If words came as bidden
opened avenues
brushed ego aside
began flinging stuff through

conceits, longheld prejudice
bottles of piss
re-heated revenge
served up with a kiss

self-righteous tirades
unilateral, shrill
a teacup of toxins
from bitter old pills

vomitted eloquence
sparked by a slight
accusation from someone
or something not right

drummed down fusillades
released inner kids
broke down your guard
called out my id

Sent crusaders, stormtroopers
brickbats and bile
with the wink of an eye
and a twinkling smile

Could petulant spatting
still do me some good?
Re-write the outcome?
You betcha. It could.

Glór Session : Poetry Bus vs. Soundings

Went along to The Glór Session last night for the official launch of The Poetry Bus, issue 1. A brilliant evening! There were poets in abundance, most of whom read their poem from the magazine, another piece or two of their own and their choice of poem from the recently reissued, much loved school anthology Soundings. Publishers Gill & Macmillan donated a number of copies for the raffle - and I was lucky enough to take one home - Yay! My old schooldays copy has long since disappeared, so it's a treat to have a chance to revisit the texts in this snapshot of a shared past.

The video above is me doing my bit at Glór, followed by the wonderful Carol Boland doing hers, as well as reading a note from Poetry Bus editor Peadar O'Donoghue who unfortunately couldn't make it along on the night.

I had a great chat with Carol about her involvement in running the Space Inside arts nights in Wicklow town, as well as her foray into publishing, with the Boland Press due to launch its first(?) title on December 1st in the Signal Arts Centre in Bray - so mark your diaries! Great too, to chat with some of the other Poetry Bus poets who read, including Kate Dempsey, Colm Keegan, Niamh Bagnell, Mags Treanor and many more. Hugely inspiring, and the magazine sold like hot, tasty cakes on a wet November night - which bodes well for its future.

The session was run (as always) with great gusto and good humour by the man himself, Stephen James Smyth. Many thanks Stephen, for a great vibe and a great night. There's loads more video of this and past Glór Sessions over here.

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Poetry Bus : Bath time

It's been a while since I've hopped onboard the Poetry Bus. Preoccupied of late. This weeks prompt comes from Jessica Maybury, over yonder, and has to do with bathrooms, water, swimming etc. Great prompt - some of the best thinking gets done in the bath - but I was all at sea for a bit (a soak is a luxury I haven't had for a while) - no Eureka moment. Instead came a short meditation on the room itself (as society?).

Here it be;

Doldrum

Our bathroom's going down the crapper
tiles ungrouted, mildew on the ceiling,
run-off from the bathrim pisses on the bare marine ply floor
each time the shower is used

a topograph of littered towels claim corner territories as their own
contoured lumps, damp and rank
wary of exasperated hunters blundering in
to bundle them at last into the wash

some bright morning, sunlight will see
the hot tap wink and all these grimy spells will break
with towels rebirthed as heroes born aloft, their
clear expressions creasing widely, hugging all, folded, soft

they'll hunker neatly, muffling all doubt,
dispelling damp and disarray, the lack of DIY shrugged off
until, decks cleared, we'll set our faces to the glass
pipe ourselves a welcome, all shipshape once again
from figurehead to ass.

© P Nolan 2010

Don't forget, it's the OFFICIAL LAUNCH of the Poetry Bus, Issue 1 TONIGHT!!! At the Glór Sessions, with readings by Poetry Bus poets - as well as readings from the newly re-issued Soundings. Should be a good one!

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That Dutch Dude : Cor Klaasen

Tonight sees the opening of a retrospective exhibition of the work of Irish-based Dutch designer and illustrator Cor Klaasen. Cor was one of the wave of Dutch graphic designers encouraged to come to ireland in the fifties, with a view to developing a more professional design culture here.

I was lucky enough to benefit from having Cor as a tutor during my training in Dun Laoghaire School of Art & Design (now IADT). He was an iconic mentor, a mildly rakish, intelligent, pragmatic artisan and contrarion who could charm the birds from the trees (as well as students' mothers). More than that, he took a genuine personal interest in all of his students - helping us find unique strengths, both in our talents and personalities.

Some previous graduates were lucky enough to each receive a personal letter from Cor, in his elegant handwriting (a citheog, he could also produce perfect mirror-writing, a la Leonardo da Vinci!) My good friend James Ellis has a nice piece on his blog about this. I'm quite envious as I didn't receive one of these letters - unknown to us, Cor was already unwell by the time of our graduation. He died the following year.

As well as bolstering my shaky self-belief and providing a robust graphic apprenticeship, Cor also found me my first proper job! In Dublin, in the depressed late-eighties, full-time positions in graphics were few and far between. It was the night of our graduate exhibition opening. Aware that colleagues needed a junior designer with good drawing skills, he planned to offer the job details to the first graduating student he met - which was (thankfully) me! I went for the interview and was hired shortly afterwards, soon realising I'd a lot more to learn.

The last time I spoke to Cor was by phone from that very workplace. By then I knew he was unwell, but not the full extent of his illness. I mentioned how I hoped to see him again soon - maybe pick up a few tips for this testing, real world beyond the protection of college. His reply was enigmatic and empowering - 'You're the teacher now.'

I still make daily use of principles I learned from Cor. His own work also remains a creative inspiration. For that reason alone, I am looking forward to this exhibition immensely.

The exhibition is being curated by Niall McCormack from the fantastic Hi-Tone Blog. Niall will also give a presentation about Cor's work tomorrow night at a very special OFFSHOOT event. All these events are happening as part of Design Week 2010.

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Breaking News : Back to Blogger

Sooo..... it's all a bit odd right now. Comings. Goings. Turnings. Returnings.

I'm back here after my brief sojourn across the blogochannels to Wordpress. It was good - the virtual weather was fine and all that - but various glitchings and technical bewitchings made me think I'd be as well back here in Luvverly old Bloggerville for a little while yet. Spam is everywhere.

Staying put. Lots going on. Welcome.

That guy above is The Fabled Black Hole Head McFlinty - a notorious character from the depths of the imagination of Recently Crowned All-Ireland Poetry Slam Champion 2010, Colm Keegan of yonder parish.

Colm's poetry features in issue 1 of the hippididippest new poetry magazine the Poetry Bus, as does the above illustration based on his poem. I've a couple of poems in there too, alongside a whole heap of talented people.

Another whole heap of talented folk are the Brainbelt Illustration Collective, who have an exhibition opening TONIGHT! at the Centre for Creative Practices as part of Design Week 2010. Looks well sweet! I won't make it there tonight, but hope to get in later in the week. See below;

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OFFSET : Something for the weekend

So, OFFSET has well and truly landed. There's fantastic stuff going on all around Dublin city centre this weekend, with most activity taking place at the conference venue itself, the Grand Canal Theatre, designed by Daniel Libeskind. Visual creative professionals from all walks and professions will be represented, with some verrrrrry impressive names (international & homegrown) giving presentations about their projects, methodologies and inspirations.

For my part, I'll be moderating the illustratorsireland panel discussion called “Getting noticed and staying busy!” featuring contributions from the ever-inspiring Nate Williams (award winning illustrator and IllustrationMundo), Darren Di Lieto (Little Chimp Society/Hire An Illustrator), Eddie Gardner, creative director at Tequila and my good pal Steve Simpson, award winning illustrator, based.... downstairs. Aimed at illustrators, it should be interesting for any and all freelance creatives.

* UPDATE : Day Tickets.

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OFFSET : Scrubbing up!

Phew. Its been busy over this last while - lots going on. For a start I've switched over from Blogger (farewell Scaldervillage) to Wordpress. A good move? We'll see - it certainly seems easier to customise. For now. Anyhoo - welcome one and all to the new space. Is it a site? Is it a blog? Is it worth a visit? You tell me!

OFFSET, that big old creative festival, is rolling into town and tomorrow (wednesday) sees myself and a bunch of other illustrators, artists, photographers and assorted 'types' airing our dirty laundry at a group show up in South Studios.

Expect all things murky, expect guilty secrets, fetishes, embarrassments and one or two skeletons to fall out of cupboards at this one-night-only show. I'll post my own image up here soon. Ciao.

UPDATE : Well, it was a great show. Lots of nice images from the night to be seen here and here - my artwork is below on the right - or see it in my folio here.

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That's it : I'm outta here!

I haven't been posting much here over the last while - been quite busy with other stuff.

One thing I finally got around to was moving my blogging activity over to the Wordpress platform, which just seems to allow a little more flexibility. Blogger seems to be attracting more spam too? So, from now on, I won't be blogging here, I'll be over there. The Scaldervillage Voice has hereby closed shop.

Hope to see you over at the new spot. Its a work in progress at the moment - plenty of tweaking left to be done. I'm also going to be on Facebook over here. As for Twitter? We'll see.

I've enjoyed the run here - and, in truth, the content will probably be quite similar at the new place - it'll just be a bit more integrated with my artwork etc.

Thanks to all the visitors and those who left comments - it's been fun! If anybody has me bookmarked or blogrolled, I'd politely ask you to please update your links to my new abode? I'll aim to reciprocate asap.

Ciao fer now!

Doodles : Post-it People

Characters that slip
from the pencil tip

Newest Painting : Limen

This is the latest painting (I think) I've finished.

Entitled Limen it is painted in acrylics on box canvas (maybe a little graphite and shellac ink in there too) and measures 40 x 40 cm. A lot of glazing en route.

As with poems, I find I need to live with / attempt to ignore paintings for a while before deciding if they're actually finished. The temptation to re-visit is always there - to keep working it - sometimes into overworking - and I've slaughtered a fair share of paintings in that way. At least with words you can retain the early drafts. More difficult with paint. But a period of 'living time' generally sorts out whether equilibrium has finally been reached or not.

This one has been lurking in my sitting room for a couple of months - just at the edge of peripheral vision. It's there. Done. Hope you like it. Some more recent paintings here.

Poetry Bus : Early Morning

This week's Poetry Bus driver is Chiccoreal with a prompt to write about the first thing that pops into the head on waking up - so here it is;


Again


Light bleeds along the edge of drawn blinds

Monday and the working week is drizzling to focus

beyond the window raindrops spatter sycamores

like silent neighbours popping corn



Summer shrinks away, this week our second child

is starting secondary school

soon the morning schedule won't accommodate

five minute blinks at sullen numerals


I close my eyes again - a temporary flatline - listen

to the rain shower slide away, down over Sallynoggin to the sea

rinsing early morning swimmers towelling down at Sandycove

freshwater back to salt - an opposite of tears.



© P Nolan 2010

(edited 24.8.10)

Poetry Bus : Weirdly Visions

This week's poetry bus prompt issued from NanU The Sciencegirl. Her prompt involved taking note of those nuggets of nonsense, blogger's own verification words - a linguistic mystic in its own right, which brought some great responses. So with a tip of the hat to Lear, Carroll, Milligan et al - here's my bus pass;

Odditty

In the still of morning
a-frabing I will go
along the banks of Sumet
down to the frozen shore

to search amidst the gravel
for gleaming diagoo
with rake and sieve and mopokip
my fortune I will gather

my freedom I will purchase
and return to Icitemo
to sip on silk and beermemp
and never more stir.


© P Nolan 2010



Speaking of Edward Lear, I wasn't aware until recently (University of Wikipedia) that he was also quite the accomplished artist and illustrator. His work as 'ornithological draughtsman' was favourably compared with Audubon, and he even briefly gave drawing lessons to Queen Victoria. Which allows me to segue sinuously to the image above, entitled 'Demon', my own 'demonological' contribution to a group exhibition by IGI members, launching this Thursday at the United Arts Club. I'm not sure if any of the illustrators on show have ever given lessons to royalty, but several (or rather, their art) have definitely appeared on stamps.

Your invitation to attend is hereby decreed.

Poetry Bus : Confusion, she says

So the Poetry bus rolleth on. This week's theme is 'confusion' as decreed by this weeks driver, Niamh Bagnell - with plenty of passengers over on her blog.

I'm confused. A lot. I think. Who knows? Happy July. Innit?

contour

journeys taken
asphalt or otherwise
must abrade certainty

worthwhile destinations
require navigation and detour
often into knot and tangle

slowed along the route
strained along the rise
stopped along the level
skewed along the decline

sputtering into glare
to find the sea

swell and return

felt+tip+paper = marker doodles

Some doodles. Worked up a little. In marker. Remember markers? Smelly things. With caps. Not CAPS.

audio visual : words, eyes, ears

The image above is one of my illustrations for TFE's upcoming Poetry Bus magazine. Illustrating poetry is HARD! As in, creating some kind of mutually dynamic relationship which is sympathetic to the text, but not stomping all over same with big visually metaphorical boots. I hope poet and guitarist Dominic Rivron likes this take on his poem After The Rain. The first issue of the Poetry Bus is currently in production - launching soon! This illustration also features in a selection of recent work by IGI Members over at the Scamp blog. Great selection and quality as usual.

Other poetry-related news is that podcasts of most of the readings from this year's dlr Poetry Now festival are now online here, along with my own brief overview of the festival. Well worth a listen. The podcasts, that is. Paul Muldoon's keynote address is well worth checking out.

On a related, yet prosey, tip - the upcoming Mountains to The Sea festival (also in Dun Laoghaire) has just announced a new competition for unpublished writers from the area - details here. Their site also features podcasts of most events from last year's festival, including the keynote address by Paul Auster, speaking about Beckett's influence..

So, while the sun hangs around, why not load up the iPod, crack open a deckchair (and suitable libation) and tickle those cochleae!

Enniscorthy 1500 : Scalderverse

Hi there - back again after tramping around in the cyberwilderness for a few weeks. Lots going on - much of it tiresome, some of it beautiful. And now THIS!

I reckoned I should pay some attention to the weird synchronicity that arose during a recent Poetry Bus prompt. As a native of Enniscorthy, I've always been conscious of the amount of writing talent that has emerged from the town and its hinterland. So I had a chat with the good Tom Mooney, editor of local newspaper the Enniscorthy Echo, and Paul O'Reilly, driving force behind Scallta Media, publisher of local writing and music - and this is what we came up with;

Enniscorthy 1500 : Scalderverse : Call for Submissions

Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford is currently celebrating the 1500th anniversary of its foundation in 510AD. As part of the anniversary celebrations, local newspaper the Enniscorthy Echo will feature a weekly poetry column, entitled Scalderverse. (Natives of Enniscorthy town are traditionally known as ‘Scalders’. A punnet of best Wexford strawberries to anybody who can categorically explain why?)

This weekly column will feature a poem by a local writer - or which references some aspect of the town itself - in each issue of the Echo from mid-June to end of November 2010. A pamphlet of these poems may also be produced at the end of the year.

While a number of established poets have been invited to partake, it is intended that the majority of poems will be sourced by open submission from emerging writers from the town and its surroundings. Unpublished poems reflecting contemporary life in Enniscorthy are particularly welcome.

Poets from further afield are also welcome to submit poems which specifically reference some aspect of Enniscorthy or its surroundings.

Scalderverse will be curated - and occasionally illustrated - by Padhraig Nolan in association with Scallta Media and the Enniscorthy Echo.

NOTE : There is a production limitation of 40 lines of verse, including stanza breaks, for each poem. A maximum of three poems, with a short biographical note, should be emailed for consideration to scalderverse[at_symbol]gmail.com before July 15th.

***

We kicked off with the first Scalderverse column this week, featuring - with the kind permission of The Ollamh Himself - Heaney's Requiem for the Croppies. An auspicious start! And we have new poems to come from Eamonn Wall and Anthony Cronin, amongst others.

It's fantastic to have some serious established names featuring - but the exciting thing for me is seeing what might come from poets whose names I'm not familiar with. I'm particularly keen to see work which speaks about contemporary life in the town and its environs - so if any of you out there have something that fits the bill - please do submit!

Pavilion Theatre : The Caretaker

Went along to Pavilion Theatre last night to catch London Classic Theatre's production of The Caretaker, by Harold Pinter. Nicholas Gasson (above) was excellent as the garrulous tramp Davies, and fellow cast members Nicholas Gadd (Mick) and Richard Stemp (Aston) were also top notch in their roles - tightly wound performances all round, restrained and energetic in the right measures. Coupled with a tidily cluttered staging, it made for a real treat of a performance.

I'm currently reading Louis MacNeice's Varieties of Parable. In his introduction, he makes reference to the Theatre of the Absurd - Brecht, Beckett, Pinter & Co. - and this play in particular, saying;

"I could certainly 'identify', as they say, with either of the tramps in Waiting for Godot or, disgusting though he is, with Krapp in Krapp's Last Tape. And in Pinter I could identify with any one of the three characters in The Caretaker."

Funny to think of MacNeice enjoying this play - he seems to belong to such a different, previous world than Pinter. Easy to forget that The Caretaker was first staged in April 1960 - so we're just past the 50th anniversary(!) of this modern classic.

It is indeed possible to identify with all three characters. In fact, by play's end - after all the doubt, chattering, distraction, sprained intentions, tragic echoes and curtailed geographies - there's a distinct feeling that all three are aspects of one individual psyche. Id, Ego and Super-ego perhaps - though which is which could be a whole other conversation.

The Caretaker is at the Pavilion again tonight, before heading to the Old Courthouse Antrim from tomorrow, June 2nd. Highly recommended.