tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post6232813480433121803..comments2023-12-28T13:11:06.666+00:00Comments on Pics and Poems: A Painting with a C.V.Dave Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-6091318119246424992008-10-30T00:04:00.000+00:002008-10-30T00:04:00.000+00:00Hi Dave, great story and Raymond really knew his s...Hi Dave, great story and Raymond really knew his stuff, two suns in the garden of Eden is spot on!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-55427822590254385562008-10-29T14:54:00.000+00:002008-10-29T14:54:00.000+00:00Dave, what a wonderful story! A painting can make ...Dave, what a wonderful story! A painting can make a difference; I remember my grandmother taking me to see an artist friend of hers when I was a child, and seeing the painting on his easel, just finished I knew I wnated to be an artist. The result of this drove my parents mad, but that is an other story...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-48842209583140048772008-10-26T08:52:00.000+00:002008-10-26T08:52:00.000+00:00ElizabethWelcome. Funny you should say that... yes...Elizabeth<BR/>Welcome. Funny you should say that... yes, in fact I have often been encouraged by family and friends to write a book. My feeling is, though, that for many of the stories I remember most clearly, you really need to have known the youngsters involved - or is that just procrastination?<BR/>Thanks for taking the time to comment.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-66577141281659744462008-10-25T20:57:00.000+01:002008-10-25T20:57:00.000+01:00I too was a teacher. Reading your post made me mis...I too was a teacher. Reading your post made me miss teaching terribly.<BR/>A few of the teenagers were perfectly impossible, but so many others were unforgettable.<BR/>Have you ever thought of writing a book about your experiences and ideas?Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03964291132366262298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-61679391553147495302008-10-25T18:53:00.000+01:002008-10-25T18:53:00.000+01:00HopeWell said, I really like that last sentence. I...Hope<BR/><BR/>Well said, I really like that last sentence. I agree with the rest of what you say, but that sentence seems to sum it up. It's difficult to get back to childhood, but that's what an artist or a poet needs to be good at.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for that.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-69902951972543238062008-10-25T16:11:00.000+01:002008-10-25T16:11:00.000+01:00Children have something which adults lose...they a...Children have something which adults lose...they are without prejudice. They're open to everything because no one has said [yet] that they shouldn't like this or not want to be that.<BR/><BR/>Guess that's why I still enjoy my sense of curiosity...it's that one piece of childhood joy that adulthood didn't steal. Sure, life is tough but like Raymond, it's more fun to consider the possibilities of what life could be if we viewed it at face value, without prejudice.<BR/><BR/>One kid's pure joy is an adult's epiphany. :)hopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03306622656461205674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-35583749694698687922008-10-25T14:26:00.000+01:002008-10-25T14:26:00.000+01:00LizzieWelcome, and thanks for taking the time to c...Lizzie<BR/>Welcome, and thanks for taking the time to comment.<BR/>I agree. I think Raymond was what they call a survivor. He could work things out in his own way well enough for his purposes.<BR/><BR/>(i also greatly enjoyed your blog.)Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-67402891746879374702008-10-25T14:22:00.000+01:002008-10-25T14:22:00.000+01:00AcornmoonThanks, the feeedback much appreciated.Acornmoon<BR/>Thanks, the feeedback much appreciated.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-41486519783267630462008-10-25T12:13:00.000+01:002008-10-25T12:13:00.000+01:00I think Raymond was correct, and we could all chan...I think Raymond was correct, and we could all change or reframe our perspectives or at least explore more merely by shifting where we stand slightly. I found your blog because you are kind enough to be a reader of mine and I'm enjoying what you have to say and the subject matter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-68451392444181758342008-10-25T10:02:00.000+01:002008-10-25T10:02:00.000+01:00I found this post fascinating, thanks for sharing ...I found this post fascinating, thanks for sharing it with us.Acornmoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14982884920388966786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-4056648873793138012008-10-25T08:50:00.000+01:002008-10-25T08:50:00.000+01:00Reading your comments I was reminded of another mo...Reading your comments I was reminded of another moment from Raymond (not sure why). I was giving a lesson on the then new Coventry Cathedral. We got to the glass screen engraved with angels through which could be seen the ruins of the old cathedral. I asked why they thought Sir Basil Spence (the architect) had made the wall of glass. Most were focussed on the angels or the ruins, but Raymond suggested: <I>So that the Christians praying inside can look out and see the world they're praying for.</I>Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-71624472481917130362008-10-25T08:42:00.000+01:002008-10-25T08:42:00.000+01:00Gwen BuchananWelcome and many thanks for stopping ...Gwen Buchanan<BR/>Welcome and many thanks for stopping by and for the comments. Much appreciated.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-42094004518682628382008-10-24T14:43:00.000+01:002008-10-24T14:43:00.000+01:00I think if we're open to them, then they happen al...I think if we're open to them, then they happen all the time. Children like Raymond are open to them, it seems to me, if he was anything like some other kids I've known. It's not "innocence," not at all, it's an active thirst to be part of the world.<BR/><BR/>Little epiphanies and big epiphanies. That's a good point. There are aspects of scale here: I don't know that lots of big epiphanies happen in a lot of lives, although I know several people who have had more than one or two big epiphanies that changed the direction of their lives more than once. Little epiphanies can happen on a daily basis; they're not life-changing, but then not every epiphany needs to be.<BR/><BR/>I can say that I have had several big epiphanies in my life. Coping with them is a matter of riding the wave rather than fighting against change. The point is that you have to be open and willing, like Raymond, to let some new knowing permeate you all the way down to your toes, and re-focus your life. I think the only reason adults don't have that experience more is that they don't think they can, or shouldn't (how can I possibly give up my accrued responsibilities???), or don't know how to reconcile conflicting worldviews, post-epiphany. Well, let me just say, in all the reading and research and exploration I've done on this topic, they consensus is that when you have a life-changing epiphany, you are left with a choice: make a change or try to avoid it. From what I've seen, suffering comes from resisting the change, never from embracing it. That openness that children have to embrace change, to become something new, to take on a new identity, to reassess who they are and start all over again: that's how you cope with it. In my own life, I've had to re-learn how to do that, because I was presented with so many changes. Sometimes it's a matter of durance. Sometimes you have to be active and start the process. But I can affirm that the only real choice is going along with the new you, or fighting against it. Fighting against it is the source of angst, going along with it, trusting it even when it seems nuts to do so, has always yielded good results. So, I've learned to trust. I do sometimes bitch about it, though.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-34120687174274491722008-10-24T14:40:00.000+01:002008-10-24T14:40:00.000+01:00Dave, your blog is full to overflowing with so ma...Dave, <BR/>your blog is full to overflowing with so many things to contemplate.. thank you so much.. <BR/><BR/> I really appreciate it.. thank you..Gwen Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13410235558740636534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-62354126466328174072008-10-24T14:27:00.000+01:002008-10-24T14:27:00.000+01:00JimThanks for that, but I wonder how many epiphani...Jim<BR/>Thanks for that, but I wonder how many epiphanies we could cope with in one lifetime? I could claim to have had a fair number of minor ones along the way, but really powerful, life-changing ones I could certainly count on the fingers of one hand - and maybe have a finger or two to spare. Raymond's painting was certainly one - as, I like to think, it was for him... but who knows?Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-41939419042802894302008-10-24T11:50:00.000+01:002008-10-24T11:50:00.000+01:00I tend to agree with Art on this one. We all have ...I tend to agree with Art on this one. We all have moments in our lives, epiphanies, moment of clarity, seeing the light, call them what you will. I think that for most writers one of those moments will be directly related to a book, a story or a poem. I know I go on and on about 'Mr. Bleaney' and I'm sure everyone is sick of me talking about it by now, but the fact is, it was reading that poem that switched a light on in my head, years later I wrote 'Stray' and the light got brighter and then a few weeks later I ran across William Carlos Williams' 'The Locust Tree in Flower' – the condensed version – and my eyes opened a little wider.<BR/><BR/>I get the painting; suddenly everything came together at that moment and made sense to him. It is rather sad I think that we don't have more moments like that in life.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-70301062172532042812008-10-24T09:08:00.000+01:002008-10-24T09:08:00.000+01:00Crafty Green PoetPerhaps part of the difficulty is...Crafty Green Poet<BR/><BR/>Perhaps part of the difficulty is that such changes are not <B>measurable</B> - and nothing seems to be of value these days (particularly in education) unless it can be quantified.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-6886266062822646572008-10-24T09:06:00.000+01:002008-10-24T09:06:00.000+01:00HopeMany thanks for the nice comments.I can relate...Hope<BR/><BR/>Many thanks for the nice comments.<BR/><BR/>I can relate to what you say about your college art professor. I had a similar <I>grounding</I> in poetry. We learnt by rote everything that was unimportant (and to teenage boys, irrelevent) about the poems we "studied".Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-48602357073503339042008-10-24T09:01:00.000+01:002008-10-24T09:01:00.000+01:00Art DurkeeI cannot disagree with anything you say,...Art Durkee<BR/><BR/>I cannot disagree with anything you say, I am sure that is the common experience of all who are in any way involved in the arts, and yet I can't help thinking that Wystan was also speaking truly. Maybe he and we are speaking of different contexts in which poems (and paintings <I>et al</I>) can and cannot work their magic.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-8139868847229079392008-10-24T08:56:00.000+01:002008-10-24T08:56:00.000+01:00Thanks Sorlil, I have always thought it a great st...Thanks <B>Sorlil</B>, I have always thought it a great story, but it's good to have it confirmed by others.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-23893467190529982362008-10-24T08:54:00.000+01:002008-10-24T08:54:00.000+01:00DickI like to thinm that he did, but the truth is ...Dick<BR/>I like to thinm that he did, but the truth is I do not know. He was a bright lad, probably capable of working out his own salvation. I hope that's how it was.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-56053679239061566952008-10-24T08:42:00.000+01:002008-10-24T08:42:00.000+01:00wonderful story about Raymond, its a very good exa...wonderful story about Raymond, its a very good example of how to teach, and also a very good example of how one painting can make a difference. I also think in general that art and poetry cumulatively can change things, and by their existence alone change things tooCrafty Green Poethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02486633917197181851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-11534380970370680172008-10-23T23:56:00.000+01:002008-10-23T23:56:00.000+01:00I left a comment, then Blogger ate it. Sigh.Short ...I left a comment, then Blogger ate it. Sigh.<BR/><BR/>Short version...you and Raymond were lucky to have each other. Your readers are lucky you shared with us.<BR/><BR/>I think those who teach should follow the medical oath of "First, do no harm." The reason I never followed art closely was interest in it was snuffed out by an inexperienced college Art professor. She had a quota system with a pitiful goal: we had to learn the name of the paintings on her slides and the artist. No discussion on meaning, style, what have you. You know which painting I remember? Salvador Dali's "Persistence of Memory". That class was like having the life sucked out of us and I felt like one of those melting clocks in Dali's painting. <BR/><BR/>I figure it's never too late to learn...so here I am. :)hopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03306622656461205674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-42250816601435221992008-10-23T16:09:00.000+01:002008-10-23T16:09:00.000+01:00Wystan was wrong. Well, on one level that sort of ...Wystan was wrong. Well, on one level that sort of attitude, that art never amounts to anything, is right, insofar as our commercial culture has no place for or understanding of activities that do not achieve a commercial, calculable result. But on another level, art changes lives every single day. You Raymond is a good example. I've never been a teacher but I've seen art change people all the time. HOW it changes them might be a worthwhile discussion, as there are small and large changes that happen. I have never met an artist or writer or painter who could not tell me of an encounter they had with a book, or painting, or poem, that lit them on fire and gave them their direction. In my own case, I can tell you exactly what book and when gave me validation and permission to write the kind of poetry I wanted to write, which was nothing like what I saw around me at the time. It opened a lot of doors.<BR/><BR/>Everybody goes through some kind life-changing experiences, sooner or later—the death of a parent, a personal landmark achieved, a pilgrimage, love. Sometimes the artistic/aesthetic experience is part and parcel of this. It's hard to sort out cause from effect, sometimes.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-4432959022786336012008-10-23T15:16:00.000+01:002008-10-23T15:16:00.000+01:00What a great story, dave, and very well told.What a great story, dave, and very well told.Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.com