Square is one of my favorite formats.  And 16″x16″ is a nice size. I named it Twirl and it’s inspired by a photo of a raven’s nest right on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

This one I did a similar scene much larger (36″x36″) too, which I called “Sprawl”.

The twigs are strips cut from an Oxford English Dictionary – Compact version.

It’s part of my Incubating Poetry series – just as eggs need to incubate before hatching, it takes a lot of words to incubate before a poem emerges.

Until May 6, you can see Sprawl and also Ledges at the West Point Grey Library on West 10th. Drop in and have a look as you take your books out.

There’s also two pieces from my “Genetic Scripture” series honouring Charles Darwin’s bicentennial of this birth.

 

This series of four paintings were done to honour my friend Bill Mountain who died in September, 2012. They take excerpts from his journals and in some cases “doodles”.

We were both very interested in Jungian psychology including the idea of a “tension of opposites”.

Here’s an ekphrastic poem by my friend Franci Louann, written when these pieces were first shown. Now they’ll be at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver from November 12 through mid-December, 2013. They’re in the Fireside Room.

TENSION OF OPPOSITES SERIES

four small abstracts in blue—by Mary Bennett (2011)

mixed media magnetic poetry on wood panel each 6” x 6”

Transformation Complex, Naked

regeneration transformation different

(his words, his fine hand)

an abstract black star

eight lines do not

intersect perfectly

 

Slightly Askew Ironic, Metamorphic

here I am picture on the wall

still looks like it’s hanging slightly askew

(his words, his journal)

a yellow (safety?) net

forms on the right side

 

Not Right! Wrong! Good, Bad

no! not right (his words, so many times)

a multi-coloured net at the bottom

two black sign posts

messages not visible

a snow-capped Mountain

 

Ready For It Explicit, Illusionary

daily ready weekly varied

sago? (his words, more mysterious)

sage?

a gauze funnel

welcomes wisdom

 

I press against the display case, read small words…

the soft blue backgrounds comfort…

I see his blue eyes…

mine fill with tears…

Franci Louann flouann@telus.net February 24, 2012

from TRANSMUTATIONS—JOURNEYS THROUGH TIME AND SPACE

art show by Mary Bennett and Louise Bunn in the Amelia Douglas Gallery

4^th floor, Douglas College, February 23—April 6, 2012

Tags: Art memorial experimental