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K.A. Kays, photo by Amanda Nichols

Hearing poet Katie Hays read her poetry for the first time was a moment of great excitement for me.   

For many years I had wanted to do an art show with a (living) poet whose work could speak to me and speak for me. The poetry might inspire me to paint new subjects or help me see additional meaning in paintings I had already done.

In speaking for me, I imagined pairing poems with paintings as a way to create a fuller and more powerful experience for the viewer. Describing a scene, feeling, or moment in time is so much easier for me to do in paint than with words.  Perhaps poetry could express some of my thoughts, the “inner self” that I can’t beautifully put into language.

"Golden Hayfield"

Oil painting by Simonne Roy.  9 x 12." 

Available: click on the painting for more information.

Katie Hays was invited to read from her three books of poetry at the Unitarian Church in Northumberland in 2016.  This was how we met. I had that “oh yes” feeling as she read the first poem, “Arrival.”

I literally saw myself in the poem:

Arrival

On some mornings you wake
having misplaced the self’s blueprint,
and you wonder, what was my role? did I complain?

who loved me and when did this body come?

And you look at the squirrels’ twisting haunches,

the roofs and wiry scrolling of the tops of trees,

the wearying pocked paint on the familiar barn

like feathers ruffed and molting,

and ask, how long will they stay?

The man who sets a lawn chair in the far field

apart from the dense curl of trees comes to mind;

how he has leaned through many noons,
dogless, without binoculars, without excuse

for choosing this place, a clash with the vacant plain
and still as slate. As you would join the squirrels

this morning, or be that soon storm-stripped paint,

wherever it goes, consider: what if we’re granted glimpses

of the things we might, with work, become?

Let the man sit. Let him be unexplained.

- Poem by K.A. Hays, used with permission.

From Dear Apocalypse, Carnegie Mellon Press 2009

As she read this poem, I saw the precise field, barn, and tree line, right down to the style of the lawn chair.

It was a vintage 1960 webbed aluminum folding lawn chair, the kind our parents and grandparents used before there were plastic lawn chairs.  I have one that I take when I paint outdoors, because it is lightweight and good for holding brushes and other supplies.  Its age and history make it a source of inspiration for me; our family had a collection of these chairs when I was a child.

In my mind, the man was trying to make sense of what he was seeing and feeling as he was considering what to paint.  He likely had a sketchbook in his lap and was deciding between several different compositions.

I’m sure the image in my mind is not the same as the one in yours or the poet’s mind, yet the themes raised by the poem are universal.  In contemplating old barns and their surroundings, don’t we all wonder:  “How long will they stay?”  (Don’t we all wonder this about the key people in our lives, too?)

"Winter's Peace"

Oil painting by Simonne Roy.  8 x 10"

Available: click on the painting for more information.

I also spend hours contemplating squirrels, roofs, the “wiry scrolling of the tops of trees” while painting.  Hays uses these elements beautifully to communicate the intangible. The poem ends with the words “let him be unexplained” encouraging the viewer to pause and appreciate the moment before us, and that which we cannot understand.  This invitation to contemplate is what a good landscape painting should also offer.

Hays’ use of visual terms such as “blueprint,” “binoculars,” and “glimpses” speaks directly to me.  She asks us to consider “what if we’re granted glimpses of the things we might, with work, become?”  This question speaks to all of us who are trying to find direction, whether in our art or in our lives.   

My goal for my paintings is to call attention to the value of our farmland, forests and streams so that we will take steps to protect them.  I often wonder how I can do more, especially in the face of climate change, encroaching development and environmental pollution.  Perhaps pairing my paintings with the insightful poetry of Katie Hays will help.

Thank you K.A. Hays for your poetry and for this collaboration. 

You are invited to meet Katie Hays and me at a reception and presentation for our joint show entitled “Growth and Regrowth” on Thursday, April 12, 2018.  The reception will run from 5:30 until 7:30 (with refreshments) and at 6:30 p.m. Katie Hays will give a poetry reading and I will give an artist’s talk. 

Hays’ poetry books will be for sale at the reception and can also be purchased at this link:  www.kahays.com

The show will be on display at the Public Library for Union County during the entire month of April 2018 in honor of National Poetry Month.

K.A. Hays and Simonne Roy

Click here for more information about the reception and show.