Artist Loel Barr has four works in ART & WORDS. Three were chosen by poets as inspiration for new poems and one was matched with a poem. All are exhibited side-by-side with Loel's work. Emerge Gallery's ART & WORDS is an exhibition of artwork and poetry inspiring one another. Area artists and poets were invited to participate by submitting existing work as inspiration, and also creating new work inspired by submissions. Artwork by participating artists was chosen by poets who created new poetry inspired by their selection. Artists were also given the opportunity to create new art inspired from submitted poems by participating poets.
(click on image for more information and to purchase)
"Leaving Kansas"
Mixed Media
THE DREAM
The dream that
comes in the barn
in the night
with Marie
and travels the road
when no one else
is admiring the purple heaven
thinking how someday
someday it might
part for us
might take us
yes just like that
everywhere and nowhere
all at once
the dream
the dream that is Kansas
— Allen Shadow ©
inspired by "Leaving Kansas" by Loel Barr ©
Poet Allen Shadow discusses Loel Barr's "Leaving Kansas", the inspiration for his poem "The Dream" written for the exhibition ART & WORDS.
Additional work by Loel Barr included in ART & WORDS
"Untitled (The Bridesmaids)"
Mixed Media
THE BRIDESMAIDS
Gathered
Gabbed
Guilted
Blurred heart scars
and duty
pride and show
all called to let her go
Weddings galore
— never their own
everyone but them
the reasons unknown
is it my chubby thumb?
perhaps it’s my thing with the rum
maybe I’m just plain dumb
I don’t care
— says another one
Prozac made me numb
The truth rubs with burn
as they await their turn
down the long aisle
for the one who won’t falter
upon the vows at the altar.
— Nathalie Vassallo and Monica Teresa Fiorentini ©
inspired by "Untitled (The Bridesmaids)" by Loel Barr ©
IMMEDIACY
Take note!
The sisterhood of women stands strong
Though diverse in age, background and status.
We are bonded, determined -
A howling chorus of voices primed
To fend off the inhumanities
The inequities
The chaos and wrenching sadness
Infecting the world which begs for a moral compass.
Join us? For as the Hopi elders once said,
"The time of the lone wolf is over."
— Barbara Mindel ©
inspired by "Untitled (The Bridesmaids)" by Loel Barr ©
"Untitled #1"
Mixed Media
UNTITLED
Memory spotty, memory blurred.
Memory once in brilliant color
turned dull now to black and white
and grey pervades all I can remember
of that family day in the summer of '49
when, despite the heat, the men wore suits
and ties; the women—all three generations
of them—in dresses and heels. Why
can't I remember the reason, the occasion
for this gathering? I'm sure I was told
once, but the years and decades have burned
away, and all I have now is this photo:
my family in two rows sit and stand, against
the wall of some grandaunt's or distant cousin's
house. Where are they now, these forebears
to my own story today? They weaned and taught
me the lesson of family, so solid, but now—so
few are left—dissolving like this fading image.
— Patrick Hammer, Jr. ©
inspired by "Untitled #1" by Loel Barr ©
"Fishily"
Collage
DRAGONFLY
Like sleight of hands fluttering
these incandescent wings
of the dragonfly spread
fire in the night
I am with you dragon
scaling the heights of air
breathing flame over the other
spirits of insects and plants
You carry the elements
I am in awe
a balm to my own
spirit and eye
I follow you through the garden
drinking you in deeply
your breath flicking inside me
nothing is ever as it seems
— Patrick Hammer, Jr. ©
ABOUT LOEL BARR
Loel Barr is a Kansas native, daughter of a physics professor and an at-home mom, who traveled extensively and lived in New Zealand before spending most of her adult life in the Washington DC area, where she raised two children, Jessica and Alexander. She has recently moved to the Hudson Valley, where she discovered she is a descendent of Henry Hudson’s brother. She lives in Saugerties.
Barr received her MFA from Wichita State University and established a very successful career as an award-winning freelance illustrator, working for national clients including The Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic, Time Life Books, and numerous publishers and agencies. She continues to work as an illustrator but her focus is now on her own explorations in paint, collage, and sculpture.
Additional works by Loel Barr
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