Art – Poetry In Time

New Growth Poetry Exhibit

Port Angeles Fine Arts Center

My poem below was selected, by the Olympic Peninsula Writers through a juried submission, to appear for a year in the PAFAC New Growth outdoors exhibit in the Webster Woods sculpture garden. Following a year, it will be moved with other poems to a number of parks in Port Angeles. It’s very exciting to have been chosen! Below is a photograph of me with the installation on the day of the poetry reading.

Here is a recording of my reading:

Laura E. Garrard reading her poem “I Have to Chase That Squirrel,” June 18, 2022.

I Have to Chase That Squirrel

Start at a run from the door
And accelerate to top lope
Just as I reach the base of the Douglas fir
Even if I’m too late to catch it
My instinct must be served
You laugh and shrug
For me, it’s not just for fun
It’s my essence, my expression
My way to tell the world
What kind of dog I am
So free me to do 
What I want, what I must
Responsibility, according to whom?
My number one purpose right now
Is to chase that squirrel
Even though I’m scared 
I won’t succeed
I must look skyward to see
On which limb the squirrel may be

Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2022

Standing beside my New Growth poetry installation in Webster Woods, June 18, 2022.
(Photograph by Michael Nordell.)
My poem perfectly installed in Webster Woods next to a Douglas fir tree at a trail hub.
(Photograph by Laura E. Garrard.)

Resilient & Creative National Juried Art Exhibit – Port Angeles Fine Art Center

I am proud to announce that my multimedia figurative painting “Flowing Through Impermanence” has been selected to appear in the Resilient & Creative Art Exhibit at the Port Angeles Fine Art Center, Aug. 13-Sept. 26, 2021.

14×18″ Acrylic, Pencil and Ink on Canvas, Custom Framed in 2″ White Oak – $600

Here is the link to the show’s virtual tour: https://www.pafac.org/rc2021.html

This is the the poem that inspired my piece:

The Walk

Tall, striking 
New pink sneakers
Countenance of a tree
She glances at me
Actually, looks directly
I see her full expression
And feel myself weeks ago
Scared, strong, in fear, clear, near tears
The unknown has hit
The big leveler
The death inviter
The life challenger
Out of her experience
Out of her control
Swing set emotion
Up to down to up
Turning up the compost
Bringing up the rot
Mixing rich earth
With decomposing parts
She walks with dignity
With desperation
Because she knows
That her present and future
Are in constant question
And she's trying to flow
But not give in
Life is too precious
And the trick is
Not wanting it too badly
There's the rotting rub
How to survive
Remain oneself
Be the gracious woman
You've learned to be
Without handing your life, body and soul
Over to those
Who have no idea what makes you full
I smile to her
For I'm in it too
Just a different side of the walk
Looking across I'm now able to see
My own feelings reflected
And put two and two together
For myself, perhaps for her
And I hope my simple smile
Provides a calm kindness
The truest type of assistance
No overstepping, no talking, no giving
Having been there myself
Now walking not just for me

By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Dec. 5, 2020

“Nature” Art Exhibit in Jackson Hole

My poetry and photography will exhibit in the show “Nature” at the Center for the Arts Theater Gallery and Glenwood Lobby in Jackson Hole, Wyoming: April 19-June 14. My photograph appears on the exhibit book cover as well. For more information, link to the Center for the Arts Event Page. Join me in celebrating one of the included poems, “The Forest.”

The Forest

We smell your freshness
Taste your salt
Until our skin
Lets you in

I am bound by your beauty
To be bolder, truer
Than the sum
Of my tomorrows

By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Feb. 5, 2021

9×7″ Print on Wood, “The Forest,” By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021

Womb of the World

In each woman 
Is the womb of the world 
Ripe for tears 
Ready for mud 
Renewing us all 
Vigor, sanctity, and child
Larger than her own life
Potential beyond measure
Creativity awaits her dawn 
To dredge deep 
Hear her welling up 

By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
 
Jan. 22, 2021

[Top Photo: "Spring in Olympic"; Middle Image: 16x20" Pen & Ink on Paper, "Woman to Child"; and Below Sideshow Photos; all by Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021]

I Will Consider Myself An Artist

I will consider myself an artist
When staring into beauty is the art
And my striving is not

Art is the experience
If it wants me to recall and record it
So be it

By Laura E. Garrard
Jan. 22, 2021

[Top Photo: "Sunset from a Tree"; Below: First Row, "Sunset on Crescent Lake, panels 1-3," Second Row, "Hugging Alder, panels 1-3," Third Row, "Alder Sunset," by Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021]