Another Maine poem, another new painting. Whither this project? Well, the project has been on hold for the past few weeks thanks to the holidays and a frigid weather spell that kept me out of the studio. There were also a fair number of other distractions large and small about work, weather, and the future of art and creativity in the days of AI and … Continue reading Art, Poetry and Finding One’s Posse
Winter turns into spring or close enough now, and the impulse to get back to the studio grows stronger. An artist friend in Seattle was recently in touch and wrote me about the small collages he’s doing. I started thinking again about my own collages, the ones that got me going those years ago. The world situation right now is on my mind as well, … Continue reading Art, War, Poetry, and Spirit
“…when sky and sea agree to take one hue…” © 2019, Molly Larson Cook 22″ x 28″ Acrylic on Canvas When people ask me, I always say I’m an abstract expressionist, but the truth is those are just words. I’ve loved abstract expressionism since my teens but when I look at the pictures by famous artists and back at my own work, I see … Continue reading When People Ask Me, I Always Say…
My latest so far untitled work in progress (with miles to go before I sleep!) I was reading an article for dancers recently about “taking class” at home. In the dance and acting worlds, “taking class” is a given. You never stop taking class – learning, practicing, working on the moves or the lines or any of the countless details of your craft. And it … Continue reading Joan Mitchell – Poetry, Jazz, Abstract Expressionism
“Birdland,” © 2018, Molly Larson Cook 22″ x 28,” acrylic “An artist’s warehouse, full of experience, is not a store of successful phrases ready for use, but is a store of raw material. The successful phrases are there, but they have been broken down to be made over into new form. Those who have the will to create do not care to use old phrases. … Continue reading The Poetry and Jazz of Painting
Pen, ink and watercolor, 2013, Molly Larson Cook Forgive me, but today’s post is somewhat more personal than most of what you’ve seen here. It comes in part as a response to a recent health issue – nothing serious but painful day in and day out. Oddly enough, it also comes after receiving a particularly fine award and publication for my poetry, a gift I’ve … Continue reading Bringing Your Whole Heart Home
As both a poet and an artist, I tend to wander back and forth, crossing the invisible line between the two like a drunk on a bicycle. I give many of my paintings poetic titles and I write poems about art. I’m not the only one who does this. One of my favorite books on the practice of writing is titled The Writer on His Own, and much of … Continue reading Imagining Forth!
Map of the LaBrea Flower Fields “I adore the theater and I am a painter. I think the two are made for a marriage of love. I will give all my soul to prove this once more.” –Marc Chagall This is a lovely statement by an artist who loved color as much as I do. But I long ago gave up the theater, so I … Continue reading Marriages of Love
“Map of the Elusive Waterway” 11″ x 14″ acrylic Over the past year, I’ve been working my way up from small collages to larger canvas pieces and then up to even larger canvas pieces. I’ve enjoyed every step of the way. The larger canvases gave me freedom to push some boundaries and experiment with new techniques – loosen my stays, so to speak, and get a … Continue reading The Exactly Right Word
When I was an art history student required to memorize names of artists, dates, places and works of art, my favorite title for an artwork was Marcel Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even.” The work itself is an abstract composition of glass, paint, dust and the workings of Duchamp’s mind, but the title – to me – is sheer poetry and adds to the intrigue … Continue reading The Naming Game
Art and Tulips 