Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2009SYR15
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
His Brain Targets It
poster information
Description
His brain targets it
His body casts out for it
His mouth catches it
I have a black lab named Skippy. He's eight years old, and I got him for my sixth birthday, as a birthday present from my mom. So this poem is basically about taking a walk with him at a local stream, and throwing a stick into the water for him, and how he goes out for the stick, and how he's so into the moment, and how everything around him doesn't matter, all that matters is that he's going for that stick.
It's exhilarating to watch. All he cares about in that instant is that stick in the air, and everything about him, everything he's doing, is for that stick. It's just really captivating. You can just breathe time, and you see him, every muscle in his body, going for that stick.
The haiku simply and elegantly expresses the game of fetch. It's visually open-ended, and so I invented the image based around the drama of the catch. I staged the piece in Clinton Square to give it a more striking setting. On the day that I photographed the square, I was glad to happen upon a couple walking their dog. I felt reassured by the knowledge that the situation I was inventing wasn't uncommon.
The energy of the piece is a result of my bold color choices and energetic execution. Staying on my feet, I placed the canvas on the floor. My vision flowed out of me in quick, confident marks as I moved around it.
I hope you enjoy the piece as much as I enjoyed painting it.