Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2011SYR14
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.
Oh, See the Woodchuck
poster information
Description
Oh, see the woodchuck.
He's neck deep in buttercups,
gazing at traffic.
I like to write haiku while driving or riding in a car, especially over the rural roads near where I live. So the subjects of my poems are often flora and fauna seen through my car window. That's the case with this poem.
I remember riding along, admiring the daffodils that had sprung up along the roadside one early spring day, when up popped a little brown head. A woodchuck stood up on his hind legs and stared right back at the car, then remained there, just watching the traffic go by. For me it was the perfect example of how the natural world and the civilized world live side by side, just waiting for us to notice.
For my poster art, I chose the woodchuck haiku because it was the zaniest — it gave me a chance to work with something “cute.” I want to illustrate children's books, so this was a great chance to add child-like qualities to the energy and intellect of the haiku. It was easy to create the visual imagery. I just had to visualize the scene behind the haiku — it turned out to be Syracuse.
With any assignment or piece for myself, I try to solve the problem in the simplest yet most professional looking way. Ink and watercolor work best for me at the moment, enabling me to give my characters puzzling expressions that make the viewer wonder what's going on in their brains. I think the key really is in the eyes.