Anticipating September's Songs of Inspiration

I'm still recovering from August. For the last few years I've been keeping the home fires smouldering for the family I work for while they negotiate their music festival season. So, August is hectic, silly, inspiring and, well, hectic.  Everyone is home now and it's back to life as usual.  Music students coming and going.  Me on the laptop in-between feedings and diaper changes.

As a way of getting myself back into the flow of words, I want to introduce you to someone that has been keeping me company for a few years now with her pictures. Welcome to the world of Geninne Zlatkis.

  I'm not sure what it is about her work, or her blog, that is so soothing.  I just know that I feel fortunate to have found her and that she continues to post her work, her life, and her processes.  I want to learn from her, but I'm not sure what it is that I see or feel as a writer.  The photograph reminds me of her paintings. The colors.  So, maybe that's it.  I guess it's easier for a visual artist to "write what you know" since some of the time, at least, we draw what's in front of us.  We are deliberately trying to make the world we know fit a page or less than life-sized space.  As writers, we are free to create worlds much larger and more fantastic than the ones outside our windows.

So, I guess I'm looking for how Geninne turns what she sees every day into her own story.  How does she isolate this texture, that form, those colors, and compose a coherent and fascinating tale. 

One of the things she does is create calendars.  This is is from 2006.

And her journal...

Since I gave in and gave myself a new laptop, I've also surrendered and started using the calendars Geninne creates for the desktop.  This is what has been greeting me all through August.

And this was the one for July.

Keep an eye out to see if she posts one for September!  Meanwhile, who or what inspires you?  What makes you stop and notice, or wonder?

Happy Tale Telling!
m