I love it when I get strange visitors, like this one. I paint and suddenly they appear…. not sure where they come from or who they are.
And yes, sometimes they freak me out. This one did and I almost kept her hidden.
Untitled, Ink and acrylic on 170m/g2 acid-free paper, 29 x 21cm by Imke Rust
Some time ago I took a deep breath and released her into the world by posting the artwork on Facebook. I was intrigued and delighted to see that this artwork inspired Bard Judith to write a poem about it and share it on my wall.
The poem again helped me to understand so much about the artwork, as if she has glimpsed deep underneath the paint and found and translated its meaning for me and others.
With Bard Judith’s permission I love to share what she wrote with you here:
Bard Judith said: My own personal response to this powerful ‘visitor’ of yours:
She was blindfolded
for so long the dye of the cloth
stained the skin around her eyes.
She was labeled
with contempt that streaked between
both sides of her brain,
branded the remnant,
the end of the roll.
One day
the gag finally wore through
between her grinding teeth
and her song spilled out
golden,
golden.
Thank you so much for sharing your insights and this lovely poem, Bard Judith!
It is the third time a virtual stranger has written a poem inspired by my art. Isn’t that just so something to be so grateful for?
You can find more of Bard Judith’s inspirational awesomeness on her blog: The Bardic Circle
Copyright of the poem belongs to Bard Judith.
Imke Rust 
Lovely painting and beautiful words it inspired. Brava to both you and Judith!
Thank you! I tried to find the Circle of Thorns poem which you wrote about my Tokoloshe Trap artwork, but the link did not work and google did not find it. Do you still have it? I would love to reread it and update the link to it, if you do not mind.
Hmmm… interesting, it should be there yet I can’t find it on the site either. In searching for the poem I also noticed a few other older posts missing. It seems in moving the site to different hosts things have gotten lost!
I believe (I hope) I do still have a draft in my saved files somewhere. It is worth a repost and I will give you the link when I find it!
OK, reposted it so here is the link: http://indigospider.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/repost-circle-of-thorns/
Thanks Imke! See, proved you’ve been inspiring me for years 🙂
This is so powerful! The painting alone, and then the words to it. Amazing and very inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing
Thank you, Jutta. It is interesting how I sometimes feel such strong resistance to some of my own artworks, because they are different to my expectations. And then they draw such strong reactions from others… and I am happy that they are inspiring and enjoyed. The poem definitely helped me understand the part of it, which I did not like and interestingly the way it was written totally reflects the process of how the painting happened. 🙂