Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2007SYR05
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
Flotilla of Ducks
poster information
Description
Flotilla of ducks
Swimming toward Armory Square
Don't know summer's gone
I was standing on the banks of Onondaga Creek, at the Zen Center, watching a group of ducks. It was the end of summer. They were swimming along in a sort of military formation, quite intent on where they were going. I thought, Hmmm, they don't know it's called summer, or fall; they don't follow a calendar, but they are intuitively aware. To them, it's just a beautiful day. It's warm, and they're swimming, north, toward Armory Square.
Every haiku has to include a reference to the season, and has to have some kind of grounding in a specific place. So I wanted a humorous reference to the fact that fall was coming, yet here are these ducks swimming in formation toward the center of the city, going north.
I enjoy working with bright colors, pattern and line. This poem made reference to the fall season—a color palette of reds, pinks, oranges and purples. That, along with an avian subject, made this poem ideal. I grew up with chickens, currently own budgies, and love birds in general.
Using the trees and water in the foreground as a framing device, I could place Armory Square in the center. I worked with watercolor and acrylic first, and layered chalk and oil pastel on top, which allowed me to create some beautiful patterns. I increased the number of patterns I used in this piece to give it an ornate and decorative feel, and hoped that when the poster was enlarged, the patterns would enhance the overall appearance.