Art: Occhi Stanchi by Jason Stanizzi
WHAT WE DO
. . . there is no there “there.”
-Gertrude Stein-
The moon is Swiss-cheese sexy. Or black. Or peacock-blue ink.
Peut-être pink. If you’re French. Whatever pricks your fancy.
If you have one. This October full-figured pastel, moon of many colors,
fat tie-dyed, stone-gas-hip throwback to, like, the in-your-face ‘60s,
coked-up crystal ‘80s, Don Cornelius keeping it LA real, cool on the deep bass
downlow, so unlike mystic-green Asian harvest moons that steal upon you in the rye,
sensuously, Chang’e Virgin or Jade Rabbit or Toad, either way, east or west,
blueblood auras tight as catgut, fractious and flirtatious like great poetry, great love,
beyond bone, impressed into marrow, blackest of black arts, that tangible, brute There
like all solid objects not there some few quicken, conflate, inevitably color.
Of those who muddy Nietzsche’s clear, sober water. What we do.
About the author:
GTimothy Gordon’s seventh book, DREAM WIND, is now under review, FROM FALLING published Autumn 2017 (Spirit-of-the-Ram P). Work appears in AGNI, CINCINNATI POETRY R, KANSAS Q, LOUISVILLE R, MISSISSIPPI R, NEW YORK Q, RHINO, SONORA R, TEXAS OBSERVER; TEXAS LITERARY R, & BASEBALL BARD, among others. EVERYTHING SPEAKING CHINESE received the SunStone P Poetry Prize (AZ). Recognitions include NEA & NEH Fellowships and nominations for Pushcarts and The NEA Western States’ Book Awards. He divides professional and personal lives among Asia, the Desert/Mountain Southwest, and Maine.
Art: Occhi Stanchi by Jason Stanizzi
In the artist’s words:
Coventry artist Jason Stanizzi’s preferred medium is acrylic paint and canvas, though he does not limit himself to these. Jason has painted on cigar boxes, reclaimed wood, old windows, and cardboard. And when it’s available, he has used the remnants of old house paint that friends and family have lying around. Music has always been the driving force in Jason’s life. As a young boy, he would choose an album from the record shelf in his house, sit on the warmth of the forced air vent, and read the lyrics and liner-notes by artists such as Miles Davis and Bob Marley, among myriad others. Jason started playing guitar in middle school. Shortly after that he took up drums, and through the years performed on both in several bands. One of the bands with which he played – After 12 – recorded an album of original tunes, all of which Jason co-wrote. He still gets the opportunity to create music with many of his friends and most importantly sitting around the fire and playing guitar with his father. Jason looks forward to carrying on this campfire tradition with his son, Jonah. Jason finds great pleasure in the discovery of music he has not heard before. Much of his enjoyment with this exploration is the satisfaction he gets from going on to share this newly discovered music with family and friends. In fact, it is music that drives the inspiration for Jason’s paintings. He will choose music and then allow the sounds, rhythms, emotions, and noise of what he hears to pilot the look and feel of his work. Each painting has a specific sound, artist, song, album, or genre that has inspired the imagery. He listens, connects to the music intuitively and spiritually, and then paints what he senses and sees through mediation. Stanizzi comments, The most important thing for me is to allow the sounds of the music and my intuition to drive the direction of each painting, allowing the colors to display themselves without human intervention, to the extent that this is possible. It is joyous and satisfactory to watch the inspired visuals as they appear. Jason lives in Coventry, CT with his wife Jessica and his son Jonah. More of his work at https://www.bredpuddin.org/jason-stanizzi.