Writers are Artists by Catherine Sercombe

I was a capable reader as a child yet I still begged my mother to read aloud to me; I would close my eyes and enter a world where I could savour the flavour of music, inhale the aroma of colours or float as easily as a helium balloon. In that world, every house had a way of escape through a secret passage, and enough room to share with a small Swiss bear who loved meringues.  I could conjure a landscape of snow-covered mountains, perilous rope bridges spanning treacherous chasms, labyrinthine underground caverns and I had the courage to conquer them all.  In the realms of my imagination, my artistic ability knew no bounds … a state of being that was quickly dispelled in real life by my year eight art teacher.  The value she placed on my practical art work convinced me I had better explore alternative career options – I gave up art and learned to touch-type.  But one day, I discovered the Reader’s Digest’s Towards More Picturesque Speech and a seed of possibility took root.

Words are a wonderful medium to work with – and they’re free!  I’ve been collecting and collating them for years.  I’ve discovered some absolute beauties.  The dictionary is a treasure-trove.  We writers can mix words together and spread them out, stack them, blend them, rearrange them.  There are endless combinations to explore.  It does take some effort, gathering tools, learning techniques, developing skills.  It takes time and dedication to produce any worthwhile work of art.  But what a privilege and joy it is to indulge the artistic muse and create more picturesque speech.

Writers are Artists – Catherine Sercombe © 2011

Tongue-tested words, selected and ordered, 
glued into patterns or crazily paved,  
mosaic montage or serpentine path    
to step out and search
or sit still and dream –
a world to explore
or snapshot of life.

Tongue-tested words, soothing or seething,

waves at the beach or crabs in the sand,
motion that rocks the cradle of souls
or crashes and churns
soft sand into grit –
a pincer of pain
or pillow to sleep

Tongue-tested words, drifting and floating,
clouds in the sky or scum on a pond,
ethereal beauty or rank saturation
of raw sore emotion
from dark fetid swamp –
truth has its beauty
and ugliness form.

Tongue-tested words, the laughter of children  

dancing and singing a rhyme in the sun,
music and mayhem, myst’ry and meaning,                     
daisies and daydreams
or we’ll all fall down –
sing me some wisdom
and I will be wise.

Tongue-tested words, surreal and confusing,

colours on canvas, flame upon glaze,        
unyielding marble till hammer and chisel
chop off the dross
and the sculpture appears –
writers are artists
creating with words.

 

 
Catherine Sercombe is a wife, mother of three, education business manager, tutor and creative writing student who lives in Toowoomba, Qld.  Described in Christmas Tales from the Upper Room (2012, Pantaenus Press) as ‘a creative and talented writer whose work reflects an infectious love of language’, Cathie says, ‘From A to Z, surely the best writing begins and ends in God.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1-2). That’s an epidemic worth spreading.’