I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
Month: September 2024
My sketchbooks get messy. Even the one I began days ago is now showing the inconsistent and immeasurable thoughts of a cluttered mind. But, mainly, it’s all good (considering the many connotations of that word).
Mostly, I am a writer and photographer (many days one more than the other). Like the tattered notebook I use to carelessly jot down random scrabble, immediate ideas and nonsensical everyday drama that may someday make it into a poem, essay, or manuscript, the sketchbook is only a stop in my creative process.
What is contained within the book may or may not make it to another level or format, but I know it is there for me to use whenever, or however, I decide to use it.
Earlier this year, after all my oil paints, solvents, brushes and canvases were packed away in preparation for a relocation, I purchased a modest set of watercolour paints, oil pastels, ink, and a big sketchbook to keep content my creativity. I filled that book up over the summer; more of a means of coping than creating.
My sketchbook, in so many ways, after what I endured or experimented with these past months, become a form of art therapy that was available to me.
In its essence, my sketchbook is full of plans, or concepts of a plan. At times it is experimental — I’m currently concerned over underpainting, the colour wheel, and the uncalculated risks of layering watercolours — a lot of what I do in this sketchbook is conceptual practice exercises with media or texture and perspectives not quite clear to me at the moment of creation. Nonetheless they serve a purpose in this, at times, cruel and compilated world.
Art needs a place in your life or mind and a sketchbook, if nothing else, allows you that time. Like life itself, indeed it does get messy.
09/15/2024 j.g.l.
Posted on September 14, 2024 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
We won’t admit
we share the pain.
We tell ourselves
again and again
we are different.
We don’t know
what anyone feels,
or how anyone
deals with this now.
We can’t remember.
We don’t know
how to behave
like we used to.
© 2021 j.g. lewis
Posted on September 13, 2024 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
It is not that you can’t, or
even that you won’t. It is
what it is, whether you do
or you don’t.
Today or really any day, try
to do what you need to do
to become a better you.
I know it seems hard, as
many days seem like a test,
yet despite unlucky numbers,
today you should try to do
your best.
Whether you are beginning
your day, or struggling with
the middle, seek to soothe
your beleaguered soul with
a poem, rhyme, or a riddle.
09/13/2024 j.g.l.
