Paintings and Poems

Recently I had the opportunity to work on a collaborative project with one of my Delta Zeta Sorority, Zeta Lambda Chapter at East Carolina University, sisters.  Jenny McKinnon Wright is an award winning plein air artist, who believes that working in plein air allows her to “capture the emotion that only painting in that location can offer.  Something catches my eye—the light, composition, the colors that I actually see.  Link:  Jenny McKinnon Wright

Jenny had painted three water scenes.  “Morning Promise” was of a sunrise on Wrightsville Beach, NC.  She painted “Raining Sideways” during a thunderstorm at Southport, NC, where the Cape Fear River and the Inter-coastal Waterway meet.  At a site along the Watauga River between Boone and Blowing Rock, NC, she painted “Slippery When Wet.” I fell in love with these paintings, impressionistic in style.

I wrote three poems: “Morning Spendor,” “Rain Shifts,” and “River Stopover.”  Each poem corresponded to one of her paintings.  I sent the poems to Jenny for her feedback, and then I made the final revisions.

Jenny’s artwork and my writing complement and compliment each other.  Our project, “At Water’s Edge,” has been submitted to several editors.  Hopefully, “At Water’s Edge” will find a home soon, so people can enjoy the visual beauty of Jenny’s paintings and the pleasing resonance of my poems.