Much of the writing I have done in the last eight years is poetry; it seems even when I do a prose piece I recreate it as a poem. I am an artist and now realize for me to write is creating art . . . ink and paint . . . they are truly intertwined. I am now retired and have unlimited time to write and paint whenever the mood strikes. My husband laughingly reminds me that we have more space for my writing than we do my paintings; he thinks we are running out of wall space. I settled that by giving away artwork so I can create more!
I am enjoying writing Haiku and Tanka. Living in the mountains gives me unlimited nature to write about. I recently submitted one of my paintings and erasure poetry pieces to Star 82 Review. My work was accepted for their 5.4 December 2017 issue. I am thrilled to have my work in such a fine publication. I am proud to add that I also have a painting/erasure poem in Tiny Spoon called Gathering Chaos.
I won second place for two different pieces in the Blue Ridge Writers Chapter Golden Nib for 2017. Sister Florence Myrtle Barron is a poem about my grandmother. Ira Barron, Tomato Farmer is a prose piece about my grandfather. They are among two other poems I have won in the same contest in 2015 and 2016; one for John Cardinal Pinney - Best Cadillac Salesman in the Midwest, and Grace Merritt. All but the John Cardinal Pinney one is published in Skyline 2017 Anthology and Skyline Anthology 2018.
We are now into 2021 and the second year of Covid-19. Although it was certainly a tough year, I did not allow it to deter my creative spirit. I painted 41 pieces of art and wrote 189 poems. i am in the throes of putting the writings, and inserts of photographs of my paintings, into manuscript form so that I can publish in the next six months or so. Some of the paintings were commission work and some were giveaways; my way of paying it forward and volunteering my time.
I have six poems in each of the last three publications of the Blue Ridge Writers Journals: Winter of 2020, Spring of 2021, and the upcoming Summer 2021 journal. I am honored to be part of BRW and hope to be more involved in onsite efforts once we are able to meet in person.
Life is great.
Joy Merritt Krystosek