The Metaphor of Painting

Intermediate. We will aim to balance the generation of new images and ideas with the reworking of old poetic canvasses. This isn’t an ekphrastic writing course per se. Rather than responding to painting, we’ll be translating some of the techniques and methods from the visual artist’s studio into our own writing. With exercises in masking, collage, and erasure, we’ll begin to explore what Matisse meant when he said that he didn’t paint things, “only the differences between things.” Though our readings will focus on poetry, experimental writers of all genres will be at home in this intermediate-level workshop.