With watercolours or oil,
the choice is up to you.
The canvas is totally blank,
just like a day that’s new.
Perhaps you’ll draw with pencil,
or sketch with pen and ink,
why not give charcoal a go —
then sit back and see what you think.
With every single brushstroke,
with every line you draw,
you’ll create an image
that’s unmistakably yours.
Famous painter Hans Heysen’s studio at Hahndorf, South Australia. Photo by Ginette Pestana
For Vincent’s ‘The Starry, Starry Night’
Outlines crash into swirls
Miss Del Amico asks, what do you see?
Is that a sky of blue curls?
Outlines crash into swirls
Time to dive for some pearls
Will I find this painting’s key?
Outlines crash into swirls
Miss Del Amico asks, what do you see ?
June said: This is a triolet using the prompt ‘Blurred.’ The first words that came into my head were, ‘outlines crash into swirls’.
The trickiest thing with this poem was picking the artist. Would they be someone I personally knew who painted, a fictional small child, or someone who everyone knows that paints? I thought of a famous artist who used swirls, Vincent Van Gough.
I added the dedication to help with understanding of the poem.
I imagine this poem is an art class for early childhood with a teacher who likes to introduce the children to great artists, and likes to encourage them to look beyond the surface of the painting, into what it means to the artist who paints it. I decided to name the teacher after my favourite art teacher at high school.
Australian Children’s Poetry 