“Cisoria: The Scissors”

Posted on July 15, 2020 • Words by Jennifer Martelli • Art by David Bernardy

Collaborators’ Q&A: Artist David Bernardy: I go through ups and downs as per usual: is this work good, is this work worth doing, etc. And with Covid-19 and the racial unrest, I have had to ask myself, “Is this work (whatever it may be at the time) helping?” I am not sure that I always know, but I know that it helps me, and I suspect that some of my questions stem from a hesitance to start and a fear of failure. So, I have had to tell myself that “helping me” is good enough for now. Hopefully, ultimately, it helps others, too. Poet Jennifer Martelli: This has been a period of revision for me—in the real sense. I’m finishing a collection centered around Geraldine Ferraro, and I’m struck by the repetition of themes and characters, all the silence and cruelty. So, my focus has been to hone that concept in my book.

Artist David Bernardy is an artist, a writer and a dad. He likes lost things, old things, and dogs. Poet Jennifer Martelli is the author of My Tarantella, selected as a “Must Read” by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

Tagged: Collage, Existential Crisis, Illness

“The State of Deseret”

Posted on February 1, 2016 • Words by Jennifer Martelli • Art by Caleb Brown

Collaborators’ Q&A: Artist Caleb Brown: It’s a bright poem, it has sun, grit, and an evocative sense of place. I also get the feeling the protagonist crosses this desert or Deseret unscathed. I was drawn to her resolve in the face of all the bad advice and portents. Poet Jennifer Martelli: I love the colors that Caleb chose—these deep red (but not pure red) tones, the oranges—it felt burnt, organic, baked and I loved that.

Poet Jennifer Martelli’s chapbook, Apostrophe, was published in 2011 by Big Table Publishing Company. She is the recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant in Poetry and a Pushcart Prize nominee. Artist Caleb Brown, a storydrawer, lives in north west central Massachusetts with his wife, twin boys and a big black dog named Pickles. 

 

Tagged: Mixed-Media, Pastoral / Anti-Pastoral, Travel