Poetry at its best

POETRY; BY HAGAR AFUMWAA OFOSUA

HEY THERE! WELCOME TO OUR GLAMOROUS WORLD OF PEOTRY……NOBODY DOES IT BETTER THAN WE DO.

Poetry is a form of literature that uses rhythmic qualities of language to make meaning. With forms of Poetry like sonnets, Epics, Ballads, just to mention a few, I bet there’s no other way to pour your heart out than through Poetry. Poetry allows you to milk and touch the hearts of many. I bet there’s no other way to pour out your thoughts than though poetry. Its origins date back to as far as 2000 B.C, when the Greeks would happily threated themselves with poetry used in music and theatre. Research has proven that oldest form of poetry is the epic Poetry has being long regarded as the fundamental creative act employing language. Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretations to words, or to evoke emotive responses. It makes uses of devises such as assonance, onomatopoeia and sometimes rhythm to achieve the musical or incantatory effects. The common forms of poetry are as follows;

·        Narrative poetry; this is a poetry that gives a verbal representation. It is always told by a narrator 

·        A Ballad; this is a story that is in the form of a song and is transmitted orally, which tells a story .It usually has a four line stanza.

RELAX AND READ SOME OF THE EXCITING POEMS WE HAVE IN STOCK FOR YOU.

Everyone has a dream

Everyone has a dream

We keep it alive at night

But doubt it in light

Do we only become optimist when lights are dim?

Everyone has a dream

From a distance we fight

On a battlefield field we lose might

Is it only when we are far do we become strong?

Everyone has a dream

On leaflets we write

On desk we fail to rewrite

Do we forget to take our writing sticks along?

Everyone has a dream

In the minds eye we see it fly like a kite

On the worlds stage we lose sight

Do we only see it when it is fictitious like a film?

Greed is for the weak

Greed is for the weak

Those who fail to act but speak

Because talk is cheap

They tend to hate those on success trip

Forgetting   whiles those on success trip were

Burning the midnight oil, they were asleep

If you are strong you live your dream

If you live your dream, time won’t permit you

To accept that greed

Drop that greed, take up your dream and be on stream

Because greed is for the weak.

I AM IN LOVE WITH A STRANGER

I am in love with a stranger

I can’t believe my feelings

But I can’t deny either

I bumped into him toward the coast

I was just a visitor to the breeze

He sacrificed to be the host

He welcomed me with a hug

His snowy breath could let me freeze

But I didn’t want to nag

We both cried

As we said bye to each other

I am afraid he may be a ghost

His voice is one I have heard before.

                                                        

v

DANCING HANDS: THE POTTER

As you look round seeing very beautiful vessels and decorative object you begin to wonder how a mere lump of clay could be transform into such beautiful and functional pottery. As you panted for answers to what seems hard to believe, there comes the potter. 

You: hey there are all these really the finish product of just a raw clay?

Potter: Nope pottery is not made from raw clay but clay body. It is important to note that a clay body is not the same thing as clay. Clay bodies are clay mixed with additives that give the clay different properties when worked and fired.

You: mmmm I see.

Pottery: but note that not any clay can be used for anything, there are kinds of clay and each has what it's best at.

You: so what is that one magical way behind porters' creation?

Potter: ooh the process of pottery making is as varied as the artisans who create them. However I will outline my process of transforming a clay body into what you're seeing.

You: aah that sounds interesting

Potter: The first step is to get your clay body by either digging it from locally available sources or buy commercially available clay bodies from one of the many suppliers 

 Second step: WEDGING the Clay Wedging is the process of mixing the clay by hand by rotating and pressing a clay ball on a table. The purpose is to removes all air bubbles from the clay you will be using. Or you can had it removed by a machine called a pug mill

You: what's the next step?

Potter: FORMING. After the clay has been thoroughly wedged, it may be formed by a variety of methods: slab, wheel, coil, pinch, and mold. These methods may be combined, or used singly. 

You: and then...

Potter: DRYING After forming, pieces you create should be wrapped in soft sheets of plastic (without holes)  The plastic will slow down (but not stop) the drying process, to ensure that when you return several days later, your pieces will still be workable.

You: oh nice

Potter: LEATHER HARD
 is next. After your pieces have dried up to a stage of partial dryness referred to as leather hard. This is an excellent time to refine the piece: carving excess clay, adding handles or decorative elements, trimming the foot-ring of a bowl, etc. This is the last chance you have to change the shape of the piece                                                  

You: hmm

Potter: GREEN WARE. When a piece of pottery has dried completely it is referred to as a piece of green ware. This is purely a passive state for the clay awaiting the first firing.

You; I see

Potter: BISQUE FIRING. After your work has dried to green ware the work is loaded into the kilns for the first of two firings. This hardens the ware making it easier to handle without breaking during the glazing process. 

You: further more

Potter: GLAZING. The glaze, a mixture of ground glass, clays, coloring materials and water, is applied to the bisque pot by dipping, pouring, spraying, brushing, sponging, or some combination of these. The first, and perhaps most important, step is to put paraffin wax anywhere that I do not want to have glaze. 

Potter: the final stage is GLAZE FIRING. When I have glazed enough pieces to fill the kiln, I load it again for the second firing. When the pieces come out, they are finally complete.

You: indeed each step in the overall pottery process is an art in itself.
BY: Mercy Frempomaa

SHADES AND TINTS: COLOUR YOU

COLOUR YOU

Art is like colour; it brightens up our lives. It adds beauty and spice to life. But if art were colours what would they be? What would be the colour of music or poetry or dance? Different shades and a blend of what? Do you know, though, that as much as colours have aesthetic values they also affect our mood? Believe it or not, it does. Research has proven that. But then there a tons of colours and even more tons and tons of shades of these colours and I can’t exhaust them all.

According to psychology, colours behave in two main ways; active and passive. Active colours, aka brighter colours, tend to excite both the mind and body and can be sources of energy and creativity. Passive colours, the cool, more neutral and muted colours, tend to increase mental focus and have a calming effect.

How about I share with you how the most popular colours affect us and our mood. Well, most popular according to me.

White: white is a colour that symbolises purity and innocence and goodness. It has the tendency to make people feel clean and fresh. White is a neutral colour that is popular because it is light and goes with everything.

Black: black is powerful and formal. Although associated with death, it is classy, stylish and timeless. It is the most likely colour to bring out the aggressiveness in people. Women like black because it makes them mysterious. Men wear black to denote authority. This is a colour that is also used to represent evil.

Red: red is passion. It is the most emotionally intense of all colours. It is a colour that boosts energy and strength as well as one’s spontaneity. It’s also perfect for a woman if you are going on a date; red is a colour that definitely sets hearts racing. Definitely an active colour.

Yellow: yellow is optimistic and positive. If you need a dose of that in your life right now, make sure to wear your yellow. It is a happy colour and enhances concentration. Which is why it’s used for legal pads. But yellow is also the most difficult for the eyes to absorb and can be overpowering. Tempers also fly more and babies cry more in yellow rooms.

Orange: a nice mix or red’s passion and yellow’s happiness, orange is stimulating and breeds enthusiasm, warmth and friendliness and confidence.

Blue: a passive colour, blue represents stability, something women like to see in men; a good choice for a romantic date. It has a calming and relaxing effect especially on our heart rate. Albeit a bit cold and depressing sometimes, research has shown that people are more productive in blue rooms.

Green: another passive colour, green is the easiest on the eyes and strains the eyes least. It symbolises nature and fertility and also has a relaxing effect. It was believed to be a sign of bad omen and can draw jealousy or envy. Overall, though, green is balance.

Purple: purple is for royalty, nobility. It connotes luxury and wealth. It is a feminine and romantic colour. Good for a subtle show of emotions. Purple draws out our creative (originality) ability, but it can also turn us moody.

Pink: this is a youthful and feminine colour. Assertive and sensitive at the same time, it is a healthy, soft colour that portrays stylishness as well as immaturity. It also represents sexuality.

Brown: colour of the earth, it can make you feel cozy, perhaps even dull. It is usually chosen for its conservativeness. A passive colour, brown allows one blend in rather than stand out.

The bottom line is like humans, no colour is totally evil. Every colour has good and then the bad, so we can’t just dislike certain colours because of what we know about them. Experiment, try out the different shades, blend them, and make the best out of them all. You’ll be beautiful inside out, just like art itself. It isn’t like you can live without them, anyway.

P.S: don’t worry if you see colours in the images that I haven’t talked about. We’ll treat more colours in our next post. Catch you later, lovlies. Meanwhile, have a colour-filled week.

Delilah loves you.

PHOTOGRAPHY: THE SILENT NARRATOR OF PASSING LIFE

 













Have you ever been handed a family album to look through while you waited for someone? Do you remember how you must have felt flipping through it and having all those strange lives settle around you like falling dew?  Like the past was as tangible as the crocheted table cloth covering the center table? How about a photo documentary on the effects of war? Were you able to tell the feeling of fear and panic? How did you make your deductions? Was it in the look in their eyes or the collar bone sticking out of their flesh? Was it the atmosphere of destruction and chaos in the background?

How then, do we share in similar experiences without someone taking out a camera and capturing a moment?

I think photography is like a lot of things. A country song and an old sermon. But most of all, I think a photograph is a love letter. Sometimes carefully crafted and poised; painting a picture of collectedness and perfection. And other times too, it’s unplanned; brimming with naturalness and all the flaws of the moment. And as the years pass by, we store them. In boxes and in old books; in locked purses and dusty shelves; and in places we never think to find. But above all, when they begin to fade at the edges and lose their perfect details, we still hold on to them. Because they tell the stories better in ways words cannot. 

Why do you look through a lens to capture an event or a person? Is it to tell a story or to be a keeper of one? Is it merely about the right amount of light and filters? Is it not a little more than that? It is.

A little more like making memories and making it possible to relive moments. Is it not a little more about the smile which speaks of joy and eyes that tell a story of fear or pain? It is.
.
  
I believe photography does a little more. It opens its lens and uncovers all the hidden meanings of an expression. It releases its shutters and brings to life all the shades of possibility; all the words unsaid and all the burdens unknown. 

PHOTO CREDIT: https://500px.com/yungsummit

Written By: TRYPHENA LIZZERT A. O. YEBOAH

PAINTING: THE STORYTELLER

"Dumsor" acrylic on canvas

In Ghana, thousands of people including tourists, troop in to the National Art Centre, in the Greater Accra Region, to admire the works of artists and to purchase their works. Various art and creative materials can be found there as well. These comprises, African mask, wood carvings and embroidered cloths with beads.

A walk through Osu, a suburb of Accra, will reveal a lot of shops trading in these fine arts. These arts, because of their beauty, comes with great value.

"Odd Numbers". acrylic on canvas,75cmx65cm

Painting, which forms part of the fine arts, is gradually gaining credence in the lives of people, thus, professionals, poets, artists themselves and individuals. The support for paintings includes such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay, leaf etc.  Exhibitions are held to display paintings in different forms and styles. Institutions are also offering painting courses as well to interested students.

“Chale Wote” is an annual festival celebrated during “Homowo”, the festival of the Gas. The Gas are the people found at the southern part of Ghana. During this “Chale Wote” festival, artists turn to display their prowess in painting especially, graffiti. Individuals’ present love to take pictures around these art works.

Paintings tell stories about our immediate environment and the larger world. It also serves as a source of livelihood for people, beautifies the environment and brings personal satisfaction. Some artists paint to express their innermost feeling and some also paint about troubling social issues.

"Bleating Goats", the improper use of  horns by Ghanaian drivers.
acrylic on canvas.

Enoch Kwabena Fordjuor is a young artist, who has won the hearts of many through his love for painting. In 2008, he received admission to pursue Commercial Arts (Painting) in the Takoradi Polytechnic, where he got his Higher National Diploma in Painting. He is currently a post-diploma student at the University of Education, Winneba, pursuing a Bachelor in Arts. He mostly tell stories through painting. He paints about social issues like traffic situation. He discovered his talent when he was in Takoradi Polytechnic, Ghana and has been painting since then. He now works as a part time Art teacher at Child Bilingual Institute and still works as an artist.      

By: Sandra Hyde