I believe that talent
is the result of love...
In my forty years of teaching art and poetry, the word
talent has always been questionable. Usually, students feel that they have no
talent and become discouraged early on. To that I say: Ignore all those who
want you to believe that you have no talent. Take risks! Listen to your heart! Believe
in yourself more than in those who criticize you. Learn from those who have
achieved, but always believe in your own instinct and original style when
creating important work. Failures are stepping-stones to success. Accept them
and move on. That is the key: a
willingness to fail and then keep going. I have found that those who feel loved
and supported can do this most easily.
In my own experience, when I began drawing and
writing poems at age five, my older brother, who was ten, criticized me. He
insisted that I never did anything good. But I never let his words discourage me because my mother greatly
encouraged every creative attempt I ever made! Even when I preferred to write
my own piano music and put lyrics to it, instead of practicing my scales, (as I
was supposed to), my mother was always thrilled to see me express myself
creatively.
I am eternally grateful to my mother to this day,
since my piano playing, poetry, and especially painting, has improved over the
years, giving me so many hours of joy. We all must begin somewhere. To repeat: talent is the result of love. Listen to your heart, believe that you are loved and
allow yourself the joy of creativity.
Cargo of Dreams
by Nannette Hoffman
Poems
are ports we sail into.
Our
weathered boat is a cargo of dreams,
Plowing
through stormy waters.
Like
diving gulls, feelings plunge
into
discontent with tides
of
thoughtless, threatening clouds.
Slow
drizzle breaks through
sun
sifting rays, through mists,
of
meaning exploring sounds.
Word
thoughts come rushing
like
so many fish rising at once
to the shimmery surface.
Meditation
enables paddles to rest.
Zephyrs
of sweetness saturate marinas,
playfully
preparing a perfect landing.
Sliding
into those dreams, created with love,
our
drifting boat docks into poems.
Nannette Hoffman: Nannette was a fine artist, teacher and poet, who passed away on December 9, 2010 at the age of 81. She was a native of New York City and had lived in the D.C area for 40 years before moving to Virginia in 2002. Nannette received her B.A from Hofstra University, her M.A in English from Georgetown University, and was a Master Copyist of Fine Art at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. She loved children and had one son, two daughters and four grandchildren. It was Nannette’s passion to inspire others to nourish their creative spirits, and she spent much of her life doing just that. Nannette published two books of poems and drawings with Ellicott Press: The Palette and the Pen (1992) and The Image and the Leaf (2001).
~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~
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