Susie Paul

“I solved a real problem regarding the collection of poems I'm working on. The solution came through solitude in which to read deeply in some sources I'd ignored before, to think deeply about the consequences of exploring this idea, to do some outlining and scribbling. It also came through being with other artists and drawing on their journeys and the confidence that comes with being in the presence of these magical folks.

Creativity for most of us requires paradoxical experiences: on the one hand aloneness; on the other, a richness of contact with others and with the sensual world. Those who "make" need input, but we also need the time to process that input in the light sprung from turning over ideas and images in our minds and psyches. We also need time for self-exploration, for reflection, which takes courage, so that we can arrive at truths about what it means to be human and reflect this consciously and unconsciously in our art. The communal experience, for example at Hambidge during shared meals and crossing paths, gives us the courage of like minds, of like endeavor. The solitude offers relief from the constant din of a world of commerce and striving for goals often not in any way like ours.

I have a knotty problem to solve in my second collection of poems. "Stuck" in my little house with only my brain and my books, my pencils and notebooks, I sit in the solitude and reacquaint myself with all that I've read and written so far. There is nothing to distract me, no floors to sweep, no refrigerator to clean out, no laundry piling up, no little dog to pet and walk, nothing but the errant bee come visiting, the wind in the trees, the occasional rain on the rooftop. I think, this is not the book I should have brought. If only I could dither around on the Internet. A branch falls, I get some iced tea. Pacing the floor, I go back to my books (I write historical persona poems, which require much research). I read what could be worthless to me, but I read in quiet concentration. I find a way in the oddest of articles! I go to dinner, and as my colleagues talk art, my confidence in my crazy idea grows. I don't tell it, too soon. But I listen and what I hear, using recycled materials and found objects in art, exhausting all one's materials until nothing is left and the freedom that comes with "dematerializing" even one's life in art, the connection of the soul to a useful piece of pottery.

Back at my sanctuary, I stoke my courage and pursue my offbeat path. I can do this.”

– Susie Paul, Alabama, Poetry