Local Color Gallery in downtown Belfast is pleased to partner with Kristen Lindquist, haiku poet/teacher, and Jan Owen, calligraphic book artist, to host a two-hour workshop during the Belfast Poetry Festival in creating wayfinders—haiku written out on long strips of paper and hung along a path in the gallery. We hope this wayfinding will serve as a touchstone for participants on their own personal and creative paths. The wayfinders will be displayed in the gallery throughout the festival. Enrollment is limited; please register through THE BELFAST POETRY FESTIVAL WEBSITE.
In the first half of the workshop, Kristen will offer an introduction to contemporary haiku, a three-line poem that expresses a momentary experience rooted in the season and five senses (rather than the syllabic poem of 5-7-5 that we were taught in grade school). This mindful form is often described as easy to learn but taking a lifetime to master. Traditionally haiku were created in community, to be shared. Using artwork from Local Color Gallery as inspiration, participants will learn to craft and edit their own haiku.
Jan encourages people to use their own handwriting to share their words. She will demonstrate lettering styles, letter and line spacing, and page design to use in this and other poetry projects. There will be assorted pencils, markers, and papers for practice. Participants can then select narrow strips of paper or Tyvek for writing their haiku wayfinders. A cord or ribbon in the top will be added for hanging from an aerial string in the gallery to share.
Kristen Lindquist has taught haiku workshops for many years. She has written three award-winning collections of haiku, is the co-editor of Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, and serves as the current New England coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. Jan Owen is the guest artist in the Local Color Gallery during the Poetry Festival. She has taught workshops in lettering and book arts. Her work is in museums and library special collections.
Local Color Gallery in Belfast, Maine, showcases 14 year-round artists and one guest artist each month.