Out of the Blue Art Gallery,106 Prospect Street,Cambridge, MA 02139 (617)354-5287

ARTIST: Iana Sophia
PRESS RELEASE – Art Reception!

EVENT DATE(S): Art Reception: AUGUST 13, 2004/FRIDAY Evening

EVENT TIME: 8PM on, Art Reception with Poetry & Music with Jennifer Matthews, Singer Songwriter.

EVENT SUBJECT: “NIGHTNOTES” , Abstract Paintings by IANA SOPHIA an artist from Prague

EVENT ADDRESS: OUT OF THE BLUE ART GALLERY 106 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA 02139(Red Line/Central Sq. MBTA)

SPECIAL MUSIC GUEST: Jennifer Matthews, Singer/Songwriter

SPECIAL POET GUEST: David Sirois, Poet
CONTACT INFO: Out of the Blue Art Gallery,(617)354-5287; www.outoftheblueartgallery.com

Deborah Priestly/Tom Tipton cell (PRESS Only) 617-233-0269

Refreshments & Entertainment All Ages Free & Open To Public
ADDITIONAL INFO: These paintings will be on display at the Out of the Blue Art Gallery from August 13th to August 31st. All abstract paintings will be for sale. Most Credit Cards Accepted.

Out Of The Blue Art Gallery
106 Prospect Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
phone: 617-354-5287
PRESS ONLY please call 617-233-0269 Tom cell phone if problems/questions
Thanks, From Deborah M. Priestly

The Muses: Four Women Poets That Inspire
By Doug Holder

If a Muse is meant to inspire, then poets Joanna Nealon, Jennifer Matthews, Susie Davidson, and Deborah Priestly are a literal font of inspiration. Each of these accomplished women bring their own particular talents, experience and vision to their poetry, and each has released a new book of verse with the Ibbetson Street Press of Somerville, Mass. The Muses are a strikingly eclectic band of bards. They do everything from running a popular art gallery, to working in the challenging field of journalism. Joanna Nealon is ( as she describes herself) “ a poet who is blind” In spite of this she has raised a family, earned a Fulbright Scholarship, and recently released a poetry collection
“Living It” that chronicles her life as a blind woman and a poet. Deborah Priestly ( the cofounder of Cambridge’s Out of the Blue Art Gallery) has released an exquisitely illustrated book The Woman Has A Voice, that deals with the many phases of being a woman, and her own trauma and redemption. Jennifer Matthews, a well-known rock vocalist and musician, has released a book Fairytales and Misdemeanors. Matthews has found that music and poetry have helped her deal with the suicide of her mother, and the stress of being a single mother with a demanding musical career. Susie D. (Davidson)
brings her left-of-center political philosophy to bear in her book: Selected Poetry: Susie D., honed from her years as a political activist and journalist.

These four poets came together at McIntyre and Moore Books in Davis Square, Somerville ( May 16 2004) to regal their fans with their lyrical talents. This event provided me with a rare opportunity to “pick the brains” of these enticing poetic Muses.

Susie Davidson, is a flaming redhead , with two distinct sides to her. One is the earthy Jewish mother, the other: the slogan chanting, firebrand railing against the Bush administration and anything she deems as a totem of flagrant injustice. Davidson told me: “ My poetry is socially, emotionally, and universally relevant. I try to transcend and translate the events and occurrences in my life so that they reflect what everyone experiences; what everyone goes through. I also aim to import a sense of consciousness in the reader as best as I, only a messenger can.”

In college Davidson was influenced by the likes of Blake, Shelley, Byron, Keats and others. Surprisingly she has a distaste for modern poets. Opining on the Beat era poets she stated: “ I always found the Beats too hedonistic and self-indulgent for my tastes, and repetitive as well.” Davidson, like poet Jennifer Matthews, finds that musicians/songwriters are the “poets” she admires today. She feels that musicians are often an antidote to contemporary poetry in that they are the last producers of the great rhythmic and rhyming work out there.

Davidson also is an avid newspaper reader, and her poems are infused with a polemical poetic bite. In her piece Star Spangled Banter she takes the old war horse The Star Spangled Banner and subverts it:” In these perilous nights/ while the fat cats we watch/ are so callously scheming/ with the pockets stripped bare/ They fund bombs, cut welfare…’

Davidson’s spiritual background is decidedly Judaic (for years she has written for The Jewish Advocate), and she is fascinated by the Kabala, and the ancient prayers of the Torah.

Davidson defines herself as a poet and journalist. She writes feature articles for the Tab Newspapers and recently The Boston Globe. She feels that her poetry is more legitimized since she became a professional writer.

This Muse is a firm believer that poetry should be written for the shear joy of it. She told me: “ In concrete terms, if one’s idea of the highest level is financial gain and all the perks in life that accompany fame, then no it won’t work.” Davidson finds the challenge of finding the right word, metaphor, or rhyming sequence an activity that enhances her very full life.

Deborah Priestly is a study-in-contrast to Susie Davidson. While Davidson has a mercurial streak and focused personality, Muse Priestly displays a fey, ethereal quality .. Her poetry is like spectral wings of a fragrant Spring wind, that waft enticingly by, only to dissolve in the ether. Priestly use nature and erotic images to create evocative pictures. In the poem “Wet Morning” we are drenched with Priestly’s unbridled eroticism:

“ She wakes
Breasts wet from sweat
And mist of evening rain
Still pelting on our window
I remember
Last night our speaking
With tongues and strokes
Or bodies melting into melting
Or hips kiss
Like waves, fill and cry
We belong to this want
Soft sweet fall, take wing.

Priestly told me that her mission with her collection: The Woman Has A Voice is to: “…inspire women and men to confront their fears and challenges in a creative, constructive way that leads itself to healing and spiritual growth I want to instill in everyone that it is perfectly natural and acceptable to be in touch with their sexuality. Love is the answer no matter what.”

Priestly looks to infuse sensuality, a strong sense of the visual, and a healthy dose of the wild side in her poetry.

Her influences are varied: from the confessional poetry of Sexton and Plath, to the spiritual musings of Rumi. Priestly needs a strong sense of connection to her art. She said: “ I like to feel a connection as well as playfulness with words, rhythms and topics within the poems themselves.’

Priestly admitted her childhood was less than ideal. She comes from a chaotic Jewish family in which she said: “…confusing messages were being sent to me at home, school, and life in general..” Like many youngsters she had a strong desire to find out who she really was. Writing was a form of discovery; a form of salvation.

She realizes that being a poet is a humble thing. Poets usually listen to their own poems, letting others fall on deaf ears. There is little money to be made. Still, there is no sign Priestly is giving up. Like all true poets, to write is to live, she has no choice.

Even before she went blind Joanna Nealon dealt with ontological questions. Her real intellectual life began in college at the University of Bridgeport ( Conn.) in the early 60’s. This is when she plunged into the study of French literature and philosophy. Nealon was drawn to the study of Anthroposophy or spiritual science, a discipline that explores the meaning behind outer phenomena. Nealon feels that spiritual blindness is worse than physical blindness.. This is evident in her poetry, which has a strong spiritual sensibility to it. In her poem Tell Me The Truth there is a sense of a transcendent spiritual yearning to break the shackles of the raw realities of life:

“ You have stood on mountain tops,
Privileged perches of wisdom,
The high wide view
Bestowed by oh, so beautiful abstractions,
The thin bones of wings
Before the bounty of feathers
That lets them fly.
That is why you drop from high places
Back to the place of bad beginnings
The houseboat
Low on the creek shore
Waiting to take you on its stationary ride,
The trip that transfixes,
Because it is moored
On the powerful underpinnings
Of fear and stupefaction,
Mayhem and menagerie…
Raw realities,
Removed from mountain peaks
And purer passions,
The why of your weak wings.

Like Priestly and Davidson, Nealon was influenced by a wide range of poets. She said: “ When I was young, I was especially moved by John Keats, William Butler Yeats, Emily Dickinson, and Edna Vincent Millay.” Nealon went on to say that she enjoys poets who deal with the riddles of the soul, and the nature of Man and the Cosmos

Nealon writes poetry because it nourishes her soul, and she hopes she in turn nourishes others After all, that is the job of the Muse.

Jennifer Matthews, certainly looks, sounds, and acts the part of a Muse. A professional singer/songwriter, who has toured internationally, Matthews voice has an ethereal quality,
and when she is at the top of her game, she lifts her audience, and they go ( in her words) on a journey with her. Matthews has often said that she views her poetry as; “words with wings.’ Matthews’ songs and poetry have an emotional depth that have reportedly brought tears to the eyes of more than a few readers or listeners. In her poem Depths,
Matthews writes about going down into the underworld of a lover’s emotional despair in order to rescue him and bring him back to her sweet refuge:

Desperately I reach into you
I see that you are seething
Below the devil’s hole
Below the November cold

I miss you

I send you my love
Before you go down
Under the line where the deep
Brings no passage home
Where the mother of ice
And father of fire
Meet head on and devour
Your last desire…

I will dive in
And journey to the depths with you

Matthews is not a cerebral poet, but an instinctive one, who wears her large, genuine heart on her sleeve. She takes inspiration from characters on life’s margins, the intimacies of lovers, her own private myths, wherever her instincts lead her Matthews told me” In my perspective poetry is an extension of your heart to your hand, something that needs a lot of space and trust in yourself and your higher self.” I asked Matthews if she feels like a poet. And with that characteristic, mysterious smile she said: “ My heart and eyes say yes”

It seems that The Muses compose poetry to help themselves and others, but also for the pure joy of it. True, much of their poetry was born from pain, but it lives with joy. They are all spirited and spiritual women, who like all of us, want to bring meaning to an often chaotic world. At their best, they will be like the mythic Muses of yore, inspiring and nurturing us. What more can we ask?

Doug Holder is the founder of the Ibbetson Street press of Somerville, mass. He is the Arts/editor for the Somerville news. http://thesomervillenews.com

__________________________

Out Of The Blue Art Gallery
106 Prospect Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
phone: 617-354-5287

You don't have to be perfect or a brain surgeon to volunteer at the Out of the Blue Art Gallery ---- obviously! So hey, call Debbie today!

617-354-5287

or email her at ootb@att.net

Great for interns or artists/poets who need the experience in a gallery/artistic setting. Deborah will write you a letter of accreditation if needed for school as well for credit or experience! Thank you! HOURS: usually daily from 12noon to about 7PM sometimes later. Bye bye.

VOLUNTEERS/INTERNS needed!

A great opportunity to learn from the inside out about the arts scene! We are seeking people who have an arts background, enjoy being part of a community gallery, don't mind a little funkiness. Great resume experience and good way to establish contacts in the arts and make wonderful contacts for writing, publishing or art networking.

Opportunities in the following areas:

Gallery Sitting - keeping the place open!
Hanging Art at Sites - would require a car
Promotion Assistance - networking, listings
Organizational Help - cataloging, phone calls
Carpenter or Assistant - build shelves
Errands - photocopying, supplies
Reception Help - hosting art receptions
Flyering - posting art events in places
Sales - recording sales, using credit card machine
Miscellaneous - anything else that comes along!

Only Requirements: Honesty, Willingness to Learn,
Showing Up!,

Contact: Debbie or Tom (617)354-5287 or email ootb@att.net

__________________________

__________________________

Out Of The Blue Art Gallery
106 Prospect Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
phone: 617-354-5287