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Hawley's painting inspires poetry and performance by Scott Stewart Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene 25 | Friday, October 4, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Local artist Derik Hawley set out to paint a picture based on a memory. The result was something completely unexpected. Hawley's painting, Outline of the Sacred, inspired a poem and an upcoming musical performance. The performance is set for Sunday (Oct. 6) at 4 p.m. at St. Jude's Anglican Church, 160 William St. "The painting was inspired by a memory of a Late Medieval Madonna painting," Hawley said. Unable to find the original, Hawley made some broad lines on the canvas based on what he remembered of the painting. He then imagined a shrine being made, in a forest away from civilization. Hawley posted the painting on his Facebook group, Ekphrastic Poetry, which is where the piece first caught the eye of poet Cristina Norcross. Inspired by the painting, Norcross penned a poem about Outline of the Sacred within a day of first seeing it. "When Derik shared the inspiration for his artwork, which was a painting of the Madonna, I knew that a poem was asking to be written," she said from her Wisconsin home. "What came to mind was the concept of gratitude Oakville artist Derik Hawley painted Outline of the Sacred last year. A poem was written about the painting and a jazz performance is being held Sunday that was also inspired by the piece. | submitted photo Melody Johnson took the classic Mark Twain quote "write what you know" to heart with her latest one-woman show , Miss Caledonia, she wrote about her mom, Peggy. "It's based about her life growing up on a farm near Caledonia, Ont. in the 1950s," Johnson said of the show , which hits the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts Studio Theatre (130 Johnson brings Miss Caledonia to Oakville Centre Saturday night Navy St.) stage Saturday (Oct. 5) at 8:30 p.m. "It's about her longing to escape the farm, to compete in pageants and be a movie star." Peggy didn't quite make it to Hollywood, but she did make it to Brantford, Ont., where she settled and raised her family. Johnson said her mom was quite successful on the pageant circuit, and that the show will touch on the ups and downs, the wins and losses and what the pageant did for her as a young girl growing up. "Not everyone agreed with the pageant circuit," she said. "Her parents weren't so sure about it, whether acting or becoming a movie star or being in pageants was work." Johnson noted back in the 1950s, pageants were decidedly different from the spectacles of today. "They helped young women find their voices," she said. "It was also an escape off the farm. A lot of girls didn't feel like they were cut out to work on a farm or they had other aspirations." The show is a pay-what-you-can event and seating is limited. and thankfulness being an important part of faith." Norcross said she created a poem centred around the idea of food, water, crops and life itself. Hawley and Norcross discussed the artist's thought process while painting the piece, and the idea he had in mind. "I think her poem conveys a lot of the original idea, in ways I never could," he said. It wasn't long after the poem was penned that Brian Hayman, a local jazz pianist, and the man behind the musical performance, got involved. Hawley shared his painting and Norcross's poem with Hayman, and that's when the idea to put their work to music at a jazz vesper came about. Jazz vespers are church services held in the late afternoon or early evening on Sundays, which include candle-lighting, reflection, prayers and jazz music. "It is customary for there to be a poetry reading at jazz vespers," Hayman said. "I read the poem and then got the musicians, on the spot, to improvise some music that would be a response to their viewing of the painting and hearing the poem." Hayman and Hawley have collaborated before, as Hayman served as musical director on a play Hawley penned. Working together again was a logical step. "By the time I got involved Derik and Cristina had already done their creating," Hayman said. "They went along with my suggestion to add the music." Norcross has experience in blending mediums together, having co-organized a project called One Vision: A Fusion of Art and Poetry in Lake Country in her native Wisconsin. "Combining the arts is a great passion of mine, so when Derik shared with me the news that his painting and my poem would be set to music for the jazz vesper at St. Jude's, I was thrilled," Norcross said. Hawley said he has been involved with the integration of art and poetry before, but this is the first time the process has led to music. "I am pleasantly surprised and excited to hear the result," he said. Miss Caledonia star Melody Johnson. | submitted photo AVIGAYIL CASHED IN $1,384 FROM HER CLOSET! #EXCITED www.TrendTrunk.com Cash in your closet today at TrendTrunk.com