And the day ends...

a new collaboration between artist Tabby Ivy and poet Fran Gardner

Today’s piece brings me so much joy. I first encountered Tabby’s work through her collaboration with Juke writer Damon Falke, and over time I have been so inspired by her willingness to share her art and her creative process with our readers. Then recently I heard from Tabby that she had approached the poet Fran Gardner, whose creative prompts we’ve been featuring recently on Juke, in order to strike up a new collaboration. Tabby sent Fran an image of the painting below, hoping both the title and the painting itself would stimulate Fran to write something. As you’ll see below, Fran came through remarkably… TM

“And the Day Ends” by Tabby Ivy

Sunsets Have Been Pink Lately

by Fran Gardner

Sunsets have been pink lately, smudges of color gathering darker hues. Crows cut through those clouds, headed to their nightly rendezvous at the river.
The crows cloak the grass, pooling blackness. Here, peace descends as the dark approaches. Like crows’ wings, night will cloak our senses, our memories.
Horizons lengthen in twilight, possibilities extending beyond what was evident in the light of day. What’s grass in this painting could also be water, waves of salt, swells of green.
How scented the evening, flowers unraveling. Pines release resin, spoor gives up its heat. 
Still, is this scene comfortable? Comforting? What is the promise, a red sky at night? 
We will never reach that horizon, never touch those clouds. 
They are captured for us, nonetheless. 
Find an extra brushstroke of pink, frosting on the edge of the day. White highlights in the grass, delineating the trees. We count the stalks, the trunks, the mountains, waiting for the moon.
This was our day. This will be our dream. Green to gray, purple to pink, gathering dusk.

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Fran Gardner spent most of her career in the newsroom of The Oregonian as an editor and writer. Many years retired, she curates insights, photos and poems into a weekly posting called Becoming. Find it at frangardner.substack.com.

After over thirty years in Montana, contemporary painter Tabby Ivy now lives and works in Carlton, Oregon. Painting came late in her life. Her home studio is a sanctuary for working, and reading her extensive collection of art books. Learn more at www.tabbyivy.com.

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