What happens when a sculpture, a garden path, or the quiet movement of light through cedar branches becomes the beginning of a poem? That was the question explored when seventeen members of the Bellingham Haiku Association gathered at Big Rock Garden Park for an afternoon of ekphrastic and nature writing.
Spending an hour writing en plein air among the park’s sculptures and contemplative landscapes before sharing their work aloud, the poets demonstrated the remarkable capacity of visual art and natural environments to awaken language.
At Sophia Grace Gallery, this dialogue between image and word has become one of our defining traditions—a tradition now captured in Edgeworks: Ekphrastic Encounters, our newly released chapbook featuring twenty regional poets responding to He Gong’s inaugural exhibition, Maps of No Return. If this gathering inspires you, Edgeworks offers an invitation to continue the journey from seeing to writing, from artwork to poem.
Seventeen poets of the Bellingham Haiku Association gathered beneath the trees at Big Rock Garden Park on July 11th at 11:30 am, with a simple invitation: to spend an hour listening.
Some listened to sculpture. Others listened to birdsong, wind through cedar, reflections on water, or the quiet architecture of the garden itself.
This is the practice of ekphrastic writing—where art finds language. It begins with a painting, a sculpture, or a landscape, but it ends somewhere much deeper: in the inner life of the writer.
After an hour of writing in solitude, we gathered together to share our work. It was a beautiful reminder that no two people encounter the same artwork in quite the same way. Every poem revealed another way of seeing.
At Sophia Grace Gallery, this conversation between visual art and poetry has become one of our defining traditions. Our newest publication, Edgeworks, brings together poems written in response to the exhibition He Gong: Maps of No Return. You can pick up a copy at the gallery for just $14 or order online through Igneus Press.
And if you’d like to experience ekphrastic writing for yourself, join us for our 4th Ekphrastic Writing, Wine & Open Mic on Saturday, July 18, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
We’ll spend the afternoon writing among the artwork from 2:00 to 4:15, enjoy a wine social from 4:15 to 4:45, and conclude with a curator’s tour and open mic from 4:45 to 6:00.
Come discover what happens when art becomes language—and perhaps, your own next poem.
