A purple shimmer of Blue John,
a peacock flare hidden in crystal :
the Unfinished Poems project at
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery
Dig and chisel and quarry and flake,
Polish black or shimmer blue,
Of languid tale or unslumbering wake,
Minerals glinting with a different hue,
Of rock and earth for sorrow or mirth,
For times gone by and of memories new.
(Laura Huxford)
The Collections of the
Artists project is reaching its final stages now. Exciting pieces of work are poised
to appear among the treasures of the Wonders of the Peak gallery in Buxton Museum
and Art Gallery.
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| this landscape offers a lot |
I have been writing poems and stories inspired by the collection. There have been earlier pieces here (links at foot of page). One of the latest pieces I have
been working on is not a single bit of writing but is rather a set of unfinished
poems: 2 lines that might provoke a response relating to different aspects of
the collection. There are 8 of these poems, printed on postcards with a
picture to colour in and some possibly useful words scattered around, inviting
people to complete the poems as they explore, colour in the picture and send
the postcard to a friend (but hoping they will send us the poems as well!)
The first poems are
coming in now so I thought I would post these and invite readers of the blog to
add their own responses to the opening lines. You may never have seen our
Galleries but then you might have your own history of over-enthusiastic
diggers, beautiful stone and prehistoric tool makers…
There are 8 Poems in the
set: I’ll do the 3 here that we’ve had responses to and post others over the next
couple of weeks
(uncredited poems are
ones handed in by visitors with no name attached)
If you do write your own
completed poem: send it to toadwords@btinternet.com
I can’t promise to use everything
but will try to
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| Ashford Black Marble with inlaid decoration |
DECORATIVE STONE
Starting points here are
the Ashford Black Marble pieces and our Blue John carvings and window
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| these are the line drawings visitors have been colouring in |
2. Dig and chisel and
quarry and flake,
Polish black or shimmer
blue,
In everything I seek,
None can compare
To the Wonders of the
Peak
(Anon)
Unfinished poem:
Dig and chisel and quarry and flake,
Polish black or shimmer blue
Useful words:
new, wake, make, bake, flew, blew
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| those cairns didn't stand much chance |
VICTORIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS
A lot of our collection grew
from the efforts of those Victorian enthusiasts who went out across and under the
Peaks
3. Shovels and spades dig
piles of earth
Burrowing into the
ancient mound
Where my ancestor lies undisturbed
Until I pull him out.
(Anon)
4. Shovels and spades dig
piles of earth
Burrowing into the
ancient mound
A spade is a spade by no
other name
So, it is plain to say,
just shovel away
(Anon)
Unfinished poem:
Shovels and spades dig piles of earth
Burrowing into the ancient mound
Useful words: worth,
hearth, treasures, found, ground
STONE AGE TOOLS
And largely as a result
of those Victorians above, we have a large collection of prehistoric tools
including delicate Mesolithic flints that lie like notes on the staves of their
display cards. There are careful arrowheads, polished stone axes and more…
 |
| mesolithic flints |
5. A hammer blow splits
flint from stone,
A firebow wakes embers
from the wood,
A knife splits flesh
from the bone,
The echoes sound
throughout the wood.
(Anon)
6. A hammer blow splits
flint from stone,
A firebow wakes embers
from the wood,
The branch bends, the
sinew sings,
That flint on an arrow
Brings the goose to the
fire
And the family rests.
(Creeping Toad)
Unfinished poem:
A hammer blow splits flint from stone,
A firebow wakes embers from the wood,
Useful words:
moan, groan, alone, bone, good, food
With many thanks to the writers, known and unknown, of our finished poems!
Blogs connected to this proejct:
http://creepingtoad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/collection-of-artists-writing-starts.html
http://creepingtoad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/fin-cop-pausing.html
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