See how the colors flame against the darkness, shapes struggling to emerge from them? One stands alone, distinct and singular, yet so small in the face of the writhing hues overhead.
Yes, I’m getting poetic. I always do when I see Jacob Berghoef’s artwork. This is just one of the many inspirational thoughts his images conjure within me.
When I first saw his artwork on LinkedIn, I was struck by Jacob Berghoef’s use of color and light, the elemental feel they gave the images. The elements seemed to mingle and meld; suggesting air, fire, and water all at once. Wood and earth snuck in in shadowy shapes or stood in proud relief against what seemed to be a sky or a seascape. A suggestion of intangibility, a dream sleeping away was carried in the suggestions, the shadows, the ways the colors mingled.
Jacob Berghoef appeared to have channeled the Shadow Forest into his artwork. It was almost uncanny or perhaps my concept of the Shadow Forest tapped into something far greater than myself and the characters who’d lose themselves in its woods? A well of creativity, a well we glimpse when we see light reflected upon water, the colors playing in a sunset?
I was too shy to say this, but I tried to put some of what I felt into words. I mentioned Tayel, how I felt Jacob had captured some of what Tayel saw in his art.
Jacob didn’t just appreciate my words. He started following the Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com. Eventually he suggested that we collaborate.
Shyness struck me as daylight savings makes many of us stumble when we’re first springing forward. I’m terrified of committing myself to any kind of artist endeavor. I’m terrified of failure. Perhaps you’re familiar with this kind of fear. It can be crippling.
I pushed past this terror, trying my hand at a poem to accompany one of Jacob’s works of art. I decided to do what I’ve often done when seeing Jacob’s artwork on LinkedIn; put what I felt into words, transforming this expression into poetry.
To my delight, not only Jacob, but many people on LinkedIn appreciated our collaboration. This made me bolder, even if my fear still made me fingers a bit weak.
We collaborated again. I paired a poem of mine to one of his works of art at https://www.saatchiart.com/account/collection/905947. The reaction we got made me feel giddy, so giddy I was almost shy, as well as elated.
I decided to try and reciprocate when I found myself writing a poem in response to Paula Wyant’s Wednesday Words at ptwyant.com.
I’ve been drawing inspiration from Paula Wyant’s prompts for years. Even now, there’s a poem or a story at the Cauldron I’ve written in response to one of her prompts. I’ve joked that her blog is my Carerra, where I get the marble to sculpt something out of words, or perhaps she provides the onions for whatever is brewing in the Cauldron? :)
Often her prompts involve snow (something I have to draw upon my imagination to visualize since I live on level ground in California). One of them involved not just snow, but the elements.
I wrote a poem in response. I went to look for an image to pair with it, thinking, “Would one of Jacob Berghoef’s works be perfect for this?”
My next thought was “Why not ask him if he’s inspired to make something to go with this?”
And so I did. I sent Jacob the poem, asked if he’d like to create something to accompany it at the Cauldron.
Not only did he do so, he created something which surpassed all my expectations. I found new ideas popping into my head as I regarded the colors, the shapes hinted at within the colors.
And so it continues, a cycle of creativity. Paula Wyant inspires me with her Wednesday Words prompts. I inspire Jacob Berghoef with what I write in response. Jacob inspires me once more with what he creates, in response to what I write.
Do I ever inspire Paula with what I write in response to her prompts? I hope so. I want this cycle to continue.
Thank you, Paula Wyant and Jacob Berghoef, for being sources of inspiration in life; rich, powerful sources of inspiration. May I inspire you in turn.