Take any single Australian painting that you saw at the gallery yesterday (it must be one that you saw) and write a description either in poetry or prose. Pay close attention to detail in your description. What you are in fact doing in this exercise is a piece of Ekphrastic Writing. Check up the meaning of this word!
As I shuffle into the white room of displays,
A sight of mighty blue whisks me away.
There I stand atop of it all,
Upon the spiral balcony.
Gazing into the deep sea below,
White sails slice through its beauty -
Daring to taint the mighty blue,
But they fail to do so miserably.
By my right side,
Floats a splash of dotted green.
It lays on a bed of poignant brown,
With open arms inviting me in –
But still no match for the sight I see;
The meditative mighty blue.
To my left stands tall a bridge,
So famous in name and looks.
It stretches far beyond
Into a faded fogged city aloof,
Yet still no match for that of the mighty blue.
There is one sight however,
That battles for my attention too.
A peach-like tree standing still,
Daring me to release my naked soul,
To the depths of the mighty blue.
It is right there in that moment,
That I come to realise so much more.
The power of shape,
The power of colour tones,
The power of nature.
A slight chatter snap’s me back,
And I realise exactly where I am.
Staring back into the mighty blue,
Into the magic of Brett Whitely,
From within the white walls.
Feature image: Brett Whitley’s “Balcony 2” taken from google images. https://www.google.com/search?q=the+balcony+2+brett+whiteley&sxsrf=ACYBGNTfqA-s7mqTx_0TlD5d-NXgXPdasA:1571200958945&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY-ZzY-5_lAhUMAXIKHe0lAgMQ_AUIEigB&biw=1440&bih=789#imgrc=FVSXMlBzZQa2EM:
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