Image by Willgard Krause from Pixabay
harmless and straw-stuffed
diabolic rural fiend
what is Scarecrow's truth?
Sometimes, an image is wonderful, but it isn't the right choice to convey your intent most effectively. This is true for both visual and written work.
I initially selected the image of the friendly straw dolly-style scarecrow to illustrate my poem because I didn't want to use the stereotypical horror movie scarecrow. However, this image was not the most effective choice. The shadowy scarecrow figure's ambiguity perfectly conveys the poem's message. It's just a harmless old scarecrow hanging in a field--isn't it? The shadows seem malevolent, but that's just a trick of the light. Probably.
The right image at the right time brings power to your work, lending it a lasting impression. There's nothing wrong with the straw dolly. She can be repurposed. In fact, she will be my model for today's etching. She simply didn't bring the most evocative energy to my scarecrow poem.
I once read an essay about writing good Haiku. Unfortunately, the only thing that stuck with me from this article was that it referred to certain of its samples as "bad" rather than simply showing how they could be written more effectively. Nothing discourages aspiring artists, poets, and writers more than the fear that their efforts will be ridiculed. Shame is not an effective motivator. It is more likely to encourage a person to abandon their efforts than to spur positive changes.
My scarecrow Haiku will never win any prizes. It probably breaks several rules of Haiku perfection. However, my motivation when writing it was not to win any prizes. I wanted to contrast the harmless scarecrow archetype with the horrific version and raise the age-old question: can you judge a book by its cover? Are scarecrows funny, floppy beings, or sinister creatures hiding wicked secrets? At the heart of it, my true motivation was to pair philosophical concepts with a bit of fun, and I believe I succeeded in that goal.
I'm not going to do a combination post this time. This post will work nicely for my Substack and as a free post for my Ream channel.
While I am still committed to the 30 Days of Haiga project, not all 30 days will take place in September. Because of other commitments, I am taking the pressure off myself by making this a quarter-long project rather than a month-long one as I've done in years past. If I write the last of my 30 annual Haigas in December, it's fine.
I'm still learning to pace myself rather than beating myself up for being unable to comply with the too-ambitious goals I tend to set for myself. I consider this decision a win. Creativity should be enjoyable rather than feeling like horrible homework.
~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~
Image by LoneWombatMedia from Pixabay
Scarecrows and I have something in common; we're both outstanding in our field.
My creations are © 2024. This work is openly licensed via CC BY 4.0.
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