Poem by Lisa Hibl.
Freeport, Maine: Rebecca Goodale, 2023. Edition of 11.
9” x 6”. Bright yellow cloth bound covers with red foil stamp of an Echinacea. Single sided accordion book with two flag pages. Drypoints printed at Circling the Square Fine Art Press in Gardiner by Rebecca Goodale. Type design and letterpress printing by Scott Vile at Ascensius Press in Bar Mills. Foil stamped by Scott Mullenberg4 at Mullenberg Designs in Portland. Designed, hand colored, and bound by Rebecca at her studio in Freeport, Maine. Signed and numbered by the artist and the writer.
Goodale and Hibl taught a two day course at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in 2022. Course description: “The course explores and unites two creative processes: poetry and the visual arts. Taking inspiration from the forms, colors, and inhabitants of the Gardens, students will write, illustrate, and design an artists’ book.”
Not only did the students benefit from their teaching but their collaboration resulted in a beautiful book of poetry and drypoints – “Shagbark Sestina”.
Just out of the worst wind,
bee tucks into coneflower.
For days, it’s been hot
enough to watch snails inch
up the bristle-grass,
travel the outdoor ..
Lisa Hibl bio, University of Southern Maine: “Lisa grew up on Bailey Island, in Harpswell, Maine. She studied literature at Bowdoin College and then completed an M.F.A. in poetry at Arizona State University. After two years at the University of Delaware, she completed a Ph.D. in English and American Literature at Brandeis University, focusing on the garden in American poetry. Long interested in landscapes and representations of place, she maintains a perennial garden as ‘field work.’ She’s committed to mentoring students and to teaching innovative courses on literature and the arts, creative expression, and the environmental humanities.