Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2006SYR05
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Unexpectedly
poster information
Description
Unexpectedly
a stone staircase in the woods—
very Narnian
Syracuse has a lot of stone staircases in the woods, but I'm referring one up by the community gardens at the top of Akerman Avenue. One day I was walking through with a friend, and there it was, all of a sudden. It was a magical experience. And that's kind of how I think of Syracuse: a combination of city and woods, with a sort of magical, mysterious energy.
I liked the Narnia books, and I use the adjective “Narnian” for a lot of vaguely magical, woodsy things. I don't know if it's a word in the proper sense, but I think there's a certain segment of the population that would describe things as Narnian. Like most of my friends would know what it means.
I've heard the term “Narnian” used in different ways. I've heard it used to describe something bizarre, mysterious or interesting. But when I was reading it, I interpreted it as something other-worldly, fantasy-like or whimsical.
I read the references the poet gave, and I went to the place she described. The staircase was interesting. Just as the poem says, you wouldn't expect it to be there.
I took photo reference, and I went back to start working. I think a lot about design quality when I'm making choices about placement. The tree and the staircase were design principals, a way of creating mystery through design. You can manipulate them to make them more interesting. I did that with the tree—made it whimsical. You wouldn't see something like that in nature.