A Deep Dive into Kermit's Bicycle Ride
Embracing the art of "slow looking."
My sister and I often travel together. A must-stop is an art museum, where I could wander all day. My sis is the type who will breeze through museums, offering a fleeting glance at each masterpiece, lingering only for a brief moment. I’m the opposite. I find her waiting for me in the gift shop.
Two weeks ago, I had a chance to stroll about the Santa Barbara Art Museum as part of a writing workshop. My friend, Melinda Palacio, the Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara, extended an invitation to my writing group.
The assignment was to view a floor of eight art pieces and write about one for thirty minutes. My first thought was how would I transcribe my feelings onto paper and ‘on demand?’
The participants listened to Melinda as she stood before a huge Keith Mayerson painting entitled: “Someday we’ll Find It, the Rainbow Connection, the Lovers, the Dreamers, and Me 2023.” The painting depicts Kermit the Frog riding a yellow bicycle.
Melinda explained what the picture said to her: “What grabbed me, besides the subject Kermit, was the dappled light, the determination on Kermit’s face to peddle through any circumstance to meet his goals and the collective knowing that ‘we will find it, the rainbow connection.’ There’s a sense that Kermit is riding outside his world into the unknown, an adventure not just for himself but for his community and audience.”
And so we embarked on a unique exercise: select an artwork and write about it. As we poured our thoughts onto paper, something magical happened. The room came alive with the whispers of creativity. Each of us was searching for a story, a connection, a revelation.
What astounded me was the incredible diversity of interpretations that unfolded before our eyes. Among the sixteen participants, nearly half chose to focus their creative energies on Kermit and his yellow bicycle. Yet, despite this shared subject, all stories were unique. Each writer extracted something different from the painting, revealing the boundless depths of artistic interpretation.
Now, consider this exercise in the hands of a child or a teenager visiting a museum. Imagine the possibilities as their young minds unravel the mysteries of art. How might we inspire the next generation to delve into the present moment, to truly see the world around them, whether it's an art piece, a passerby on the street, or the birds outside their window?
This practice was a reminder that art has the power to slow us down, make us pause, and reflect. It teaches us that every stroke of a brush, every shade of color, and every subject matter has a story waiting to be told. This transforms museum visits into immersive experiences that let you dive deep into the emotions and stories behind each artwork.
So, the next time you find yourself in the tranquil confines of a museum, take a page from this exercise and spend a little extra time with a single piece of art. You might discover a story waiting to be unearthed, a connection waiting to be made, or a dream waiting to be lived.
This art piece drew me close: El Nino by Jane Dickson.
I wrote a flash fiction:
Towering twin sentinels with eyes that watch over the home welcome the young man motoring up a sidewalk the color of the gloomy sky. A porch light illuminates what transpired that day, like the day before—cleaning, cooking, caretaking kids, and Grandpa staring at a fuzzy TV screen for hours. A humid day has come to a close. Open windows and an open front door are all one can do without air conditioning.
“Didn’t need one twenty years ago,” Grandpa grumbles. “That husband of yours should spring for A/C, the tightwad.”
The floor fan whirls the heavy comment out the window and into the man’s face like a gloved slap. Kids wave from the slit in the door. Too late to turn back. He hesitates, one leg on his motorcycle, the other on the warm cement.
On October 22, Día de los Muertos Free Family Day, Melinda will perform three sets of poetry and songs at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art: 1:15 to 1:35, 2:15 to 2:35, and 3:15 to 3:35.
Find her poetry and writing on her website and in the Santa Barbara Independent, the Poetry Connection column.
Author News
I’ve been busy prepping for three presentations about my YA novel, “The Garden of Second Chances,” and my writing experience:
Oct. 7 Billie Jean King Library in Long Beach, CA, where I’ll present with other authors and poets at the Mercadito Literario (Literary Marketplace).
Oct. 9, Pacifica High School, Oxnard, CA, with English Lit students, SPED, and Chicano Lit students.
Oct. 13, for the California Association of Bilingual Educators. Theme “Testimonios: The Power of Our Art, Our Stories and Our Dreams.
I’d be remiss not to mention this is Banned Books Week. Read a banned book!
What I’m Reading
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee. Historical Fiction: We Are Not Free is the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.
Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco, and whose families are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps.
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