Sally Baker - Submission

A Picture is Worth Five Hundred Words (or Less)

Always intrigued by the interpretation and comments she receives about her paintings, fine artist Sally Baker has decided to collaborate with her audience for her December show. Each Monday, from October 17 to November 22, Sally will post three or more of her evocative still life watercolors on her website www.SallyBaker.com, and invites you to respond, with prose or poetry.

How does the painting speak to you? What is the story? Somewhere in each of the twelve watercolors, lush with antique fabrics, just picked flowers, ripe persimmons and Japanese pottery, lays a narrative. Find it, gently pull it out, and arrange it on the page. You can see an example by viewing the Examples Page. Remember, the submissions can be anything you like: bittersweet, funny, sad, contemplative -- however the images move you.

Sally will choose a poem or prose piece that intuits or reflects something intrinsic to the work. If she can’t decide between a prose piece and a poetry piece, she may take one of each. The names of the three (or more) selected writers will be posted on the website the following week, and chosen entries will be hung alongside the paintings at the Graton Gallery, where the Opening Reception will be held December 11, from 2pm to 5pm. Helping Sally find the most expressive entries are Sonoma writers and poets Toni L. Wilkes, Gregory W. Randall, and Colleen Craig. Eligible writers are limited to the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Each writer chosen to exhibit with Sally will receive a 5 x 7 print of the watercolor work that illustrates their words. These prints sell at the gallery for $50.

Opening Date for Submissions: October 17
Closing Date: November 22nd

Cycles:
1st Oct. 17th to Oct. 28th
2nd Oct. 31st to Nov. 4th
3rd Nov. 7th to Nov. 11th
4th Nov. 14th to Nov. 22nd

What to Submit: Flash fiction, poetry (any style: haiku, free verse, etc.) You may submit up to 3 entries per cycle unless your work has been chosen during a previous cycle. Only one work per writer will be exhibited in the show.

Word Count Up to 500 for prose and 40 lines for poetry

Entry Fee No Entry Fee

In order to participate in the event, click on a painting to write about from the images shown below. Fill in the forms on the following page, click submit and your entry will be submitted. It's that simple. All entrants will be invited to the reception to share their experience, and enjoy the play of art and language as Sally envisions it. Writers exhibiting with Sally are invited to read their work during the reception, although participation will be at the writer's discretion: we realize not everyone enjoys reading aloud in public. Sally Baker reserves the right to publish the selected prose and poetry in a print publication or online. (A book of words and images may be published, as a result of the collaboration.) She will retain First North American Serial Rights for the work(s) for a period of six months. After that time, the rights will revert to the writer.

The selected entries for the previous cycle of paintings are as follows:

Perspicacity
"Perfect Fruit"
Poem by CB Follett ('Lyn) of Sausalito