Jackie Morris

Jackie Morris

I love to paint. To make an image appear on a piece of white paper, spun there with layers of coloured water.

And I love the space you go to in your head when you are chasing a story and writing.

At present I am working on a book of Classic Poems for Barefoot Books, due for publication in September 2006. The book has been a bit like trying to juggle with 128 balls all at the same time when people keep taking one out and putting another in, but it has also been a wonderful waltz through poetry in search of dancing words.

I have two more books waiting - Singing to the Sun, by the wonderful Vivian French, and The Snow Leopard, written and to be illustrated by me - and I am hoping to work on a book of nursery rhymes.

My main inspiration comes, I think, from the written word. I love stories, myth and landscape. When I first heard Beowulf at the age of about twelve it lit a fire deep in my soul. I think stories can do that. They reach through generations through some kind of genetic memory and connect all things. I paint because I love to; I also paint because I have to. It is much like breathing and dreaming. To stay alive I breathe, I dream and I paint.

Fine Lines: an interview with Jackie Morris appeared in Resurgence issue 164.

More of Jackie’s work, including free e-cards, can be seen at www.jackiemorris.co.uk.

Resurgence Gallery

Resurgence has always featured the work of visual artists who give expression to the themes and values espoused in the magazine. Some of these artists are relatively well known; others have only a local reputation. All have been selected because there is something about their imaginative work which chimes with, or amplifies the spiritual and ecological message of Resurgence.

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