Which comes first, the poem or the art?

Sometimes people ask me if I'm thinking of a particular poem when I go on a photo shoot, or if I'm thinking of a particular photo when I compose a poem. The simple answer is no. I am entirely focused on the act of creating the poem, or finding and focusing and taking the picture. The long answer relates to the age-old question:

Which comes first?

Like the childhood riddle of the chicken and the egg, there is no easy answer. Or at least, no answer that fits all of the time.

For me, the two creative acts are separate. Some days the words come better than others. I write my haiku (or senryu) without thinking about how I will eventually illustrate it, because that kind of thinking would take me out of the zone and make it next to impossible to write. When I am writing poetry, my mind has to be free, and not limited to a fixed image.

And when I am outside with my camera, the last thing I am thinking about is how to count syllables. The last thing I am doing is composing poems in my head. If I tried that, I wouldn't get any decent shots.

In photographer mode, I'm 100% visually oriented. In poet mode, I'm 100% into words. These are two very different ways of being, and feeling.

So in a sense, the process of creating the two halves of Ameriku forces me to be in-the-moment. If done right, the finished piece of Ameriku will guide the viewer/reader to a similar present-moment "now" experience.

But Ameriku is more than a poem in one hand and a piece of art in the other. It's the fusion of the two forms of art. Like chocolate and orange, it's the merger of two good things to create something better and different than either one alone.

So there is a third step to creating a piece of Ameriku, and that is when I combine the poetry with the visual art. This step always comes last, of course, because the poem and the art already have to be available to me. Then I need to get into a third kind of mindset--one that is not entirely literary, and not solely visual, but still taps into both disciplines.

It might look simple, but this third step takes every bit as much concentration and effort as the other two, and no less time, either.

There is an art to choosing the right visual for the right poem. Then I have to play around with them for awhile, to see if they are really a good fit. Move this here. Change that. Try another. Good enough is not good enough. It must feel right.

Often I'll go through several iterations at this stage. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It doesn't matter if a whole day's work must be tossed. In the end, it must be art. It must be Ameriku.

I'm aiming for a unified whole, a harmonious piece. Somehow the finished Ameriku must say more than either the poem or the visual art alone. It must touch the heart.

My name is Rae Hallstrom, and Ameriku is my art and my business and my brand.

Ameriku® is the registered trademark of Ameriku Ltd. When you see the Ameriku trademark, you can be sure the work meets my high standards of quality.