Bridges
Update: if you want to see an English translation of The Bridges, see the one supplied by Kirsten Klein in the comments.
While helping my son Paul prepare for his French exam a few weeks ago, I reread Les Ponts, a prose poem by Arthur Rimbaud, I got an idea for Kirsten Klein’s illustration contest for her husband’s project – “What is Literary blog?”- the arts being bridges to one another, literary blogs leading, like everything else on the internet, to each other as well as to other blogs and sites, the fragmentary way we read, appreciate things and get information from blogs, and so on….So when I got back from the States the other day, I set to work, and was ready to send in my entry when I re-read the rules…..sigh…..all entries are to be in black and white or shades of gray.
So I’ll post them here and call them a visual response to Rimbaud (Paul has already told me how incredibly pretentious he finds that). And maybe I’ll try to come up with some in black and white!
By the way, Paul did brilliantly on that exam (against all expectations, too).
rue Manuel bis 
Well I’m going to sound pretencious as well and tell you I read the prose in French (think I half understood it and am feeling quite grand about that!) and think your pont sketches illustrate the poem beautifully! What great colors! I can’t wait to peek at your pallet as you have some great hues in many of your paintings. I also enjoyed the beach and airport sketches. I tried just people this weekend and although I’ve far to go as far as correct proportions, i enjoyed the process. Thanks for the treat of so many wonderful sketches to look at this evening!
Thanks Marta! I’ve been looking for an English translation to link to, but I guess this isn’t one of the most widely read texts in translation. I’m not going to attempt it anyway!
These are all just wonderful and colorful! I loved seeing them all together.
Wow, Casey, you’ve returned in amazing creative spirit. I love this work. Just beautiful. And bravo, Paul – reminds me how amazed everyone was when I passed my Italian driving theory test. Some of us are just a lot more brilliant than people think 😉
THese are WONDERFUL. I love the energy, creativity and colors!!!
Congrats to Paul too.
Casey,
Love them! What do they look like if you convert the scans to black and white with something like photoshop for the contest?
Hi…I’m catching up! You have done such amazing creative work the last couple of weeks…just before you left, the drawings which I haven’t seen yet and in NJ at your mom’s home, the sketchcrawl speaks of fun(and talent!) and the bridges…wonderful creative work..it feels great to come back to so much inspiration. Congratulations to Paul and welcome back to all the kids…
Ronell
Oh Casey – these are simply gorgeous! It’s a shame you can’t use them for the contest, and I’m sure you were frustrated finding out after the fact, but these are so beautiful in color. I actually think it’s a good thing that you didn’t know about the color rule ahead of time. If you had these rich and wonderful illustrations wouldn’t exist.
and Congrats to Paul! (big high five)
I love these, Casey! So glad to find them in your blog, too, because I tried to tell you how much I like them on your Flickr site and it doesn’t allow comments.
Casey, these are wonderful! I love the abstract quality to them and the great color schemes in each.
These are smashing!! I so want to see them bigger, so will head over to your flickr site, in hopes that I’ll be able to there!
Casey, I didn´t know that you had planned to join the contest. I just found it by chance.
Wow…. the images are all beautiful. I have to agree with above: the colors are wonderful. I guess converting them to black and white may take something away. But who knows.
Did you try it? Or shoul I try it? I would have loved to have you participate in the contest.
Oh, and I forgot to write that the idea is wonderful too. Such a pity! 😦 Please, please do try to convert them, or let me do it. 🙂
http://illustrationcontest.blogspot.com/2007/07/colorful-images-by-caseytoussaint.html
I posted your pics in the contest´s blog too. In case you don´t want that please let me know. And one of the publishers (my husband) is already a fan of your work. 🙂
My last comment 😉 : In case you do some new ones, then please use only the vertical format.
The Bridges
Skies the gray of crystal. A strange design of bridges, some straight, some arched, others descending at oblique angles to the first; and these figures recurring in other lighted circuits of the canal, but all so long and light that the banks, laden with domes, sink and shrink. A few of these bridges are still covered with hovels, others support polls, signals, frail parapets. Minor chords cross each other and disappear; ropes rise from the shore. One can make out a red coat, possibly other costumes and musical instruments. Are these popular tunes, snatches of seigniorial concerts, remnants of public hymns? The water is gray and blue, wide as an arm of the sea. A white ray falling from high in the sky destroys this comedy.
Kirsten, your translation is lovely – thank you for doing it! I’ve converted them, but I found they lost their life in b & w, but I’ll send them along anyway!
I appreciate everyone’s comments here. As I wrote to Kate – I was out of my comfort zone doing this, but I had a lot of fun.
hi casey, thanks for the mail. actually i didn´t translate the text. my french is pretty poor. i found it somewhere on the net.
stupid me… actually i meant horizontal format.sorry.
These are so different – really exciting pieces. I love them altogether.
How did I ever miss these! I’m crazy about them and now I want to find the english translation!