“The Swan,” inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem of the same name, 20″ h x 30″ w, oil on canvas, by Rachael McCampbell

“Dreamscapes”: Poetry Inspired Paintings by Rachael McCampbell

Friday, May 16 – 5-8 pm reception. Artist talk: Thursday, May 29, 7-9 pm at The District Gallery, Knoxville, TN

May 16 – June 14, 2015

“Poetry can be a veritable feast for the senses…the delicious way sounds rolls off your tongue when you read it aloud, the rhythms that make you want to dance, and the visuals that like a dream, lift you from your own reality, into another work, into a dreamscape.” by Rachael McCampbell

McCampbell has created a collection of paintings inspired by poets such as Mary Oliver, Donald Justice, Wallace Stevens, Robert Creeley, Wendell Berry, W.B. Yeats, Maya Angelou, Raymond Carver and more. Here paintings are highly textured with layers of acrylic charcoal and oil. She applies paint and then removes it until eventually the story she needs to tell emerges.