In this focussed collection, Diane Kendig uses her poems like a fan to foreground, flourish, and underscore the life and work of Maria Blanchard. Friend to Picasso, Gris, Rivera, but less lauded, less recognized, Blanchard works to overcome her poverty, gender, and disability. Artist, not housekeeper; friend, not lover; creator, not muse; Blanchard makes her place. As she says to a younger artist, "Take another canvas and go further with the same subject."
Kendig reminds us "how far art can take us," her shining gauze of words shifting over Blanchard's oils: "It's a line that unfolds to a staircase, / a keystone that spreads into an arch--central, womanly."
--Susan Grimm, author of Lake Erie Blue
About Maria Blanchard, the woman, one could underline her almost heroic courage and that she was always ahead of her time. As an artist, to be modern, she was just true to herself. There was no imposture in her, nor in her work. Kendig’s book pays tribute to the powerful expressiveness and the humanity that emanates from Blanchard’s.
--Gloria Crespo, art journalist
(Writer and Cinematographer, 26, Rue du Départ, Érase una vez en París)
The visionary paintings and the remarkable life of Maria Blanchard have inspired poet Diane Kendig to produce some of her most engaging and insightful work yet. And, as befits a book so enveloped in artistic obsession, I look forward to returning to these pages often
--Kevin Hearle, author of the National Poetry Series finalist, Each Thing We Know Is Changed Because We Know It
