Haiga Showcase: Louise Hopewell & Peter Ward
Back in 2008 when my poppa [Peter Ward] was moved into aged care and the family was cleaning out his house, the entire contents of his garage art studio were thrown into a skip in his driveway. I climbed in and rescued a bundle of his artworks, which then sat in the back of one of my cupboards. I rediscovered Poppa’s pictures when I was moving house last year and thought, “I should do something with these to honour his memory.” In creating poems to accompany my poppa’s artwork, I tapped into memory, trying to capture his essence and the essence of family. I’m a great believer in the power of the subconscious, so my method involved looking at his artworks and then moving on to do something else before coming back to pen my poems.
—Louise Hopewell
Biography of Peter Ward, 1922–2010
Peter Ward (1922-2010) was born in Liverpool, England. He worked as a fireman and then, during World War II, as a shipbuilder. After immigrating to Australia in the 1950s with his wife and daughter (Louise’s mum), Peter worked at the Government Aircraft Factory. Despite (or because of) spending his career building machines of war, Peter was a committed pacifist. He was also an accomplished self-taught musician (piano, piano accordion, and spoons!). After retiring, he fulfilled a life-long dream of studying art, attending regular classes at the University of the Third Age.
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Commentary
By Ron C. Moss, Haiga Editor
With blackbird song, the painting’s warm watercolours and soft shapes give the impression of looking back in time. The haiku introduces the immigrant (which we come to understand is Louise’s beloved Poppa), and the text is handled in a minimal way so us not to distract from the lovely tones of the painting.
In immigration, the painting illustrates dramatically the haiku’s statement about new colors. It’s always difficult to place text straight onto a painting, but once again it has been handled well: the sky dominates, with just enough land for the scene to feel grounded in time.
There’s another expansive sky in poppa’s paintings. We can just make out two birds flying free, which lifts the haiga to a feeling of acceptance in a new land.
The final haiga, mum tell stories, returns us to a stunning warm sky. The poetic words bring us to the end of a life, a finality perhaps echoed by the sun sinking into a cool blue sea. Louise has done a marvelous job of playing tribute Peter’s life and art, and we are richer for the experience.
About the Poet
Louise Hopewell is an Australian poet and playwright based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her haiku awards include first place in the inaugural John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku, 2020, and first place in the Haiku Down Under contest, 2024. When not writing, she can be found riding her bicycle or playing ukulele.
Louise, lovely creative work that you have created!