Haiga Showcase: Tim Roberts
Haiga is where I play, explore, experiment, and learn so much—usually in the letting go. I like to try novel approaches and I like to use both hands. My current favorites are drawing with fountain pens and applying ink and acrylic with teeth-floss wands. All this is a privilege. I prefer it to sleeping. It gives me movement and life and friendships.
—Tim Roberts
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Commentary
By Ron C. Moss, Haiga Editor
“wind over scree” is a spiral tour-de-force. It has an “in your face” attitude, and the eyes especially are captivating. The one-line senryu/haiku is evocative and highly personal—it refuses to be in any box of rules, in fact it just blows them apart, as the art does. Brilliant!
Next we have “arcade,” which is another punch in face for the viewer (in a good way). The jagged lines and color palette demand our attention in an overwhelming way—as the poem says, it’s a rush. The poem is a great social comment about the evils of gambling, and its effects on those who are drawn to it.
The laughing Buddha of “in his begging bowl” is executed with the same freedom longed for by all artists—the child-like action of just playing with the pen and ink and letting it all flow over the page. Another very clever social comment about those who are less fortunate, paralleled with the traditional Zen practice of monks humbly begging as part of their practice.
In “autumn squalls,” the sharp cutting teeth accentuate the feel of the poem, as do those eyes. The rent collection line makes me think of hardship and perhaps the downtrodden—the entire piece seems to be an explosive social comment.
About the Artist
Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at 49, Tim Roberts tries to live a contemplative life of creativity that invites happenstance and playfulness … and he fails, but loves it. He’s hooked on haiku, haiga, and visual art, which bring him fulfillment and fun. He lives in Kapiti, New Zealand.