Commentary by Ron Moss
Haiga Showcase: Dan Hardison
I really enjoy Dan’s haiga and the refreshing way in which he uses hand-drawn works. These fine line drawings, with their muted colour palette, offer a sense of reflection and peace that I deeply appreciate.
“adrift” sets the standard that we see through all his haiga. The image of beautifully drawn trees link and shift with the poem to evoke peace and stillness. I like the way the text is subtly introduced into the drawing in the shape of a card. There’s plenty of that treasured “white space” around the image and words, giving them space to breathe and shine.
In “waking early,” a well-crafted moon centers our attention and links with the haiku to form a dreamscape. “sunrise” features a delightful dragonfly and its haiku offers a matching lightness. Both continue the mediative mood.
With “beauty,” the series finishes with a well-rendered flower and a pause for thought with the poem. I would love to see more work in this medium, and I encourage artists and poets to try their own hand-created works.
Dan explains in his own words:
Typically, I write the poems first and then illustrate them later. I find myself jotting down notes and poems on my cell phone and then the words become the guide for the image. While most of my haiga has incorporated photographs, I am now concentrating on my artwork, which is inspired by Japanese woodblocks and ink painting (sumi-e). My work can be found at my website, Windscape Studio, and my blog, Some Tomorrow’s Morning.
About the Artist
A native of Tennessee, Dan Hardison now lives in coastal North Carolina. “While I have worked with art and photography for the past 40 years,” he says, “my journey writing short-form poetry began in 2009. As a visual artist, haiga was an immediate interest where I could combine images with words.”