Commentary by Ron Moss
Haiga Showcase: Marietta McGregor
Marietta is well known for her fine haiku and her wide-ranging artistic eye. In her haiga, she merges well-chosen words with evocative images to create an effective partnership.
“every night” kicks off with colourful reds and branches of calligraphic twigs. This topical haiku demonstrates how the poet is experiencing a confinement that we have all faced in different ways over the past year.
The railways tracks in “all the things” give us the sense of a journey, and the haiku reinforces that in a way that allows us to contemplate our own journeys. Putting text straight onto an image can sometimes pose challenges of readability, but as in all of Marietta’s haiga, her choice of font and text colour works well.
“late bloomer” demonstrates how image abstraction lends itself to haiku and senryu. The poem’s mix of images reflect the artist’s choice of colours, creating the all-important link.
The “treasured memories” haiga is delightful. Although the teddy bear looks a little worse for wear, it intrigues us—and the poem provides a clever message that links to the state of little teddy.
Marietta explains in her own words:
As a one-time botanist and enthusiast photographer, I try to engage with sometimes-overlooked small details of the natural world. Often nature past its first flush is at its most beautiful and evocative. I also enjoy sumi-e brush painting, using real tools and iPad apps. What I hope to achieve in my haiga is a balance of colour, form, and meaning, linking and shifting between image and words.
About the Artist
A fourth-generation Tasmanian, Marietta McGregor divides her time with family between Canberra and the beautiful New South Wales south coast beaches. Her professional working life spanned careers as research palynologist, science journalist, and garden designer. Her haiga, haiku and haibun have featured in NHK TV Haiku Masters episodes and have gained international awards.