Glædelig jul :)

 

Seashaken Light, poetry

by Sussi Louise Smith, 1 November 2020,

Ilkley artist and writer Sussi Louise Smith, debuts with the poetry collection Seashaken Light on Sunday, 1 November 2020. Originally from Denmark, Sussi moved to the Yorkshire Dales in 2015 and is well known locally for her colourful art, stories and not least the book stones she designs for the Grove Bookshop. This is her first collection published in English. Seashaken Light is a story told from many angles. With Scandinavian candour, moonlight and the raw voice of a life that has seen too much cancer but remains ever inspired by the roar of the sea, even now she lives inland, we are taken on a journey to the edge of the salty Danish coasts and travel below and above the surface of the ‘I am fine’ mentality. Seashaken Light is a passionate ode to hope and an authentic voice that cuts through the anxiety of dealing with loss, life and grasps light by its whiskers and pulls it in.

 

Three poems from the collection have been put to hauntingly beautiful music by local musician Emma Hughes, Bingley, and can be found on YouTube under #seashakenlight

 

Amber trigger warning for those who have lost dear ones.

And for vegans, bacon will be mentioned (Sussi is Danish after all)     

Seashaken Light is published by Cathy Harper Publishing 

The Grove Bookshop, Ilkley will host a book launch via ZOOM on Wednesday 4 November at 7 pm. The event is free. Please sign up via the website or call the shop. For those who feel they can a voluntary contribution to Cancer Research is Sussi’s preferred charity for the event.

Sussi will be signing her book in The Grove Bookshop on Sunday 1 November between 11 - 11.30 

 

 

Your colours

Your colours made me cry
They broke my heart in that special way
The best way
No scarring
All healing
I heard the rumbling from the sea
The symphony of little clicks
that every grain of sand makes when it shifts
I felt the shift,
shift something in me

The colour of your roof
is a deep hum
The kind you hear sitting, 

back against an ancient tree
The kind of blue that if you look at it too long
you drift away to far far places
Other worlds of otherworlds
You may not want to fly back

Hold on to the golden reeds
Hold on to the clear sound of the hidden reds
Roots in a deep B minor here
Reaching up as well as down
Reaching in
Into my broken heart to heal me

Your colours broke my heart
Thank you
#sussithepoet
#artbysussilouise #Anti-Parable

Breathe

Her hair so tender floating

Incredibly soft coating

of golden summer streaks

Highlights and midnight peaks

Just breathe

Or don’t

Don’t do as they tell you to

Breathe the way that takes you through

the maze the labyrinth

Your road your map to print

Just breathe

Or don’t

Her air so softly floating

The breath of life evoking

deep memories of then

of when time was all new

Just breathe

Or don’t

Don’t do as they want you to

Breathe your way breathe green breathe blue

waters under over

in-between time is yours

To just breathe

Or to not




#Sussithepoet #Anti-Parable

Sea Symphony // Seashaken Light

“Achingly tender and raw, Seashaken Light is truly a siren’s song of the sea and love, but also of the fragility of life with illness and hope that still endures.  It moved me, like the waves, shaking me while also bringing joy.” 

Pernille Hughes, 

Author of Punch Drunk Love and Probably the Best Kiss in the World

The planned publication of  SEASHAKEN LIGHT 

has been Corona moved to Autumn 2020

At first, that made me really sad, but then Emma Hughes happened. A  local singer-songwriter read a few of the poems from the collection and asked if she could play around with some melodies. Three fabulous musical interpretations from the collection have come out of this tender collaboration and I feel my heart has been put to music. I hope you enjoy the music and lyrics too.

Kærlig Hilsen

Sus

~ Words by © Sussi Louise Smith/Music~Emmazen

#justdraw Fairy forest on little scrap of paper.

Would you like to help me illustrate My Erna the Flying Whale book?

Hygge #justpaint with Sussi

Mads and Finn the flying superheroes 1

Mads and Finn 4

It's not that I don't care, but if you don't bring chocolates how am I supposed to you you mean it?

Valentine's day

it is not really a day is it?

Not really a feeling either

or a point of purpose

But

there is this snag in my self-righteous PC blabber 

even if I don't buy into all the 

LOVE (yuck)

COMMERCIALISM (double yuck)

I really do like chocolate

and flowers

Obviously, I would prefer this to happen

every

single

day

I don't mind the stretchy jeans or the love handles

I really just love the thought of you

finding that perfect box of chocolate

dairy-free gluten-free

all for me

It makes me want to dance

dance

like no-one is watching

like

music was made just for me

like

chocolate on all days

 you know better though

I say I don't mind the stretchy jeans

I do

I say I love chocolate

but I only like some chocolates and I am 

picky

picky about everything

Love

Jeans

Chocolate

I am even picky about the sea

it has to be salty

foamy

reachable

loving

fearsome

it has to be my sea
North Sea glory

#bluemind

#daughtersofthesea

#chocolatemonsterblues

IMPORTANT UPDATE

IMPORTANT UPDATE

As of January 2020 I no longer take commissions for large scale life history paintings in acrylic or watercolour.
This has not been an easy decision, since I absolutely love getting into the many incredibly interesting and exciting stories all normal people have because we're all unique. However, I have found increasingly, that I spend my soul painting and when I hand over the paintings a bit of it goes with it and truth is, I need all of it to exist sensibly unfragmented, does that make sense? That's why I from now on am painting with my heart, and if you love what my heart says you can acquire, or just inquire, about the painting. I have the firm belief that a good painting always finds its rightful owner. :)

I will still paint and still do stones and you are still most welcome to come and browse my art in the studio or in various mini exhibitions! I'd love you to see my art and how it will develop over the next year or so. Who knows. I might open up the book for painting commissions again sometime in the future.

I hope you understand

#artbysussi #sussishappyartproject #actionforhappiness #happyart #gladkunst