by Emily Grab

Elise Tomlinson’s Freddy-the-Wonder-Terrier and Emily Wall’s Nani made their debut as four-legged artistic muses at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum on the First Friday of November.

“Unleashed: Paintings & Poems Exploring the Dog Culture of Juneau and Douglas” includes poetry by UAS English Professor Emily Wall with corresponding paintings by UAS Library Dean Elise Tomlinson. 

“I’ve never had a dog, and now I’m out having to talk to my neighbors constantly,” Tomlinson said. “It’s just improved my life so much, and she said she was feeling the same.” 

Wall said they often walked their dogs together and took photos. “So I started writing, and she was painting. Those first couple of months, I wanted to get that sense of what it’s like to have a dog, and thinking about how it was changing how I see Douglas. We did that for maybe six or seven months.” 

The two share a Google Drive, “which we call our junk drive, and she started painting on my writing, and I started writing on her paintings,”  Wall said. 

Some of the poems and paintings were intentional, while others were separate, she said.

Wall’s favorite poem from the exhibit was “Centennial Hall,” which is based on a true story.

“Having a dog is changing everything in some ways. It makes me think about, like, the way I’m on the beach is different, the way I walk up the driveway at 6 a.m. is different. I’ve lived here 29 years, and it’s like being in a new place almost.”  

“Fundraiser at Centennial Hall” by Emily Wall. Photo by Emily Grab

In the poem “The Little Red Bag,” Wall said she experimented with various forms, such as Haiku and Rhyming Couplets, but focused mostly on syntactical design.

“A Promise to Return” by Elise Tomlinson. Photo by Emily Grab

“The Little Red Bag” by Emily Wall, photo by Emily Grab

Wall’s advice for students wanting to publish their writing is to “send your work to journals, and you can’t get discouraged. I get rejections all the time; it’s just part of the process. Don’t get discouraged and just keep doing it.” 

Tomlinson said a previous show of their work featured loose figures of women in unique colors. Titled “Tell Me What You See,” the collection included poems from Alexis Easley as well. The paintings featured women painted in odd colors, such as purple, with coinciding poems. A visitor to the “Dogs of Juneau” show brought a piece from “Tell Me What You See,” called “Love Poem.” See below.

 

“Love Poem” from a 2001 Wall/Tomlinson exhibit. Photo by Emily Grab.

“Emily truly is one of my favorite poets,” Tomlinson said. “I just like the way that she makes you think, and the word pairings are always a little unexpected. You can just tell when you read something really good.” 

A six-time published author, Wall said the two hope to create a book from the current collection. 

“Hands down, my easiest book. Elise’s paintings are so inspiring to me. This almost never happens to me, but the poems just came in a draft. Her images are just so embedded when I saw them, it made it so easy to write.” 

Wall’s advice for student writers wanting to break into the art scene is to “send your work to journals, and you can’t get discouraged. I get rejections all the time; it’s just part of the process. Don’t get discouraged and just keep doing it.” 

Tomlinson’s husband, Aaron Brakel, has seen how previous Wall and Tomlinson collaborations break through the challenges of the world around us.

“Things are so difficult and hard and dark, and they just both recognize individually and together like they had a need to do something that was really positive and local. Today was my first time to actually read the poems, and they make me feel good,” Brakel said. 

Be sure to check out Juneau’s December First Friday. The City Museum exhibit, “Art Scraps,” by artists Kathleen Harper and Bo Anderson, is from 4:30 to 7 p.m.