The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

This poem and drawing are based off a TV program that really stuck with me called Midnight Mass. It’s about a priest who is turned into a vampire and thinks that he has been given a gift from God and needs to give that gift to all in his parish back home. It sounds a little silly when I explain the plot so simply, but it’s got some really beautiful moments and deeply contemplates the meaning of death through the various characters it builds up slowly. It really takes its time to develop the people of the small island that the priest lives on so that you really care about them and what happens to them (or really dislike the ones that are less affable).

The tale of how the priest became a vampire is told in the most profound way. He goes to confession with only himself to listen and it flashes to little wood cuts like the stations of the cross in a church, following the story he tells. An old man, in the throws of dementia, is lost in the deserts of Jerusalem after straying from his tour group in the midst of a sandstorm. He takes shelter in a cave and is bitten by the vampire who restores his youth. Thinking that the vampire is an angel of god, he smuggles it back home with him (where he disguises his true identity) to use its blood in communion, mixing it with the wine he gives his parishioners. Miracles start to happen on the island and it goes from there.

It is easier for me to write poetry than it is for me to paint. I think this is because I didn’t go to college for writing and I did go to college for art. Before art school I was a lot more experimental and free in my painting. I feel that way now with poetry. I don’t have the confines of education to limit me, tell me how to do it or what not to do. I’m afraid of failing at a drawing or painting, I am not afraid to fail at poetry. I wish I could transfer this fearlessness to my art, but alas, it does not work that way. Not yet.

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

I would tell myself not to go to art school. It caused me to be a perfectionist and inhibits me from painting the way I want to. It made me afraid to fail and failure is such an important part of the art making process.

Here’s an overview of Week 8 of working on my New Year’s resolutions. I did pretty well…

This week I would like to introduce two new things…

1. Don’t eat any ultra-processed food and cook at home 5 of the days. When eating out order food that is not ultra-processed. Previously I was just reducing UPF but this week I want to cut it entirely out. – Achieved!
2. I would like to write a poem every day – Achieved!

I would like to continue on with…

1. Strength training twice a week for 66 minutes total – Achieved!
2. I would like to eat an average of 1800 calories a day. I didn’t achieve this in week 7 so I’m trying again. – Average Calories a day: 1841 – Achieved!
3. I would like to read 14 chapters of my book – Achieved!
4. Meditation for a total of 63 minutes – Achieved!
5. Run 4 times this week or use the elliptical – Achieved!
6. Get one 4 mile run in – Achieved!
7. Go on Instagram every day  – Achieved!
8. Week 8 work on my new PPE painting and finish the final figure and the whole painting. – Achieved! I finished the painting.
9. Intermittent fasting every day, get 25+g of fiber and 65+g of protein five of the days, and continue to avoid sugar  – Achieved!

Here is my plan for week 9, 10, and 11…

These weeks I would like to introduce three new things…

1. Run 3 times this week and increase miles (at least 2x three mile runs) and use the elliptical once. Run a 5 mile run for your first long run in week 9 to begin marathon training. Run a 6 mile run in week 10. Run a 7 mile run in week 11.
2. Start drawing and work on an abstract drawing at least 4 days a week based on your daily poems. Try to keep this up when travelling in week 10 & 11 and bring drawing materials with you on your trip. Work on your Bosch study 3 times a week.
3. Week 10 & 11 start playing your video game for 30 minutes a day.

I would like to continue on with…

1. Strength training twice a week for 66 minutes total. Do this at the very beginning of week 10 before you leave for your trip. Week 11 do it on the Thursday and Friday after you get back.
2. Meditation for a total of 63 minutes a week (except when travelling and staying with relatives).
3. Go on Instagram every day  
4. Intermittent fasting every day, get 25+g of fiber and 65+g of protein six of the days, avoid ultra-processed food, and continue to avoid sugar (in the second half of Week 10 and the first half of week 11 try to do as well as you can given that you are staying with relatives).
5. Eat an average of 1800 calories a day.
6. Read 14 chapters of my book a week.  
7. Write a poem every day