Editor's Note

Dear friends,

Irish artist, John Nolan--his father, also a painter and a huge influence, and his home one big studio--has had a paintbrush in his hand since the age of 3, and the celebration of color and form preoccupied him from an early age. A case in point, the diptych gracing our Issue 78 cover is titled "This painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through," a Jackson Pollock quote that serves Nolan as a mantra.

Internationally recognized, Nolan represented Ireland at "The Biennale Internazionale Dell Arte Contemporanea" in Florence, Italy, has produced designs for fabrics and scarves for a Canadian fashion designer, and an international cruise company commissioned his artwork for one of their ships launched June 2016 on the Danube. John and his nephew, Kevin Nolan, have collaborated on a poetry book, "Vibrations of the Soul," with Kevin's poems and John's abstract paintings.

Described by Nolan as a palimpsest, our cover art underwent a process of layering and rubbing out until the remnants of these original layers showed through unintentionally, adding to the overall composition. It seems to me that art comes about for Nolan, for whom "art is a visual language," the same way most poems happen.

Our Issue 78 comes happily with new poems by Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Collier Brown, Grant Clauser, Ann Conway, Robert Cording, Chris Crew, Matt Daly, Roger Desy, Mark Dow, Glenn Freeman, Beth Gylys, Julia Leverone, Valerie Nieman, Simon Perchik, Todd Robinson, John Sibley Williams and Philip Terman. We have fiction, too, by Juan Alvarado Valdivia and Jade Freeman.

Thanks to you, our faithful readers. You're why we do this. And here's the list of loyal and dedicated folks who make sure it gets published and all the way over to you: Eric Berlin, Anna Catone, Elizabeth Cornell, Christian Gullette, Dallas Lee, Amy MacLennan, David Moody, Guy Shahar, Rick Tracy and Jennifer Wallace.

Next time you see one of them, tell them Thanks!

Cheers!
Ginger Murchison
Editor in Chief