"Portal" is a book of poems and artwork by Bob Grawi. The collection is equally visual and literal. There is much enjoyment here for both sides of your brain - a course of fully balanced mental nutrition! The poems are generally in mixed form, not pure blank verse nor pure rhyming verse either, but they straddle these two categories, freely moving back and forth creating unexpected tension and beauty. A strong overall sense of rhythm is paramount and maintained throughout the work and it is also presented in a similarly fluid style. The voice of some of the poems is very formal, while others are steeped in the colloquial. The subjects of the poems range from the mystic to the mundane. Existential concerns, jazz music, artistic working experiences, a tribute to Albrecht Durer, and to everyday events; from seeing God, to persimmons, to portraits of friends, and mourning the death of a beloved pet. The artworks in "Portal" are also very eclectic, and are not direct illustrations of the poems. The relationship between them is left up to the reader's creativity - but be assured, relationship there is! They are mainly drawn from three series of works by the author - a greatly distorted figure series, a series on rice paper paying homage to Japanese sensibilities, and a bubble and mirror structural series. Some of the art is very complex, while others are simple and strangely compelling, sometimes even consisting of only one line! The flavor of the whole collection is multifaceted and varied and is a refreshing immersion in an uncommon sensibility. Bob Grawi has been called an anachronism. He is a true renaissance man, but unfortunately the renaissance ended several centuries ago. Still, he is a present-day artist, inventor, poet, luthier, and musician. One of his musical instrument creations, a variable pitch Gravikord, has the honor of being permanently displayed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
About the Author: Bob Grawi is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a degree in science and the fine arts. At different times in his life he has been a professional musician, a substitute teacher, a soldier in the U.S. Army, an independent American inventor, a lecturer, a professional fine artist, a custom cabinet maker, a professional luthier and a writer of poems. He has always loved poetry, music, and art; and has drawn, written poems, and played music throughout his life. His first venture in publishing was in 1994 when he published a chapbook of many poems in a small private edition that he produced on a commercial copy machine one at a time at night during off hours in a local newspaper office. There were less than 50 copies made! He is also a working professional artist and has included many of his strangely compelling graphic artworks along with the poems in "Portal". The author, Bob Grawi, has been called an anachronism. He is a true renaissance man, but unfortunately the renaissance ended several centuries ago! Still, he is a present-day artist, inventor, poet, luthier, and musician. One of his musical instrument creations, a variable pitch Gravikord, is on permanent display in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. To learn more about the author's life and personal accounts of his other spiritual and artistic experiences, read his non-fiction book "Lao-Tzu's Shoe" also available on amazon books.