Forum Article about Fr. Jamie & Gin Templeton's book

The Jan. 7 edition of the Fargo Forum has an interview about This Grass, the book by Fr. Jamie and Gin Templeton. Here it is:

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/265000/

Scenes and syllables: Fargo pastor, artist team for new book

By: John Lamb, INFORUM

Known to his parishioners at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church as their reverend, Jamie Parsley just published his ninth collection of poetry, “This Grass,” which also features art by Gin Templeton.

“Autumn Meadow”
Gin Templeton’s pastel paintings like “Autumn Meadow” help illustrate imagery Jamie Parsley conveys in verse. Special to The Forum

“Autumn Clearing”
Gin Templeton’s “Autumn Clearing” is featured in Jamie Parsley’s new collection of poetry, “This Grass.” Special to The Forum

"This Grass"
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Jamie Parsley is used to working with someone else’s words. As a pastor at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Fargo, he goes to the Bible for inspiration, guidance and interpretation.
As a poet, however, Parsley was used to working alone. That is, until 2006. That’s when he collaborated with Fargo pastel artist Gin Templeton, pairing his verse with her paintings.
That collaboration, showcased at the Spirit Room Gallery, received such supportive comments from friends that Parsley says the two decided to publish a collection of their endeavor. The book, “This Grass,” came out late last year.

Parsley is already preparing for his collection of poems, “Fargo 1957,” a look at the impact of the ’57 tornado, to hit shelves later this year, but talked about his current project, available at Zandbroz Variety and Melberg Christian Book & Gift.

What about Gin’s art works well with your poems?

I like the simplicity in a lot of her paintings. Particularly in her nature paintings she has ties to the Earth, and I think I sort of have that in my poems as well … I wasn’t surprised that her nature paintings and my nature poems went together. What I was more surprised about was how her city paintings and my poems went together.

In the introduction to the book and in the piece “Dropping the Stick,” you talk about wanting to be a painter. When you write, do you try to project imagery or is it more abstract?

I don’t know if it’s ever cut and dry. It depends on the particular topic that I’m writing on. I do notice, and this is probably where the painter comes to mind, I probably see color more than a specific object, and that’s a connection I always make to paintings. And I think there’s a lot of color words in my poems. … We could go on and on about the artist’s eye and what you see you try to convey in some way, whether it be painting or poetry. I think there’s a commonality there. That’s what I found so appealing about this project. There is a commonality. It is art.

Have the two of you ever discussed switching mediums for a project where you would paint and she would write?

We have not ever talked about that. That would be interesting. She would do much better with the poetry than I would do with the painting.

The poem “This Grass” toward the end of the book is not necessarily a happy piece. It’s about time passing and things fading, human remains “outdated as a comma.” Why not name the book after a more celebratory poem like “This Place” or “A Steady Sigh”?

I sort of like that, and I think she does, too. You look at the paintings and it seems light and colorful, but you look at it longer and there’s depth and volume and shadow. The poem leads you into this place you didn’t know you were going to be led. I like when we do that. That’s a good thing.

Readers can reach Forum reporter John Lamb at (701) 241-5533