I loved this story, the writing of art always infused with people, their interactions and their actions together. I don’t know the places at all (I am in Northern England -UK) but I kind of ‘know’ that perfect scene, feel it anyway. It’s magnificent, a great spot by you guys. Good luck in all you do, it’s so perfect to see visual and lyrical so entwined. I’m writing a nove under a flyover - which it turns out is actually a viaduct because it crosses a river not a road, but that does not sound anywhere near as cool as Flyover Gallery! Thanks for sharing, I’m in a fog with a chapter on my knee, Substack popped up, I chased a few links and bingo - here I am! Thanks and best wishes, Peter
Thank you so much for reading and responding so thoughtfully, Peter!!! So glad to be connected. Flyover Gallery-- I love it!!! Good luck on your novel! I'm in the process of writing one too and it's difficult and exciting!! Looking forward to reading your work!
This doesn’t feel like writing. It feels like witnessing.
There’s a stillness to it—not the kind you force, but the kind you earn by being there long enough. You’re not rushing to capture meaning—you’re letting it accumulate. The gravel, the trucks, the chip sign, the ring light on the page—it’s all quiet and unremarkable until you put it through your lens. And then suddenly, it’s sacred.
The relationship at the center doesn’t feel idealized—it feels used, in the best way. Like something lived in, tested, repurposed into art. That “you are painting” line could be cheesy in the wrong hands, but here it’s just… true. Not because of how it’s said, but because of everything around it.
Also, the metaphor isn’t just emotional—it’s physical. Watching Brad move, listening to traffic and doves, putting pen to paper instead of screen—it’s about letting the world shape you instead of trying to control it. That’s what makes it hit different than a romantic essay or a painter’s journal.
Max this comment means so much to me!! I read it to Brad and we both agreed—careful attention to our work (like yours) is the absolute greatest encouragement we can receive artists! It means so much that you spent time with my words and let yourself inhabit that moment. I’m so happy you found a place to rest, unrushed with us in that spot. Thank you thank you thank you.
I’ve heard it said that poets don’t want to be famous, they want to be believed. And your generous comment makes me feel so seen and believed and trusted—the highest compliment as a writer. Thank you again! I will be saving your words and returning to them when I need encouragement. :)
It's just gone midnight here in Australia, and I have come across your site by one of those strange Substackian accidents of linkage and virtual wandering. I really like both the words and the painting - the photos too. I have a deep love of nature and nature poetry and photography, but I also adore abandoned things and places - the inadvertent interstices which develop in cities where forgotten objects collect. "Bob's Used Auto Parts" is exactly the kind of sight that would have me screeching to a halt and reaching for a camera and my notebook.
I am a Poet and writer of other things, and occasionally my wonderful wife Meg - an artist - contributes an image of her creation. We hope to do more together.
So... I just subscribed to "Plein Air Poetry" - in the hope of more to come. Apologies - it was a free sub only. I do have several paid subscriptions but can't afford to take out a paid option for everything.
I love what you are doing. My bet is that Meg will love it too when I show her.
Dave, we are so happy you found our work and that now we've found yours! :) We are definitely kindred spirits in an appreciation for old things---"the inadvertent interstices which develop in cities where forgotten objects collect" as you so beautifully said! We talk often how plein air painting (painting out in the elements) and writing and photography of these places all help change our view of the world---for the artist and the viewer.
That is so wonderful that you and Meg collaborate too! It is a special joy to share a creative life with your partner!! Looking forward to reading more of your work and to seeing Meg's art!
Thank you so much for subscribing!!! Your free subscription and your encouragement and sharing of our work are priceless!!
Meg also prefers plein air. Whenever we travel we have a sketch book with us, for Meg to paint - watercolour, pens and pencils - and for me to write. Our post "Noah Beach" is one example:
Your photos of Brad working, with the subject of the painting and the painting itself in view, are delightful, along with the words describing the scene.
I'm writing this in an airport lounge - about to board a flight to New Zealand. Perhaps something we do there will make its way to Substack.
We have not been to Cincinnati, but we have had some wonderful road trips through Western parts of the USA. This was a post from a gorgeous somewhere/nowehere out in Wyoming:
What a delight to look through both of those posts!! I love that you all collect your work together in a journal!! Your poetry is beautiful, Dave, and Meg's drawings are lovely!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! So fun to see how you all are doing similar things on the other side of the globe--across the big water as you said! :) I love that!
Have a wonderful time in New Zealand! Can't wait to see what you make! We're taking a road trip out West soon and will be sharing about our adventures!
This is sooo beautiful. The way you capture the different forms of love is so rich. Following the different transitions just brought a smile to my face as I read. Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece. 💕
Such a wholesome story, I liked the way it displays rawness in a way. And I love the painting Brad made. Looking forward to more of it <3 this was such a great read.
I enjoyed both this story, and Brad's painting. Congratulations to you and Bob on your wedding. I know that locale well since I am a Cincinnati author who also recently joined Substack.
Thank you so much, Douglas!!! So glad to be connected to a fellow Cincinnatian! We live in Northern Kentucky but our studio is in Camp Washington. It’s a great place to be for creatives! :) I look forward to checking out your work!!
That is terrific Alexandra! I wrote a story, "Neon Hero," that you can find on my Substack which is about the American Sign Museum in Camp Washington and its creator. My first piece of fiction you can find there is "She Died with Two Subscribers" which I am posting a new episode to on Thursday. I wish you and Brad great success with your studio!
Ohhh I can't wait to read your stories!! The Sign Museum is such an awesome space, isn't it!!! Brad has done several paintings right around that area-- we'll have to post some more. So glad to know you!! :)
This is beautiful. It's so lovely that you two are able to connect and support each other's artistic solitude. I always say, the best friends and partners are people who you're able to be alone with. Both alone and yet together. It's a wonderful thing 💞
I love that— being alone together! It is so nice to be with a loved one while you’re both creating! Such a gift. Thanks for responding! Glad to be connected :)
What a wonderful way to spend time together. I love the idea of getting back to writing by hand more. I've been doing more copying of poems recently and have been enjoying the feeling of my own handwriting. I still do a lot of composing on the computer, but I'm trying to take more time to write by hand as well.
I also love the process photos of Brad's painting.
Thank you so much for spending time with our work!! I love the idea of copying poems by hand— I always intend to fill notebooks with my favorite poems written by hand, but I’ve never gotten around to it haha. That’s an inspiration!
I loved this story, the writing of art always infused with people, their interactions and their actions together. I don’t know the places at all (I am in Northern England -UK) but I kind of ‘know’ that perfect scene, feel it anyway. It’s magnificent, a great spot by you guys. Good luck in all you do, it’s so perfect to see visual and lyrical so entwined. I’m writing a nove under a flyover - which it turns out is actually a viaduct because it crosses a river not a road, but that does not sound anywhere near as cool as Flyover Gallery! Thanks for sharing, I’m in a fog with a chapter on my knee, Substack popped up, I chased a few links and bingo - here I am! Thanks and best wishes, Peter
Thank you so much for reading and responding so thoughtfully, Peter!!! So glad to be connected. Flyover Gallery-- I love it!!! Good luck on your novel! I'm in the process of writing one too and it's difficult and exciting!! Looking forward to reading your work!
This doesn’t feel like writing. It feels like witnessing.
There’s a stillness to it—not the kind you force, but the kind you earn by being there long enough. You’re not rushing to capture meaning—you’re letting it accumulate. The gravel, the trucks, the chip sign, the ring light on the page—it’s all quiet and unremarkable until you put it through your lens. And then suddenly, it’s sacred.
The relationship at the center doesn’t feel idealized—it feels used, in the best way. Like something lived in, tested, repurposed into art. That “you are painting” line could be cheesy in the wrong hands, but here it’s just… true. Not because of how it’s said, but because of everything around it.
Also, the metaphor isn’t just emotional—it’s physical. Watching Brad move, listening to traffic and doves, putting pen to paper instead of screen—it’s about letting the world shape you instead of trying to control it. That’s what makes it hit different than a romantic essay or a painter’s journal.
Nothing in this is reaching. And that’s rare.
Max this comment means so much to me!! I read it to Brad and we both agreed—careful attention to our work (like yours) is the absolute greatest encouragement we can receive artists! It means so much that you spent time with my words and let yourself inhabit that moment. I’m so happy you found a place to rest, unrushed with us in that spot. Thank you thank you thank you.
I’ve heard it said that poets don’t want to be famous, they want to be believed. And your generous comment makes me feel so seen and believed and trusted—the highest compliment as a writer. Thank you again! I will be saving your words and returning to them when I need encouragement. :)
it’s giving Fallout 4 vibes! I love it.
Hi Alex and Brad
It's just gone midnight here in Australia, and I have come across your site by one of those strange Substackian accidents of linkage and virtual wandering. I really like both the words and the painting - the photos too. I have a deep love of nature and nature poetry and photography, but I also adore abandoned things and places - the inadvertent interstices which develop in cities where forgotten objects collect. "Bob's Used Auto Parts" is exactly the kind of sight that would have me screeching to a halt and reaching for a camera and my notebook.
I am a Poet and writer of other things, and occasionally my wonderful wife Meg - an artist - contributes an image of her creation. We hope to do more together.
So... I just subscribed to "Plein Air Poetry" - in the hope of more to come. Apologies - it was a free sub only. I do have several paid subscriptions but can't afford to take out a paid option for everything.
I love what you are doing. My bet is that Meg will love it too when I show her.
Best wishes to you both, from Oz
Dave :)
Dave, we are so happy you found our work and that now we've found yours! :) We are definitely kindred spirits in an appreciation for old things---"the inadvertent interstices which develop in cities where forgotten objects collect" as you so beautifully said! We talk often how plein air painting (painting out in the elements) and writing and photography of these places all help change our view of the world---for the artist and the viewer.
That is so wonderful that you and Meg collaborate too! It is a special joy to share a creative life with your partner!! Looking forward to reading more of your work and to seeing Meg's art!
Thank you so much for subscribing!!! Your free subscription and your encouragement and sharing of our work are priceless!!
Wishing you all the best!!
Hi Alex and Brad
Meg also prefers plein air. Whenever we travel we have a sketch book with us, for Meg to paint - watercolour, pens and pencils - and for me to write. Our post "Noah Beach" is one example:
https://davidkirkby.substack.com/p/noah-beach
Your photos of Brad working, with the subject of the painting and the painting itself in view, are delightful, along with the words describing the scene.
I'm writing this in an airport lounge - about to board a flight to New Zealand. Perhaps something we do there will make its way to Substack.
We have not been to Cincinnati, but we have had some wonderful road trips through Western parts of the USA. This was a post from a gorgeous somewhere/nowehere out in Wyoming:
https://davidkirkby.substack.com/p/a-good-time-in-the-bad-lands
Best wishes from across the big water.
Dave and Meg :)
Dave and Meg,
What a delight to look through both of those posts!! I love that you all collect your work together in a journal!! Your poetry is beautiful, Dave, and Meg's drawings are lovely!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! So fun to see how you all are doing similar things on the other side of the globe--across the big water as you said! :) I love that!
Have a wonderful time in New Zealand! Can't wait to see what you make! We're taking a road trip out West soon and will be sharing about our adventures!
Wishing you all the best,
Alex and Brad
You are truly blessed, both of you x
This is sooo beautiful. The way you capture the different forms of love is so rich. Following the different transitions just brought a smile to my face as I read. Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece. 💕
Awww Sheila thank you!!! Your words mean so much! Thank you for reading and spending time with our work and responding so thoughtfully! <3
It was a pleasure to read 😊
You both are so sweet omg <3
Thank you so much!!!!! <3
This such an sweet and cool idea!
Thank you so much!!!!
Such a wholesome story, I liked the way it displays rawness in a way. And I love the painting Brad made. Looking forward to more of it <3 this was such a great read.
Thank you so much, Misty!!!!
I enjoyed both this story, and Brad's painting. Congratulations to you and Bob on your wedding. I know that locale well since I am a Cincinnati author who also recently joined Substack.
Thank you so much, Douglas!!! So glad to be connected to a fellow Cincinnatian! We live in Northern Kentucky but our studio is in Camp Washington. It’s a great place to be for creatives! :) I look forward to checking out your work!!
That is terrific Alexandra! I wrote a story, "Neon Hero," that you can find on my Substack which is about the American Sign Museum in Camp Washington and its creator. My first piece of fiction you can find there is "She Died with Two Subscribers" which I am posting a new episode to on Thursday. I wish you and Brad great success with your studio!
Ohhh I can't wait to read your stories!! The Sign Museum is such an awesome space, isn't it!!! Brad has done several paintings right around that area-- we'll have to post some more. So glad to know you!! :)
This is beautiful. It's so lovely that you two are able to connect and support each other's artistic solitude. I always say, the best friends and partners are people who you're able to be alone with. Both alone and yet together. It's a wonderful thing 💞
I love that— being alone together! It is so nice to be with a loved one while you’re both creating! Such a gift. Thanks for responding! Glad to be connected :)
What a wonderful way to spend time together. I love the idea of getting back to writing by hand more. I've been doing more copying of poems recently and have been enjoying the feeling of my own handwriting. I still do a lot of composing on the computer, but I'm trying to take more time to write by hand as well.
I also love the process photos of Brad's painting.
Thank you so much for spending time with our work!! I love the idea of copying poems by hand— I always intend to fill notebooks with my favorite poems written by hand, but I’ve never gotten around to it haha. That’s an inspiration!