"Origin"
24" x 30", oil and earth on canvas, 2008.
Martina Angela M�ller

Martina Angela M�ller was born in Korbach, Germany, in 1962, and studied art and English at Emerson College in Sussex, England as well as at Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. She is currently living in upstate New York, where she teaches at the Alkion Center and at Hawthorne Valley School.

"Origin," gracing Issue 44's cover, comes from Martina Angela M�ller who paints believing ". . . the activity of the color itself can become a place of soul experience. . . ." Born in Korbach, Germany, in 1962, Ms. M�ller studied art and English at Emerson College in Sussex, England, as well as at Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. She is currently living in upstate New York, where she teaches at the Alkion Center and at Hawthorne Valley School.

Ms. M�ller's early paintings were monochromatic explorations into the essence, qualities and attributes of each color, starting each with a color meditation and attention to Steiner's indications on color and Goethe's color theory. While her themes have changed, she still approaches her work with meditation and contemplation as a tool of knowing that informs her choices along the way, the outcomes emerging as part of the inner movement that helps to create the painting. Working in a variety of mediums and techniques intended to make the color sing and vibrate in numerous broken nuances of tone, her intention is to leave the composition open enough for the imagination of the viewer to move through unencumbered, a process every poet reading this will recognize. More of Ms. M�ller's work can be seen at www.martinaangelamuller.com.

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Cortland Review welcomes San Francisco poet Christian Gullette, the newest member of its staff. With appreciation for Christian and for all the dedicated Cortland Review staff whose hard work and loyalty this issue represents, here it is, Issue 44.

Cheers,
Ginger Murchison
Editor