by Alissa Onigman and Elizabeth Christopher
Editor’s Note: This pair of work is part of Follow Your Art Community Studios’ 5th annual Art of Words exhibit. For the exhibit, artist Alissa shared her mosaic, titled “Fire,” with writer Elizabeth, who created a new written work in response. The exhibit, which features the work of 28 FYA artists and writers, is on view through October 2025.
Fire
by Alissa Onigman
by Elizabeth Christopher
(Prompt)
(Response)
The air has changed.
The heat has cleared—
still, the night pulses with crickets.
Leaves have darkened, acorns drop,
so we build a fire—
resisting summer’s end.
August flames have their own rhythm—
like wind rushing,
like leaves crunching under insisting feet,
like a temple spearing the night sky—
seeking winter’s constellations.
Alissa Onigman is in her 3rd year residence as one of the studio artists at Follow Your Art. Alissa has always loved stained glass and eventually took up mosaic art about 8 years ago after a 35-year career as an accountant at major life insurance company. Alissa loves to try all kinds of tiles (glass, porcelain, stone etc.) in her mosaics. She gets inspired by the materials to create abstract and representational mosaics.
Elizabeth Christopher is a writer-in-residence at Follow Your Art and the editor of FYA’s community blog, Palette. She enjoys writing short fiction and personal essays, some of which you can read in Prime Number Magazine, Solstice Literary Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, HuffPost, and elsewhere. In addition, she writes professionally for universities, non-profits, big tech, and small consultancies. See her work at www.elizabethchristopherwriter.com