Poor and in graduate school, Clem and I had our priorities straight. Buy music first, furniture follows. We discovered Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Sounds of Pictures, mingled with the folk music of the sixties, filled our apartment. We'd crank the volume up as high as others in our building could tolerate.

Mussorgsky began his musical composition visually rather than with sounds. A friend's drawings and watercolors were the inspiration for a stroll through an imaginary collection of art. His music simulates walking and portrays images he saw in his mind.

The creativity of Pictures planted seeds in both of us. It was the beginning of a walk of our own over the years: exploring ways the senses could be woven together. Today as working artists, our creative energy is directed toward the complex relationships among words, sound, and sight. Clem's poetry evokes images from the natural world, whether from his backyard or the many places he has traveled. Sometimes he uses poetry to address social issues and discuss injustices, through images drawn from moving personal stories.

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