Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

From Tricia!:

16 x 20 canvas
The first in a series of six I hope to create and put in our downstairs hallway.
I may still go back and stamp words into the canvas. I kept going back and forth with that so I decided to hang it up and live with it as is for a while.

“The Window of My Soul”
The window of my soul opens, and from the purity of the unseen world,
the book of God comes to me straight.
The book, the rain of divine grace, and the light
are falling into my house through a window
from my real and original source.
The house without a window is hell;
to make a window is the essence of true religion.
Don't thrust your ax upon every thicket;
come, use your ax to cut open a window.
---Rumi

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

Welcome to Bianca! Her entry!:

"I chose a poem by D.H. Lawrence. The background page I had made on a whim--I had a page that I didn't like the look of, so I used my square punch and punched it into a bunch of little squares and then thought they would look good on a gold background so that's what I did. Once I was done with it I had no idea what I wanted to put on it. I liked the look so much I didn't want to disrupt the overall feel And then I saw the challenge for this week and thought it would be fun to do it on transparencies. I used a bird stamp from invoke arts. I stamped it on each side of the transparency so that it would face both left and right. The rest is hand drawn with a sharpie."
The poem reads "I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough, without ever feeling sorry for itself."

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

From Aileen!:

"Here's a hand painted chunky 4x4 page I did for a bird themed swap I'm in and its doubling as this weeks Artword challenge "Poetry." I used PYMII to seal it."

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

From Patri!:
Artpoem

A combination of art and words, a capturing of the imagination and senses.
Part drawing and part digital imagery, all poured in a bowl and mixed together. The words are my own.

Available for purchase

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

From Ascender!:

Title: Young Fiber Artist
Medium: Pointillism/Stippling; Pen and India Ink

Available for Purchase

In these pages, Mary,
is where I’ll always be,
not in the valleys’ soft
comforting waters of custom,
but on mountain peaks -
words frozen as they left me.

You may falter on black ice
hidden under newest snow,
but if you will reach me,
follow the flag marked track.
Breathe deeply, take your time;
the air is very thin here.

“Thoughts On The Education Of Daughters” by Barbara Dordi;
After the book of the same name by Mary Wollstonecraft, 1787
Barbara Dordi is editor of the poetry journal Equinox. She has published three poetry pamphlets and is currently pursuing an MA in Creative Writing.

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

From Susan R.C.!:

Flora
Goddess of Springtime

Beneath Winter’s frosty dream
She sleeps:
Crocus Queen, May Princess,
Mother of the second season.
Earth’s axis tilts in space;
Sun’s vernal beams awaken her;
Her hair blooms..
This is a page from an altered calendar swap I did last. I think this was May.

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

Welcome to Carla! Her entries!:

"She Walks in Beauty"
10" x 10 " x 1" mixed media on wood panel
This painting was giving me so much trouble that I came close to gessoing it over. But I really liked the background, so I put it on my dresser against the mirror (that's where I put unfinished work that I want to think about), and looked at for a couple of days until the solution revealed itself. I'm glad I gave her a second chance!

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

- George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)



Witness - 10" x 10" x 1" mixed media on cradled wood panel
Sometimes gravity settles into my spirit and becomes an ever-strengthening pull of self-doubt that can keep me from soaring beyond my fears. I find then, that instead of feeling grounded in something real and solid, secure enough in myself to venture outward and onward, I am held back by those inner voices that, for some strange reason, want me to stay put. I always come out of these little episodes of the cosmic blues, usually by reconnecting with Nature, looking at beautiful art, reading some poetry, and then messing around in my studio.

How do you defy gravity?

Witness

I saw that a star had broken its rope
in the stables of heaven--

This homeless one will find her home
in the foothills of a green century.

Who sleeps beside still waters, wakes.
The terrestrial hands of the heaven clock

comb out the comet's tangled mane
and twelve strands float free.

In the absence of light and gravity,
slowly as dust, or the continents' drift,

sinuous, they twine a text,
one letter to an eon:

I am the dawn horse.
Ride me.

- Liz Waldner

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

From Izabella!

The rain set early in tonight,
The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm-tops down for spite,
And did its worst to vex the lake:
I listened with heart fit to break.
When glided in Porphyria; straight
She shut the cold out and the storm,
And kneeled and made the cheerless grate
Blaze up, and all the cottage warm;
Which done, she rose, and from her form
Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl,
And laid her soiled gloves by, untied
Her hat and let the damp hair fall,
And, last, she sat down by my side
And called me. When no voice replied,
She put my arm about her waist,
And made her smooth white shoulder bare,
And all her yellow hair displaced,
And, stooping, made my cheek lie there,
And spread, o'er all, her yellow hair,
Murmuring how she loved me--she
Too weak, for all her heart's endeavor,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,
And give herself to me forever.
But passion sometimes would prevail,
Nor could tonight's gay feast restrain
A sudden thought of one so pale
For love of her, and all in vain:
So, she was come through wind and rain.
Be sure I looked up at her eyes
Happy and proud; at last I knew
Porphyria worshiped me: surprise
Made my heart swell, and still it grew
While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good: I found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain.
As a shut bud that holds a bee,
I warily oped her lids: again
Laughed the blue eyes without a stain.
And I untightened next the tress
About her neck; her cheek once more
Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss:
I propped her head up as before
Only, this time my shoulder bore
Her head, which droops upon it still:
The smiling rosy little head,
So glad it has its utmost will,
That all it scorned at once is fled,
And I, its love, am gained instead!
Porphyria's love: she guessed not how
Her darling one wish would be heard.
And thus we sit together now,
And all night long we have not stirred,
And yet God has not said a word!

~Robert Browning

Topic #42--"Poetry" Entry

From Cookala (Eileen)!:

Pastorale

O, to be a tree in the dusky hills of Provence
crowned with a coronet of leaves, holding court
in the middle of a scent-drenched field, my roots
tucked under a lavender comforter. There is the sky
for mirth and birdsong to lullaby a noonday snooze.

And there, up on the hill, sits a cottage
propped against the sky. It’s weather-worn stone
ashen with age, its shutters and doors silvered;
scarlet roses scale its walls and windflowers
waffle around its foundations as the day exhales.

And in the evening, threads of chimney smoke
embroider a path to the stars while crickets chirp
and the owl hoots. O, to have this time
of purple and blue.

Topic #42--Poetry

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Amanda!:

"Having CFS has an interesting impact on my photography - I have very few photos taken in the morning, because I simply don't get out of the house till about midday! Hunting through my folders did reveal this one, with the foliage shadows on the washing, taken in Melbourne.

I took this photo for inspiration and was thinking about making large panels of translucent porcelain to "project" shadows onto. A lot of my earlier work revolves around shadows.

I spent a lot longer than I intended trying out different ideas for this piece in Photoshop - damn computers! they gobble up your time, but they do make it easy to explore a range of options. In the end I had so much trouble selecting one as my entry that I am just going to upload a number of options and whichever comes up first will be the entry! You can visit my blog to see what else I came up with."

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Patri!:

Morning has Broken
"The surprise of another new day, each dawning is a different experience.
This print is a mixture of drawings, photos and acrylic painting, scanned and manipulated on the computer. At this moment my arm is out of action so I am concentrating more on digital imagery, this picture is an illustration for a forthcoming book.
Available to purchase from a run of 1/25 signed and certificated by the artist"

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Windyangel (Wendy)!:

"This picture was taken last Wednesday, February 14 th. The temperature was - 30 degrees, pretty much the same in centigrade and fahrenheit. I took a few photos after walking about half a block. I don't think my hands could have managed doing any more without my heavy mittens. The next day, Thursday, the temperature rose by almost 30 degrees centigrade from what it had been the day before. People had been waiting anxiously for almost a week for Thursday. Fortunately that time the forecast was accurate.

Funny though, on the Tuesday morning when I took Billy dog for walk I encountered a couple of others out doors. Though the temperature was - 24, the comments were about "what a beautiful day". There was not a wind. The - 24 seemed comparatively warm. We may still have our snow for another six weeks and we could still get a number of blizzards but we'll all be hoping for no more of the frigid temperatures, at least this winter.

Happy morning light to you."

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Peggi!:

"Morning has always been my most "magical" time of day ... I love to sit and watch the sun come up on the horizon with a nice hot cup of coffee in my hands, and plan my day's activities. I wanted this image to include a bit of "morning-type magic", so I used a lot of little star shapes, musical notes, and flowers, and just kind of got lost in its creation =)"

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Izabella!:

"Sleeping on Snow"

"She fled for her life that night. She left with just her dress & stockings on her feet, the snow clung to the bottom of her dress like weights, her stockings were filled with snow, she ran until she couldn't run another step, she collapsed in the pillowy snow, how could she sleep in such cold, angel wings protected her through the night. The morning came with new meaning, her life that she knew was gone~"

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Tricia!:

"Acrylics on hotpress watercolor paper. Paint pens and water-soluble pastels were also used.

I attempted an ink jet photo transfer without much luck on the receiving paper. Perhaps I need to do a bit more research as to what brand of photo paper is best. Do you guys have any suggestions? What I ended up using for this piece is the photo paper after I had tried the transfer. I hope that makes sense. It has been a long day so the thoughts aren't flowing very swiftly tonight. :) Plus a nagging headache for day number three. Not fun."

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Brandie!:

"I love this picture. It is a celebration of friendship. They are inseparable... That support system that is so important and necessary in our lives just breathes out of them... They are there for each other no matter what. I think that maybe this photo was taken in the very early morning hours... it is still fairly dark outside with the reaches of morning barely rising on the horizen. They have stayed up all night drinking coffee... eating junk food and talking about everything and nothing... love love love... can you feel it...

This piece was created on 140lb Arches watercolor paper. I used a copy of a vintage photo, acrylic paint, white charcoal and vintage papers."

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Aileen!:

"Here's my photoshop piece titled FAIRY MORN'"

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

Welcome to LaRinda! Her entry!:

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Helene!:

"this is my interpretation for the theme of this week: morning.

to me morning implies a new beginning that we often forget when we feel sad,alone,depressed...we sometimes forget that there will be another morning and that the light will come again.
I just wanted to talk about this and maybe I will remember this for good;)
anytime I get really down I'm focused on that night, those shadows.of course I learn a lot in this darkness but I also could try and see from another view and keep in mind that it's just all about the great opposites: night and day, tears and smile,end and beginnings:)

so here it's the morning of Bliss:) when I wake up on new friendships with lots of hopes and sweet enthusiasm"

Topic #41--"Morning" Entry

From Ascenderrisesabove!:

Title: California Sunrise
Medium: Photo, PhotoShop

Inquire to purchase a print.

Beautiful dawn - lights up the shore for me.
There is nothing else in the world,
I’d rather wake up and see (with you).
Beautiful dawn - I’m just chasing time again.
Thought I would die a lonely man, in endless night.
But now I’m high; running wild among all the stars above.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe you remember me.

Beautiful dawn - melt with the stars again.
Do you remember the day when my journey began?
Will you remember the end (of time)?
Beautiful dawn - You’re just blowing my mind again.
Thought I was born to endless night, until you shine.
High; running wild among all the stars above.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe you remember me.

Will you be my shoulder when I’m grey and older?
Promise me tomorrow starts with you,
Getting high; running wild among all the stars above.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe you remember me

High by James Blunt

Topic #41--Morning

"Good Morning Coffee Grande" quilt by Mickey Depre

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Amanda!:

With my love of anatomical drawings I couldn't miss the chance to join in this weeks Artwords challenge - Heart.

I made this book page some weeks ago, the first for a book with the working title "Preserve". The concept is an exploration of how we try to hold onto life, which is actually a slippery process, changing constantly and passing us by.
We live in our memories and struggle to extend our youth but change keeps happening in spite of our efforts.
If we could only accept this and live in the moment, things would be so much easier.
The paper is Rives BFK, hand-embossed for depth with a Sheer Heaven transfer, wax and oil paint.

Posted by Amanda at 12:29 PM

Labels: artist's book, artwords, encaustic, MFA, thoughts, transfers, wax

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

Another beauty from Leslie!:

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Izabella!:

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Laura!:

"fabric collage: vintage image hand tinted using prismacolors pencils, silk ribbon, heart stick pins
mounted on illustration board: gesso, acrylic paint, oil pastels, matte sealer"

“Here is the deepest secret nobody knows.
Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
And the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
Which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide.
And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart.
I carry your heart.
I carry it in my heart.”
--E.E. Cummings

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

Welcome to Tina! Her entry!:

"I bought a new moleskin journal today because I wanted one that was more portable for carrying around all the time and in order to conquer the blank page syndrome, I decided to put down some color using watercolors. I ended up painting these hearts which I never do! The little square which says love is the wrapper of some darling chocolates I found at the store the other day. Of course I had to eat the chocolate to get the wrapper!!!!! Not sure if I will journal over this or not but the page is certainly not blank anymore. LOL!"

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

Welcome to Cookala! Her entry!:

"This is an ATC that employs collage, stamping, acrylics and pens."

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Tricia!:

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Susan of Earthtone Studios!:

"I have one of the most wonderful husbands in the world. He is patient, kind, encouraging, loving and much more. He is very encouraging in my art. He calls it my therapy. Art Heals....that is so true. This is a gift I made for him recently to celebrate his birthday.

This is a 6 x 6 wrapped canvas. I used acrylic paint, light molding paste, gel medium, music paper, alphabet rubber stamps, wire, fabric strips, tar gel, nails and a micron ink pen. I'm always looking for something that will write over acrylic paint. The words on the outside say "grow old along with me the best is yet to be" and I hand wrote "I love you today and forever" along the right side of the heart."

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

One of my ATCs. Happy Valentine's Day!

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Leslie!:

"It is a fabric mixed media collage. I started with 3 random scraps of fabric, a metallic heart (from Meka's father/daughter Valentine dance), some scattered fibers...all sandwiched underneath the thule (sp???) netting that came off Meka's lovely Vaentine dress! I sewed the grid, put the binding on, embellished the heart with tiny beads and a heart milagro that I brought back from Guatemala and an XOXO metallic element. Then for the hanging mechanism...a stick sewn on! It was fun, quick...and NEW to me!"

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Sukipoet (Susan)!:

"A hearts mobile made for my honey last year. Acrylics, stamping, beads, fibers."

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Susan C.!:

Here's a fabric postcard I made entitled "Cross My Heart."

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Megan!:

"hearts break...
and we stitch them back together"

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Aileen!:

"In honor of Valentine's Day and this week's artword I decided to finish up a canvas I had started a few months ago I wasnt' sure how to finish it until today. If you view my blog you can see the step by step process of how I created it."

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Karen C.!:

"I've been naming most of my posts after the art work title, but this one is named after the journey. My intention was to do something neat in Karen O's calendar journal in honor of St Valentine's Day ... but this piece seemed to take on a life if it's own. It always starts with a bad choice LOL The background was bleeeecccckk! Our journal prompt this month was "I am Blue" ... so I went with blue as my second choice.

And please everyone ...
do not faint or be alarmed ...

I used wings, which I rarely ever do, but it seemd fitting this time. Never did I imagine in a million years that the heart would be a symbol for me and yet everytime I use it, something extraordinary comes out when I get the paint out.

Oh I wish this piece would have been in my stay at home journal; it has special meaning to me ... but who am I to argue with my muse?"

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Brandie!:

"What is in our hearts? I hold much of my life experiences and the people who shared them deep within my heart. But my girls are the ones who are deepest within me, they are the ones who are able to move me most... they have and continue to change my life. They are the ones with whom I am reflected in...

This piece is about what happens to your heart when you have a child. The transformation that occurs in most women. You have this selfless awareness that it is no longer all about you...

She didn't just transform in childbirth, she changes with every experience and decision regarding her daughter. She is a strong mother... her presence in this picture seems so incredibly nurturing to me. She will shelter and protect this little girl no matter what it takes. It is not only selflessness that has occurred in her heart. Her whole outlook on life has changed. She has different views on politics, religion, education, society... her views on life and the many variables that effect it will ultimately help to shape who this little person is to become...

This piece was created on Arches 140 lb watercolor paper. In addition to copied images I used Golden fluid acrylic paints, gesso, white charcoal, graphite, and vintage papers."

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Darcy!:

"The colors of my love, the vibrations of my heart"

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From ascenderrisesabove!:

Title: My Heart Belongs to the Sea
Medium: Dry Pastels 01.25.07

Inquire about a print purchase. Now accepting PayPal.
More Ascender’s Dry Pastels on homepage and on this blog.
--

My gift to you,
My beloved bank!
Is the horizon itself

I constantly search
And bring you
Crystals and pearls

Your gift to me
Is always the same,
A part of yourself:
A little sand.

Waves And The Bank by Divya Mathur

Topic #40--"Heart" Entry

From Himavant!:

Topic #40--Heart

Topic #39--"Breath" Entry

From Peggi!:

"Digital/Mixed Media Collage. Vintage image courtesy of Izabella...The pressed flowers I used in this collage were collected by my grandmother's brother in Peoria, Illinois during the late 1800's.)"

Topic #30--"Breath" Entry

From Laura!:

10x10, watercolor, ink, graphite, color pencil

A moody, somewhat dark (for me) interpretation for breath.

Most of my work tends to be "fluff and flowers" so this was unexpected and even though I wasn't feeling particularly somber, it just sort of came out. I think it had to do with how many things lie sleeping right now under all the snow of winter (at least where I am), slumbering through a short "death", waiting to be reborn in spring. This brought me to thinking of life: living, breathing and death: dying, taking a last breath, and the birds associated with death and dying: crows/ravens.

The image I drew & then painted, was brought about from memory, the unsnowy (sp?) view from a back window, where crows can be seen during summer months. Even though I don't believe in superstitions much or the rhymes or folklore that go with them, I always draw a short breath when I spot these ominous birds and automatically play the rhyme out in my head:

One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret not to be told.

or this one:

One for sadness, two for mirth;
Three for marriage, four for birth;
Five for laughing, six for crying;
Seven for sickness, eight for dying;
Nine for silver, ten for gold;
Eleven a secret that will never be told.

At least the piece finished up on a positive note as I realized when I was done, that there were 5 crows =)

Topic #30--"Breath" Entry

From Patri!:

"This is a memory of a few years back when I spent 3 weeks in Austria at Christmas time, with 2 friends. We swam outside at night in a heated pool surrounded by snow, and then we danced at an outside party in the snow, it was fantastic the air so cold and fresh..it took your breath away!
AIR - is a digital manipulated print, partly taken from my own drawings and then manipulated on the computer in some obsure photo programme."

AIR- is available to purchase from a numbered run of 50 signed and dated by the artist.

Topic #39--"Breath" Entry

From Himavant!:

Topic #39--"Breath" Entry

From Patrick!:

"i dont know why but this one reminded me of ghost,
especially the song.

about walking around a place and not being able to breathe, the crush of history, of memories pressing down, closing in.

and it also reminds me of when i was younger, waiting for the bus in the mornings, and it being so cold during the winters. you could always see your breath on the air. we used to find sticks and pretend we were smoking. stupid kid stuff i know.

anyway."