Tanka Challenge Day One

TANKA CHALLENGE

Wow! It's been so long since I posted on this blog. I have been busy working on my novel and writing short stories so I have had little time for anything art related. But now I have a way to get back here and keep my loyal readers entertained and I hope pleased. April is National Poetry Month and in honor of that I have given myself a challenge. I am going to post a poem and art piece every day for the month of April. Since I am presently taking an online class from Lorraine Mejia-Green in Japanese poetic forms I am going to make my April poems in the five line form of tanka. I love the lyric form and it blends quite well with mixed media art.

If I am up for it I hope to keep this challenge going and make each month a different poetic form. This will keep me engaged in both art and writing and challenge me to improve my poetry writing craft. Right now I am off to complete the first piece so I can post it in time for April 1st.

Happy National Poetry Month to you all!

DOODLING

I have just discovered the wonderful process of doodling. Creating a tangle of lines, idly moving the pen across the toothy surface of a painted page, is like meditating. I remove myself from the world and enter the trance and pleasure of my heart and soul. I can see I will be doodling a lot on my art journal pages from now on and adding my poetry to the process. Here is what I wrote on this particular page:

Life unfurls her beauty,
creating a path
for you to follow
if only you will heed her call
to step into the wonder of it all
and create your days as if
in a land where dreams live.
Plant your roots
and ideas will sprout
as you blossom
into your authentic self.

A NEW YEAR



against blue sky
red leaves
vibrant and alive
a color I've looked for
all of my life

It's a new year. 2012. What does this year bring for me? I see art and poetry in this year, more than last year. I see more writing than before. My writing muscles seem to have atrophied and I have to bring them back by writing flash fiction, poems and journaling.I want a year in which there is calm and solitude, more forays into nature and more time to be authentically myself.  This means taking time in the morning and at night to read poetry, write and meditate. It means me, being me, no matter what challenges I face at work all day. I must preserve that time and those activities to keep me sane. And part of it means posting more consistently on this blog.

I almost started a new blog to honor my commitment to writing flash fiction, but why add to my obligations. I'll wait until I'm ready for that. For now, I hope to be here more often and hear from more of you.

Please also share your art and poetry with me.

One with the air

This was a perfect day of reading and relaxing. After taking the car for new tires and doing my workout I sat back to simply enjoy. September has drifted in on a cool soft breeze. The air is clear, like blue cellophane and cool as it brushes over the skin. The weather is sublime and I took the opportunity to just kick back and do very little that is productive. Reading in peace and quiet with no interruptions and no pressure of having somewhere to go or something to do was delightful. I pray for more days like this but that is up to Mother Nature and her foibles and whims. For now--just glorious.

I signed up for an online Japanese poetry writing class from Story Circle Network and taught by Lorraine Mejia-Green who is a fabulous teacher. I am looking forward to creating more art and poetry to bring to you on this blog, always marrying words with pictures in one way or another.

It's been a while since I posted. Sorry about that. But now I am back in action and hoping to be more consistent. In the midst of this summer humidity, as heat waves ripple above the pavement and the air sticks to your skin, I created a cool portrait of a winter sky. Life is full of contrasts, night and day, summer and winter, childhood and adulthood, happiness and grief. It all adds up to a full life well lived. It's what we aspire to and what art and poetry bring to me. Even as the body resists the journey to the desk and the pen, inspiration blooms like a mauve and purple dawn and lines of haiku ripple through the heart like heat waves. Share in the joy. 

Be Free

BE FREE--that's what we all want isn't it? Free to be who we are at our very core. Free to blog or not as we wish. But if I'm to have a blog and store up some devoted readers I need to be more present here. This particular piece is mixed media using acrylics and patterned paper. The process is simple and rewarding with lots of depth. I adhere scraps of patterned paper to a canvas board--in this case a small 5X7 size. Then I brayer several layers of coordinating acrylic paint to create my background. I used paper and paint to create the bouquet and alphabet stamps for the words. Then I just add details to make the piece come alive.

It's a creative way to drag myself out of a slump and perhaps a jumpstart into more regular blogging.

At present I am creating a watercolor book of illustrated haiku that I've written over the years. Some of those pages will surely find their way to this blog. Enjoy.

Would love to see your comments and your artwork and poetry too.