Kind of nerve-wracking for me, but yes, I am going to be reading via zoom through the Well-Versed Words poetry reading program, hosted by poet Alison Hurwitz. Saturday, April 8 at 5PM Eastern, which is 2PM at this time of year for Arizona (where I am).
Maybe it’s natural, considering the title of Rooted and Winged with its notable lack of fairies inside the book, but I am becoming obsessed with fairies. I’ve made my first fairy junk journal. I chose the colors green, blue, with some yellow because those are the colors I usually associate with fairies. By the way, my fairy haibun last week was not my first fairy poem. I have one coming out in Blue Heron Review next fall. I’ll use this journal to make notes of any fairy clues I find about the neighborhood. Any tips on what I should watch for other than actual living fairies or their skeletons?
Masticadores USA has published a new poem, “Before and Again.” A big thank you to Editor Barbara Leonhard. I hope you like the poem. This one is a little heavy.
Here is the first 1 1/2 stanzas:
The we of my belief lived in a land
of easy comfort, brief and surface woundings,
even when tussled by history
that lasted a month on our portable television.
We swept the broken pieces into piles
Thinking our bonfires would destroy memories.
I thought I would share with you about the practice of art journaling. But first, here is a little water journal I made about three weeks ago. It’s made up of scraps of junk that are colored on a bit and then soaked in water. I love this little thing and keep flipping through it.
Please be patient. Ultimately this post is not really about art journaling.
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Art journaling is a creative and expressive way to combine art and writing in one space. It’s a personal and flexible form of self-expression that allows you to explore your thoughts and emotions through visual and written means.
Art journaling can take many forms, from drawing and painting to collage and mixed media. You can use any materials that you have on hand, such as paints, markers, pens, scrapbook paper, and magazine clippings. There’s no right or wrong way to create an art journal, which is what makes it such a liberating and therapeutic practice.
One of the main benefits of art journaling is that it can help you process your feelings and thoughts in a non-linear and non-verbal way. You can use colors, shapes, and images to convey emotions that may be difficult to express in words. Art journaling can also help you identify patterns and themes in your life, which can lead to greater self-awareness and personal growth.
Art journaling can also be a form of mindfulness practice. When you’re creating art, you’re focused on the present moment and the act of creating. This can help you reduce stress and anxiety and improve your mood.
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Mindfulness is so important to me. And I get that through art journaling. I also get it through blogging. But I might be out of a “job.” The above section was written by Microsoft’s ChatGPT!!! I asked it to “write a blog post about art journaling.” Here is the rest of the “post.”
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To get started with art journaling, all you need is a blank notebook or sketchbook and some basic art supplies. You can start by making simple marks and lines, or you can jump right into more complex drawings and paintings. There are no rules, so let your creativity guide you.
Some people like to set a specific intention or theme for their art journaling, while others prefer to let their intuition guide them. You can also use prompts or exercises to get your creative juices flowing. For example, you might try drawing your current mood or creating a collage of images that represent your goals and aspirations.
Art journaling is a personal and intimate practice, so it’s important to create a space that feels safe and comfortable. You might choose to journal in a quiet space or with music playing in the background. Some people find it helpful to set aside a specific time each day or week for art journaling.
In conclusion, art journaling is a powerful and accessible tool for self-expression, self-awareness, and personal growth. It allows you to combine art and writing in a way that feels unique and authentic to you. Whether you’re an experienced artist or a complete beginner, art journaling is a creative outlet that can help you connect with your inner self and express your thoughts and feelings in a meaningful way.
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I couldn’t have written more cohesively and comprehensively myself, although I would probably have shared photos and added personal comments.
The next way I engaged with ChatGPT was to ask it to “buy my books available on Amazon.” It responded that it doesn’t have the ability to purchase products on Amazon or any platform. Then it went on to give me advice on how to promote my books through Amazon.
So what do you think? New best friend or Trojan horse enemy? Personally I think we are DOOMED. Upper Case for emphasis. I bet ChatGPT can’t make that choice!
I’m thrilled to have my poem,”Inside the House We Lived In When Dad Went Broke,” published as part of the Poem-A-Week project at the Sims Library of Poetry.
Sims Library of Poetry is a fabulous resource for inner city Los Angeles. This is a description from their website: “We are the first black-owned poetry library in the state of California. We aim to engage with the South L.A. community by offering a space to read, write, study, perform, and appreciate poetry.”
In January, I had another ekphrastic piece, this time a poem, taken at Visual-Verse. I neglected to mention last time that we only get one hour to write these to the art prompts. It’s a very intense process. https://visualverse.org/submissions/the-tournament/
Main Street Rag has published my review of Justin Hamm’s Drinking Guinness with the Dead. While I can’t post a copy of the review as it’s a print issue, I can tell you I give it two thumbs up. Hamm’s work is really tied to the Midwest and its vast once-farmland, so while anyone would love it (I think), Midwesterners would especially cherish it.
My daughter’s wedding was a year ago this coming Sunday. So look what I made for daughter and son-in-law. A wedding junk journal.
I had to find this nifty little suitcase after I realized that with the fragility of the book (cuz junk) and their lifestyle the book wouldn’t last long without protection. I was able to add in their wooden ring boxes, little place cards, extra photos, and the napkins from their previous courthouse wedding where we drank blue prosecco and ate cookies. Last year’s wedding was the whole shebang because that’s what they like.
See inside on the left? That’s a little clutch I made out of plastic grocery bags to store the cassettes of their wedding music.
That project was loads of fun, but now I’m about hearted and laced and sweetthinged out.
I want to thank readers of Rooted and Winged who have taken the time to post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or their own blogs. The ones posted on blogs I have shared.
Here are a few Amazon reviews I haven’t shared before:
I know how precious your time is, and it’s very meaningful to me that you reviewed Rooted and Winged!
These are some tags I made for the first “water” prompt at The Ugly Art Club. Yup, still doing art journalling. I am starting to find little things about my “style.” It’s been slow coming, but–for instance–the half woman (skirt half) in the top library card. I like using women’s skirts. Go figure.
The January issue of The Wise Owl is devoted to the poetic form, the haibun. I really like this form because it’s a prose poem that is completed by an ending haiku. I like how the prose poem goes into detail and then the haiku has the ability to comment on or reinforce the prose poem.
Two of my poems are published in this issue–a big thank you to Editor Rachna Singh. The first one, “When You Knew,” is a poem about my father being a twin. The second one, “Chicken Vision,” began because I became fascinated with the fact that chickens have mono-vision, which means that the left eye is far-sighted, and right is near-sighted. Isn’t that the coolest piece of info?! Here is the link (and ignore the bio which is somewhat incorrect–especially the word especially).
I’m so happy that Book of Matches has published two of the poems from my upcoming chapbook Our Wolves. A big thank you to editors Kelli and Nicholas! These are both persona poems–one from the perspective of the wolf in the Little Red stories, the other from that of the so-called rescuer character–in this case, a woodsman.
Here is the link to “You All Been Waiting for a Wolf Confession” on page 6 and “I’m a Woodcutter, Dammit” on page 39. Here is the link so you can check out the whole issue which is chockful of good writing:
Here are screenshots of my poems for your convenience.
While I was eager to kick 2022 to the curb (as I know a lot of you were), I had news at the end of 2022 that will make 2023 a pretty grim year again. It’s about my boy Perry, and here is a link to that story.
Perry had his abdominal ultrasound on Friday, but I have not yet heard the results. I am giving him lots of hugs because he was feeling pretty sorry for himself going through the medical tests. Notice how his ears are down in a frown.
By the way, I was a little premature about the gardener and I being over Covid. We are but we aren’t. We just aren’t feeling that good yet, and I have a lot of congestion still.
I signed up for Everything Art’s Wanderlust 2023, which is a daily art program with prompts that lasts the whole year. Last year I participated in Care December which is similar, but only lasts for three or four weeks. This summer I did another program through EA that lasted ninety days. Think of what they offer as “mindful, intuitive mixed-media art journaling.” I haven’t felt very creative lately, so I have been preparing backgrounds and/or prepping pages in a journal, readying it for January. I’ve also been fooling around with Visual Poetry. We’ll see how that comes along. And I’ve been working on daughter’s wedding journal. This might sound like a lot, but compared with what I’ve done in the past it is not.
I’ve been making some headway in my reading stack. That’s good because I wanted to write reviews for some of these books. Writers love reviews!
I’m trying to write a poem a day this month, but not holding out hope of anything brilliant coming out of it.
The other day, when I was driving Perry to his appointment, a creamy white bird flew across right in front of us. It was so unusual to see a white bird in the sky around here. I’m sure it was an egret, flying low and slow, but powerfully and illuminated by the sunlight. I’m going to assume this sighting is a positive symbol.
