If You Think You Can Grasp Me.....

I happened to be looking at the wonderful spread Chris recently posted, and saw a mixed media site I'd not known about.....and this month's challenge invoked the use of poetry.  Bliss!!

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April is one of my favorite months in the states though certainly not for the weather this year, lol!

No, I love April because it is our National Poetry Month.  The publishing house Knopf even has poem-a-day email service for anyone wishing a bit of daily literary artistry in their inbox throughout the month.

I collect bits of writing and poetry that appeal to  me when I come upon them, and some time earlier this year I found a wonderful piece from Adrienne Rich, one of my very favorite writer/poets.  The work references the flow of diversity in an individual's life as a river delta, and this has stuck in my head for some reason.  I've been looking for a reason to incorporate this poetic slice into my work, and the challenge at Art Journal Journey seemed a good fit.

The delta analogy resonated when I happened to notice the beautiful flow of packing paper I'd left out for my cat to play with.

And I already had in my mind a background of blue sky and green fields, through which a river might flow.  Basic composition in mind, I started with tearing dictionary pages and adhered them with Ranger's Glue N Seal to a piece of Bristol Vellum.  

I randomly brushed on clear gesso, and then applied regular gesso with a dry brush.

I then colored the whole lot with watery washes of Golden's Smalt Hue and Green Gold transparent acrylics, mixing the two colors in the middle.

I crumpled a piece of copy paper to emulate the flow of the original inspiring packing paper.  My first attempt didn't suit, so I spritzed it with water and continued....but the consequential paper breakdown was not what I wanted here.  

So I started again, this time crumpling the copy paper first to break the fibers down a bit, and then folding it into accordion pleats, very imprecisely - I wanted an organic feel.  After flattening it out again, I sprayed the paper with Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire and Weathered Wood for the blues, and Cracked Olive, Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn for the greens - all mixed with generous sprays of water.

Once dry, I again casually fan-folded it, and twisted the middle.  I adhered it to the background with hot glue.

I did not like the faint colors of the dried piece, however, so covering the background with deli paper, I used Vivian's dousing technique by spraying the folded paper heavily with water and then applying Dylusions Dirty Martini and After Midnight sprays directly from the bottle with the spray tips.

The poetry slice (and attribution) were printed onto tissue paper, and adhered to the page with Glue N Seal and lots of water.  

Thanks so much for visiting, and please do leave a comment if you've time - I love hearing what you think and appreciate your critique!

xx Lynn