Zentangle #20 Patched Together Plasticine

Posted on January 1, 2017 | Leave a comment

image

Patched Together Plasticine
maybe
the difference between us, 
this 
patched together earth and water, 
living plasticine
is
we can see each other’s
dreams

This piece is for sale $15AUS (inc postage to anywhere in the world). For an extra $2AUS you can get a set of zentangle postcards. It is signed and dated, and the text handwritten on the reverse side.

zentangle-postcards

If you wish to purchase this piece, leave a message in the comments and I will get in touch with you via the email address you use when posting a comment.

You can also buy calico tote bags featuring Coloured Pencils (zentangle) or Stupid Question (blackout poem) or other sets of postcards HERE.

Leave a comment

Posted in Short Stories

Finding Meaning Between The Black Lines

Posted on December 20, 2016 | Leave a comment

Blackout poetry, or erasure poetry, is unique in that you are working with a predetermined set of words. You can blackout or erase as much or as little as you like. Form new words and phrases from what exists.

But what does it mean? A recent conversation with creative collaborators posed this question and one suggestion was that blackout poetry was a search for meaning. Firstly as individual; secondly for the audience. 

I compose firstly for myself, then for an audience. However the text also exists independent of me as creator. 

With that in mind, I took the initial post that sparked this discussion and made three erasure poems. Each time I looked for something different; another angle, a change of perspective. 

For these I copied the text into a document and used the highlighter tool. Hence some fragment spaces.

There were a couple of words or phrases I returned to, a focal point or locus for writing but I had to deliberately move away from them to forge something new.

Was I looking for something of myself in the poetry? I am not sure. Sometimes there is an identification with the text. At other times it is an enjoyment of the construction of language. While perhaps it is also a disquieting of the soul and heart when darker ideas and phrases emerge.

I don’t think there is a clear answer to the question. If anything, the new text raises more questions. Questions that may have an answer or questions that may provoke a dialogue.

I’ll leave the answers up to you.

#1 Traces of Light

screen-shot-2016-12-18-at-10-09-30-pm

#2 Stillness and Shenanigans 

screen-shot-2016-12-18-at-10-19-16-pm

#3 The Countless Hours

screen-shot-2016-12-18-at-10-42-14-pm

Leave a comment

Posted in Ars Poetica, Creativity

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Zentangle #19 Dissolving

Posted on December 19, 2016 | 3 comments

image

DISSOLVING

the thought of
gradually dissolving
is to 
lose faith in 
the flesh and blood
beneath the skin

 

If you would like to purchase the original piece above, it is yours for $10 (inc. postage and handling to anywhere in the world). Drop me a note in the comments and I’ll be in contact. It will be mounted and signed.

UPDATE: The piece is now SOLD.
You can buy postcard prints of a selected range of zentangle pieces or purchase a calico tote bag featuring Coloured Pencils HERE.

3 Comments

Posted in Ars Poetica

Tagged , , , , , ,

Today I Heard Fear

Posted on December 18, 2016 | 1 comment

Today I heard fear. 
It whispered. 
It did not speak loudly with
a stinging sleight 
or a shouted accusation.
It whispered
like a door creaking in the wind.
The subtle background noise
skirting the edges of conversation
sweeping in on wisps of wind
slipping in between the silences
of background noise so cleverly filtered out
until the static idly coalesced and said,
“You cannot do this.
Do not dream or imagine.
It’s too hard.”
It’s only when I take up my pen
and write and bleed and weep
that the fear disappears.

1 Comment

Posted in Ars Poetica

Tagged , ,

Zentangle #17 and #18

Posted on December 14, 2016 | Leave a comment

In what has been a very brutal couple of months personally, it sucked the life out of me, particularly creatively. I am still working on a chapter for the collaborative novel with my creative partners Jodi and Rus. I am almost done. But with the busyness of this time of year I am not yet done. So close. Yet not done.

However while long form projects take longer to finish, short term, almost immediate creative projects, can be done. Zentangles have been a glorious creative focus.

These two were created for my creative co-conspirators and good friends, Jodi and Rus. (On a side note, Rus has a released a new collection of stories and essays for Christmas. Click HERE. And Jodi regularly sells poetry squares via her Etsy store. Click HERE.)

In the light of their recent releases, these zentangles were serendipitous. I was using the same book as all my zentangles (Through A Class Darkly by Jostein Gaardner) and found the words and images quite quickly. They are now winging their way to their respective homes in Brisbane, Australia and Towson, America.

It is a good feeling to compose a piece for a specific person. One that I know meets the creative and spiritual aspects of their personality and character.

Zentangle #17 – Theology

img_20161213_125239

THEOLOGY
the theology of nature
is to see imagination
playing in heaven

Zentangle #18 – Souls

img_20161213_093138

SOULS
try to describe
if you think
my soul
ought to keep silent

I have zentangle art for sale. Click on the link HERE.

If you are interested in a personalised commission, drop me a line in the comments and we can talk prices and ideas.

Leave a comment

Posted in Ars Poetica, Creativity

Tagged , , , , , ,

Zentangle Poetry For Sale

Posted on December 7, 2016 | 1 comment

I have produced a short run of zentangle poetry on postcards and calico tote bags  for sale.

POSTCARDS $8AUS (inc. postage)
Set of six cards.
Top Row (L-R): Coloured Pencils; Sadness and Comfort; Bare Feet
Bottom Row (L-R): Information; Two Ravens; Celestial Bodies

zentangle-postcards


Buy Now Button

TOTE BAGS
Coloured Pencils (zentangle poem)
Calico Tote Bag $11AUS (inc. postage)

image
Buy Now Button

Stupid Question (blackout poem)
Calico Tote Bag $11AUS (inc. postage)

image


Buy Now Button

Zentangle Bundle
In the Zentangle Bundle you get: a set of postcards and one of each of the tote bags. $25AUS (inc. postage)

Buy Now Button

If you have any hassle paying for items, please let me know.
Thanks

1 Comment

Posted in The Writer's Life

Zentangle #16 Prefer

Posted on November 28, 2016 | Leave a comment

img_20161127_130310

Prefer

you prefer
a human life
a choice
to look
one single time
to experience
what it may be
to be created

Leave a comment

Posted in Short Stories

Zentangle #15 Two Ravens

Posted on November 14, 2016 | 3 comments

img_20161113_190323

TWO RAVENS

I had
two ravens
one
to forget everything
remember
you become sad when
you 
let go

3 Comments

Posted in Ars Poetica, Creativity

Tagged , , , , , ,

Handwritten Pages #15

Posted on October 28, 2016 | 4 comments

image

     She ties the dressing gown around her waist. Lines up her toes where the metal coping separates the hallway carpet from the bathroom tiles. A diver’s stance. Anticipation of the tiles’ coldness.
     She steps. Plummets. Side steps the bath mat. Plants her feet squarely. Small ripples quickly subside. The cold tiles prickle the soles of her feet until it stings. Tapers off to an equilibrium.
     Repeatedly she will lie on her back on the bathroom floor undressed. Lets the cold of the tiles fight with the heat of her body. She relents. Acquiesces. Adds a layer of permafrost to her heart against the fire of her mother’s tongue.

4 Comments

Posted in Creativity, Short Stories

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Zentangle #14 Answer

Posted on October 26, 2016 | Leave a comment

img_20161023_153406

ANSWER

A fragment of answer
crept
inside the door
stealing through
like little children

Leave a comment

Posted in Ars Poetica, Creativity

Tagged , , , , , ,