/* */ Beulah Bee

March 31, 2015

Stop Writing



This month's theme at Art Journal Journey is a favorite poem or quote and I made a page to show how the words of a poem can say one thing but really mean another.

The poet is not writing about laundry or woman's work. She's writing (as if talking to herself) about the pain of losing her husband.


To illustrate, I pasted the real meaning of the poem in tiny white print over the images and since my photos are hard to read, I've written the poem below along with some of the tiny text:

I Stop Writing the Poem

to fold the clothes. No matter who lives
or who dies, I'm still a woman.
I'll always have plenty to do.
I bring the arms of his shirt
together. Nothing can stop
our tenderness. I'll get back
to the poem. I'll get back to being
a woman. But for now
there's a shirt, a giant shirt
in my hands, and somewhere a small girl
standing next to her mother
watching to see how it's done.


Something very serious has disturbed the poet's life (she's stopped writing). Someone close to the speaker has died (no matter who lives or dies). She uses busy work to keep from thinking about it (has plenty to do). Death won't stop them from being close (brings the arms of the shirt together).

She senses that her creativity and expression, as well as her sense of being a woman will eventually return, even if they are altered by the experience (I'll get back to the poem/being a woman). There may be a pause in her writing, but his departure is forever. The size of the shirt (giant) equals her vast sense of loss.

Her strength comes through because she knows how to regain her confidence. She needs a mentor and will find someone to lead her out of her misery (a small girl standing next to her mother watching to see how it's done).

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It's amazing how so much is said in just a few, well-chosen words!

Poetry is an elevated art form I have always appreciated and it was fun to create using paper and paint to compliment it. I hope you will journal about a favorite poem or quote this month and link up with Art Journal Journey so I can see what inspires you!

March 28, 2015

Prototype


This week's Monday blog challenge at SSS is to use a stamp multiple ways on the same project or use the same stamp in different colors or ways on multiple projects.

So I read through Michelle's creative stamping tutorial, then chose a stamp to experiment with that's always been hard to use--it's large, not very deeply etched and yes, a bit unusual. I was hoping this exercise might shed some light on how to get more out of it.

As she suggested, I just starting making impressions on all kinds of scrap papers. Then I got an idea to cut various parts out of the image from the many stampings and collage them back together puzzle-style.


Click to Enlarge
I ended up making a tag which was embellished with a little paint and ink.

If time permits, I like to try another one and will tell you that I like this stamp a whole lot more than I used to.

This was a great exercise and I always appreciate the inspiration I get from the weekly challenges.

Stamp credit: Paper Artsy

March 20, 2015

Collection

Animals.

That's this week's Monday blog challenge at SSS.

So I took an inventory of my stamps.

While I did have a few that would work, they were all a bit on the tiny side.

No matter.

So I pasted.
And stamped.

Embossed.

Stained.

Painted.

Drew.

Fiddled.

Rubbed.


Erased.

Licked.

Cut.

And pasted some more.


I was going for a Cabinet of Curiosities look.

I ended up with something rather silly instead.


But I should get high marks for my enthusiasm, don't you think?









Maybe I should have started out using something other than a tag....