I love poetry.
I am especially fond of ‘found poetry’, and I mean found in all its forms… found in book titles, found in magazines, on book pages, cut out words and sentences – you name it. There is so much possible when it comes to ‘found poetry’… and this kind of poetry is also great to use on art journal pages also.

I therefore started FOUND POETRY FRIDAY – everyone is welcome to play along!

There is an “Inlinkz”-list at the end of this post. If you want to share your found poems, you are welcome to add your name to the list that will link us to your blogpost.

You can post your found poem on your own blog any time during the week, so you don’t have to make YOUR Fridays all about poetry – you just link us to the post that contains your poem. Please use the url that goes directly to you ‘found poetry post.’

First of all: THANK YOU ALL for your sweet birthday wishes last Wednesday.
I was overwhelmed by all the messages I received via my blog, email, facebook and snail mail.

Today’s found poem is a haiku, so I also submit this spread to Haiku my Heart and join Rebecca’s haiku circle today.

The words together with the images made a bit of a lonely and dark art journal spread…

In This Barren Land

Hope your weekend isn’t ‘barren’ but instead filled with sunshine and love!

Now it is your turn… did you find a poem this week?
Put your name and link in the list then!

[inlinkz id = 10]

.

While collecting books for my ‘haiku series’, my beloved asked me
if I could come up with a haiku using only books from his shelf.
The haiku would also have to fit him as a person.
Ha… now that is what you call daring me!

Here you have it love: this one is especially for you {kiss}

The English translation didn’t give me much trouble this time… I only had
to find another word for ‘seen’ – I chose ‘observed’ instead, but the official
book title is ‘seen from up close’.

I am glad that Rebecca, who hosts ‘Haiku my Heart Friday’, is back after
a two weeks’ absence and I look forward to visit the other participants
and read their haiku this weekend. The list of participants is published
on Recuerda Mi Corazon

For those visiting me today that have not seen my former ‘book-title-haiku’,
you can find the series on my facebook page and in my gallery here.

Now on to some art… remember I made/bound a small book and called it
‘Weird art journal’ ? (see this post)

Be careful how to name your books… ’cause weird it is.
It refuses to work with me!

I started a ‘weird story’ spread, but didn’t like it one bit.
Sorry, I forgot to take a photo – I just put gesso over it and started over.
Here’s what came next…

 (Size: 26 x 21 cm - 10.2 x 8.3 inch)

… and again, I didn’t like this spread one bit.
Somehow this journal seems to ‘block’ me! Aarghhh.

I don’t give up easily though. Know what I did?
You guessed it: I smeared again a layer of gesso over it.
Thank god for that stuff!

Here’s the third layer/spread and this time, I’m quite content.

You can see all the former layers shimmer, and I like the effect.

Conclusion: this art journal is weird in another way then I expected it to be.
I’m curious what the next pages will bring!

Next page I started with this Fall Fearless and Fly challenge in mind.

Headline Prompt:  Triumphs and Defeats:  What do you see as your
greatest triumphs or defeats? What have they taught you? Which have
you learned more from?
Color Prompt:  Black and white
Quote Prompt: Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the
shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~

I started with only greys and black but soon, the red appeared.
So I shifted my attention from the color to the quote prompt, and ended
up using only the last words from the quote.

Does it still count for the challenge?
I don’t know but I like it a lot!

(Size: 21 x 29,7 cm - 8.3 x 11.7 inch)

And now, dear ones, it’s time for me to get to the vacuum cleaner.
(I know – I normally don’t talk ‘housekeeping’ much. That is because
I don’t DO housekeeping much and that’s why I HAVE to do housekeeping
this afternoon…)

I wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Keep on rockin’ in the free world! (with or without vacuum cleaner…)

Visiting such a big supply fair means that it is impractible to keep
your money in your pocket. I did not really need supplies so I’m
proud to say that I managed to keep my findings to a minimum –
but still there can be done a lot with those ‘minimums’ – take a look.

These cards arose from experimenting with my new material:
4 bottles of Dylusian spray ink, 4 templates and a few new washi tapes.

I had fun trying the ghosting technique using the templates and ink.
I worked on a large sheet of paper and used every ink colour and template.
Later, I cut the sheet to make cards. I added some pieces of washi tape to each
card and stamped white acrylic paint – using bubble wrap plastic – for texture
and contrast. The circles are stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with
black embossing powder. The black has a shine to it and I love the result!

I also used my new ‘toys’ for my weekly art journal spread.

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 44

This spread has that typical ‘Julie Balzer-look’ to it. That will not come
as a surprise when you know two of the templates I bought are designed
by Julie. To ‘get to know the stuff’ I experimented with the usual
techniques that are used with templates and ink.
The figure with the circles is inspired by a Dina Wakely stamp
I sketched the figure onto dictionary paper and cut the silhouette.
The circles are stamped and embossed like on the cards.

So, this is not a real ‘Marit Page’, but I had fun making it and getting the
feel of what is possible with this ink and templates. I hope to use the ink
in a more ‘me-way’ eventually.

Before I leave you to your own business, there’s one more thing I want
to point out to you.

As you all know, one week ago hurricane Sandy battered New York City.
Seth Apter – a friend and artist living in New York – decided to auction off
a copy of his book (signed by 30 of the artists in it) along with original art
to benefit the victims of Sandy.

100% of the proceeds will benefit The Mayors Fund to Advance
New York City. Visit The Altered Page to learn more about the auction.

..

The upcoming weeks are going to be busy so I don’t know if I will have
much time to play in my journals. The team and I are working real hard
on the next issue of FEATURING (#1 and #2 can still be purchased here)
and I can hardly keep my mouth shut about some things that will be
in there… I better go now before I spoil the surprise!
I wish you all a beautiful week.
Go spray some ink and love around!

This is an often asked question in the artist (blog)world and not always
easy to answer. I, for instance, find inspiration all around me and it varies
all the time. Take my latest art journal page…

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 41
(click on the image to enlarge)

OK, Dutch people can read the journaling so they got a hint –
but keep reading if you want to know more…

Curious to know why those figures suddenly popped up on my art journal
pages and where they come from?  Well, I saw a news item on TV about the
works of the Dutch artist Anton Heyboer (1924 – 2005).

Anton was famous in the Netherlands and most people know the name.
Not  that they know what art he made, but because he lived in a small
community in the countryside together with four woman (referred to as
‘his brides.’) The fifth woman lived in a gallery across the street and sold his art.

Anton Heyboer was an intriguing person, but like most people I did not
know his work very well…. but when I saw this video on the 8 o’clock news
last Saturday, my eye was drawn to the figures he used in his art.
I didn’t even hear why this video was shot or what the ‘news’ was all about,
I was thát intrigued by the paintings and graphic that were shown. (I watched
the video again later and this was the news in short: “The public prosecutor
examines the authenticity of four and a half thousand works of the late artist
Anton Heyboer.”)

Next day, Sunday, I started my weekly art journal spread and the first thing
I did was sketch ‘Anton-like figures’ on the page! Just to remember them.

My journaling says: “Thinking back on the week, nothing much comes
to mind. Only the art of Anton Heyboer which I saw on TV. I don’t care
if it were originals or forgeries, I was intrigued!”

It was only after I finished my page, that I googled Anton Heyboer
(I wanted to create my spread with only the image I had in mind
and not be distracted by more or other images)

The next painting is one of my faves.

Anton Heyboer- Punt 1- stretched linen 150 x 200 cm
Image found on www.Amstelveenweb.com

The artist is not (well) known in other countries and most information
on the Internet is in Dutch, but I found an Art Auction website with
some info in English for the ones among you who want to read more.

Now there’s a good chance I will draw more ‘Anton figures’ in the future.
I like the simplicity and graphic feel of these shapes. I will just let it happen
and see what the outcome is.

Tell me: what does inspire YOU these days?