Black Crow: poem illustrated

Here it is, finished! I debated on beads, buttons, and ribbons but I think keeping it simple is best. The colors aren't showing very well.  That's a full moon in silver satin.  The little bird is blue. There is some mesh netting coming from the man's mouth across the frame... That's how I guessed smoke could be portrayed...
The poem, "Black Crow", is published in the online version of Sugar Mule in the Oklahoma Writing Edition.   A print edition is due to hit the press sometime in November and will be available in December.

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Illustration: Black Crow

I am working on some fabric art ideas that illustrate individual poems from my collection, Rise When the Rooster Crows. This one is for "Black Crow". Work in progress.



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Kayak love

I went kayaking out at Lake Overholser recently. Here's a few pics from the adventure. :)



And then I loved the scene around Overholser - so full of trees and birds and quiet without big city buildings in view.



And then I bought my own kayak from a local musician friend - I love it's story! Here it is on top of my car just after I bought it.



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open windows

I want to fall in love one day.  To feel loved and to experience the feeling of loving someone.

I have loved someone from a distance now and I have allowed myself to cage those feelings, only to speak of them once face-to-face and to write of them once in a late-night email, with a response that was tenderly written. Yet, a great canyon of silence has grown between us since then.  I have searched for a bridge to cross over, but any that existed I fear he might have burned.  Why?  I don't fit some vision, or he is afraid of hurting me, someone he cares about, or I am too honest for his tender and scuffed up heart.  I have no answers that truthfully tell that story.  Only he could explain.  And he isn't going to, and I am not going to ask. I have waited.  I've not pursued anyone because I knew that I was not ready, what with all my searching and hoping. But I've finally packed my car and driven away from the canyon. It echoes the car's wheels rolling on gravel, dust rising, and no one there to say goodbye.  Farewell, friend.

And so the tide has come around, the wind is blowing across the lake, my paddle skims the water, and I see the reeds swaying with a late summer hope of what is possible, what is to come, what autumn might bring.

The screen door bangs with the coming autumn wind.  Wildflowers lean toward the rising sun and sway as it travels to sunset. I've opened the windows.  I want to fall in love again. 

spoken

I know I speak when no words spill from my mouth,
but if you would kindly please do me a favor:
Pay no attention to my silent utterances;
They speak what I cannot allow to be said.
I cannot recall what secrets I shared mutely,
what was said in a ring twist or waist-poised hands
or any other linguistic phrase of movement
that spoke in hand-covered whispers.
I will go out on a lake or into the woods
and be quiet in the wind or hidden by leaves.
Be still. Unspoken. Be quiet. Wordless.

baby photo album covers

A few of my co-workers commissioned me to create something creative for these clam-shell binders that we filled with archival photo sheet protectors.  We turned them into photo albums where the new mothers can print and store photos of their newborns. 

The first was having a baby boy, but I didn't know what colors she was using in decorating the baby's room, but the baby boy blue still worked out just fine.  This was my first try, but I think it looks pretty good.  I used two old shirts (the two striped pieces) and three swatches of new fabric in the design.  It needed some more interest so I added the ribbon and buttons.  I used HeatnBond Ultrahold fabric adhesive to adhere the fabrics to each other.  Then I used a low-temp glue gun to wrap the fabric around a matte board I pre-cut to place on the binder's cover.  I did not want to puncture the binder itself because that would weaken the cover and open holes for pests and dust. It was dull looking with just the fabric, so I decided to stitch down some ribbon and buttons for interest.  I probably could have done this prior to gluing it to the board, but I also think that stitching through the board secures the buttons and thread more.   I then glued the finished cover to the front of the clam-shell binder, and voila!  Baby Boy Blue Cover for a photo album.

The second one was for a co-worker having her first baby girl.  The new momma-to-be is all about pink and bling, so I knew that it needed to have a little more glitz than the Baby Boy Blue.  I used to have a pretty pink button-down shirt that had some clear sequins stitched in the front, so I cut two swatches of this fabric, including the gem snap-buttons.  I used this for the top and bottom sections of the design.  The middle swatch of fabric comes from a pink knit shirt I found in Goodwill years ago.  I dug around in my beads and found a few that seemed to match and add some bling to the overall feel of the cover.  The beads on the ribbon in the middle section can slide up and down a little on the iridescent ribbon.  The beads and ribbon at the bottom half hide a rough edge in the pink plaid, and it was stitched down in-between each bead section.  I am not a big fan of pink, but this one turned out quite well, I think!  Hello, Baby Girl Pink Cover.

breaker-switch

It has been a long time to feel
the electrical current flow,
strike through this stagnant blood
and spark fire in a kiss or touch:
arms enclose, shoulders hug,
silent love murmurs red.

Daydreams of inappropriate 
matches, smolder in my guarded
words, hide-and-hide moments,
wait for a match to ignite and
burn the dreamed love letters,
stolen evening wishes.

---
Over-worked emotional babble. :P