Think Tank Thursday #114 Timeworn

Today I would like to share an artist with you.  This artist has taken paper and elevated it with vintage items.  Vicki Sheehan is a visual poet.  Her art speaks of faded memories, from the past.  Her art whispers and invites you to look again.  One imagines the voice of the past longing to be heard.  Here I have featured a few pieces of her art, from her Old Ink Series.  She also sells beautiful leather bound journals, so you can capture your own memories, collect your own words and gather your inspiration, in one place.

Ella:  Welcome Vicki to Poets United :D   Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

 

Vicki:  I am an artist, a mom, a wife.  I am a creative soul, a deep thinker, a dreamer of dreams...
I am the tattered lace on the hem of an old wedding dress, the crumbling pages of a treasured book, a piece of rugged, worn leather...I like rough edges.   I embrace imperfection, I see beauty in the timeworn.  

 Ella:  Vicki, this so poetic and beautiful!  Tell us about this first piece in your series.

 No. 1

Vicki:  I love how items from the past tell a story,  how time enhances their beauty. 

This one includes an old book page, an envelope postmarked 1912, a book spine and some very old lace.

Ella:  I love the colors, the thoughts, and wonder of this series.  It does make one curious, what book, who was Margaret, what was her life like?  Where did the lace come from, where was it worn?    This is such a romantic art form.

 No. 2

*This is no. 2 in a series of collages I made to honor these letters. Each piece is delicate and unique and completely original. This one includes an old book page, a letter with a date of 1937 and some very old lace.

Ella:   I love this series. I remember the first time I saw it and how many ideas danced in my head.    It is gorgeous~   Vicki tell me a bit about your process?

Vicki:  One of my favorite things to collect is old letters. The old fashioned handwriting is so beautiful.  As I read the stories, I often wonder how these old letters found their way into the dusty corner of an antique shop. This is no. 2 in a series of collages I made to honor these letters.  I seek the extraordinary in the most ordinary.  That is how I create...

 Ella:   I think this one, may be my favorite.   The wonder and magic of the written word. Maybe Mildred wrote or received poetry?   It is fun to imagine what the lives behind these items reflect.

Vicki:   I usually start with an idea, like this time it was about old letters and beautiful writing. I lay everything out on my table and just start putting pieces together.  I will sometimes do this for several weeks, before I come up with the final arrangements. Then I glue or sew everything together.  I always use originals and everything I use is old, something really old.  I feel like it keeps the piece more authentic. And sometimes I'll just use a small piece of something, telling just a small piece of the story.  It makes it more mysterious.

Ella:  It really does make one observe and take notice.  Your artful arrangement is  like a page out of a diary, a visual scrapbook.   The magic of our imaginations is inspired so much by our memories. I can see stories and poetry in your art :D

No. 6

                                                                             

*This one also includes a vintage book page, an antique letter, an antique envelope postmarked 1912 and some very old lace.

Vicki:  I do wonder about the people, that owned the items before me. I wonder if they were anything like me.  If they also had a passion to create and to beautify their surrounds. I sometimes make up little stories, in my head to go with a particular item.

Ella:  Oh, Vicki you should write your stories down!  One never knows when inspiration strikes. I gather words n' memories, like you gather these beautiful items.  I see you sold, some of your series!  I can see why, they are so dreamy.  I also like this new series you have recently added to your shop.  Could you tell me a bit about your  Fabric Art Collages?

Vicki:  The fabric collages started as a way to use very small pieces of treasured vintage laces and fabrics.  They were left over, from other projects.  I can't bear to part with even the tiniest scrap, just like the paper collages. Right now, I have many of these in progress. They are waiting for that special little scrap that will complete each one.

Ella:  I love your process, you are waiting for the right piece to fit the puzzle. What is No. 01 made up of?

Fabric Art Collage - Stitched Series .01

Vicki:  The backing is tea dyed muslin and this collage also includes a piece of washed burlap with its earthy frayed edge along the bottom, some antique netting with little white polka dots, a pretty piece of an antique doily. I added a small piece of old silk to give it just a touch of pink. It has been artfully layered and machine stitched. As a further accent, I sewed on some beautiful little glass pearls from a very old necklace.

Ella:  How romantic!  I love how you have arranged these.  Your art is like a memory quilt, so many fragments n' snippets of time, so elegantly gathered.

Vicki:  Thank you, so much! :D

Ella:  Thank you Vicki,  for sharing your wonderful art with us today!   I can't wait to read the poetry, your art inspires!   It has been a pleasure to have you share yourself, your art and your process with us.   Thank you so much~ 

You can visit Vicki at her blog and be sure to drop by her Etsy Shop. She is always listing new, lovely creations~  Her journals are stunning, too.

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

William Wordsworth

                    "Beautiful memories tell our story, and wrap them     -selves in ribbons of the heart." -- Flavia

"Perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. "  ~Angelique Arnauld 

  Select one of Vicki's collages or a timeworn item you own, to inspire your mystery into a poem!  I look forward to reading your offerings on our prompt #114 Timeworn.

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

Think Tank Thursday #112 Recipe

I have been sick.  I was a bit behind on the Dali poems!  I must say you didn't disappointed~ All of your poems were unique gems!  I love the ways your wrote about him, his lifestyle and view.

Today,  I thought we could write a recipe. A poem about a recipe.  It does not have to be food related, it could be a recipe for life, a recipe of a favorite hobby, something you dabble in and would like to share.  I think my last post may have started this train of thought. I shared my secret hobby. I like to play stylist in stores.  Maybe it was the phone call to my Mom?!  I did call her and ask her for a and where did it originate.  If you chose to write about food,  I hope you will add your memories in a bit.  I love how our senses stir our memories.   Recipe is our #112 prompt.

Favourite Recipes - Day 172by *escaped-emotions

 

just a hobbyby ~Adamax08

 

 

Recipe Of Loveby `tracie76

 I hope you will share a recipe with us, I mean poem! I look forward to your delicious offerings :D

 

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

 

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

 

 

 

 

The Think Tank Thursday #107 Sound

Today,  I thought I would share a  poem by Theodore Roethke.    He is  a great sound poet!  Yes, prompt #107 is Sound!

Big Wind

Where were the greenhouses going,
Lunging into the lashing
Wind driving water
So far down the river
All the faucets stopped?—
So we drained the manure-machine
For the steam plant,
Pumping the stale mixture
Into the rusty boilers,
Watching the pressure gauge
Waver over to red,
As the seams hissed
And the live steam
Drove to the far
End of the rose-house,
Where the worst wind was,
Creaking the cypress window-frames,
Cracking so much thin glass
We stayed all night,
Stuffing the holes with burlap;
But she rode it out,
That old rose-house,
She hove into the teeth of it,
The core and pith of that ugly storm,
Ploughing with her stiff prow,
Bucking into the wind-waves
That broke over the whole of her,
Flailing her sides with spray,
Flinging long strings of wet across the roof-top,
Finally veering, wearing themselves out, merely
Whistling thinly under the wind-vents;
She sailed until the calm morning,
Carrying her full cargo of roses.

Theodore Roethke

laughterby ~lauafer

 

 What first comes to mind when you think of sound?  Perhaps laughter, rain, waves pounding on the beach, a thunderstorm, wind chimes, a bubbling brook, popcorn popping, music or birds singing...

I want you to pen a poem that shares one of your favorite sounds. YOU can use one from my list, but there are so many more to choose from.  Or you could go the Simon & Garfunkel route, the Sounds of Silence. I look forward to hearing your poems ;D 

Chimes 1by ~littlegett

 

 

The Birdsby *MarquisDeAhhs

 

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

The Think Tank Thursday #106 Carnival

Today, we are going to try something new.  I would like to feature a different artist once a month. When I say art, it will be different mediums, sometimes paint, mixed media, and other mediums.  I would like to introduce you to, Fabiola D'Antuono.  Fabiola runs a shop on Etsy, called ArchivioGotico Postcards & Garlands.   She lives in Italian and is a visual artist. She gathers images and turns them into postcards n' garlands. Her view is poetic. She strings beautiful images into garlands and makes postcards, I think could inspire poetry.  Her themes vary, but all have visual stunning elements together weave a story.  Her art is aesthetically pleasing~

Ella:   Could you tell us how your shop came to be?  

Fabiola:   I am by nature a paper-sniffer. Shoving my nose into a freshly printed book is a heart-lifting  experience. I am also a vintage lover. So I thought “why not combine these two passions”?  This is how my shop began.  What wonderful objects one can create with paper and a bit of string or ribbon!



 Her visually cut-outs are created by what inspires her a story, poem or song.   She was kind enough to share some of her postcards with us today, for our prompt #106 Carnival.

Ella:  "Fabiola could you share what inspired this collection?"

Fabiola:    "Rusholme Ruffians is one of my favourite Smiths songs.

It captures the darkness of fun fairs. I remember the fairs I went to. It was November 5th and there were bonfires and goldfish to win, candyfloss and that dark November sadness."

Ella:  Fabiola, how beautiful, what a lovely memory!   I love how you visual collect and gather images to express memories.  Your images help us remember facets of our lives, like magic strings they evoke an emotion, a memory. These postcards make me crave Cotton Candy(Candyfloss) and a ride on the Ferris Wheel.  I love the symbols you select for your garlands, they have an universal appeal. Could you share a bit more about your creative process?

 

Fabiola:  "When you read a book or a poem or listen to a song, it's not just reading and listening. There's a lot of "visual activity".  In your imagination, it's not just the words and the music, but all the images that those words and music inspire you.  Everyone does that(or I suppose they do).  When you read a story, you imagine what the characters look like, where they live and what the weather is like. That's what happens with my postcards and garlands, I add the 'visual' part.  My part of course, because everyone has their own interpretation. There is also a decorative intent behind the garlands and postcards.  I choose images or sequences of images, because they 'look nice' or give a certain atmosphere.  This is usually vintage or Autumn inspired, because I feel at home there!"

Ella:  Thank you for sharing, this was beautiful.  I love the view Autumn conjures up and I love that you feel it is your home!  (This could be a great prompt, which season feels like home) ;D   Fab's art work captures an expressive thought. All summed up with paper symbols to achieve an emotion, a visual poem.  Do you have a favorite poem

 Novembre (November)
Giacomo Leopardi:   L'Infinito (for translation see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Infinito_(poem)
William Wordsworth:  The Lucy Poems
Giuseppe Ungaretti:   Mattina

I love a lot of song lyrics too and my favourite is Robyn Hitchcock's I Often Dream of Trains
and Nick Haefner's Don't Be Late (unfortunately, Nick Haefner's song is probably known by me and 100 other people, which is a pity because it's beautiful and the lyrics are inspiring and full of mystery and imagination!)"



Ella:  Thank you Fabiola, for sharing your art and inspired thoughts with us. It was a pleasure to get to know you n' your process better!

Fabiola:   Grazie mille(Thank you a lot) :D


Be sure to stop by and check out other offerings by Fabiola, isn't she Fabulous!  :D



I would like you to pen a poem inspired by our prompt #106 Carnival.  Fab's technique of stringing symbols and her wonderful postcards perhaps will conjure up your memories of a day at the carnival.

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

The Think Tank Thursday #105 Bliss

moring blissby *dukeofspade

 

Blissby ~Hopie-chan

 

A Symphoney of Bliss...by ~goRillA-iNK

 

Blissby ~RhapsodyinAlto

This week, I thought I would share how I came up with our prompt #105 Bliss. I was glancing at a book by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  She is best known for her book, Simple Abundance.  I found this book at the library, Romancing The Ordinary~A Year of Simple Splendor.  I opened the book at random a few times and this is what spoke to me.

"We know what bliss is, even if we can't define it. Because bliss is a spiritual benediction, unbound by limits of language, the best that even sublime writers can do, such as New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield, is to describe its sensations. In her stunning short story, "Bliss", we are privy to Bertha Young's unexplained sensuous seizure of ecstasy.  Bertha discovers that bliss is the intense awareness of the sensuous in the ordinary, an erotic echo of the everyday.  Katherine writes how Bertha felt:   

  "What can you do,"  Bertha Young wondered, "if...turning the corner of your own street you are overcome, suddenly by a feeling of bliss~absolute bliss!~as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe?"    

I want you to pen a poem, that reveals bliss.  You can make it generic or personal, whatever excites your muse. I look forward to reading your sparks of insight, on what makes your ordinary, extraordinary! 

 "Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls. "
Joseph Campbell

"Live with integrity, respect the rights of other people, and follow your own bliss."
Nathaniel Branden

 

"Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real."  Deepak Chopra

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

 

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

 

The Thursday Think Tank #84-Home

Hello, it is me, Ella. For now, I am giving Robb a helping hand.  When I think of home, the quote  "Home is where the heart is." by~Pliny The Elder, comes to mind.  Being a military spouse, I have moved a lot. This quote is more fitting of my lifestyle, "Home is where you hang your hat." It is an English proverb.

What images arrive when you think of "Home"?  Is it your childhood home, walls that protect your heart?  Maybe it is your first apartment, when you were on your own, or perhaps the first home you bought, or the one you are in now?!   Home can mean many things. Pen a poem about your home. We can't wait to visit you and see home through your eyes.

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

The Thursday Think Tank # 83 - YES

January is behind us,as we move into the month of sentiment n' romance and yes, the Super Bowl, lol.

It is time for our photo prompt #83 Yes.  What have you chose to say Yes to?!  Is it love, something for yourself, perhaps a new health kick or maybe you are going to the Super Bowl.  Yes!
I would love for you to pen a poem in regards to something you have chosen to say "yes" to.  It can be anything.   I can't wait to read,  your poems on YES!

Our Monthly "Reflection" photo prompt is provided to us by Ella Wilson. We would like to thank Ella for her inspiring photos and for helping us out here at Poets United. If you would like to know more about Ella, see her other photos or read her poetry please visit the blog below:
Ella's Edge

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.


There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

The Thursday Think Tank # 82 - The Road

When you sit there and think of the word “Road” do you actually see a highway and the person next to you not paying attention or do you think of the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz.  Maybe you reflect on a road trip where you and 3 other friends went half way across the country just because you were young and you could.  Maybe you see the road to nowhere and cringe at that thought.  What road will your writing take you down today, the streets of Spain or Italy, a back alley littered with dirty secrets? 

Every morning many of us get up groggy eyed and thick headed and fight our way into the current reality of life.  That reality requires us to go to work to earn our keep.  That trip to work requires us to get on a road to get there.  This may be the literal road where we pass many others that are doing the same, all of us navigating in and out of morning traffic, or it may be the figurative road we are all traveling on in life.  Whatever road you are on we want to hear about it.

We can’t wait to travel down your road and see the world through your eyes and pen.  So fill up your take and set off down the road of poetry and be sure to share it with us.

If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

The Thursday Think Tank # 81 - Goodbyes

Goodbye is an interesting word and concept. The word is so simple but means so much. It can bring relief and pain all in one breath. We say it to loved ones everyday knowing they will come back to us. Sometimes way say it knowing its forever. When you sit and think of the word goodbye what comes to mind? Do you imagine a youthful love that came to end? Maybe you think on a hard loss that endures in your memories.

Goodbye is not always the end it can signify new beginnings and adventures, a new chapter in life. When did you last say the word good bye? Was it this morning on your way out the door to work, maybe as you quickly got off the phone with a friend?

Take the next few moments to think on the word goodbye. Take whatever comes to mind and share it with us.

We look forward to reading all about your best and worst goodbyes.


If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.

The Thursday Think Tank # 80 - Choices

Every day in life we make choices. Even on the days we don’t want to. Not making a choice is actually making a choice. As confusing as that sounds it is true. Today for the Thursday Think Tank we want you to focus your writing on the choices you make in life. It can be a lifelong choice or memory of a choice or decision you made long ago that affects you today. If you want you can keep it simple and you can write about the fact this morning you chose to eat cereal instead of eggs. Not all choices our major and nor should everyone’s writings be major. Sometimes it’s the little choices that make us smile and continue on.

You've chosen to read today’s prompt so now the choice is yours to write or not write for it. We look forward to reading what you chose to write about today.

To write or not to write, the choice is yours.


If you have a prompt idea (even a Music or Film inspired one) that you would like to suggest or share with us please send it to poetsunited@ymail.com . We keep a folder set aside with all your suggestions and just might use it one day.

There 3 simple rules:

1. Don’t link to more than 3 poems per week.

2. Please visit some of the other poems linked here when you link to yours.

3. Leave a comment after you have posted your link.