Here is another spread with lots of circle fascination, where I’ve also played with cut out words and created my own (Swedish) Found Poetry. I love these little poems! They make me smile because the language is old fashioned and the don’t make (much) sense. Perfect found poetry, right?

My found poetry is funny, but it will probably not make much sense at all to most of you because the words are in Swedish. :-) But it’s rather pretty to look at too. And maybe they will inspire you to cut out your own words and start playing with them?

In my (now almost vintage) post How to use Text Elements as backdrops for collage I’ve written about found or “clipped word” poetry:

Create your poetry with a few cut out words from a magazine or used book. Use one that you’re not interested in reading or saving. Look for whole phrases that you find interesting or that speaks to you and save them. Cut them up or use as they are. You can create whole poems this way, but also add visual interest with a few words.

Create crazy combinations.

Cut out words that are beautiful to say out loud, or that have special meaning to you.

Experiment by laying them out for a trial poem…

Have you tried writing your own “found art poetry” yet?

It’s called Aday.org, and this project was initiated by the Swedish foundation Expressions of Humankind (which supports scientific research and education centered around the photographic image and the written word). They’re asking the world’s inhabitants (you!) to grab their cameras and start snapping to capture daily life and preserve moments for future generations.

They write:

Photograph on May 15th! You have one day to join thousands around the world in using the power of photography to create, share and compare perspectives on daily life! Don’t miss it! You can upload your images until May 22nd.

I didn’t know about this world wide photo event until after lunch today but when I read up about it I got very excited. This is exactly the kind of project I would start if I had the funds to make a website like aday.org! But even if it wasn’t me who started it I’ve tried to help “spread the world” by tweeting, bookmarking and pinning the project!

Even if you didn’t know that today was a big documentation day you might have snapped a few photos anyway. If they are dated 15th of May 2012 you can upload them to the site and be part of this awesome super cool project! Some photos will be included in a book, an exhibition for sure the online gallery and all photos will be archived for the future, far down in the vault of some mountain probably. That’s what I call backing up your HD!

You are only allowed to upload 10 photos to the project site, so it’s not a huge project. The themes are broad and personal: work (or unemployment), home and connection.

I’ve used my htc android smartphone, and the photo enhancing app Vignette (I use it all the time and totally love it) to document today. I think it’s quite apropriate to, in 2012, document your life using a phone camera.

After I found out about this today, it has got me thinking about change and technology:

The way we carry a camera, what we photograph (+ where and with who we choose to share them) and the filters we apply to our photos says a lot about our time. Just a few years ago the photo processing that goes on in our phones wasn’t availible until you had downloaded your photos to a computer and opened them in a editing program. A few years before that, digital photography wasn’t even invented and you had to waith 20 or 30 years until your photos got the “vintage feel” that we now apply with a push of a button! It’s amazing to think about technology is evolving, and how quickly we adapt and “forget” how we used to do things.

I’m thinking about what I personally will leave for future generations from my life… How will the future people of earth interpret my digital footprints (if they are still there in the future)?

If you can’t access aday.org you can read about the photo project here – and then snap a photo! #aday12

I fell in love with painting on fabric when first tried it on fabric patches three years ago. I later used those patches to sew my Magic Mixed Media Bag, a bag I still use almost every day. Recently I got a compliment about it at a Knitting Café event. Only those who embrace creativity mention it, and I think that is interesting.

This piece of fabric is measured to fit one of my handmade journals once it’s finished, but it also serves as a reminder how much I love doing this! I love painting with acrylic paint on sturdy fabric. I need to experiment and play with it a lot more. And I mean a lot!

It’s easy to forget how much you love doing some things when you don’t have the time to focus on them, don’t you agree? I just bought a new bike this weekend, and biking makes me happy too. How could I forget?

I will try to make a list of all the things that makes me happy for summer activities. It will remind me to do a lot of different things when I have free time. To alternate is good. Bike some, snap a photo, paint some, sew some, take walks and make time for talking to my friends & family. It’s the balance between these and other activities that makes my days good.

I was out walking and brought my pink Ixus camera. I didn’t hop on the flower power bus but I snapped a photo so I could share it with you. Doesn’t it look like a happiness buss to you too? It’s a regular buss covered in flowers, a commercial for a paint store brand. I wish all buses would look like this, it sure would brighten my commute hours.

A boring, closed off window – or a globe with a hidden map? I see what I see. Just sayin’.

Pink doors that was probably red once upon a time… I wonder where you will end up if you could enter?

I took a closer look, and oh how pretty and wabi-sabi they are.

The ultimate spring evidence! Now one again covering the ground with its white little heads. I love you, dear vitsippa.

Passing another cool vehicle called The Swedish Bear, with colours from the Danish flag.

And then, taking a break before heading back home again.

I’ve gotta go, kids! I bet you have explorations of your own to do now.

See you soon!

The successful artist finds a way to mine their inner emotions and reveal these through their art in a way that is compelling. I believe the force behind this process is passion.
/Seth Apter

The Pulse of Mixed Media – secrets and passions of 100 artists revealed, a book by Seth Apter. I bet you’ve seen this around everywhere with a quote or a picture or a “I’m in it” statement? At least if you read any mixed media blogs from the US you will have noticed this book cover, I’m sure. It’s because the curator Seth Apter has invited everyone and their aunt to be in this book. It’s evident in the tiny images on the cover and many, many names inside the book.

I don’t think I would’ve bought this book, because I don’t feel a huge need of owning it… It’s not easily categorized either. That said, I have gotten a review copy of it and now read through it. It has quite a lot of text, but no tutorials or in-depth writing (I hope Seth gets to write another book on his own, because he is a great thinker/writer). Instead you’re presented with many different answers to quite a few questions.

I’m all about asking questions (I’m a journalist after all), and then listening to the answers. When this many artists answer the same questions you are given many different perspectives and food for thought. I find myself reading some of the answers with great interest, but often times I find the bland answers boring or even irritating. Boring is bad, but irritating is good because it tells me that my opinion differs with that of the artists in question. A few of the answers are beautiful and quotable, but not that many.

I actually saw the call for art and answers to questions to go into this book, but wasn’t called to answer any of them at the time. The book include questions like “Is there a color that rarely shows up in your artwork?”, “Who has had the most impact on your creative life?”, “How do you express anger in your artwork?” and “What expresses the innermost you?” (great questions to answer in a journal writing session or blog post!)

Because of the nature of this book I think it can be viewed as a kind of magazine rather than a bookish book to cherish for years in the bookshelf. At least that’s my opinion. It’s not a keeper for me, and I will give it 3 out of 5 stars. 3 means it’s okay and a nice book. 4 is a keeper and 5 means I love it to the stars and don’t want to ever loose it. I don’t write about 2:s or 1:s if I ever see them, because those books are not worth our time! ;-)

Further inspiration

• The Pulse of Mixed Media – view the book on amazon
• The Altered page – Seth Apter’s blog
• Ali Edwards and Kelly Kilmer are a few of the many that has posted about The Pulse
• My previous book reviews – lots of great books to check out in the archive

Indulge me, please (because I love questions) by asking some too… What questions would you like to ask an artist? What specific artist would you like to interview? Or what would you want to ask me? Let me know in the comments!

en koffertfisk,
att bygga stora snäckor med
ekar och smultronträd,
lycka och glädje.

Found poetry poem by iHanna. Translated it would sound something like this:

a “trunk fish”,
to build big shells together with
oaks and wild strawberry trees,
happiness and joy.

More brown details from a very brown page:

Brown is not a colour I use very often! This is going outside my comfort zone, art journal wise. But I like what came out on the page. A quite messy page with a lot of different imagery coming together with the help of the surrounding colour: brown.

I made myself “wool sleaves” this winter by cutting apart several felted wool sweater arms and sewing them together. I love to recycle wool! I sewed this on mom’s fancy sewing machine and decided to leave the selvedge on the outside for a grungy look. What do you think? Strange or fun?

I thought I’d wouldn’t be using these, but I actually have.

The inspiration came from Katwise and her awesome style.

Katwise is my personal recycle fashion hero:

Check out Katwise on Etsy!

I like DIY Fashion because it’s cheap, personalized and all about recycling what is already there. Here are some more inspirations for DIY Fashion lovers!

Altered fashion inspiration

• Rïce writes about altering clothing a lot. But it’s her interviews with women about what they wear that are my favorites (a few links below).
• When you have the time, you have to listen to Rïce’s podcast: Melanie Testa talks about Altering Her Wardrobe
• I’m also inspired by Lauren Shanley interviewed and Sue Kreitzman interviewed + watch an Sue Kreitzman video
• Zom writes about refashioning clothes sometimes
• I am no fashionista myself, in no way, I’m more interested in playfulness when it comes to clothes. You can check out my posts about clothing if you are curious about it.

What inspires you when it comes to clothing yourself?

I have an endless fascination with circles.

It goes round and round and never stops. Sometimes I work with a form intentionally, sometimes I look up from my art journal page and to my surprise notice the same form everywhere. Here it’s the circle, reoccurring everywhere in different ways. Does this happen to you too?

I usually have some kind of idea when I start an embroidery, but for this ATC I thought I’d start without a plan – and see where it led me. You almost need to trick your brain to without any image in your mind. We are so used to always planning and knowing what we do will become and how it will be used. Can you create something – without a plan?

Without the intention to plan you are free to blindly pick a thread colour, stick down your needle somewhere in the middle and start stitching.

How I did not plan

This time I started with a black thread line. It formed a space or container though I tried not to think about what it could become. When it was closed, it looked empty. So I then started to fill it out with french knots and other stitches.

I thought it started to look like a map, an island map of unknown origin, floating in space… An embroidered map in space? The above image is vignetted in Photoshop.

When you start without a plan, it’s easier to look at your work with fresh eyes. Move the fabric around and see if it might become something else. When you turn the motif around and look at it upside down or from an angle a new image might reveal itself…

So finally, this is what came out in the end:

Let me know how your non-planning goes!

PS; the giveaway below is still open