Art + Poetry

Do you have a favorite blanket?  My favorite is a quilt that my grandmother made, with squares of pastel pink, yellow, green, and blue fabric.

When I saw palette #164 from The Color Room, it reminded me right away of my grandmother's quilt.  

That, in turn, reminded me of the poem "Quilts" by Nikki Giovanni.  "Quilts" (click here to see the text of the poem) holds a great deal of meaning for me.  Like the narrator of the poem, I hope that my life still has meaning, even though my body is getting older and becoming less able.  I decided to make a wall hanging for my home office, using the poem and my scrapbooking supplies.
 

Supplies: owl sticker, green vertical sentiment sticker, & blue 3x4" card from Simple Stories; blue vertical sentiment sticker from Bella Blvd; flair badge & 3x4" pink/grey card from October Afternoon; cardboard from old product packaging; doily from Royal; all other paper from Crate; horizontal sentiment sticker from Echo Park; paint & glitter from Ranger; assorted ribbon scraps from my stash; pen from Zig; beads from The Bead Box; decorative tape & corked bottle from We Call Her Happydaks; household stapler & hole punch; buttons upcycled from old clothing.

 
To reflect the fact that parts of the poem have a worried, unsettled tone, I chose an off-center design for my wall hanging.  I used cardboard (upcycled product packaging) as my base, and the poem juts off this base to the left.

Working on cardboard gave me the opportunity to pile on the mixed media, without worrying about warping the base.  I used collage, shimmery paint, and glitter.  Here are a few detail shots of the mixed media background...

The quilt in the poem is frayed at the end, and I reflected this detail in my artwork by tearing the bottom off my cardboard base.

Many of my embellishments are altered or handmade.  I sewed a ribbon rosette, and I used paint and glitter to alter a handful of buttons...

I fussy-cut some floral paper and altered a flair badge...

I found lots of opportunities to work leftover bits of ribbon and trim into my work...

...and I poured a selection of seed beads into a tiny bottle.

Incorporating poetry into my artwork is something I've been considering for awhile, and I'm glad that I finally got the chance to try it.  Have you ever used poetry or other text in your art?