words and pictures

From childhood, for me, it has always been back and forth between words and pictures. Draw something. Write something. Sometimes I would feel a certain emotion, draw what it evoked, then write a few words beside or on top of it. I never called the words poetry as they didn't rhyme. They were intended only to go along with the picture. I used to have sketchbooks full of these combinations-- most not very good. Being 'good' wasn't the point. The point was satisfying an emotional need. They began with a feeling, expanded into a drawing which led to words.

Above my desk (at the moment) are eleven quotations jotted on Post-it notes. These are ideas I want to utilize in my life. If a quote loses its meaning for me, I remove it.
One day, as I was looking at them, I thought about creating a piece of computer art that began with some of those words. There was no plan for how to proceed or what the picture would be. I created one of my computer canvases and stroked across it with a broad swath of color.

After I was satisfied with the fantasy painting, I realized I wanted to write words of my own. My words aren't as good as the original piece of poetry but I felt it made it more mine when I interpreted not only the picture but the thought. The original piece of poetry follows.

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver
(I read this one on Fran's Sacred Ordinary)

The next computer painting began with another quotation I wanted to use; then I remembered a photograph I had taken of a seagull and a wild, stormy sea. The gull is trying to fly against a wind that keeps it almost in the same place, but the bird isn't about to give up. Sometimes, in the past, I have used photographs with words, but this time, I let the photograph be the inspiration for another computer painting and again rewrote the original words.

Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a winged bird that cannot fly.
Langston Hughes
(given to me by Winston at Nobody Asked)

It is possible to use computer text instead of drawing the words, but that ended up looking like greeting cards. I am hoping to improve my dexterity with the mouse.

Anyone can do this with the computer. Find a quotation that is meaningful to you. Open up a canvas (description on the process is in creativity). Then don't plan to do something specific. Maybe it will end up an abstract. Just keep that quote in your head and use the colors to see what happens. It's not about being good. It's about opening up.

Years ago I carried the following quotation in my wallet as my goal for those I love. The paper grew tattered, but the words by then were imprinted in my heart. There is no rewriting them.