Borrowed Poem

I wander/ wonder lost.
Trying to find where I belong.
Sure of neither place nor time.

Can I hear traffic’s white noise punctuated by screeches and horns,
the giggles and splishes of a stream
or the dry parchment cracklings of leaves underfoot?

Is it diesel scented exhaust,
an undercurrent of wildflowers
or the not-quite smell of impending snow?

I remember all these things.
And more.
But still I am unsure of my place.

Do hot, dry winds bite with sand,
or warm rain drizzle like kisses?
A frosty morn where I billow my breath like a dragon?

Which of these have I lived,
or read in a book,
or watched enveloped in a dark theater?
Sometimes, it seems the most vivid memories don’t belong to me.
I borrow them from other writers.
What will I do when they want them back?

There's a new character in the world of the Lost Ones...

The Lost Ones' Story Continues

Wing Poem

You rub my back
On my shoulder blades
you touch the places where my wings once were.
I don’t know where they are now.
Sometimes I ache in their absence
I look for them.
Maybe they are buried beneath the rumpled bedclothes.
no.
Maybe they are on the topmost shelf, obscured by dust and guarded by cobwebs.
no.
I’ve already searched under the bed, behind the doors and in the cupboards.
I wonder where they are now.
More importantly, how did I lose them?
I have no memories.
My skin in the places where they were attached is raw. Sensitive.
I feel them sometimes like I imagine amputees feel their phantom limbs.
Where they worn away by everyday forces?
Did they atropy  from lack of magic?
Was it a knife, quick, cold and cruel?
Or were they just torn from me as if I was a fly in the hands of a mean child.
You kiss my back and I feel less raw.
A few more kisses and I giggle.
I can almost feel them now.

The Lost Ones

Mixed media- vintage atlas pages, handpainted vintage sewing patterns, pencil

One of these may be me. Or maybe two.

Collage with painted tissue on monoprint on card

My Plan Was Simple.

I was going to take November off from drawing & painting so that I could focus on some sculptural stuff that I had neglected. Not actual sculptures but rather small pieces that would grow up to become dimensional elements in mixed media pieces that I had planned. My resolute lasted about a week. Here's what I was up to last night. The backgrounds are monoprints on card, the portrait elements are painted tissue and sewing patterns. I'm digging the textures and translucency. I'm not so sure about the drawn facial features tho.
I tried a bunch of new techniques with these. Painting the tissues was fun. Using the gel medium was fine once I learned how it handles.
Another of my November projects is getting a back catalog of my artwork online. Thing were really scattered as the result of 2 hard drive crashes in the past 3 years. (Remember to back up your work!!!). Now I have most of the stuff in one place and am editing and posting my little heart out. Things are far from tweaked, but you can get a peek at www.faceandbelly.com

Be sure to click to enlarge to see the really cool textures on these.

In the cemetery. In the rain. Waiting.