Culture

Poem with an artsy mat: First Friday Art

I framed this river poem I wrote with an artsy mat. The green paper contains small leaves, and the brown paper includes little bits of bark and sticks. I bought this paper at an art supply store.

I created the blue paper by dripping acrylic paint onto a pan full of liquid laundry starch and gently swirling it. You drop a piece of paper onto this mixture and peel it away to get a marbled effect “print.” It’s a fun process because you never know how it will turn out.

I altered the length and position of each line of this poem to imitate a meandering river. By showing the poem with an artsy mat and changing the layout, it became a unique piece of art. When I entered this piece in a state fair competition, it won a blue ribbon. 😀

Here’s the poem in another format.

River Retreat

Traveling from afar to alight

In an oasis of comfort and contentment

A restful sleep wakening to

A joyful dawn chorus from feathered friends

Breaking the fast with

Nourishment for body and soul

Flying away

Until the river beckons us again

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.

First Friday Art

Bend Branches always appreciates your comments and likes. Comments may not appear right away since they’re screened for spam prior to posting. Thanks!

SoyBend

Centered in Bend, Oregon, my blog branches out into nature, history, and art-related topics.

View Comments

Recent Posts

Northern scorpion: Monochrome and Macro Monday

I saw this northern scorpion, Paruroctonus boreus, in my laundry room a couple of days…

11 hours ago

Point in time: LAPC

Yesterday, I took an arrowhead representative of a point in time to an Archaeological Roadshow…

1 day ago

Drawing and photo of a palm: First Friday Art

Today I'm sharing a drawing and photo of a palm tree. I saw this Chinese…

3 days ago

Tipi at HDM: Wordless Wednesday

Tipi at High Desert Museum (HDM) in Bend, Oregon Wordless Wednesday Bend Branches always appreciates…

5 days ago

waterfalls: Water Water Everywhere

waterfalls may be heavily veiled or as light as lace they may end in a…

1 week ago

3 Birds in art and life: LAPC

Today I'm sharing photos of sculptures by artist Bue Kee at the Portland Art Museum…

1 week ago