Imaginary Gift / March 16, 2026

March 16, 2026

Imaginary Gift

the painter, bookmarking

figures chiseled from
amorphous chaos layers
and negative space

—dotty seiter

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[title missing in action*]
1.25 x 6″; oil, gelato color sticks, and acrylic marker on paper
bookmark
2025

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Notes on poem and art:
• “bookmarking” is a haiku touching on the process I followed to create this figure painting.

• Wanting to get my artist friend Sylvia an art book to celebrate her interest in exploring figure painting, I painted a bookmark for the book I expected to locate and send. However, I never found the kind of book I wanted, so my idea became an imaginary gift! The bookmark itself almost became an imaginary gift, too, when I wrote an incorrect syllable in Sylvia’s street address, though it did eventually arrive after a few weeks. *Bringing my theme here to a humorous conclusion, the title of this piece is temporarily also imaginary because I forgot to make note of it before putting it in the mail, and Sylvia has it tucked away in a book right now but doesn’t know which one! 

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1. 

   carol lee

   March 16, 2026 at 5:05 am

   Edit

   Our imagination can really play tricks on us! Love the humor of this post something I really need these days! Your Haiku says so much in so few words.

   Love your figures! One following the other. One warm and one cool!Love how your white negative space flows into the figures!

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 16, 2026 at 5:32 am

      Edit

      Carol, thanks for laughing at the humor of my comedy of errors! And thanks for appreciating my being able to “say so much in so few words” in this haiku. I love the haiku form for its invitation to pith and précis. Sometimes I can rise to the occasion, and sometimes I just fall flat into a flood of verbiage!

      I am as ever grateful for your observant artistic eye and the feedback you give me. You helped me see elements I didn’t see myself or use intentionally (e.g. the warm and cool here) and you noticed and affirmed elements I brought into play intentionally (e.g. white negative space flowing into figures). Thank you!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
2. 

   Joyful Puttering

   March 16, 2026 at 7:38 am

   Edit

   This post made me smile. One minute you’re finding faces in doodles and drawings….and the next you’re finding figures in chaos and negative space. I love how you make sense of the world. The chaotic journey of the bookmark to get to Sylvia….and the fact that it is now missing in action and tucked in an unknown book is the perfect ending to this Imaginary Gift.

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3. 

   Dotty Seiter

   March 16, 2026 at 9:31 am

   Edit

   MaryAnn, thanks for reflecting back to me my creative meanderings so aptly: “One minute you’re finding faces in doodles and drawings… … and the next you’re finding figures in chaos and negative space.” Yup! As you also know, sometimes that is just how it goes, and we’re blessed to go along for the ride : )

   Thank you for seeing and appreciating the chaotic hilarious story of the imaginary gift-giving hahaha! Sometimes that is just how THAT goes, am I right??!

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4. 

   lolajovan

   March 16, 2026 at 1:51 pm

   Edit

   The humor in this – on a Monday over here, no less – is a perfect start to the week! To not take anything overly seriously, to go with the flow, to let happenstance and serendipity run amok! Hooray!!! xoxoxo

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 16, 2026 at 2:29 pm

      Edit

      I was grateful it did all hit my funny-bone. In tiny tiny increments I do seem to be advancing my ability to go with the flow as I continue to live the years of my life! I laughed when Sylvia told me today that she has been looking for the bookmark—opened a book yesterday and thought she’d found it, but it was a bookmark I’d painted for her the previous year!!! Thanks for appreciating happenstance and serendipity’s running amok with me hahaha! xoxo

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5. 

   Sheila Marie Delgado

   March 17, 2026 at 10:06 pm

   Edit

   Love, love, love. 

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 18, 2026 at 10:02 am

      Edit

      Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sheila!

Unbounded / March 13, 2026

March 13, 2026

Unbounded

december 4
evening, fierce frigid wind, intense snow squall.

the first time
i contemplate infinity,
7 or 8 years old,
i am in bed for the night
under the eaves
in the back bedroom,
trying to figure it out:
how can something go on forever?
it has to end somewhere.

doesn’t it?
but,
if it does, then
there has to be something else
outside it. and outside that
something else.
do the stars go on forever?
they can’t!
they have to stop somewhere.

don’t they?
if i try to count
them all,
will i never stop
counting?

tonight, a night in december,
in the car,
a lifetime later,
dave and i
drive to the grocery store
to run an errand.
holiday lights, street lights,
and headlights
work to brighten the darkness.
an a cappella group
sings in close harmony through
the car ‘s sound system; our own voices
join in the refrain: for i can’t help
falling in love with you,

when
suddenly!
the ferocious
magnificent swirl
of a snow squall!
all the stars
in the universe flying
every which way,
every
single
one!
including the very last one
at the edge of the universe!
and the one beyond that! and
the one after that!
all
the answers to
all
my questions
dancing wildly,
infinitely!

—dotty seiter

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All My Questions Dancing Wildly
4 x 6″; watercolor, ink, acrylic, and pastel pencil on watercolor paper
neurographic painting
2026

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Notes about poem and art:
• “december 4” captures my giddiness at being presented all the answers to the mysteries of the universe as well as the reminder that my imagination knows no boundaries!
• I got plain ol’ stuck more than once while working on All My Questions, knowing it needed something but not knowing what. The piece advanced in stop-stutter fashion; I’d add something, get stuck, let the piece sit on my desk for hours or days, wait for it to tell me what to try next, try the next thing, and then repeat the whole cycle.

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1. 

   carol lee

   March 13, 2026 at 6:49 am

   Edit

   Another lovely story of a regular daily errand becomes something new, something wondrous and special. The childlike thoughts mingle with the adult and the wonderful universe that sometimes we take for granted. Thanks for the reminder!

   Your small painting is the whole universe and then some.

   Liked by 1 person

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 13, 2026 at 7:32 am

      Edit

      Carol, I want to thank you again for being one of the energetic nudges that reoriented me to living my day-to-day through the sensibilities of the poet who resides within me (who resides within all of us!). I am so enlivened by this orientation. Thank you again also for your feedback; it keeps me growing and learning.

      I love every place this painting took me in its creation and I’m so pleased for it to have become “the whole universe and then some” once completed—thank you for seeing that! I didn’t set out to have painting and poem interface, but that’s what happened : )

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2. 

   lolajovan

   March 13, 2026 at 3:21 pm

   Edit

   The cyber gremlins gobbled another comment! Oy! Here is what I recall posting:

   I must admit to being misty-eyed at the two of you singing along with that song in the car – and then the snow squall of stars! A movie scene!

   Always in awe of your ability to put so much into a small work. The start-stoppedness of it paid off in the end! xoxo

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 13, 2026 at 3:36 pm

      Edit

      Lola, thank you so much for persisting when the gremlins mess with you. Do you ever consult gemini or chat gpt in a situation like that? I JUST ran into a double-glitch at my computer, started frantically trying to undo the mess, and then was hugely grateful when I remembered I could consult gemini. Problem solved in no time! Miraculous!

      I am such a sucker for those close-harmony sappy love songs of yore. I used to love The Letterman when I was in h.s. (and was blessed to have friends who were much more hip in the music scene than I but didn’t look down their noses at me!). I went back and forth about whether or not to include that bit in the poem but it was so much a part of the unfolding of the scene for ME that I had to leave it in!

      Thanks for affirming and celebrating the stop-start process with this little painting—it always pleases me when what feels unresolvable more than once in the process eventually resolves and actually becomes something I like a lot!

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      1. 

         lolajovan

         March 13, 2026 at 3:40 pm

         Edit

         I am so glad you included that bit about the song! It touched me deeply!

         As for gremlin consulting, I will do that. It seems whenever I log in to leave the comment, the comment disappears. It’s weird, I tell ya!

         Liked by you

         Reply
3. 

   Joyful Puttering

   March 14, 2026 at 6:58 am

   Edit

   I used to have a lunch box as a kid that had an image of Barbie holding a lunch box. And on that lunch box was another Barbie holding an lunch box. How far could it go on…I remember thinking. Infinity and beyond was the answer. I love your memory of trying to figure it out…and your recent experience with the swirl of snow that seem to gather up all the stars. So engaging!

   And I couldn’t love this painting more! It went through all the right stops and starts to get to just the right landing place. The colors and dots are pure magic!

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 14, 2026 at 9:10 am

      Edit

      Your Barbie lunchbox comment has me lighting up happily because, just about one week ago, something I was about to comment on at YOUR blog brought exactly that ad infinitum phenomenon to mind; I actually looked it up and learned that the common term for it is the Droste effect! So funny that we both carry that effect in our mental data banks!!! I suspect infinity is a concept that goes beyond the human mind to fully comprehend, hence my gratitude when a snow squall gave me a sensory apprehension of infinity instead : )

      Thanks for your feedback on the stops-and-starts of All My Questions and the way that piece landed in just the right place. I wish you could have seen the frank trepidation I experienced more than once before forging my way with this piece!

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4. 

   Sheila Marie Delgado

   March 17, 2026 at 10:04 pm

   Edit

   So sweet, the two of you singing.

   So cool, the thought of all the stars swirling around you.

   So bubbly, and pretty! xoxo

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 18, 2026 at 10:01 am

      Edit

      The singing was definitely part of the experience package! I can’t help crooning along with those emotional close harmony tunes : )

      A snow squall is a cool experience no matter what, but it was all the more spectacular because this was simultaneously a STAR squall!!!

      On balance, I had fun with this bubbly piece. Thanks, Sheila.

 

Joy and Comfort, Comfort and Joy / March 9, 2026

March 9, 2026

Joy and Comfort, Comfort and Joy

decenber 21; unbroken thread

twinkle lights festoon
our bare-branched
backyard pussywillow:
this year’s proxy
for that which elicited
my tiny gasp
of wonder
as a child,
in my pj’s,
seeing with wide eyes
the indoor evergreen
at 9 waverly with its
lights in primary colors,
its sparkly tinsel heavily
draped, and
my name in glitter
on a shiny ornament.

decades of decembers later,
last thing before bed
each night,
first thing upon waking
each morning, both
house and sky winter dark,
i look out to the pussywillow.
each time,
the tiny inner gasp.

—dotty seiter

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The Waters Above, the Waters Below
4 x 6″; watercolor, ink, pastel pencil, and watersoluble pastel on paper
neurographic drawing
2026

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Notes about poem and art:
• “unbroken” is a poem of gratitude for all that twinkles, all that sparks awe.
• the waters above, the waters below is a painting of gratitude for all that comforts, all that soothes.

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1. 

   carol lee

   March 9, 2026 at 3:57 am

   Edit

   Beautiful poem describing childhood memories with present tense rituals. The connection of “my tiny gasp of wonder as a child” to “each time the tiny inner gasp” as an adult!

   The color transitions are marvelous and really love the black shapes surrounding the shapes. Like the contrasts of the more plain shapes above and the intricate shapes below with you line work!

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2. 

   Dotty Seiter

   March 9, 2026 at 5:55 am

   Edit

   Carol, thanks for your feedback. I’m just now realizing as I sit to write that an unplanned coincidence took place with our twinkle lights and this post. I began drafting this poem weeks ago, only recently coming back to it and wanting to schedule its appearance before winter melted away. Accordingly, I finished tinkering with it maybe 10 or more days ago and scheduled it. Independent of the poem’s life, Dave and I decided to take down the twinkle lights before nightfall on the first day of daylight savings time (yesterday). The posting of my poem feels like a fitting salute to this winter’s tenure of the lights : )

   I enjoyed working on this neurographic piece. Love that you explicitly commented on the color transitions, the black shapes surrounding the shapes, and the contrasts of the more plain shapes above, more intricate shapes below—all aspects of this piece where I directed conscious attention!

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3. 

   Joyful Puttering

   March 9, 2026 at 8:30 am

   Edit

   Comfort and Joy! Yes and Yes!

   When my sister-in-law retired….she proclaimed comfort and joy as her new motto.

   Your poem is just a delight! Your childhood memory paired with your nightly before bed ritual indeed sparks awe!

   The soothing rocks above and below the water are magical….with colors, lines and shadows in all the right places.

   Thank you for this comforting and joyful post to start my day!

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 9, 2026 at 9:24 am

      Edit

      What a great motto you sister-in-law established when she retired! As I mentioned in my comment to Carol above, we just took down our pussywillow twinkle lights yesterday. Dave was dragging his heels a bit, not wanting to let go, but I insisted—part of the magic with these particular lights is that they embrace one particular stretch of time only and then they are tucked away, safeguarding and indeed ensuring the feeling of magic for their next tour of awe.

      The feeling of the flow of waters was comforting and joyful as I drew the lines, made the many decisions, painted the colors, added shadows, added, subtracted, embellised, defined, and refined The Waters. Thank you for your feedback, MaryAnn.

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4. 

   lolajovan

   March 9, 2026 at 3:41 pm

   Edit

   The poem, the art – so perfect for these times, such a reminder of the little sources of awe all around us. The sparkle and twinkle of life! Shining through the waters above down to the waters below. xoxo

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 9, 2026 at 4:08 pm

      Edit

      Thank you, Lola! So many little sources of awe all around us. I am being as intentional as I can these days about being attentional.

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5. 

   Sheila Marie Delgado

   March 17, 2026 at 9:52 pm

   Edit

   I love this piece, the soft hues, the lovely changing colors and repeating shapes. Harmonious.

   Love the tale from your childhood, and how you have managed to hold on to bits of magic and those dear memories. Love the reminder of the merriest season of all. xoxo

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      March 18, 2026 at 9:56 am

      Edit

      Thank you for the feedback on The Waters, Sheila, for noticing the soft hues, the changing colors, the repeating shapes, the harmony. I never tire of art talk!

      I am so grateful to have such strong memories of early childhood wonder and awe that I can feel resonating in my body all these decades later. Happy I could remind you of the ‘merriest season’!