The Write Way /January 9, 2024

 January 9, 2024

The Write Way

I think I was 14 years old when one of my younger sisters sweet talked my dad into letting her break our family’s 3-cookie-limit one night. I was furious! Not fair! Not doing things the RIGHT WAY!

I marched upstairs and started a journal, writing out my indignation with words in a small notebook. How was it that this 6 x 9″ spiral-bound notebook of lined paper was at the ready? Did I have plans to start a diary? No recollection. I just know that my fury at the cookie-rule infraction fueled a journal-writing practice that lasted decades.

I no longer keep such a journal and I eventually let go of the dozens of notebooks I filled over the years. They served their therapeutic purpose in the moment(s), but made for tediously boring drivel after the fact. Buh-bye!

That said, I continue to love to write.

Recently, I’ve been ‘journaling’ questions, thoughts, musings, emotions, explorations, and ideas in paint or ink on a substrate before beginning a new painting.

What I learned in creating mini-Matisse #3 below:
(1) The journaling, done here with white ink on white paper, was emotionally satisfying and also artistically helpful as I thought through some ideas.
(2) White ink on white paper is effective in keeping my writing private.

Speak, This Journal Says—I Am Listening
~2 x 2″; paper cut-outs and ink on art journal page
collage
2024

(3) White ink on white paper, especially once bold shapes are superimposed, is barely noticeable unless held at an angle in the right light, contributing only minimally to a composition.

[same composition, held at an angle
to make white ink on white paper visible;
colors less true in this photo]

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1. 

   Joyful Puttering

   January 10, 2024 at 8:20 am

   Edit

   I’m thinking back to a comment you made on one of my posts….I love that you can tilt the piece to turn the writing on!

   This “write way” is very effective for the background of this charming little Matisse #3.

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      January 10, 2024 at 12:10 pm

      Edit

      MaryAnn, thanks for your affirmation of the ‘write way’ background of this piece. I have further exploring to do to see if I can find a balance point between invisible and JUST visible enough to contribute to a piece effectively without becoming ‘too much.’ I look forward to the challenge : )

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2. 

   Simone

   January 10, 2024 at 11:13 am

   Edit

   Magnificent! Writing with white ink, such a great idea – never did it.
   Always enjoy your writing so much, Dotty – you are as much a writer as a painter.

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      January 10, 2024 at 12:12 pm

      Edit

      Using white ink on white paper was fun, but see my reply to MaryAnn above—I have further exploration to do.

      I appreciate your enjoyment of my writing—an art blog is a dream come true for me, offering as it does a way to express myself with and without words : )

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3. 

   Sheila Marie Delgado

   January 15, 2024 at 5:08 pm

   Edit

   Your memory took me back. To my journal writing days, and how they served me in those moments. And how I threw them all in the trash years later. I just love the simplicity here. The textures add so much interest, but don’t distract at all. Lovely! 

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      January 15, 2024 at 6:33 pm

      Edit

      Smiling at the similarities in our journal writing days, Sheila.

      Grateful for your observations about simplicity and the balance achieved with texture.