November 5, 2025
Nothing New Under the Sun
Steal Like an Artist
in the limitless-
ness of not knowing—yay for
copy-cat inspo!
—dotty seiter
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3.5 x 11″; watercolor, ink, and fabric collage in travel art journal
abstract floral
2025
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Notes about poem and art:
• Traditional haiku often uses natural imagery and seasonal references to capture a moment. The form aims to freeze a fleeting moment in time, creating a picture in the reader’s mind. No seasonal references in “Steal,” unless not knowing is a season haha!, but I think I froze a moment of stealing like an artist : )
• I wanted to play with watercolor but didn’t want to sketch; I wanted to sit down, pull out my supplies, and go, but came up blank. Thank goodness for MaryAnn’s blog. Using the searchword watercolor, I had instant ideas from which to choose; just the jump-start I needed! Catching was the first let-MaryAnn-lead-the-way piece I did in my travel journal. And, pièce-de-résistance, I even followed her lead in collaging fused print fabric bits to the painting once back home, bits that MaryAnn herself had graciously sent me months earlier in response to an art conversation we’d had!
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8 responses to “Nothing New Under the Sun”
Love how you challenge yourself and are not afraid of breaking the rules, both in poetry and in your artwork.
If I understand, the moment of not knowing, which is limitless, you find your inspiration from another source.
Great Matisse like shapes, using the spread of the sketchbook for all the real estate. The greenish pieces, are they the cloth?
Carol, thanks for this juicy feedback—energizing way to start my day!
Yes to your understanding of my haiku : )
And, yes, the greenish pieces in Catching are the fused fabric. If you’re able to enlarge, you’ll see that they are batik cloth. I like the way they are more textural than and different from the predominantly watercolor piece but assimilate cohesively.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery! How fun to see that you reproduced my piece in your travel journal…and even wrote a haiku! Steal like an artist…in the best possible way.
I appreciate the shout out with the link…and interesting choice of posts to link to. That certainly is one of my favorites about color!
Isn’t it fun to add the fabric to watercolor! Well done my friend! I’m flattered! Here’s the the limitlessness of not knowing.
Totally fun to add fabric to watercolor! Hadn’t thought of that prior to seeing and reading your post. And, lucky me to have some bits of fused fabric on hand from you!
Imitation is helpful and beneficial—it gets me started and opens doors to exploring all manner of possibilities. Thank you, MaryAnn!
I’m currently taking a tai chi class, speaking of immersion in not knowing. Big engaging challenge to begin to learn what is called the yang Short Form.
The fabric is great fun; takes me back to sensory memories of my sewing days (still can’t quite believe how many years I sewed a considerable quantity of my own clothing). Breaking rules and following rules—both offer doors to walk through into wonder. Thanks for reminding me of that delineating idea of ‘skewing the masters.’
Hahaha to not-knowing as my favorite season! It’s certainly the season that has the longest shelf life!
Sheila, thanks for celebrating the way my art-imitation connected MaryAnn and me in multiple ways. Yes!
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