One of my creative outlets is poetry. I'm constantly forming these crazy beautiful sonnets in my head all day and invariably never write them down. Occasionally, ok - once in a blue moon, I write one down. It's more for my personal enjoyment and entertainment as I self talk through out the day than anything. I learned of a Japanese form of haiku the other day called tanka . In a nutshell it's a 5 line poem with a traditional structure of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables but free form seems to be more common. It intrigued me so I thought I'd write a couple.

This is one is about one of my face to face encounters with a black bear.

The bear looked unfazed
Our eyes met understanding
    neither meant any harm
     unlike my human brethren
      blindly hurting those they love

I wrote this one while contemplating how living life my way goes against the grain.

I always wondered

what if I ignored the norm

   do not accept it

    walk the path of your choosing

      your destiny awaits you

This one came about thinking how a lot of people succumb to their whims and desires and hell with the wreckage they leave behind.

Why is the grass green

over the fence you live in

   I don't understand

     why the thrill of the chase

        is all that matters to some

Another thing I learned today is painting over a varnished painting is not ideal. I pulled out an older piece and thought I'd work at it and see if I could improve it. Did I mention it's not ideal? Canvas is a beautiful thing, so willing to accept the paint. A two-layered varnished painting is just not as forgiving or willing for that matter. Que Sera!

Do you have any tips on going back to an older piece that you've already varnished? I'd be interested to hear how you worked with it.

Until next time.