Back in September 2021, I started blogging about my collections. A creative approach to a daunting clear out project at home. I was tackling my work binders and my storage locker. Along the way, I discovered that I was a collector of things. I blogged about my twist tie collection, as well as the costume jewellery I inherited from my Granny. Now that I have been blogging about my collections for over a year (a total of 65 posts, exactly the age I just turned this fall), I’m inspired to revisit that collection and turn each post into a poem. I am using the posts as a way to practice the art of poetry, to hone my poetic skills. Blogging once a week keeps me accountable. And because I would like to play with some paint too, I will accompany each poem with an abstract water colour of the original photo. And so I begin. This time with a collection of poems and paintings. This first one is free verse, based on Start with the Art.
Start with the art, said the voice from within
And so I embarked on an artistic archiving
Finding a thread, an image, a theme
Following it through, tracing, tracking
Sorting and organizing my way through memories
I lost my way many times
How would I present this idea
If I were pitching a campaign in my old ad days
What was the snapshot
The elevator speech that would capture it
The essence
In the clearing, a collage appears
A poster of my job history
business cards became art.