"Collecting Words"

When I first began to write seriously--or so I thought, a writer and close friend encouraged me to carry a small notebook with me wherever I went.  He said that he used this tiny volume for “collecting words.”  As he stumbled across memorable words or phrases--or odd juxtapositions of the same, he would jot them down in a small, looseleaf binder he carried in his pocket.  He said that he might discover such gems when he was on the train in the London Underground---walking past an advertising sign, or even in overheard conversations.  

So, I began this kind of journal keeping when I was in my very early twenties.  When I look back at the entries now--yes, I’ve kept them--I recognize the beginnings of what later became a poem or phrases that I might have used in other pieces of writing.  These fragments of beautiful or obscure language collide together on the page---sometimes making sense from the immensely senseless.  

These pages don’t contain the complete thoughts that a journal might---but are of the same nature as a “visual diary” where one might catalog images that transfix us---so they aren’t forgotten.  Along with those seemingly random words or phrases that fill the pages of my thin, black notebook with now yellowed pages, there are also the jottings of someone I vaguely recognize---and I remember where I might have been when something moved me enough to record it in my little journal---a long, long time ago.

I love the power of the unexpected---especially the unexpected juxtaposition of words.  The imagery they can produce is evocative--and often, extraordinary.  This “word collecting” is surely a passion of many poets and writers---as we all lie awake waiting to pluck those “just right” words from our half-sleep to finish a thought...

"Something Glittering" - acrylic, fabric, watercolor pencil, pencil

"Dreaming" - acrylic, fabric, watercolor pencil, pencil

"After Breakfast" - acrylic, fabric, watercolor pencil, pencil,