This hybrid poem/illustration may be described, I believe, as mixed media. The seed for the idea was planted with an Ink Well poem prompt, 'invisible'. As I thought about that prompt, I had a bit of fun by perusing posts in Alien Art Hive, where imagination is given free rein.
At some point I meandered over to Freewriters, where spontaneous expression is also encouraged. There I found the prompt, 'lost cats'. This was the moment of synergy. Everything came together and I knew what I wanted to do. Achieving the disappearing cat effect took a few tries, though.
An early attempt for the cat illustration:
I enlisted an application in GIMP, called shift, and was able to make the cats look less substantial.
The Poem
This came out with little effort, because I knew exactly what I wanted to say. Of course, many edits were necessary to get the disappearing effect. The last line was the hardest. The word 'naught' would have been perfect, but I couldn't figure out how to use that word and still have the line size diminish. So the more pedestrian "not' had to serve.
My thanks to Chiplanay on Pixabay for the original cat sketch.
This exercise was fun. I hope readers also find it fun, and perhaps a little interesting.
On the first reading your work is a very beautiful, philosophical, interesting poem and on the second reading (after reading your explanations) - too... ;-)
I also like your illustration very much, but you know that I rather appreciate the art of language. Thanks a lot for sharing your experiment!
Warm regards from Northern Germany,
Chriddi
Thank you so much! I know you love language, as I do. This is not a function of facility, but rather inclination. Language for me is truly living. It has nothing to do with rules but with being a responsive instrument of society. It carries our history with it. It changes and adapts. All we have to do is open our ears and listen.
Good news! My friend (93!) has finished her book and self-published it. (I worried we might run out of time!)
If Max ever decides to put that book out..... 😎😎
From the pandemic buffeted and politically irrational US,
Your peaceful and affectionate friend,
AG
A very powerful instrument! Similar to a strong weapon: It should be used very carefully and never be exploited.
Whether this is an allusion to the irrational and irritating situation in the USA is up to the reader's interpretation... 😎
...you will be one of the first to receive a paperback copy... 😘
😇
I loved how the lines diminished slowly. Very Creative it is!
Thank you! It was a neat idea (I thought) that came to me clearly and I just had to figure out how to do it. Fun, and I'm glad some people like the way it worked out.
Very lovey work. The work is actually the picture
The picture is AMAZING!!! I love it!
And the poem too. Over-thinking. What a fantastic message AND visual.
The cat, however, might object: "This isn't how cats think!" LOL
"The work is actually the picture" - I meant to include that in my comment. Well said. But to me it is both in equal measure. :)
Hahahahah
Thank you @carolkean. Increasingly, I'm finding myself overlap visual and verbal images. Separately, each should be sufficient, but together they are complementary. It's a lot of fun... but I wonder if this doesn't signal a change in the way my brain is working, related to age. Just a wonder, not a worry :)
"Just a wonder, not a worry" - #love it!
May we all be so blessed as we age.
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Thank you very much. You are correct, the picture took much more time than the poem, but I couldn't imagine doing one without the other ;)
Lovely.
I hope to see more of your post
:)
❤️
I love it. I love everything about it. I find the combination of the graphic and written language very expressive. There is poetry in the image and in the written poem, and there is also poetry in the combination of them.
Thanks for sharing
I just read this comment before going to bed. What nice words to go to sleep with. Thank you :)
Wow it was really interesting concept..nice job dear..i appriciate it.
Thank you very much. It was great fun. Important to have fun, isn't it?
Yeah..you are right dear😇😇