Background: I’m writing a book, on Raw Art Journaling–a way for people who don’t know how to draw to keep an art journal. The book has a strong focus on making meaning from the journey you are on, not drawing pretty pictures. I’m asking for volunteers for one of the Example Galleries in my book–the one after Found Poetry, Chapter 3.
The Book: The Raw Journal: Making Meaning, Making Art. No Skills Required. The book answers the question “How can you make art with no skills?” Ah. That’s raw art. We are all born to create. We are all born creative. It’s not a skill, it’s a right. We have to reclaim it. The book shows how.
Who: Anyone who is sparked by the idea of Found Poetry. (A link to example is just below). You do not have to be a poet, an artist, or a writer to contribute. The entire purpose of my book is to show that people who have never considered themselves artists can enjoy doing meaningful art.
What: Your task (should you decide to play along) is to create a Found Poetry Collage. There is an example and a how-to at this blog post. There are two methods shown, you can use either one.
When: Before May 1, 2010.
Rules:
1. The entry can be any length between 3-12 lines. You can use either method shown in the link. This means you don’t have to draw or decorate the page unless you want to. If you want to, you can do that, too, but keep it flat, please. Mixed media comes later in the book. The finished piece should fit comfortably in an 8 inch (20 cm) X 10 inch (25 cm) space. (You can make it smaller in any direction, just not larger).
2. There is a deadline for sending a photo or scan to me, and a separate one for the editor to make her choice for the book. I need a photo or scan before May 1, 2010. The editor makes the final choices, but not for a while–based on the number of choices she has.
Until the final choice is made, you cannot publish your entry anywhere–not your blog, not on Facebook or Twitter, not in a magazine. If you are chosen, you cannot publish it until the book comes out in July of 2011.
3. Send in a scan, or a pretty good photo (72 bpi is fine) to Quinn@RawArtJournaling.com Put “found poetry” in the Subject line. Do NOT send me the original–I will lose it. If your piece is chosen, you will be asked to send the original to the editor for professional photography at the publisher’s, so please create it on a flat sheet of paper, not in a journal.
4. If your found poetry gets into the Gallery, your name will appear next to the photograph, and that can be a good thing for your resume or just for bragging rights. There will be two or three Galleries in the book, so I can’t pay real money, much as I’d like to heap cash in your lap.
5. Participating in this Found Poetry Gallery doesn’t keep you from being in the other Galleries in the book. You can get in more than once.
5. The deadline to get your found poetry scan or photo to me is before May 1, 2010.
Questions? Stuff I didn’t mention? Write me at RawArtJournals@Gmail.com
Have fun making meaning!
Quinn McDonald’s book, The Raw Journal: Making Meaning, Making Art. No Skills Required. will be published by North Light books in the summer of 2011.
QuinnCreative 
shoot!….I alreday posted it on my own blog- mycoffeetableblog@blogspot.com,
so I guess you couldn’t use it??
The ones for this specific gallery need to be unpublished. However, there are another two galleries coming up, and if you are willing to alter a piece of your found poetry in the way I describe in the upcoming chapter, that one won’t have been published and you can send it in. Stay tuned! I post the requests on my blog, as well as on Twitter and in my newsletter.
Please let me know,when “Raw” is on the shelf. It sounds like it is exactly what I need. I have several art journaling books.I love looking at and enjoying them but, they can be intimidating.
This one is SO NOT intimidating. It encompasses all my own fears, and the fears of workshops I’ve run for the last 7 years. It will be available on Amazon.com at the end of June, 2011.
Great idea on the book. I wonder though, does this mean that those that draw pretty pictures don’t have meaning in their art or that to have meaning in your art, the pictures must not be pretty. Don’t get me wrong, I am a big believer in the idea that anyone can create and anyone can do art. I also feel that the word ‘art’ or more directly, the idea of art is a conundrum. When do we draw the line? Perhaps that is what you are trying to discover in ‘raw art’. I’ll have to come back and read some more.
All artists struggle with meaning. Those who have talent often struggle because they CAN draw ‘pretty’ pictures, often with little effort and feel they are not working deeply. Or, if they draw traditional representative objects, their audience loves it, because it’s easily understood, but the work that is more meaningful to them is less representational, and doesn’t sell. That in itself is a struggle. Those who CAN’T draw often feel that they can’t make meaning because their drawings aren’t traditional illustrations and that means they aren’t artists. I’m encouraging the first step in art to be meaning-making. Since the book is about keeping a journal, the quintessential meaning-making tool, I’m showing that traditional illustration talent isn’t necessary. I hope you’ll send in your found poetry example, I need all kinds of people to submit their work.
Quinn,
Looks like fun! The link on “at this blog post” gives an error message. It looks like the correct URL would be “https://quinncreative.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/art-tutorial-found-poetry-collage/”
Yes, that’s the one. I’ve fixed the link, so it now works. Thanks for posting the right one in the meantime!