The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

Here is a poem I wrote over a period of two days. Sort of wrote the introduction stanza on Wednesday and finished it on Thursday. Feeling pretty good about it, despite it being a poem that took a long time to write. Most poetry I jot down and finish in about 15 minutes, this one took about an hour to write because I kept writing stanzas I would then reject.

I have decided to do my illustrations on nice, thick hot press watercolor paper. Previously I was just doing them in my sketchbook because I didn’t want it feeling precious (sometimes nice materials can inhibit me). The paper was warping though when I added paint. Last night I cut what I have done so far out of the sketchbook and flattened the pieces as best I could under a ton of heavy books. They look better this morning, but still a little warped.

I was an incredibly loud and bossy little kid, always telling others what to do. When I went to school that changed because I was bullied relentlessly. Sort of turned me into a really quiet person who wanted nothing but to be overlooked by others and fade into the background. I am still really quiet and not at all bossy, very far from being the type of person who is a leader.