dotty seiter: now playing
diary of an artist at work
  • Washed

    on roof and skylight,night rainfall a clatter-taptattoo lullaby. outdoors, come morning,trees clean, street sweet, air in pray’rwith chanted matins. —dotty seiter ===== ===== Notes about poem and art• This untitled poem comprises a pair of haiku, each of which could stand alone but which I experienced back to back when rain fell volubly right up… Continue reading

  • Thinking in Wrinkles

    oh my gosh, the best what-if ever wait till you hear this:what if my life—my “own” life—is actually none of my business?i have to repeat the question:what if my life is none of my business? could it be so?i am wildly curious,gloriously radicallyalive with wonder. —dotty seiter ===== ===== Notes about poem and art:• Sometime… Continue reading

  • Family Flow

    sisterfest sure deep root systemvulnerable softnessesfull-throated laughter —dotty seiter ===== ===== Notes on poem and art:• “sisterfest” offers a glimpse of the five “Hatch girls” at our annual in-person get-together, this year in May on Long Island Sound.• Shaping Our Story is another mood-mini inspired by Cynthia Hauk that, without conscious intention, seems to capture… Continue reading

  • Home Base

    family-owned corner grocery store me and my sparrow friends and familyknow how to make us any place a home:we feather the branches of the privet hedgeon the corner of school and knowltonthis morning and if you don’t know better, you thinkyou’re at market basket just as the doors open—all us cashiers and stockersand cart attendantsand deli counter… Continue reading

  • Creative Energy

    site preparation grabbing this and that,inviting my muse—stagingpossibility —dotty seiter ===== ===== Notes about poem and art:• “site preparation” contains elements of classic haiku with its syllable pattern of 5-7-5, its present tense and immediacy, and its use of kireji, i.e. a cutting word or pause, to pivot from a concrete action to a deeper… Continue reading

  • Take Note

    rules for the classroom of living then:in november 1972,as a very young, very exasperated teacheri bark at the unruly boyswho comprise my language arts class—stop your noise right now.get out a piece of paperand write down the rulesof this classroom. 1. ban a pipcol2. pal of tin skinwrites one young man. i decodehis dyslexic encoding,1.… Continue reading

  • Slow Drawing

    elusive as if this time i’llexperience deep stillness,i draw a deep breath —dotty seiter ===== =====Notes about poem and art:• “elusive” and drawing a deep breath both arose from a session offered during Sketch Revival Challenge 2026 which acquainted me with Amy Maricle who is a proponent and practitioner of slow drawing. I felt an… Continue reading

  • Promptly Inspired

    school street sound-off the finalists at the annual first-lightregional cheering competitionbegin out of sight, withthe canada goose squad in flight, honking towards dawn and away from night:        give me a g! give me an o,        give me another o! …the wild turkey team bunches up tighton the limbs of a tall pine,gabbles from that height:        lean to the… Continue reading

  • Tiny Encapsulations

    soul school paint brush dabs, sweeps, blends,offers what is here to learn:stillness in motion —dotty seiter ===== ===== Notes about poem and art:• In seventeen syllables, “paint brush” highlights the essence of painting, outside and in.• Cynthia Hauk caught the outside and in of me with her Sketchbook Revival session featuring what she calls mood-minis.… Continue reading

  • Lay Thee Down Now and Rest

    oh where oh where can she be? with neither notice nor intentthe poet in hernods off periodicallyfor naps,some of them of some depth and length,not unlike the way she nods offwhen she reads before bed—snoozing, drifting away,the conscious mind unavailable,returning for no more than a flashof plot beforeevaporatingyet againinto slumber,having snagged only a few words,… Continue reading

My Story

In 2014, I grab an unexpected opportunity to paint.

To make art.

I get hooked.

In 2015 I start a blog—a diary of my life as an artist.

I post my paintings and their stories. The good, the bad, the ugly.

My compass points: bust through fear, be playful, get messy, trust my gut.

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