Tiny Encapsulations

May 29, 2026

Tiny Encapsulations

soul school

paint brush dabs, sweeps, blends,
offers what is here to learn:
stillness in motion

—dotty seiter

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*Here to Learn* *Stillness*
6.5 x 3.25″; watercolor and ink on paper
mood-mini
2026

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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. Painting wet on wet, the invitation is to let your color choices and the unpredictability of the interaction of water and paint reflect your inner world in the moment of painting. Similarly, once the paint dries, grab a pen and let it trace whatever calls to you in the composition. I will be creating more of these.

artist at play

cynthia hauk, mood-minis, sketchbook revival challenge

Posted by:

Dotty Seiter

15 responses to “Tiny Encapsulations”

Joyful Puttering

May 29, 2026 at 8:34 am

You’ve written seventeen syllables perfectly describing the joy of painting. Well done!

And I can see why you might create a series of these mood-minis finding whatever calls to you with your pen. Learning stillness is such a wonderful concept in art and in life. Well done!

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1. Dotty Seiter
  
  May 29, 2026 at 9:06 am
  
  MaryAnn, thank you! I’m guessing you might experience the same thing when engaged in your many creative activities: while outwardly the appearance is of activity/movement, creative ventures open the door to accessing the always-available inner stillness. Yes?
  
  Stillness becomes palpable each time I look at this painting and remember painting it. Thanks for your comments.
  
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Joyful Puttering

May 29, 2026 at 11:04 am

Yes!

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carol lee

May 29, 2026 at 11:20 am

Poem really does justice to the process. Intuition and playing with what shows.

I love the way the colors bleed together! You really made use of the shapes to do your neurographic sketch! My eye keeps traveling back and forth through the painting. That touch of yellow….WOW! And of course the vertical line of the sketchbook spine!

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1. Dotty Seiter
  
  May 29, 2026 at 1:50 pm
  
  Carol, thanks for your feedback re poem’s doing justice to the process!
  
  I had such fun with the painting process here and then making use of the resulting organic shapes to do my neurographic line work; thanks for letting me know it kept your eye traveling and for your appreciation of that touch of yellow.
  
  In fact, this painting was done on a single page and I added the vertical line because the idea called out to me to add that bit of visual interruption/interest—a faux sketchbook spine!
  
  : )
  
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lolajovan

May 29, 2026 at 2:53 pm

Oh! This exercise feels sublime! The unpredictability, and then the treasure hunt of finding and defining the shapes – oooh la la! Love the poem, which is a perfect intro to this invitation to stillness. xoxo

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1. Dotty Seiter
  
  May 29, 2026 at 3:00 pm
  
  It was indeed sublime! Exactly: the unpredictability and then the treasure hunt for finding and defining spaces. More more more!
  
  And, more than ever before, I can connect to the ever-present stillness in me even when it seems impossible that such stillness could in fact be … ever-present!
  
  xoxo
  
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Meg

May 30, 2026 at 10:33 am

You got me…I can’t resist a post preview that says “soul school”

💫xo

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1. Dotty Seiter
  
  May 30, 2026 at 10:55 am
  
  Ha! Happy to see you here. You are a hard one to snag : )
  
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roseanne333

May 30, 2026 at 1:16 pm

Hi, Dotty ~ I tried numerous times to leave my comment on the wordpress. It doesn’t always work for me. Grrrrrr! They frustrate me at times! I love the mood mini and the colors are soothing.

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1. Dotty Seiter
  
  May 30, 2026 at 2:53 pm
  
  Thank you for persisting, Roseanne—I wish I understood better why being able to comment at WordPress isn’t reliably consistent. I agree: grrrrrr! Do you have a WP account? I know one can have a free account, and I assume that facilitates commenting.
  
  Frustrations aside, I am always happy to see you here, and I appreciate your taking pleasure in the mood-mini with its soothing colors. It was very soothing in the making.
  
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Meg

May 31, 2026 at 8:38 pm

Looking again at this one, reading your description of the process, and thinking, “Oh! Painting your soul!” (like, how did I miss this the first time?)

xo

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1. Dotty Seiter
  
  June 1, 2026 at 5:44 am
  
  There’s soul school, and there’s poetry-and-art school! Both require being alive awake aware to what is ❤️
  
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Sheila Marie Delgado

June 5, 2026 at 3:46 am

Thanks for sharing this soul food with us! xoxo

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1. Dotty Seiter
  
  June 5, 2026 at 5:27 am
  
  Soul food from the soul school cafeteria! You’re welcome!
  
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