I CARRY YOUR HEART WITH ME (I CARRY IT IN MY HEART) I AM NEVER WITHOUT IT (ANYWHERE I GO YOU GO, MY DEAR; AND WHATEVER IS DONE BY ONLY ME IS YOUR DOING, MY DARLING) I FEAR NO FATE (FOR YOU ARE MY FATE, MY SWEET) I WANT NO WORLD (FOR BEAUTIFUL YOU ARE MY WORLD, MY TRUE) AND IT'S YOU ARE WHATEVER A MOON HAS ALWAYS MEANT AND WHATEVER A SUN WILL ALWAYS SING IS YOU . . . HERE IS THE DEEPEST SECRET NOBODY KNOWS, HERE IS THE ROOT OF THE ROOT AND THE BUD OF THE BUD AND THE SKY OF THE SKY OF A TREE CALLED LIFE; WHICH GROWS HIGHER THAN THE SOUL CAN HOPE OR MIND CAN HIDE AND THIS IS THE WONDER THAT'S KEEPING THE STARS APART I CARRY YOUR HEART I CARRY IT IN MY HEART This OOAK collage pays homage to the above E.E. Cummings poem. A 12 inch square of illustration board supports this collage. I attacked the discarded wallpaper books of a local furniture store to compose this one. All of the elements were individually created/cut by me. This piece is highly textured and has many layers of contrasting papers. The base of the collage, fully covering the illustration board, is grassy, straw textured wallpaper. Over this are torn strips of speckled black (bottom) to streaky blue (top) that are attached side to side. Over this layer are three columns of torn scrapping paper, bearing the words of the poem, distressed with prismacolor pencils. The tree is cut from two similar wallpapers, strips of one glued to the top of the other. Once the tree was cut, I then glued it to a piece of heavy black paper and cut the tree shape out again leaving a black border. This was glued to the background and the hearts at the crest and roots of the tree were enhanced with a red colored pencil. The entire piece was distressed with acrylic paint/matte medium and colored pencils. The closing lines of the poem are hand written on torn paper placed among the tree’s roots. Finally, it is sealed with several coatings of matte gel medium for protection. I believe the matte finish enhances the earthy image and colors. This piece would make a unique gift for a special friend in your life. This one of a kind, all original collage is my entry in the Nibblefest Art Contest, a themed art contest beginning on the 20th of each month. This month's theme is illustrating a poem or story.