Janin Wise
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janinwise.bsky.social
Janin Wise
@janinwise.bsky.social
250 followers 590 following 210 posts
Grown up on good terms with my inner child (;
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janinwise.bsky.social
Today was the last day of my summer camp. This week, I taught 14 students about fiber arts: hand sewing, crochet, machine sewing, weaving, and cording techniques.

They all did so well! I'm really proud of them and hope they have a great rest of their summer.
From top left to bottom right: a pink, hand sewn heart stuffy with a smile, a machine sewn pouch with drawstring, kumihimo in progress, an art weaving with a variety of materials, and an arm wearing bracelets made in the following way: Kumihimo, crochet, finger weaving, Kumihimo, and finger weaving.
June 20, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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One of my poems was accepted into the Dothan Houston County Library System 's poetry contest 😊

Looking forward to hearing the poetry readings later this month!

Happy start of National Poetry Month!
Text on a peach deckle edged paper top 1/3 of the image: National Poetry Reading Day Text on natural paper below: April 22, 2025 6-7 PM | Main Library (Dothan Houston County Library System, Dothan, AL) In a text box: In honor of National Poetry Month, the library hosted a contest in March. Entries were accepted from March 1st until April 1st. Today, we will hold a reading of our top choices and announce the winners!
April 4, 2025 at 1:42 AM
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20. "Don't Hesitate" by Mary Oliver

Whew! 20 poems that have stuck with me was harder to get through than I expected (especially because I tried not to repeat favored poets).
Don't Hesitate, by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and while towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the touches or power on the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that's often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don't be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
March 12, 2025 at 1:34 AM
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19. "On Those Days" by Donna Ashworth
On Those Days, by Donna Ashworth On those days when you miss someone the most as though your memories are sharp enough to slice through skin and bone remember how they loved you. Remember how they loved you and do -that- for yourself. In their name in-their- honor, Love yourself as they loved you. They would like that. On those days when you miss someone the most love yourself harder.
March 11, 2025 at 3:07 AM
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15. Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for death"

I remember enjoying the meter and rhyme the first time I encountered this poem as a kid, but it didn't stick with me then.

It stuck with me after fb. I read a post about how most of her songs can be sung to the tune of Gilligan's Island.
XKCD comic that starts out in panel 1 with the Emily Dickinson poem, "Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me". Panel 2 begins "The carriage held by just ousel-" but then Emily Dickinson grabs Death and snatches from the carriage. Panel 3, Death sits on the side of the road while Emily Dickinson drives off with his carriage. Panel 4, she has his scythe, and the words read: grand theft auto (Emily Dickinson Edition) https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/the_carriage.png "Because I could not stop for Death" originally called "The Carriage" by Emily Dickinson Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. We passed the school where children played, Their lessons scarcely done; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. Since then 'tis centuries; but each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity. A screenshot of a post by Kerstin Schwandt. "Fun fact: Emily Dickinson's use of life common meter enables one to sing pretty much all of her poems to the tune of Gilligan's Island. Bendy I could not stop for Death-. He kindly stopped for me-. The Carriage held but just ourselves-. And Immortality. :D"
March 5, 2025 at 12:30 PM
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13. "Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson

This is one of my favorite bedtime stories that I read to my kids. It's a fabulous story told in poem form, short enough for little kids.

I still have it memorized.

www.randschools.com/kindergarten...
Cover of "Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson. A bear sleeps, a mouse on its head, a gopher on his back, being looked at/ surrounded by curious animals: a badger, a mile, a winter white hare, and a raven. The only character missing is a wren.
February 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM
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10. "Storms and Laughter" by me

Sometimes, the poems that stick with me are poems that I wrote.

Here's one from April 7, 2014.

You can click the image, or the alt text, to read it.
Storms and Laughter by Janin Wise The Devil's beating his wife, But I'd swear the caterwallin' and cacophony is her getting licks in as well. The FLASH! of the lightning so close it was practically beside me. The CRASH! of the thunder so boomin' I flinched and screamed aloud. And then the air was filled with laughter. The sky turned black with dire intent, and heaven fell out the bottom in driving sheets. A long loud tone pierced the silence of the office and we thought it was the siren. But it turned out the phone was up too loud and the dial tone was blasting the first note of the air raid siren. And then the air was filled with laughter. Four women in a space not much bigger than an old southern rambler, one wall entirely glass. And we faced that darkness and we faced that lightning and we heard the warnings for dire rain and distant tornadoes. And we filled that air with laughter, our shield against our fears and nature's weather. And we filled that air with laughter, our voices rising in joyous harmony. For a day filled with laughter is never wasted. Even a day filled with storms.
February 23, 2025 at 12:46 PM
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9. Bo Burnham's "Magic"

Being a person with an internal monolog, I love this poem!

It was somewhere in the last 10 years, and thanks to social media, that I learned that not everyone has one. So I suspect this poem is a very different experience for them.
Cartoon of a red headed woman sitting on a stack books, reading. The poem, "Magic" by Bo Burnham: Read this to yourself. Read it silently. Don’t move your lips. Don’t make a sound. Listen to yourself. Listen without hearing anything. What a wonderfully weird thing, huh? NOW MAKE THIS PART LOUD! SCREAM IT IN YOUR MIND! DROWN EVERYTHING OUT! Now, hear a whisper. A tiny whisper. Now read this next line with your best crotchety-old-man voice: “Hello there, sonny. Does your town have a post office?” Awesome! Who was that? Whose voice was that? It sure wasn’t yours! How do you do that? How?! Must be magic.
February 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
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See a hug, post a hug

This is the final transformation piece in a series I did called, "If Klimt Painted Otters"
Done like Klimt's close up called "Mother and Child" (that's actually from a larger work called the "3 Ages of Woman"), a mother otter holds her infant. They are surrounded by seaweed and other water aspects, like a floating log and a red and a blue fish. Otters actually holds their young like this, and will tie themselves in place in the seaweed so they don't float away when napping.
February 19, 2025 at 2:28 AM
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7. "Mathematical Limerick" by Leigh Mercer

This was one of the first poems I came across on fb. I've always liked Limericks. I like math, but I've never tried to check the math-- but I do love the integration of math and poetry 🥰
A mathematical formula that is also a Limerick, by Leigh Mercer. A Dozen, a Gross, and a Score, plus three times the square root of four, divided by seven, plus five times eleven, equals none squared and not a bit more.
February 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
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Show me your hands!

I'm kinda surprised I had this many hands to show!
An assortment of artwork done by Janin Wise, focusing on hands. Top from left is a recreation of Stupache Madonna, a divinational self portrait, a Celtic knot hand. Next row: Golden Buddha, my son holding a toad, a woman's hands throwing towards the viewer. Bottom row is my son holding a star fish, and then a push stick shaped like a hand and painted like it's been henna-ed.
February 11, 2025 at 3:45 AM
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If you see this, QRP a character with long hair.
"Take Care of Him For Me" by Janin Wise  2" x 3" acrylic, salt, and pen and ink on bristol board Blue green background. Images drawn in black ink. The skeletal hand of a child comes up from the sea floor, as if waving goodbye to the one eyed teddybear a young merchild begins to swim away with. Part of my small art series made for MidSouthCon in Memphis.
February 1, 2025 at 3:28 AM
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Happy Lunar New Year! And welcome to the Year of the wood snake.

This is my "Goddess Snake" 😊
Acrylic on onion skin dictionary page
A sepia zentangles snake curls on itself, forming two infinity signs. 3 stylized red flowers and a single green leaf accent around the snake. It is painted on a sideways, onion skin dictionary page featuring the word "snake". When I was a kid, I collected and read dictionaries like any other book. In 2013, I came across the box in storage. I had over a dozen dictionaries in there, languishing. I decided to upcycle my old dictionaries. When I finished painting my snake, my oldest walked into the room and said, "Momma! Is that a Goddess Snake?!" with absolute wonder in his voice. I gave him a hug and said, "It is now!"
January 29, 2025 at 7:03 AM
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I was 15 the first time I saw one of these. I thought it was a flying crawfish 🤣😅
My acrylic painting, "Neither Bird, Nor Bee, Nor Flying Crawfish" is currently on display through the end of March at the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan 😊 Largely green painting. In the background, a woman cups a man's face while they kiss. Lace patterns and splatters, and the green dripping to white, complete the background. In the foreground, honeysuckle, one of the plants clearwing hummingbird moths lay their eggs on. One of the caterpillars is on the stem, while an adult moth comes to sip from the flower.
January 28, 2025 at 1:32 AM
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Made blackened talapia and dirty rice for breakfast anyway 😋
A mug of tea with a plate and fork. On the plate, 2 blackened talapia on a bed of dirty rice, with freshly warmed in the oven French baguette. I saw a video last night where a woman made 2 meat dirty rice, blackened catfish, and crawfish cream sauce. I have everything except the celery on hand, despite it being our 3rd snow day with closed roads, but couldn't, in good conscious, use 4 meats to make one meal without any of them being leftovers to start with. So I used ground beef in my dirty rice. I had no idea talapia blackened so good!!! I
January 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
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No bingo here, but that has to do with placement of the squares 😅

I've spent 20 of the last 48 hours working on a really big project 😁
Bad Habit Artist Bingo, with my bad habits highlighted. Blank Bad Habit Artist Bingo. Top row L2R: nonsense file names, thinks using references is cheating, one million WIPs, comes up with ideas does nothing, forgot to sleep/eat/etc. Row 2: the urge to draw in the most inconvenient times, hunched over desk like a gremlin, forgets own art style, nearly finishes piece hadn't save the whole time, fuck wrong layer Row 3: doesn't name layers, too hard on self, FREE SPACE, saves 100 tutorials uses none, backgrounds don't know em Row 4: where my own/stylus, 100 empty sketchbooks, forgot to sign/ watermark piece, stylus/pen death grip, zooms in focuses on details no one will see Row 5: gets distracted in the middle of drawing with another idea, hides hands to avoid drawing them, gorgeous anatomy doesn't want to give character clothes, same face syndrome, forgot to flip the canvas
January 22, 2025 at 4:54 AM
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A wonderfully whimsical friend of mine brought her pops outside for a photoshoot in the snow today. This is my favorite:
Kakashi Hatake pop figure, sitting in the snow, watching it snow in southern Alabama. We got 5-6 inches today!
January 22, 2025 at 4:29 AM
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Definitely concur.

In 2011, I actively decided to focus on what I love instead of what I hate. 14 years on and I'm both happier and healthier.

Also, if you want to read the article my image below was in response to:

scrawnytobrawny.com/how-to-be-po...
Facebook status from Janin Wise on July 20,2013 in response to reading the article: Stop Glossing Over The Good Stuff (How To Be Positive and Happy) "So 1. This is the kind of thing I tell my kids all the time. I've been using the "List 3 good things about your day" since they were old enough to tell me about their day. 2. About 2 years ago, I decided to lift up what I love instead of tearing down what I hate. And 3. I noticed earlier this week that the frown line--the one 'wrinkle' I've had since I was about 5 (no, seriously), is -less- a noticeable wrinkle now than it was when I was 5. Happiness is a good thing." Image from the article, a man and a woman, playful, outside in front of a field. Both wearing sunglasses. He's wearing a white button down shirt and has forearm tattoos. She's wearing a colorful dress holding a small bouquet of white flowers. She's playfully pushing him.
January 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM
janinwise.bsky.social
Had a fabulous time art Art After Hours at the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan last night.

The opening reception for the art educators gallery was wonderful and I was really happy to see everyone who came out to support.

Feeling very loved.
The art educators, whose work is on display at the museum until the end of March. 7 of the 8 art educators currently on display, pose where you get a glimpse of 4 of the displays. My friend Suki and her friend Helen drove an hour to come see the show. Suki said, "As soon as I saw that game board, I knew it was your art!" We haven't seen each other in a decade, but used to play in the SCA together, and she remembered my medieval game board project 😁🥰 Myself and two other women, smiling in front of some of my art work. My family and friends with me in front of my art 😊🥰 I LOVE that one of the things ever Art After Hours event includes is an art table. The project changes every time. This is my torn paper collage landscape 😊 Torn paper meant to resemble a setting sun, mountains, and the reflection in a lake.
January 17, 2025 at 4:17 PM
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Show me how you draw women.
A self portrait pencil and colored pencil, me instead of the original woman in a classic art noveau poster Another self portrait, inspired by a beautiful day with friends, where the theme for dress and party has both been black and white. My senior thesis pieces in college told two of my favorite stories from the Brothers Grimm. This one is from "The Princess in Disguise". Image: yellow on one side to depict day, blue on the other for night. A young woman wearing a chimera necklace (a reclaimed symbol of feminine power) and a chemise, holds a walnut shell. Inside are 3 dresses. But her real gifts are within her own mind. A silhouette of a pregnant woman. At the end of June and beginning of July in 2018, I, like the rest of the world, was following the news of the soccer team in Thailand who were found trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave.  Upon reading it, I made as a promise to Jao Mae Nang Non, the reclining goddess of the Thailand cave rescue, to make a piece of art dedicated to her, as thanks for the safe rescue of the boys and their coach. This piece was me keeping that promise. It depicts the young lover from the story of the cave, and on her belly is the cave system. By her thumb is where the boys were rescued.
January 15, 2025 at 1:01 PM
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Started reading this today, but it's not really a book you sit down and read.

It's more like an assortment of Dear Abby clippings... if Baba Yaga was covering for Abby 🤣😅
Cover of "Ask Baba Yaga, Otherworldly Advice for Everyday Troubles" by Taisia Kitaiskaia Red cover with a stylized heart in a jar. The illustrations are lovely. The advise... well...
January 2, 2025 at 3:37 AM
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"Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order."

20/20

Not gonna lie, just thinking about this has a Kate Bush earworm playing in my head right now.

I borrowed this book so frequently, the librarian gave me a copy for my own.
One of many covers made for Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights". This one is green, with copper embossing of tree limbs, leaves, storms for wind, and the suggestion of falling snow.
December 29, 2024 at 5:19 AM
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"Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order."

19/20

One of my alltime favorite cookbooks. Been making recipes from this book for over twenty years now, & I still haven't tried them all (But every one I have has been delicious!)
Cover to "The Heritage of Chinese Cooking" by Elizabeth Chong. An image of... well, I'm not sure what the vegetable or fruit might be. It's melon shaped. One in dark green and the other in white, and bears squash blossoms and leaves, so it's likely in the squash family. I've read this cookbook all the way through. It's got some amazing history and stories around all those yummy recipes (:
December 28, 2024 at 5:41 AM
janinwise.bsky.social
"Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order."

18/20

This is a book I had the pleasure of reading this year for one of my book clubs.

10 out of 10 recommend this book.
The cover of Jon Cohen's "Harry's Trees". A quote above the title: A Novel about an unlikely friendship, a wise librarian, and a mysterious book. The title in golden letters, on a green cover, with a book, flat and open, a golden leaf falling into the open pages. This one is my photo, taken while I was actively reading it. I'll share my real time review from when I finished the story: I kept stopping and starting. Because this is not a book to devour in one gulp. Laughing out loud one moment, and caught up burst into surprised tears the next. Ya'll. This book is a journey. Beautiful, vivid, delightful, heart-wrenching, real, and yet, also a fairytale. This book has joined the rare collection of books that will definitely be kept and reread.
December 27, 2024 at 3:28 AM
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"Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order."

17/20

A holiday tradition that I grew up with and passed on to my children is that some media is only seasonally consumed.

We don't read Christmas books before 12/1 or after 12/31
Cover of the Little Golden Book "Clement Moore's The Night Before Christmas" Two children share the left bed, sleeping. The older child sleeps in the right bed alone, a teddy bear propped against the bed. Sugar plums, desserts and fairies fill the space above them, a glimpse into their dreams. While the silhouette of Santa's sleigh and reindeer flies off into the night sky against the backdrop of a full moon.
December 24, 2024 at 2:13 PM