Poster Image

A woman at a flea market browses a selection of necklaces

$20

Item#: 2011SYR01

Purchase Details

11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.

You also receive…

An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.

Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.

Poem Inspiration Location

Flea Market Treasures

poster information

Description

Flea market treasures
found midst heaps of cast—off junk
start a second life.

I am kind of addicted to going to the flea market. I tend to wander around aimlessly with a bagel and a cup of coffee like an anthropologist. I like to see the things that people are getting rid of and I almost always end up with some treasure myself. It's fun. It's almost like you bring home a part of this person you've never meet and form a bond with someone out in the six degrees of separation.

I've been writing poetry all my life in some form or another. And I teach writing, so that's a good excuse. When my students are writing I always like to write along with them in the hopes that I inspire them to see that it isn't just a one shot operation. It's something that's in your spirit forever.

As an artist minoring in art history, I can appreciate objects of our past. I try to be creative with my surroundings and much prefer to recycle unique objects, rather than buying new mass-produced ones. I love to shop at flea markets and to collect old pieces with some sort of story. Immediately after picking up this haiku, I knew it was the perfect fit for me.

I enjoy painting people most of all and wanted to make this piece about a figure and objects interacting. I chose to set up the characteristic girl who enjoys searching for hidden treasures. I focused on the composition and thoughtfully placed objects to move the viewer's eye around the piece. I also tried to express my interest in textile design and patterning, which I also tend to discover at flea markets.