Holli Rainwater
Fresno, Ohio
Biography
Holli Rainwater is a member of the Ohio Poetry Association and the Haiku Society of America. She is the co-author with Robin Mullet of The Curve of Her Arm, a collaboration of free verse and haiku on the art and practice of qigong (Night Ballet Press, 2019). Her work has appeared in several anthologies and in a number of haiku journals, including Frogpond, Heron’s Nest, Kingfisher, Mayfly, Wild Plum, Wales Haiku Journal, and Modern Haiku. Holli’s haiku have also appeared on the streets of Washington DC, on the walking trails of Holden Arboretum, and in a patch of black-eyed Susans in the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
Holli lives in a little red house on the edge of the woods with her husband Kevin. They love it when their three sons and their families and dogs come to visit and they also love it when it's just the two of them. Holli works part-time at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum where one day she said, “Hey, why don't we do a haiga exhibit?!”
For more of Holli's haiku and the stories behind them, visit her blog at www.hollirainwater.com.
Artist's Statement
"My creative endeavors are my attempts at paying attention to the world around me and finding connections between things. Most of my haiku and photographs happen when I am in what Patricia Donegan calls haiku mind, 'a way of being in the world with awakened open-hearted awareness—of being mindful of the ordinary moments of our lives.'
In the same way, my stitching practice helps keep me grounded in the present moment. I come from a long line of needlewomen and I have always enjoyed playing with textiles. A few years ago I discovered 'slow stitching,' a meditative hand-sewing practice that focuses on the process and the joy of creating rather than a perfect end product.
Many of my haiku and slow stitching projects reflect the concept of wabi sabi, a Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty and harmony in what is simple, imperfect, transient, natural, and ordinary. My haiku and stitching make me happy in a way that almost nothing else does. I think it's because they are teaching me to see with my heart."
bird song
This mixed media collage is dedicated to my husband, Kevin, who introduced me to the song of the white throated sparrow and has written me a lifetime of love notes. The haiku, “bird song,” was a winner in the Golden Haiku Poetry Competition 2019, and was chosen for the Red Moon Anthology 2019, Wind Flowers.
“out here in the fields”
Hand-stitched crazy quilt embellished with embroidery. In memory of my brother Josh, a fine musician who died too soon. “I will meet you in the meadow and it will be as if no time has passed.”
prayers for peace
Hand stitched prayer flag created the winter of 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. I left the edges raw to symbolize the unraveling caused by war.
solstice
Tataki zomé (flower pounding) on unbleached muslin embellished with embroidery
Holli Rainwater is a member of the Ohio Poetry Association and the Haiku Society of America. She is the co-author with Robin Mullet of The Curve of Her Arm, a collaboration of free verse and haiku on the art and practice of qigong (Night Ballet Press, 2019). Her work has appeared in several anthologies and in a number of haiku journals, including Frogpond, Heron’s Nest, Kingfisher, Mayfly, Wild Plum, Wales Haiku Journal, and Modern Haiku. Holli’s haiku have also appeared on the streets of Washington DC, on the walking trails of Holden Arboretum, and in a patch of black-eyed Susans in the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
Holli lives in a little red house on the edge of the woods with her husband Kevin. They love it when their three sons and their families and dogs come to visit and they also love it when it's just the two of them. Holli works part-time at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum where one day she said, “Hey, why don't we do a haiga exhibit?!”
For more of Holli's haiku and the stories behind them, visit her blog at www.hollirainwater.com.
Artist's Statement
"My creative endeavors are my attempts at paying attention to the world around me and finding connections between things. Most of my haiku and photographs happen when I am in what Patricia Donegan calls haiku mind, 'a way of being in the world with awakened open-hearted awareness—of being mindful of the ordinary moments of our lives.'
In the same way, my stitching practice helps keep me grounded in the present moment. I come from a long line of needlewomen and I have always enjoyed playing with textiles. A few years ago I discovered 'slow stitching,' a meditative hand-sewing practice that focuses on the process and the joy of creating rather than a perfect end product.
Many of my haiku and slow stitching projects reflect the concept of wabi sabi, a Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty and harmony in what is simple, imperfect, transient, natural, and ordinary. My haiku and stitching make me happy in a way that almost nothing else does. I think it's because they are teaching me to see with my heart."
bird song
This mixed media collage is dedicated to my husband, Kevin, who introduced me to the song of the white throated sparrow and has written me a lifetime of love notes. The haiku, “bird song,” was a winner in the Golden Haiku Poetry Competition 2019, and was chosen for the Red Moon Anthology 2019, Wind Flowers.
“out here in the fields”
Hand-stitched crazy quilt embellished with embroidery. In memory of my brother Josh, a fine musician who died too soon. “I will meet you in the meadow and it will be as if no time has passed.”
prayers for peace
Hand stitched prayer flag created the winter of 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. I left the edges raw to symbolize the unraveling caused by war.
solstice
Tataki zomé (flower pounding) on unbleached muslin embellished with embroidery
