Julie Schwerin
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Biography
Julie Schwerin is an associate editor at The Heron's Nest (www.theheronsnest.com) and a member of the Red Moon Anthology Editorial team. She was instrumental in establishing several haiku installations in the Midwest including The Forest Haiku Walk on the grounds of The Inn at Honey Run in Millersburg, Ohio, The Seasons of Haiku Trail at The Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio and Words in Bloom: A Year of Haiku at the Chicago Botanic Garden to feature the work of other poets and bring further awareness to haiku. She is the author of three chapbooks: What Was Here (Folded Word Press), Walking Away From the Sunset (Brooks Books) and still growing wings (Backbone Press). Her first full-length collection of haiku, fencing with the moon, is now available for preorder from Finishing Line Press. https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/fencing-with-the-moon-by-julie-schwerin/
Artist's Statement
The suminagashi artwork in this haiga is a creation of the poet. Suminagashi, (literally "floating ink"), is a Japanese marbling technique which uses India ink to paint on water. The artist's process involves placing ink on the water's surface with a brush and introducing an agent to disperse it. Various factors, such as the amount of dispersant, water temperature, air currents, dust particles, brush angle, and contact time, influence the ink's spread and the resulting image. Suminagashi is a meditative practice for the artist, where the need to control outcomes is released, allowing the ink to paint freely. This unconventional creative process lacks preconceived notions or a specific goal, with the artist discovering the generated results after the fact—a process that yields surprising gifts.
Julie Schwerin is an associate editor at The Heron's Nest (www.theheronsnest.com) and a member of the Red Moon Anthology Editorial team. She was instrumental in establishing several haiku installations in the Midwest including The Forest Haiku Walk on the grounds of The Inn at Honey Run in Millersburg, Ohio, The Seasons of Haiku Trail at The Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio and Words in Bloom: A Year of Haiku at the Chicago Botanic Garden to feature the work of other poets and bring further awareness to haiku. She is the author of three chapbooks: What Was Here (Folded Word Press), Walking Away From the Sunset (Brooks Books) and still growing wings (Backbone Press). Her first full-length collection of haiku, fencing with the moon, is now available for preorder from Finishing Line Press. https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/fencing-with-the-moon-by-julie-schwerin/
Artist's Statement
The suminagashi artwork in this haiga is a creation of the poet. Suminagashi, (literally "floating ink"), is a Japanese marbling technique which uses India ink to paint on water. The artist's process involves placing ink on the water's surface with a brush and introducing an agent to disperse it. Various factors, such as the amount of dispersant, water temperature, air currents, dust particles, brush angle, and contact time, influence the ink's spread and the resulting image. Suminagashi is a meditative practice for the artist, where the need to control outcomes is released, allowing the ink to paint freely. This unconventional creative process lacks preconceived notions or a specific goal, with the artist discovering the generated results after the fact—a process that yields surprising gifts.
