Category: Marine Ikebana poetry

A collection of blog posts about marine Ikebana poetry, the process of creating marine Ikebana poems, details on what led to this new contemporary art form, Japanese aesthetic concepts, visual poetry design and related design tutorials, how to read marine Ikebana poems and details from the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) photo book series

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Beyond blooms: is Ikebana restricted to flowers only?

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Are you familiar with the Japanese art form of arranging flowers in a vase and wondering whether Ikebana is restricted to flowers only?

Beyond blooms is Ikebana restricted to flowers only, marine Ikebana, breaking free from floral expectations, Ikebana flower arrangements, Ikebana how to, marine biology aesthetic, Ikebana forms, Ikebana for sale, Ikebana with poetry, Ikebana with sea shells, Ikebana with seashells, simple Ikebana rules, Ikebana order online, Ikebana and bonsai, what is sogetsu Ikebana, what do you need for Ikebana, who does Ikebana

There are many offshoots of this beautiful art form where the aesthetic principles are maintained, but non-flower elements are used instead, for example, in Ikebana with fruits and vegetables (Morimono).

Ikebana without flowers: a new way to approach the art form

A second example of Ikebana with unconventional elements is marine Ikebana and by the end of this blog post, you will know how I ended up creating this genre and how this type of Ikebana looks like.

Because while initially admiring Ikebana arrangements in books, on the web and in offline exhibitions, when it came time to actually practice it, I never felt comfortable in using living plant material or cut flowers for a variety of reasons.

So I ended up making Ikebana with non-living elements: in the beginning just with marine elements, mostly seashells, and then with poetry too.

Minimalism meets coastal when marine Ikebana makes use of seashells, but this sea life art form can also use other “fruits” of the sea, such as dried sea urchins, starfish, sea horses, corals and maybe even sea glass. All these marine elements can be beachcombed without killing any animal.

Yet too much beachcombing is not good for the environment or for one’s clutter-free home, so I started thinking of ways of limiting my marine collection (mostly made of seashells).

Subsequently, when designing marine Ikebana arrangements, I started with small arrangements of 3D physical marine bouquets emerging from seashell vases, which could either function as trinket containers or could be attached to regular containers. As a minimalist, I can’t stand clutter and decorative containers proved to be a solution to enjoy visual art while keeping things neat.

I could have left it at that, but during a walk I got this idea of replacing the branches and twigs with free verse poetry as curved text, while maintaining the same line shapes.

Following this unexpected idea, I started taking photos of my marine Ikebana arrangements, did lots of photo editing (mainly to remove the background and crop individual elements of the arrangements) and started jotting down ideas of beautiful words which could be turned into free verse poetry for this novel art form.

In keeping with the philosophy of Ikebana, I wanted the words to be both beautiful and for the poems to suggest the passage of time. Marine Ikebana may be made of inert, non-living material, but I still wanted to suggest, and not necessarily show, the typical awareness of the passage of time which I admired in classical Ikebana (and Japanese art in general) for so long. Which brings next to:

Creating a relaxing coastal oasis with marine Ikebana poems

If you wonder how Ikebana combined with marine elements and poetry looks like, this section is for you.

I have included 9 marine Ikebana poems which I applied to 3 types of objects:

  • posters
  • desk accessories such as photo blocks and paperweights

By clicking on any of the images below, you will be taken to the Zazzle marketplace where each design can be customized without you being logged in. If you like any of these visual poetry designs, you can easily change the background color, select a different shape and/or size (depending on the product) and you can also transfer the designs to any other product from the Zazzle marketplace. It’s a lot of fun!

And now the poem list begins.

Time Travel

The following desk accessory is an ornamental glass paperweight featuring a visual poem called “Time Travel” which reveals a sense of time travel when listening to music recorded decades ago by musicians who are not among us anymore.

Cake

This desk decor idea features a visual poem called “Cake” about the only temporary human organ: the placenta. Hint: placenta in Latin means flat cake and I liked the play on words, so I used this theme to write a poem about the biology of it.

Paranoia

Next comes a poetry poster featuring a minimalist and coastal visual poem called “Paranoia”. The poem is enclosed in a pyramid and talks about a recent historical event: the Covid 19 pandemic and its early stage when paranoia spread faster than the virus, there was a toilet paper shortage due to panic buying and humans left humanity at the door.

Hot Chocolate

Although a common comforting drink, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to hot cocoa and this marine Ikebana poem, called “Hot Chocolate”, depicts the inherent sad story of each ingredient used to make this drink.

Graveyard Shift

My medical background proved to be a fertile ground when it came to depict the passage of time through marine Ikebana poems. “Graveyard Shift” is one such example, revealing the life and death realities faced during night shifts when most people calmly sleep in their cozy beds.

Dust

Next comes a sophisticated glass paperweight featuring a visual poem called “Dust”. It is a free verse poem about star dust, both in a nebula when a star is formed and metaphorically speaking, in all living beings like you and me.

Dreams in Stone

The following octagonal desk ornament features a visual poem, called “Dreams in Stone”, about water slowly carving dreams in stones until they become sand and “swim back” to the seaside for a better life.

In Science We Trust

Minimalism meets coastal in this science poster featuring a visual poem called “In Science We Trust”. Shaped like the tree of life or its bonsai variant, the poem praises the many benefits of science, technology and inventions which are so common that we take for granted.

Confidence

The last poem from this blog post on Ikebana without flowers is called “Confidence”. If you ever undertook a creative project, you know that in the beginning, nothing is certain and it takes a leap of faith to take an idea and run with it. Similarly, the poem talks about the creative process with its highs and lows and the full drama.

As you can see, Ikebana evolved beyond the traditional Japanese art of arranging flowers to include non-floral elements such as shells and free verse poetry.

If you know someone who would like to see this, please use any of the share buttons below. Thanks!

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15 coastal dinnerware ideas for inspiration

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If you love the seaside as much as I do, then this blog post on 15 coastal dinnerware ideas is for you!

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The coastal style in home decor seeks to mimic the colors and the mood of being by the seaside. When applied to dinnerware, tableware, dishware or to any object used for serving and eating meals, the coastal style will impart its specific relaxed and breezy mood to your kitchen or dining room.

If this your first time on my blog, I am a designer of marine Ikebana poems. These are visual poems inspired by the Japanese style of flower arrangements or Ikebana, but instead of cut flowers, I use free verse lyrics and seashells.

Therefore, the 15 coastal dinnerware ideas from this blog post include:

  • full marine Ikebana poems or
  • repeating patterns derived from such poems or
  • just marine Ikebana motifs.

But in all 3 cases, the actual dinnerware products are available on the Zazzle platform where you can further customize them at NO extra charge.

Poetic coastal dinnerware

These are dinnerware items housing full marine Ikebana poems.

Seen from afar, the images look like floral arrangements, but if you zoom in on the picture, you’ll notice the branches house lyrics.

Have a look at the visual poems below!

The visual poem seen on the dinner bowl below is one of my favorites. It is called “Kintsugi” and it is inspired by the Japanese Kintsugi art of repairing broken pottery with gold instead of throwing it away.

It is a subtle concept, teaching people to see flaws and repair as something beautiful which adds to the history of the object and similarly, to our own story. Because we have flaws too, right?

Subsequently, the coastal teapot below features another marine Ikebana poem called “Soil”.

It is a short visual poem about embracing your cultural soil and doing the best with what you’ve got right now, instead of focusing on what you lack.

And visually, the poem features a long and coiled Turritella seashell vase from which a blue iris bud emerges, together with the actual lyrics.

A third poem I included among these coastal dinnerware ideas is called “”Take Off” as seen on the latte mug below.

Although very short, most people will perceive it differently even if they’re reading the same poem.

Along the same line, the fine art coffee mug below includes a marine Ikebana poem called “Hoar”. It is a unique visual poem about hoar frost as a metaphor for aging.

Following along the poetic coastal dinnerware section, the food safe trinket tray below features a blue iris flower as an Ikebana vase and from it, the actual lyrics of a visual poem called “Enmity” emerge.

But despite its title, the poem is not negative at all.

On the contrary, if you think you have a problem in saying “no” to other people’s wishes and demands and you end up multitasking, you’re going to resonate with this poem.

Finally, the last visual poem I included in this section is called “the honey jar”.

Available on a latte mug, it is a lovely poem about anonymous worker bees turning blueberry blossoms into delicious honey just like unrecognized human workers make the world go around.

Coastal dinnerware with seaside patterns

Unlike the coastal dinnerware examples you’ve seen above, everything else that follows includes no lyrics.

There is no text available because these products include repeating patterns inspired by the seaside.

The coastal patterns from the pitcher, the 2 soup mugs and the coffee mug below were all inspired by the Black Sea. This is the place where I unknowingly became a seashell collector when I was a toddler and it is also my favorite place for brainstorming and active meditation.

But even if this is the large body of water which inspired these coastal designs, some seashells I used here are not native to this area.

In contrast to the seashell patterns you already saw above, the serving tray below houses a different kind of repeating pattern which looks quite Asian and Oriental. I created it from a visual poem called “Scar Collector” which was originally published in Volume I in the Diamond Dust Poems From the Black Sea photo book series.

Coastal dining accessories

You have already seen the coastal dinnerware ideas featuring either full marine Ikebana poems or repeating patterns inspired by them.

Now comes a third category of coastal dining accessories. These feature just one central motif, such as the marine Ikebana bouquet or the murex seashell from the 2 glass coasters below.

And while any of the coastal dinnerware products seen above can be customized as you wish, the last 2 examples I’ll mention next were specifically designed as templates.

For example, if you’re looking for a coastal kitchen gift, the dinner bowl below features an easy to customize “Happy birthday!” text and you can change it to whatever you like.

Or if you already own too much dinnerware, but you’d still like to add some blue accents with coastal vibes, you can organize what you already have with these easy to customize food and drink labels which come in sets of 10.

In this case, the template food storage labels feature a nautical blue iris flower inside a navy blue rectangle. You can change the rectangle color, the background color, you can pick a different type of label or even transfer the design to any other product from the Zazzle marketplace.

And with the last 2 templates, we have now reached the end of this blog post on 15 coastal dinnerware ideas for inspiration.

If any of these ideas inspired you, I’d love to know in a comment below!

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5 inspiring aesthetic Mother’s Day gift ideas

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Don’t search anymore! This blog post will immediately show you 5 inspiring ideas of Mother’s Day gifts for you to choose the perfect one! Bonus: they are all customizable at no extra charge to you.

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What all these 5 gift ideas have in common is they’re in the desk decor niche.

The reason I chose this category is because desk decor doesn’t occupy a lot of space and it is a hassle-free and renter friendly way to enjoy beautiful and inspiring art.

If you’re thinking of offering a thoughtful gift to your mother or a future mom to be or any other mother on Mother’s Day, each of these desk decor items will allow her to enjoy more beauty in her life and to be inspired by the visual poems housed in these products.

Receiving a visual poem is a rare event and your gift will certainly be memorable.

If this is your first time on my website, I design visual poems resembling floral arrangements when seen from afar, but unlike usual floral bouquets, I use maritime elements such as seashells.

Furthermore, many of my visual poems were written following my experience of becoming a mother and for this blog post, I have selected 5 such poems which available on personalized glass paperweights.

Now there are many different products housing my visual poetry designs, but I’m drawn to few of them as much I am towards paperweights. There is something about just one beautiful paperweight residing on an uncluttered desk that I find so appealing and so hard to describe in words. But I’ll do my best to show you that vision through pictures with the following 5 inspiring aesthetic custom paperweights.

Inspiring gift idea no. 1 for moms or moms to be who swim

I am probably not the only mother who swims. I also swam a lot during pregnancy and that experience inspired me to write the shape poem your see below.

The title of the poem is “Swimming in 2” and if you zoom in a bit, you’ll notice that the branches are made of lyrics. This visual poem was originally published in Volume I of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) photo book series.

This glass paperweight is a great option for a swimmer mom to be or a mom who swims because it includes a poem to remind her of the beautiful experience of swimming during pregnancy.

Gift idea no. 2 for overwhelmed moms during early motherhood

If you’re searching for gifts for a new mother who is overwhelmed with all the new unpaid and unsung roles she will take or for an older mother who forgot the many unpaid and unsung roles she became good at, you must take a look at this glass paperweight for Mother’s Day!

The glass paperweight features a visual poem about early motherhood called “unpaid and unsung” and she is likely to resonate with its lyrics.

Inspiring gift idea no. 3 for new moms

This glass floral paperweight with coastal vibes is a great Mother’s Day gift for new moms due to housing a visual poem called “Sacrifice”.

It is a visual poem written in free verse about people who take advantage of a mother’s infinite love for her child and how that will backfire against everyone around, her child included, if she is not careful.

Sacrifice can be pointless and guilt doesn’t have to be a part of motherhood for everyone’s sake.

Inspiring gift idea no.4 for mothers who are mourning or ill

If the intended recipient of your planned Mother’s Day gift is mourning, undergoing surgery or suffering from a chronic disease, reading the visual poem below may bring a sense of inner peace when it is most needed.

The title of this poetic artwork is “One by One” and if you zoom in a bit, you’ll notice that the branches are made of lyrics.

The glass paperweight housing this poem features a blue iris flower from which the soothing lyrics emerge.

This custom coastal artwork could be a great sympathy gift, a condolence gift in case of mourning or an encouragement gift in case of disease for you to share your “get well soon” message.

Gift idea no. 5 for empty nester mothers

If you’re looking for Mother’s Day gift ideas which are appropriate for empty nesters, this glass paperweight could be the right option for you!

This desk decor product features a visual poem called “Detachment”. Each branch of the poem takes you along the path of motherhood from start to the empty nest phase.

It also features a blue murex shell from which the lyrical branches emerge.

As with all the other mentioned ideas, once you click on any of the images or links attached to them, you will be taken to the Zazzle platform where you can choose different shapes or sizes for each paperweight. You can also customize any product from my shop there. Furthermore, if you find a design that you like, you can transfer it to any other product that Zazzle offers. These are all done at no extra charge to you!

Although Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world, my hope is that you found the right gift in this blog post. Let me know in a comment below!

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Wabi sabi memory box ideas

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If you’re searching for some amazing memory box ideas with a special aesthetic angle, you’ve come to the right place!

Wabi sabi memory box ideas

Why make a memory box?

As its name suggests, a memory box is a box for storing your memories of a certain event or person in the form of treasured items from the past. Storing everything in just one box will naturally limit you to NOT clutter your living space or mental space. While it is nice to go down the memory lane from time to time, it is counterproductive to be reminded of the past when you’re trying to focus on work. It is just as counterproductive to store only things you use in the present. Because things from the past allow you to connect the dots, notice some progress and form the story of your life.

When it comes to choosing a memory box for keepsakes, you can definitely use any kind of container, but what these 6 memory boxes below have in common is a Japanese aesthetic concept called wabi sabi.

What is the concept of wabi sabi?

It is amazing that the wabi sabi aesthetic concept appeared in a country famous for its quality products because wabi sabi is the art of finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness. The wabi sabi style focuses on simplicity, minimalism, natural materials and a color palette reminding you of the natural world. Speaking of colors, I favor the blue and brown combination because it is a nice memento of the dominant colors of the planet we live on. You will encounter this color palette in all my poem designs from the memory boxes below.

If you are a perfectionist like I am, adopting a wabi sabi attitude will encourage you to embrace your imperfections, the imperfections of your home and work and to find beauty in everyday items and in your daily routine. You can start by trying more creative and offline activities when at home, such as reading poetry from an actual printed book or drawing with colored crayons.

Gathering a collection of treasured items from your past is another offline activity you can do in your free time. This could be especially valuable at the end of a project or during mourning to wrap things up and move forward with your life, hopefully learning something from the experience.

Each of the 6 memory boxes below includes one visual poem on the lid. Since each event or person around which you make a memory box is unique, you may find it useful to customize things. All these box designs are available on Zazzle and you can personalize many things without any extra charge: you can change the background color, add text, add photos, remove text or photos, choose different options regarding the box itself and even transfer each design to a different product.

Have you ever made a memory box for keepsakes? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!

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11 blue home accents ideas to inspire you

11 blue home accents ideas featuring blue wall art poetry posters, beautiful poem photo displays, blue throw pillows, blue fine art trinket trays, blue artistic mugs, a blanket with a seashell coastal surface pattern and a glass coaster with a blue Murex snail shell

Adding blue home accents to your place is a subtle way to make it more serene and relaxing. If you’re looking for ideas of blue decorative objects to add some coastal vibes to your place, no matter how far away you live from the sea, then this blog post is for you.

For your convenience, I grouped these blue home accents ideas per room.

11 blue home accents ideas featuring blue wall art poetry posters, beautiful poem photo displays, blue throw pillows, blue fine art trinket trays, blue artistic mugs, a blanket with a seashell coastal surface pattern and a glass coaster with a blue Murex snail shell

Each of the blue decorative objects seen below features my own designs of either marine Ikebana poems or bits of them as surface pattern designs. Furthermore, they are customizable at not extra charge to you. As a side note, there is no visual poem I designed which doesn’t include at least a bit of blue because it is my favorite color 🙂 Other than blue, they include a neutral color palette of black and white and varying shades of brown.

Blue home accents ideas for your living room

There are several decorative objects you can add as blue home accents in your living room: wall art with beachy vibes, some coastal desk decor (which you can also use as a shelf styling idea) or a blue and white throw pillow.

Blue home accessories for your bedroom

When it comes to blue home accents for your bedroom, you can start with a blanket featuring a coastal seashell surface pattern. In addition, you could also include any of the blue pillows below or a blue poem artistic mug by your nightstand.

Blue home accents ideas for your kitchen

Next, using blue sparingly in the kitchen can give it a crisp, clean look. Here are some inspiring ideas of blue kitchen decor! You can try a glass coaster with a blue painted murex snail seashell or a set of coastal nautical and floral blue iris flower food drink labels.

Blue bathroom decor ideas

Lastly, blue is very appropriate for the bathroom due to it being associated with the sea. If you only want to add some blue nautical accents, you can start with the blue iris flower tray below to gather all your trinkets or with a coastal bath towel set in blue and beige.

Finally, did you find an idea for what you were looking for? Which one of these is your favorite one and why? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!

Moreover, if you’d like more such ideas, you can subscribe to my newsletter and/or follow me on Pinterest.

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8 coastal aesthetic desk decor ideas to inspire you

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Have you ever procrastinated for hours instead of just doing your work at the desk and then enjoying your time off?

I know I did.

Let’s just say I can easily miss the seaside when I spend too much time at my desk. The seaside – and to a lesser degree the swimming pool – is where I get my best ideas, but realistically speaking, working at the beach or during a cruise is not my cup of tea. I’m not efficient at all and while being at sea, I prefer to let my mind free anyway. I don’t want briefs or deadlines.

And while literally being by the sea is not how I would like to work on my laptop, I indirectly brought the sea to my desk by creating coastal art in the form of visual poems.

This is how I ended up gathering these 8 coastal aesthetic ideas to decorate your desk and make it so beautiful, calming and inspiring, that you actually want to sit there and do your work!

8 coastal aesthetic desk decor ideas featuring photo block displays, glass paperweights, desk organizer boxes and latte mugs and cups, office and school supplies, desk accessories,

All these desk decor ideas can be customized once you click on the images or the links which will take you to the Zazzle platform. You don’t have to be logged in to customize the products and if you like a design, but not the product itself or the material on which it will be printed, you may also easily transfer it to a different product.

Desk decor ideas 1&2: try a coastal art photo block on your desk as an inspiring mood board.

As you may have guessed it from the name of this website, I’m very much into minimalism and clutter is not what I want at my desk, so I limit desk decor to just one item at a time, unless that decorative object also has some kind of function, e.g. if it’s a mug or a desk organizer for office supplies I use all the time. You can easily do the same by rotating desk decor accessories.

The photo block below features a visual poem called “Swimming in 2”. I gave it this name because this is how it felt to swim during pregnancy once I started feeling the fetus in my womb, especially if she was active during my swimming sessions. If you are female and you are experiencing this stage of life or you reminisce about it, this poem will inspire you to do your best for your (future) child and to not skip your swimming, if you happen to practice this sport.

This next photo block for your desk features a concrete poem called “In the reign of parasites”. If you’ve viscerally known perfectionism or if you are constantly criticized by a nitpicky person, you are going to like keeping this poem on your desk to remind you to take it easy.

Decorating ideas 3&4: bring beachy vibes to your workplace with just one glass paperweight revealing an aesthetic design which inspires you.

If you are an artist secretly working on your creative masterpiece, this shape poem about ephemeral art is going to inspire you to not take everything so personally when things don’t go your way. Many creative people before you have toiled to create awesome art which would outlast them. Unfortunately, that art either doesn’t physically exist anymore or it is hidden or forgotten.

If you needed a reminder on the importance of being healthy or not getting sicker, the poem below is just what you need to read.

Desk decor ideas 5&6: if you don’t feel like working because your desk is a mess, gather all your small office supplies in a beautiful box reminding you of the seaside.

If you procrastinate and you can’t work because you doubt this is taking you anywhere, the poem below, besides being available as a desk organizer box to keep your desk free of clutter, is going to give you an efficient solution to find meaning and purpose in life. The main idea is to avoid the extremes: not outsourcing anything or outsourcing everything.

Sometimes what you need at your desk is a calm reminder of how everything flows. Nothing is created and nothing is destroyed. Things just change shape, just like water which you may notice as frost on your window to the outside world.

Decorating ideas 7&8: if you always have a mug by your desk, why not have a beautiful one to inspire you with a bit of poetry?

Sometimes what we are working on is not (properly) credited to us, but just like in the poem below about anonymous worker bees, the final result may be valuable. Or just sweet:)

Given the content of its lyrics, the poem mug below is a great option for a new mother who is overwhelmed with all the new unpaid and unsung roles she will take or for an older mother who forgot the many unpaid and unsung roles she became good at.

As a side note, all the concrete poems mentioned above were originally published in Volume I of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) photo book series, available as hardcover or paperback.

Which coastal desk decor idea did you like the most? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!



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5 seashell art prints for your walls

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Are you looking for some unique seashell art to delight you and remind you of the carefree days you spent by the seaside? Then you’re in the right place!

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I am a graphic designer specializing in marine Ikebana poems and I draw my inspiration from Japanese aesthetics and the Romanian coast of the Black Sea. Marine Ikebana poems are visual poems which resemble Japanese Ikebana floral arrangements, but instead of branches, I write and add lyrics as curved text and instead of flowers, leaves, fruits and vases, I include collage photos of seashells. These poems are created digitally, but they are available to be printed on many different media, wall art prints included.

For this blog post, I included links to 5 examples of seashell wall art which are available on Zazzle. This is a platform where you can customize the designs in any way you see fit, at no additional charge to you and even without being logged in. You can pick a different size, a different material on which the image is printed or transfer the design on a different product. For your convenience, I have added here 2 versions of each artwork: one with the original background color as published in book format and another one with a transparent background which you can change in Zazzle by selecting a different color. If you encounter any problem, leave me a comment here or contact me on Zazzle and I will help you.

Note: once you add any of these seashell art prints in your cart on Zazzle, you can also add a standard frame or a custom frame and mat.

Which one do you like the most? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!

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7 golden ratio examples in art and design

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As a seashell collector with a background in engineering and medicine, it was only natural to turn to the golden ratio when I decided to make something beautiful by starting to design visual poems. If you’re not familiar with the golden ratio, this blog post will tell you what it is, how to use the golden ratio in art and design and it will show you 7 examples of how I used the golden ratio in visual poetry.

What is the golden ratio and why is it important?

Imagine a line split in two parts: a and b. If (a+b)/a=a/b, then that ratio between a and b is called the golden ratio, the golden mean, the golden section or the divine proportion.

The golden ratio is important in art and design because proportioning one’s creation by making use of this irrational number (which is approximately 1.618) leads to aesthetically pleasing art and design.

how to use the golden ratio in art and design

How to use the golden ratio in art and design

There are probably ways to use the golden ratio in non-visual arts such as music, but here I’ll give a few ideas on how to use the golden ratio in visual art and design with examples below on how I used these in my own visual poems:

  • fit the image you create inside a golden rectangle. A golden rectangle is a rectangle whose width is a, whose length is a+b and if you divide a/b you get the golden ratio.
  • place the main part of your image in the left or right third of the image (leaving the other two free) by using a golden ratio grid as your guideline instead of using the rule of thirds, thereby dividing the grid in 1:0.618:1 instead of 1:1:1.
  • place the main part of your image in the origin of a golden spiral. A golden spiral is a spiral which gets wider by a factor of the golden ratio with every new quarter turn.
  • if your image has a shape other than a rectangle or if it contains different shapes which increase in size, you can use a different golden shape to balance the elements inside your image or to place the main part of your image. You can have circles, triangles, pentagons and many other shapes increasing in size by a factor of the golden ratio and following a linear path (sitting next to each other, e.g. squares) or the path of a golden spiral.

How I use the golden ratio when designing visual poems

1. Seashells

I start each visual poem by sketching an Ikebana flower arrangement, but instead of using cut flowers, I use English words and seashells, the latter being an example of the golden ratio in nature. While the growth path of each seashell made by a mollusk is different depending on its species and environment, I have inadvertently included many logarithmic spirals into these poems through this choice.

2. The golden spiral

While there are many ways to use the golden spiral when you create something beautiful, I use this golden spiral image 4 times as a separate layer in Inkscape, the main open source software I use when designing marine Ikebana poems from lyrics and photos of my seashells, mainly to find the perfect place for the title and/or logo/signature of each poem:

The golden spiral superimposed 4 times on the "Time" visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series
The golden spiral superimposed 4 times on the “Time” visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series

3. The golden ratio grid

I also use the golden ratio grid when deciding on where to place the seashell vase of each Ikebana arrangement as you see below:

The golden ratio grid superimposed on the "Time" visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series
The golden ratio grid superimposed on the “Time” visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series

Ready to see some examples of the golden ratio in art and design?

Scroll down to see 7 examples of everyday items on which marine Ikebana poems designed with the help of the golden ratio are available.

Which one do you like the most? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!

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2 functional decor ideas with golden ratio art printed in stone

2 functional decor ideas printed in stone, stone art, coaster ideas, kitchen decor ideas, kitchen decor inspiration, kitchen decorating ideas, minimalism aesthetic, Ikebana, sea shells, coastal style, wabi sabi interior

Do you like visual art, do you like the durability of stone as a material, but you also expect some functionality before you buy something for yourself or as a gift? Then you are going to like the following functional decor ideas with golden ratio art printed in stone!

2 functional decor ideas with golden ratio art printed in stone coasters and stone trivets marine Ikebana poetry minimalist designer
Pin for later if you don’t have time to read it now!

As a minimalist myself, I understand both your love of open space as well your prolonged pondering whenever you need to bring a new object in your home or office or both. While there are minimalists who prefer single use tools because those do their work best, in some cases, decorative objects can also have some kind of simple function, like the examples below, where stone is used to hold art when used as decor and the same stone is used to protect furniture from spills, stains, burns, condensation or from being scratched.

It’s a simple solution to enjoy visual art without turning your house into a mountain of clutter, especially if you move often or travel often.

Hassle-free art or how to display art without hanging it

If you’ve read other blog posts of mine, you know that I love visual arts as much as I love open space and there were times in my life when I thought I had to choose between the two. In the meantime, I realized that as long as I keep the walls white and move the art to functional, preferably small, objects, I can have my cake and eat it too.

While there are paintings done on stone and images printed in stone, it is a lot easier to enjoy beautiful art on a durable material such as stone if that plaque is displayed on a table, a desk, a shelf and NOT on a wall.

Here are 3 ways to enjoy art available on stone without bothering with wall art:

  • use the stone as it is, e.g. use it for its aesthetic function as desk decor – especially if the stone has an irregular shape and it is small, e.g. a painted rock or pebble. If the stone is shaped like a tile or a plaque, you can reuse it as a stone placemat to protect furniture from the heat of the food and/or for easier cleaning if whatever you’re eating produces crumbs.
  • buy or make a display stand if you need the stone tile in a more vertical position in order to admire it
  • attach non-skid or non-slip pads if you need the stone tile in an horizontal position, e.g. stone platters or slate tiles for serving food

Functional decor idea 1: stone coasters

Coasters for drinks are useful and maybe a bit frivolous since you could always use a napkin underneath your glass or cup. If you are wondering what are coasters used for, they are used to avoid the furniture from being scratched, to absorb condensation if the drink is too cold, to avoid steam being trapped between the hot drink and the furniture and of course, to avoid spills.

The images from the collection below contain visual poems designed by me and published on the Zazzle platform as stone coasters. Given the size of such a coaster, 4″ x 4″ (or approximately 10 x 10 cm), it is possible for the actual lyrics to not be easily readable without a glass magnifier, but each design can still be enjoyed as a floral Ikebana composition. The lyrics only add to the experience.

If you want to improve the design, on Zazzle you can play around, change the background color, add or delete photos and custom text until everything is according to what you like and need.

You can also choose between 4 types of stone to print your coaster:

  • marble
  • limestone
  • travertine
  • sandstone

Functional decor idea 2: stone trivets

If you’re wondering what is a trivet, stone trivets for hot dishes are plates used to avoid the furniture underneath them being stained or burned.

The images from the collection below contain visual poems designed by me and published on the Zazzle platform as stone trivets. Given the size of such a trivet, 6” x 6” (or approximately 15 x 15 cm), you are more likely to be able to read the actual lyrics, but even if you can’t, each design can still be enjoyed as a floral Ikebana composition. The lyrics only add to the experience.

If you want to improve the design, on Zazzle you can play around, change the background color, add or delete photos and custom text until everything is according to what you like and need.

You can also choose between 2 types of stone to print your trivet:

  • marble
  • travertine

While originally my visual poems were published against a black, cappuccino beige or chocolate brown background, most stone coasters and stone trivets from the collections above have their white or cream natural stone background because I think the poems look better like this on stone. I also changed the font to pure black for easier reading, if one is interested in that.

Don’t forget you may need a display stand if you want to use a stone coaster or stone trivet as a unique piece of home decor for your desk, table or shelf!

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When less is not always more

When less is not always more. Because no two minimalists are alike. Minimalism blog

Are you a minimalist trying to own fewer than 100 things and feel like something is missing? Then this post is for you.

When less is not always more minimalist art design on everyday items visual poems marine Ikebana poetry

I don’t remember when and how I first heard of minimalism, but the philosophy instantly resonated with me, mainly because as a polymath, I can easily get overwhelmed and distracted by new fields of knowledge and new things to create and make. Minimalism is the perfect tool I found to periodically declutter my stuff (and my mind!) and keep the essentials only, even as those essentials change.

Minimalism is about getting down to basics. Your basics. Whatever you deem essential to do, achieve and experience.

And in the beginning I think I minimized too much. I was on the go all the time, I was renting my place and owning 100 things at most seemed like a brilliant idea. Minimizing the quantity of objects I had was a tangible way to have more space (and headspace) for myself. It was only when I started minimizing my schedule as well that I realized less is not always more.

No two minimalists are alike.

Fast forward to 2022, I don’t rent anymore, but I’m still on the go and still do my best to fit everything I own into one backpack, even if I’m not always successful. What changed though is that I started to embrace that I need beauty in my life and experiences such as going to museums or art galleries just won’t cut it for me. I need to see beautiful art where I live and work and sleep. I also need empty space, I am still reluctant in housing paintings or sculpture and of course I still need useful things, but I’m more intentional with my purchases in terms of the aesthetic aspect as well. No two minimalists are alike and isn’t minimalism about being intentional with what you buy and don’t buy?

What I like about minimalism is both the destination (less stress, more visually appealing surroundings) and the journey (the periodic challenge to reflect on what is essential to me and cut back the rest). Minimalism has also proven to be the best instrument I found to minimize maintenance work like cleaning in order to make time for creative work like the visual poems you see on my website. It also influenced a great deal of what I create as marine Ikebana poetry.

Less is not always more

Many proponents of minimalism advise spending money on experiences instead of things in order to avoid bringing more stuff (and possibly clutter) to your home. Unfortunately, I reached a point where I minimized too much and I missed objects to be enjoyed for their beauty as well. My mistake was that I downplayed the importance of aesthetics in my surroundings and in how I spend my time, thinking that functionality is the only thing that matters.

Before I started this blog and made my first steps in minimalist art, I lived my life focusing on useful things only, at least as soon as I graduated from high school. I read non-fiction only (and I still do except for poetry). I graduated aerospace engineering, I worked a few months as an engineer and I quit a great job because I was so bored. I graduated medical school. I then worked as a research assistant in a functional neurosurgery clinic in Germany and quit that too as I realized I don’t love neurosurgery as much as I thought I would do. I got back to Romania, rekindled my interest for gerontology or the science of aging, did a residency in geriatrics and gerontology, talked with many patients at the end of their life, thinking I finally found my niche in doing medical research for life extension, but things didn’t work out too well and I wanted more control over my time anyway. That was the last job I had.

Since then and thanks to being a minimalist since a couple of years, I started to schedule more and more time for creativity only. I take a very long beach walk (usually of 5 hours) at least once a month to meditate and come up with ideas without being distracted by offensive odors or ugly surroundings. When I’m not designing visual poems for everyday items, I still keep up with medicine somehow by freelancing as a medical translator and I don’t rule out getting back to medical research if I could do that on a per project basis. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a (non-full-time) solution to this yet and I put it on the back burner.

And although as soon as I graduated high school, I dedicated my youth to studying useful things, my first career was in the arts (switching between ballet, painting and then music in primary and secondary art school) and I studied humanities in high school. Maybe sooner or later, I would have gotten back to my first love anyway, which is art, but it took me a long time progressing at a snail’s pace to create my type of art: marine Ikebana poetry.

After getting used to owning so few things as a minimalist AND living with non-minimalists, designing minimalist art aka golden ratio based visual poems on everyday items became my creative outlet. Although I like black and white which most people associate with minimalism, I included two more colors for a harmonious color palette: brown earthy tones and blue sea tones.

The hassle of ownership

The walls of my tiny home are still white just like they were when I used to rent and I thought a black print would make a good contrast.

So I bought a black print with the poem seen below (printed locally, not on Zazzle) and I hung it with special stickers for paintings. It worked, it looked good, but I was too worried it may fall off the wall over my toddler and I took it down in less than one day.

I never had wall art in this place and my husband couldn’t be bothered to fix it better (the frame seemed a bit too heavy to use 1-2 nails in the wall only and I was too tired to try to remove the canvas from the frame and display only the print), so I decided I’ll keep the walls white and get back to the basics: enjoy minimalist art, but on smaller objects which can be moved around and are useful or inspirational. Like this portable desk decor item below:

Or this white mug with a poem on it always sitting on my desk:

Or a decorative box to store all the smaller and necessary desk items which used to be spread around creating visual clutter. Not anymore.

If you’ve also been decluttering for a long time, you may have reached a similar point where you needed something back in your life. What was that? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!