y first haiga. A haiga is, essentially, the pairing of a visual image with a haiku poem. The one does not necessarily illustrate or describe the other; they simply  work together to hold a moment, or feeling, more fully.

etterpress project. Watch this space!

t the beginning of 2021, I received a commission from New York poet, Gray Campbell.

The idea was to weave his words and my imagery together into one unified piece, so that, hopefully, 'the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts.'

I loved Gray's poem, and immediately set to work. I have never wood-cut lettering before, so the whole project was quite a challenge, especially as everything had to be cut backwards, and, in typical Witts fashion, I worked it all out as I went along.

Gray was happy with the final woodcut print. He submitted it for publication, and it got accepted by several US online literature & arts magazines. We finally chose to publish in Redivider, the online biannual Literary Journal of Emerson College, Boston.

   Death looked into my mind

   with her cormorant eyes - 

   delighting in every memory

   She said "Sharpen your knives, 

   sharpen your knives. How else

   will you bear hellish penury?"

             Gray Campbell

have re-discovered how much I enjoy working with lettering. I have a very real interest in collaborative work involving combined text and imagery, such as short-form poetry, and welcome any proposals!