scent

vat of abaca and dogbane, reflection includes little sheets drying, a mould and deckle, and a maple.

the house smells of soda ash cook. yesterday i cooked up a huge stock pot of hosta leaves. today i'm using a bit of that liquid as dye liquor for some ecoprints, i bound up cotton and silk with leaves from maple, lilac, wogelia (sp?), i think that's what it's called, a shrub that this year bloomed beautifully. i have made five of the big rock book's pages, and have to cut a new deckle because the other one failed after five (good) sheets.

foam deckle on borrowed european mould from mark mcmurray on my ancient paintsmeared rolly table.

you can probably see where the deckle failed, on the top and right side. the new one (i'm too tired to cut it tonight) has a bit more heft and i will reinforce it. re cutting: do NOT use an exacto knife, new blade, if you are tired. you will make an error. you also will if you're too cocky. you must be very "present" to not get hurt. i know this. so i will wash my hair and retire (early) with a wonderful book, the inner studio by andrew levitt, that i am savoring, section by section. i can only imagine what art school might have been like with such an inspiring and thinking teacher. (andrew is wendy's husband.)

thinking about the rockness of these books in contrast with the seemingly delicateness of ecoprints and shifu and miniature books. doesn't it seem strange that i'm making miniature woven books of poems covered in delicate sheep vellum and then big books with rough paper and split rock covers?