Tuesday, August 12, 2014

about longing and making

i love this photo of jennifer concentrating deeply 
as she begins to spin lokta thread, kami-ito.
her hands know so much
and weren't happy with the drop spindle
but she felt comfortable with the bobbin winder.
that's how it is 
i think,
as you make techniques and practices foreign to you
as you make them your own.
you juggle them and try to find the connection
and you know deeply when something 
resonates or fascinates or reminds 
creates longing and love in your heart.
over at terri windling's blog today
she wrote about mr finch's work and cs lewis.
and about longing.
while my work is not so much words, but images
and books, and textile,
i share that feeling. 
i want people to look and see and feel somehow
a longing.
it's that sort of day here today, 
rainy and contemplative,
my laundry got half dry before i took it down,
as the first drops began,
and hung it inside as i do in winter.
monica langwe shared this image today.
and i realize these books,
all of which i want to hold and read
longing, again, 
would likely be in a language unfathomable to me
and likely be
about something uninteresting as well.
there would be no lucy or peter or edmond or susan.
or narnia.
but there could be teaching in these bindings, 
the books themselves now taking on personality.
as below, the lamppost and the ladder are doing.
i have put my trust
in the natural world,
in the decay of summer leaves
and they are just beginning to turn
a touch of gold in the sugar maples
always the old, hurt trees show first.
and here,
in the studio
that today is my dining room
i am thinking of how to build a big 
BOOK.
how can one make sense of the longing
that fiber holds for some of us?
how image works in-- 
or of making paper, 
here of poplar seed fiber 
or of weaving paper into shifu
as yuko is doing here 
poplar seed pulp.
a gift, an experiment, a paper, a fiber.
a ramble today, my thoughts are moseying along.

16 comments:

  1. Magnificent wandering...evocative imagrey--what could be better on a rainy day!

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  2. michelle, thanks. i feel foggy, but very happy. book making.

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  3. beautiful pictures, as always. thank you for the link to Terri's blog and C.S.Lewis' thoughtful words. It is enlightening to read what inspires other makers/creators.I have come to view my involvement with fibre as a curse at times. It is a passion that has taken over my life, an obsession that won't let me go. must be the moon - this introspection!

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  4. jean, cursed we be! i don't know if i pulled together my thoughts in any coherent way, but i was so deep into the thoughts and feeling place today, and it may, indeed be the glorious moon.

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  5. This post was one of the most beautiful you have ever written.

    xx

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  6. judy, wow. thank you for those words.

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  7. I agree with Judy that this is one of your most beautiful posts.

    (save for that opening photo, that is. So odd to see myself on another's blog)

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  8. what a post.
    textiles is my passion and what gives meaning to my life above everything else. i feel it as a blessing to be able to engage in it even when there's a funky day.

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  9. yup...i echo the last 3 posts, velmadear...& this entry of yours was the inspiration i needed this morning. .....playing "hooky" from some work deadlines for a 1/2 day to play with paper. ...like coming home.
    thank you.
    p.s:(late comment from last post) did that bat hurt you ??!!??

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  10. Beautiful post, beautiful images, thank you

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  11. jennifer, i really loved your level of commitment to learning...and enjoyed meeting another introvert
    neki, YES!!!
    therese, yes, happy 1/2 day off! or, rather, on. no, the bat guy wanted me to report it, so i did. i didn't get bitten.
    debbie, i'm so glad you let me know you liked it

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  12. V- just so lovely to see two of our community together sharing skills and art - almost makes me want to take up paper fibres exec etc. Go well. B

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  13. Velma - I think you captured something special here. You describe that sense of longing so well - that need,desire, urge to connect or to re-ignite connection with materials that call you. I loved it. I also loved the photo of Jennifer concentrating so hard and am so happy the quartet of us have met each other now! Go well.

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  14. barry, getting to know jennifer was a lovely surprise. and i'm sure you have the same fascination with metals and woods, it's all materia. i love love love wood in particular.
    fiona, thank you for this. i tried to be clear about something that seems so elemental to me.

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  15. m, lovely to hear from you. best to you.

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