Saturday, September 27, 2014

negbw mini conference and home

this image has become my recent favorite
from maine, in acadia
these are the bits i made 
working with nancy leavitt at cclc
(near lubec.)
who came by each of us at work
and wrote out our names
just my name
i have lousy lettering skills
but nancy spoke about the COLOR
and i began to treat it
more like line and shape.
and there were delicious experiments on watercolor
and gouache 
with quill
and pen and brush

nancy prepped a portfolio for each of us
filled with sample papers to try
my favorite was one of katie macgregor's
who was my afternoon teacher.
i could kick myself for not taking, 
not
one photo
at her studio.
but this is the tiny keepsake
she gave us all
and of course the two sheets i pulled
will be along presently.
this is my table currently
with two printouts of the first photo
one on my daylily paper, one on glossy stock
plus there are several sheets of katie's paper
that i brought away to experiment with.
sometime ago i fell madly in love
with these small depictions
of first nations people's
work and living spaces.
the mapping of how we choose to live
interests me,
and the maps themselves
dance with play.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

monarch(s)

 after work i fetched the mail, 
and saw a monarch feeding on the phlox.
i went for my camera,
came out and was delighted to see two as i tried to catch
the magic without disturbing it
so i was behind the camera so much
when i looked i saw not two, but three!
there really are three in this shot.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

signs and wonders

melissa put me on to this
review written by ann starr 
about 
revive and renew, 
the morgan show i was part of,
all of us working in/with eastern paper.
thank you ann!
i'm proud to have my
work included
in a stellar group of paper artists.
yesterday i had to go
unexpectedly to the dentist mid-morning
(another broken tooth)
so i took a back way and 
encountered five deer, two does, three fawns,
on the road. 
they were fine until they became nervous and they all panicked.
like wildfire fear flashed, 
and
one ran directly off the asphalt and into a marsh--
a wild leap and a huge splash!
i've never seen such a thing!
the deer right here
is very used to people
 but did get nervous.
it's the edge of autumn and they are twitchy.
 so are the clouds
and the sky
and there was hard frost before work
 i couldn't catch it,
but it was glowing and steaming in places
 and there was evidence in at home in my library
of mouse wantonness. 
right in the middle of the floor! 
there was knocked down a little gift from carol
which
scattered bits of red clover about!
 very strange, indeed.
and then i found another wonder--
 a black eyed susan that had three eyes, 
and two sets of petals, 
and one stem!
signs and wonders
are here.
everywhere.
time to make some art! quick,
before the magic fails!

Monday, September 8, 2014

september days shortening

 over at thee new place
arbor vitae shingles 
 the first books in my studio
 friends
 late fall greens: 
kale, lettuce, broccoli rape, spinach
 back home, 
the neighbor's harvest
 near their stripey roof
 asters and goldenrod
autumn neighbors
a light show nearby.
day three of students, check.
it's a busy and rich
group of students... very different
but good.
this coming weekend: a book arts event 
in maine, near new brunswick.
yay!
~~~
i forgot to mention monarchs--
it used to be that
you could see loose clouds of them
along my hedgerow
as they prepped for whatever migration they were on.
but lately there are few.
today i saw maybe ten which made my heart soar.
and when i saw two sky dancing 
in proximity, and,
well, i just had to dance a little myself.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

blueberries and red cabbage

blueberries and red cabbage
 this is indeed something i don't usually do
reuse dye liquor or
throw in (aged and inedible) blueberries
or food
for that matter
but there was an excess, a lovely excess of purplyness
along with some red cabbage.
 it was my pot, 
my maine class.
and incredible energy.
~~~
i went back to school tuesday
my class doubled in size, 
and those newbies need totally different programming.
three grade levels.
we have a new room
with loads of space
and it's on the first floor!
(my knees thank the powers that be).
but oh, my, huge changes in two years...
thank goodness for the best assistant in the universe.
we are planning a bit of cooking and making
along with academics.
~~~
 there are a couple more of this edition
 of poplar covers
coptic bound contact printed books
still unbound, 
but waiting!
my edition binding friends tell me that it's
challenging to finish.
geesh! they're right!

Monday, September 1, 2014

labor day

labor day,
the port in a storm
called schooling.
today i got some things ready for school
and 
found a few things to make me happy.
 elder almost ready
(and some joe pye weed) 
at the new place.
which reminded me to look at the wild grapes.
they are looking good, too.
 a friend visited this morning.
it was very large, over three inches, 
dark green and fiercely white 
and i couldn't 
identify it.
i scared someone with it
before i returned it to the garden,
he he he, 
do you know this caterpillar?
families are spectacular.
this is someone who is hiding out
in viking mode.
have you seen this person?

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