wisdom

 twined milkweed bast

"The land knows you, even when you are lost."

-Robin Wall Kimmerer

harsh and kind

seems like lately i've been called

to be both

harsh and kind.

kinda weird but pretty normal for me.

i spend my days at school with kids

who are trying to be like their peers

and aren't.

and i spend my other teaching hours

with adults who are so kind 

who appreciate what i bring to them.

and often let me know about it.

it's a lovely contrast, like the spring weather 

that swings from snow to warm sun in a few days

or hours really.

 one of my students from maine

lee thompson

wrote about the workshop
a good report.
she is a gem,
 the kind of person you know you like just by the way they walk
(and wave!) 
in fact all of my students were like that
fine and really attentive.

several have sent words or cards of thanks.

just yesterday i had a card from pru.

thank you all for being there, 

it was wild and busy and messy and wonderful,

and these photos 

(thank you rebecca) 

don't quite do justice to this big and beautiful room.

it is a bright and happy space

at the university of southern maine.

 the ferns are back, 

greenly vivid in the umbers of the woods

where little bits of other greens are appearing, 
coltsfoot and spring beauty and bloodroot

and flowers are falling from trees, 

prelude to leaves.

the book continues 

to keep me busy.

there's still much more press time, 

and then and then and then and then,

does it ever end?

outside there are perils,

 last weekend there were four ticks on me, 

one took a little nibble of my scalp

but was stopped before any damage was done.

i may cut my hair short so i can keep track of these beasts.

in other news

i am now co-administrator of susan byrd's shifu spot on facebook.

i am ruthless and stick to the paper textile rule.

must be my special ed training!

and

my wonderful daughter hannah 

has ramped up wake robin

 several notches 

and given me a few more pages. 

i'm working on learning it.

and

did i say the peepers and the woodcock and the robins amongst all the rest

are entertaining for free?

listen

~

walking another

this is my north country.

there is still some snow around.

you can see lake ontario on the left, 

and the st. lawrence river emptying out the all great lakes 

on the right is lake champlain

where the white is are the adirondacks

there's a ridge of sorts from below the st lawrence 

running sw to ne. those are my foothills.

 i walked gwen last night.

she doesn't behave like wendy did, 

she is enamored of birds 

as she should be.

i've gotten some treats in the mail lately

 this envelope was filled with goodies, 

but i particularly loved this graphic

enhanced by aimee

the sample of aimee's fused paper to fabric made me chuckle.

 and this packet from beautiful silks arrived.

 lest i get the big head

the macbook won't in any way allow me to upsideright this

but you can read my title there

sideways and roped in with marion-made strings.

(i can add that marion is wonderful, too.)

my very own 

favorite 

goofy 

thingie
with reflection

 until gwen and i returned home

as the sunset.

 last weekend i met in person

the wonderful and witty lee thompson

and forgot to provide a link.

also, i forgot to link todd and sharon pattison.

afternoon walk,

my first long walk since returning.

i found what remains

of a whitetail, this one who was tossed

into a stream

by the person who jacked it,

hacked off the haunch and tossed the carcass.

i will celebrate this deer person.

my first encounter with the ladies

who have overwintered rather well

 leaning some

 they remain until the farmers take them home 

  

maine seaweeds and blueberries 

some half dozen prints completed after my trip

using up the gifts my students brought

i was a little nervous about 18 students at once

worried i couldn't connect with them all

though i learned few names, 

i did thoroughly enjoy them all,

heard stories, 

saw their work.

and farren's gift

the tea bag book 

 makes me happy!

so.

the robins and woodcock are calling 

and all those many other birds

peepers are singing

frogs of every size

a wee tick crawled up my pantleg yesterday.

it is spring, and quite dry.

 but the hard winter is over.

i think i will have my snow tires removed

until november.

full blast

or as full as it gets for me...

 so before i left for portland and the big atlantic

 i tried several ways to make my envelope for the new book

even knowing it wouldn't be ready 

for the book arts bazaar

it felt right to keep that work going

 i pulled out some of my map fold samples

from learning with pam spitzmeuller

 and came up with something that might work

(the finished one won't be red)

 this book never got sewn

 before i left.

there were several of these not yet done things.

fortunately there were 

many things that did get done!

long winters are good for some things...

but leave i did 

on friday,

and made my way to portland,

to visit with hannah

before setting up for a whirlwind, huge workshop

full of absolutely delightful folks.

book arts people are awesome.

 portland has a 'bit' of that

maine wit about it...

i did also encounter two irate and downright annoying women

one in a vintage vw microbus with a license plate that proclaimed 

something like "strider" or "hiker" or "walker"

and bumper stickers that said things like 

"practice random acts of kindness"

and at the tool booth when the driver stopped and backed up 

almost into me

i beeped politely,

and got an irate holler, a fist raised and shaken.

anyway, it was just odd,

as was the table browser at the bazaar

who proceeded to tell me what i should do with my work. 

too much "you should"

~but~

 the bazaar was well attended and full of good work

lots of student work

and beautiful papers like katie macgregor's

 i obtained and was given or traded some loot!

 one of my 18 students, farrin, made me a gift

a tea book

a way to remember her,

and my wonderful students,

and full of tea. 

easily replaceable for traveling.

 todd and sharon brought me some leftovers

from their letterpress stash

for printing. 

 i found a dodo or two

 rebecca goodale, 

a professor at university of southern maine

(and book arts bazaar organizer)

makes wonderful work,

playful and connected to place.

much of it is about endangered species

(and the occasional extinct one...)

 she is an artist saying "WAKE UP"

quietly and with beauty in her bookworks.

 a lovely little book of photos

called finale

 a map fold book about 

slugs

 jill osgood's work also pleases me

 todd pattison and i did a little trade

 i have a nice tiny leather bound book

and he insisted that the paperbound one join it

 the paper is harvested from

the original papermaker-- 

a paper wasp nest

abandoned at the end of the season.

these two are precious and beautifully made.

when i was unloading the car

a huge surprise pulled up behind me in a pickup

carol blinn and perry smith.

so of course i finagled 

(with permission)

our tables so we could be neighbors.

it was such a gift to see them.

i met so many folks, 

including the amazing lee thompson

(who came for my class)

and saw many many friends.........

i can't remember all that i was going to write about, but i do know this:

all of this would have been

nigh onto impossible

without my amazing daughter

hannah's help.

portland, rebecca, book arts folks, hannah, my amazing students all

a HUGE thank you.

what a great weekend!

marks in landscape

 hidden texts 

 colors emerging

 two geese 

 searching

 and marks morph and change

 a maker's mark on 

an enamel pan

 a maker's mark

on the fenceline

 copper marks.

 and then there was 

new snow

and temperatures falling 30 degrees

 iced grapevines marking place

barbed marks, 

in today's sunshine.

i made some soup.

it's good.