Saturday, October 29, 2016

autumn stuff

see the geese?
and here i'm wearing hannah's beautiful sweater
(knitted twice)
she says i have to smile more
hannah visited for a few days,
after a marathon and a job interview
and a long drive
first to montpelier
then to the north country.
 she's addicted to yarn,
wool mostly.
she remembers fondly my little flock
of mostly brown sheep.
 after hannah went home
i used slu's paper mill
(zone 4 paper)
where i beat thistledown fiber first
and then linen canvas.
the linen clogged the beater
and while fixing melissa found this,
 large helping of old, 
oniionized pulp.
 yuck, 
thick and light
a map of sorts of who'd been there.
 i brought home thistledown sheets
and put them into a jerry-rigged drying stack
 on the counter the thistledown 
(and that's all there is, no formation aid)
and here it is,
layered on fall prints
 and i finished off yesterday what i began 
on wednesday
 this edition of paper is exactly like it was when i made it 
without a beater, using only a blender.
a two sided sheet,
 extremely textured.
a decorative sheet, but pretty satisfying to use
north country fiber.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

night and day

 i do a lot of work in my kitchen 
and dining room at my old farmhouse
like they are my studio,
which, i suppose, they are.
 i finally pulled the summer book together
after conferring with a good friend about where to go with it
 wrote in all of the poems and words
 quotes and added in feathers
sewed in some things...
some of the fold-outs are quite long
 with surprise prints
 i stayed up very late one night
and wrote a LOT in cursive no less
 these pages are quite large, 
13 by 17, perhaps?
 and there was a lovely walk yesterday
late afternoon sun
at the new place:
 coltsfoot

 sugar maple
 shimmering staghorn sumac
cattail cat tails



tricks played by ferns and trees

 the new road being built
 the old wall

 wild clematis seeds
 goldenrod still coming!
  coming home the back way
soil for the garden waits.


Friday, October 14, 2016

good folks

i love my friends
they have hearts
and give good advice.
today i had occasion to speak with
mark and sam and val.
may i say right here that all of them
like me
chose the north country
over other livings.
other friends i keep in touch with
mostly through this magic,
the infrequent call,
you all know who you are, but back to this morning.
i went to visit mark's press
saw his doings and got terrific advice.
i took a pile of book models i'd made while teaching to sam
and one made by a student using something sam made,
but my kid was too embarrassed to take it out of the room.
(boys don't sew or make journals.)
and val who minds the children's library
and has such a big heart.
~~~
here are some shots of an almost complete
summer journal
it's a thin, big book
contact and daylily prints and shifu
four papers and cloths
shifu
mapping north russell,
north country,
north america.
 big fold-outs
 'experimental' printmaking and stitching
 and cloth 
mapping songbirds and daylilies.
autumn is next.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

day lilies and song birds

this is well underway now,
filled with one signature of eight pages
pages that have fold-outs and add-ons and prints and stitches and words...
i'm not done, but the structure is there 
and the lilies and birds are, too.
it's a record of this summer of deep peace
of joy in change.
and a wee bit of fear, as in respect, too.
mostly, though, it's a journal of content.
 the changes here
are brilliant
 and at the new place called home
 view from the little big room.
the pond is a stream now,
almost all dried up.
 in yesterday's mail, 
a
sweet tiny dress card from aimee
yesterday i went out
in the rain, 
in boots and hat
gathering printing plants.
i came in and made three large pieces
all finished up and in the press.
just in case of ticks
i showered and shampooed and did the thorough check.
remember the hat?
well, my hair is sometimes more out of control than i know...
and this was what remained:
a coil of long curls
a leaf and
a worm.
geesh!

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