new eyes

neighbors

 large and small

a squirrel

 and a stray cat that liked my porch last fall

 and over this crazy political weekend

when it seemed anything could happen-then-

nearby in quebec city horrific news.

 we had new snow

which is such a releif.

today it's colder, feels again like winter again.

not like march.

my wheels from 1970 or so.

around the place

 sunday we walked in the woods at the place i call home 

marking trees

to harvest for timber and firewood 

and forest health.

 the forester was so helpful

we learned about canopy and sunlight

and winter tree i.d.
this man even helped us decide on which trees to keep
for seed, 
a concept i hadn't thought of.

 the solar panels have to be swept snow free

 this is the stream and ridge the panels face

 and the garden

right below

spinach and beets were harvested

and eaten!

 this week, before the last snow.

hard to believe.

january book arts doings

other news

small stuff:

to those of you who are so supportive

i've made a second special edition of the Little Shifu Book, 

because so many people have asked for it.

the cover is an original contact print on arches text wove

and inside there is a little shifu square

made with lokta kami-ito.

 it's available over on the new site via the button.

here's a photo taken mid-making.

also completed, 

 5 star books,

using up old prepped book parts...

one open to see the five pages

 and a long book from my stitchscape series,

number 3.
working on more, now, too.

all sewn with kami-ito on iowa or cave (flax) case paper 
or in this case 
st armand heavy weight.

 made with off-cuts from

the work of friends.
(most of them were recycled in my 
winter papermaking intensive)

 it's tall or long depending on your point of view.

 at the fold the earthskeins change inside to outside.

i do that sometimes. 

 and i threw in some leaves
and a quote from isaiah.
all are antidote to this 
horrible election.

 aimee taught me bookish corners

which i am practicing

and will continue to till they are in my toolbox

of a brain.

 here are some of the off cuts 
and one cave flax paper scrap that i printed.

 book parts and mind wanderings.

 here's a little double weave pocket with an indigo surprise.

shifu.
i'm thinking of making a home for it.

 here it comes

 and... ta DA!

 i'm just done with the editing of my article for handpapermaking magazine.

about shifu and healing

due out in the summer edition.

~~~

this thing looks to me like a mind map.
disconnected dots,
or connected thoughts.

the light factory

up behind the fenced in garden

here's home,

home on the ridge

where the deer and the mink sometimes play.

my old farmhouse was viewed by some amish shoppers yesterday.

it would be cool to have 

the old place go back to old ways.

we'll see.

outside the neighbor dogs are

all riled up. 

hard to tell the difference between them 

and their coyote cousins who are causing the ruckus.

paper

first, today's the day.

LOVE TRUMPS HATE

we made the huffington post!

~and~

this table 

full of fiber

transformed (with a lot of labor) into paper.

it's my winter paper intensive

top row: 

hosta (green) 

on cotton rag (my pants), 

linen rag (my sweetie's canvas leftovers), 

canada thistle down, 

milkweed from my meadow, 

and butterfly weed (from gin)

bottom row: 

hosta from home, 

white linen rag from a tablecloth, 

blue and gray recycled st. armond off cuts from caliban press, 

big stack of raw flax, 

wild, late-gathered milkweed from home.

hidden away is abaca 

recycled off cuts from home, st lawrence and caliban.

and

a little bit of dyeing.

feeling like i've accomplished something!

(with special thanks to Zone 4)

here and flax

a mild but windy stretch

of winter

has really assisted my barn 

in falling apart.

so weird to see the raw inside timbers outside.

the sky

when clear

has had odd clouds

and

sometimes just hanging out

little bits of rainbows.

trying to beat fiber with sticks

and the giant mallets at zone 4--

my hands hurt so much after using them

so 

i ordered these lovely

apple and maple ones

from hook paper pottery.

the last bit of my personal paper intensive

has been all about flax.

linen rag papers

below are off cuts from new painter's canvas

i pull lovely little samples

that are business card size.

driving one morning an owl watched as i 

stopped the car,

rummaged through all my stuff in a big basket

finally finding the camera,

and finally aiming, 

owl said, enough, and flew off.

(i think it was a barred owl)

always have your camera ready to grab when you're driving!

so here's the linum usitatissimum stash

(there are about 60 more large tan sheets in the drying stack at Z4) 

dark = linen canvas cloth

tan = cut flax fiber from belguim

white = one small tablecloth, minus decorative edges
(largest sheets are about 13 x 18)

flax and linen rag paper has a fierceness about it,

it's lovely to pull

makes a delicious scent in the vat

but dries tight and cockles easily

turning the edges into potato chips 

something to understand.

i like that it's not easy.

this little sheet below

is maybe my favorite paper from this winter

sits on nigel peake's drawn grid

holding pebbles from maine.