Monday, January 30, 2017

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.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

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.

Friday, January 20, 2017

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)

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

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
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.

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