3 little things

1.

thank you all 

for your kind words

about NOVEMBER SONG

it was a year and more in the making

and has had 

the skilled hands of carol and mark (and me!) in the making

one copy is spoken for already.

spine detail

double gatefold, left opened, right closed.

~~~

2.

xxxxxxx

(for wendy)

~~~

and 

~~~

3.

three books +

the more i use these hands and this heart

to make sense of my walk on this earth,

well,

the more i learn

 these three books were made 

with dorothy, in human marks,

at longridge.

i've learned to honor something new

something bigger than me

to trust the way a teacher pushes me

~a leaf~

 knowing that work will sort itself out

into what i need to know

 so this little book

my own human marks

so like and unlike others'
somehow

 became this little experiment

which will now go to the loom's cotton warp.
i will weave a bit.

 this big book

the one in which i let myself work huge

and then threw water all over it

 frames that week for me

they are quite unlike my work,

in a sense

and very much my work

in another 

in the gutter

one finds little miracles 

some of the page spreads 

surprise me 

 i can see the starlings

though they were far from my thoughts

drawing

the cloth in these books

came from a thrift store: two blouses

i'll call this the caldwell binding.

simple and functional and appropriate for this 

sort of book.

i feel pulled into more work this summer

a few ideas in the stewpot,

a class (or three or four) to teach,

and a few friends

to visit

(look out!)

this morning it's very warm,

laundry's on the line.

something's in the works

puffs of hot wind gives it away. 

sometimes a thunderstorm claims this sort of day.

perhaps

my laundry will dry

first.

two books

wake robin

has produced a small edition

(two)

called

NOVEMBER SONG

 carol blinn of warwick press

provided typographic expertise

and, let's be honest,

the encouragement for me to have

mark tomlinson

build two boxes for these books.

 each book now lives

in a lovely soft, barely gold box

with carol's title page and colophon--

 and are now, 

here.

shown.

there are several gatefolds

so the book stands alone

as a map of my ecotone, new york's north country

plants, metals, fungi,

and mineral laden water.

(secrets and truths about here) 

 showing off the structure

and i show off the title on the box spine.

my

NOVEMBER SONG:

cave paper covers, 

presentation box by mark tomlinson,

typographic design by carol j blinn,

and

a plethora of ecoprinted arches velin (text wove) papers

 printed in the cold seasons before, 

bound in autumn of 2013,

and ready in june 2014.

part of the HORTUS SICCUS project

by me, 

velma bolyard.

two books.

transitions

 at longridge

everyone brought things to look at.

betsy brought two boro kimonos, simple, beautiful

 some of her marks 

become light windows

dancing 

 dorothy had kanthas for us

to see

my favorites were a wonderful

amalgam of old technique and modern story

this is a sampler

 and these are thread

and string

some mark place and time

others stitch books together

 in st albans i drove past white foam all over the curbs!

popples (as they say around here) just shedding 

their seeds

cottonwood relatives

 in just a few moments 

i gathered a bag.

cleaning up the community

while acquiring some quantity

of fiber to experiment with.

 a basket from

jamin uticone

at swamp road baskets

 holds one of my samplers from

human mark making

 can you see his heart?

i have a serious love of these

black ash baskets

beautifully made, 

meant for a lifetime

arbor vitae shingles

cut by local folks

is icing the cake

still more, but it's beginning to look

like a home.

after studying with 

a vibrant group of learners

under the thoughtful direction

of a master teacher

the stuff of home is rich.

one more half day of school.

then my summer work commences:

paper, fiber, book, textile

spirit.

 through the islands

 eagle? osprey?

i stayed in putney

where the local library

has words 

humans persist

 roxanne was a high energy

positive

inquisitive

and experimental 

table mate. she worked in hot pink

to push herself.

 dorothy considering our

"blind" stitching

 out my window

at the place i was staying

appaloosa sky

 considering kantha

 batik discharge

 kami-ito

spun by therese

brought for me to see

 her sweet spindle

 something holy

 something old

 something borrowed and blue

 betsy's marks are formed

of fire and light

 graphic delight

 workshop hands

made things with string

dorothy made string

to document place

 and i kept sky watching

while filling up my car, 

for example

 patterning under my feet.

 a simple 

little structure

suitable for kids and smaller sampling

sorts of books,

textile sensibility/

some of our small books

with that nifty easy binding

betsy's little book

on a spiraled pie basket

that held betsy's wool,

beautiful!

so, this kind of class makes you think and try things unlike

the same old same old

but the women students were grand in this group.

hearts of diamonds and rust,

caring

meeting and knowing one another,

in 5 days you can dig

a bit deeper, 

in your own work and support each other.

we all wanted to keep going.

we will,

just not at longridge farm

or with dorothy caldwell,

both of whom we will miss most dreadfully.

i am making marks with a certain 

kind 

of

difference, now.