Wednesday, April 12, 2017

good bye blogger

so, my dear friends, the time has come.
i've got a new website
over here:
 now you can see photos better,
and i can,
maybe, 
keep better track of things. 
this one here at blogger will stay up for a while
but her days,
like all of ours, are numbered.
so be advised,
the new square space

with all her wrinkles, foibles, and ornery opinions
is officially launched.
mistakes and all.
(i'm working on mistakes)
~velma~

Monday, April 3, 2017

melting

snow melt means high water
a little stream meandering 
 3 in a boat on the mantel 
not the stream
karen crawford's cylinder
old australian corrugated tin
wonderfully patina'd
one more thing i brought home from australia!
i almost forgot,
the amazing colleen jones
brought this interactive piece to my master class.
it was designed for using,
touching
experiencing
and constructing thoughts.
five of these horses
(and horses are always tropes for me)
as well as my favorite animal,
anyway,
five of these are with me now
nestled in their beautiful cloth.

Sunday, April 2, 2017

landing on my feet

back home in the foothills
after almost a month away
reentry is sweet.
this year it's more of an unfolding
gently easing me back into this glorious place.
this is where my feet know the land.
this is home.
 in australia i am always finding treasures to bring home
and stephen and theresa dairing have fibertreasure that move me.
(they also have wonderful edgy and utterly cool things, too!)
here is thin hemp thread, slubby handspun silk, and two bundles,
green and brown (both will brown out in time)
of "bark" thread. 
stephen said there was no translation. 
bark thread.
before leaving tim ely suggested i meet up with adele outterridge. 
and she did meander over to anne's home 
a week ago.
(anne newton, me and adele outteridge)
 and i'm prepping for this event
 and on my table there are some things to read and think about.
brambok booklet from the center where my class has been held for three years running.
my students
in the 6 day master class
gave me this amazing book,
so very generous and loving of them!
peek inside
 i'm saving reading this until after the book arts bazaar
that's coming up next sunday.
 they wrote me some lovely words.
in melbourne
i bought some pigments
but i also got a whole packet of pigments
from trace willans
not sure what will happen with them, yet.
think pulp and pigment.
barb adams helped me prepare for the papermaking class.
she gifted me with two books.
 this small piece was a memoir of our work days
 and inside the shifu bag 
  this shifu book
 grounded by a wonderful pebble
stitched to the back cover

in between the covers...
circles worlds
 it's a beautiful book.
and then i bought this little gem
at brambok.
 found this novel in a lovely shop
down near cape otway
traveling with wendy warren.
it's dense and rich and echoed
much of my experience as i finally feel the land here
a bit more.
i need to read to help frame
my experience and this book helped.
look!
 i also bought this
which is fascinating.
 bell did field work, a single mom with two kids in tow.
perhaps of necessity, but my thinking is that
it informed her experience (and those of her kids)
and enriched field work.
(i'm reminded of the things i did with my kids,
volunteering with the disabled riding program, 
bread and puppet, 
art and music events
but this! imagine 2 years of field work!)
 i had two too brief conversations with marion gorr
and i bought this lovely cloth
 silk and amazing stitched images
 i came home to a box from shanna leino
a wonderful little talisman
with political ramifications!
she's sending the proceeds to the aclu
 and one last little thing
helen, from the grampians texture staff
 made this. 
she had her stitched pieces on exhibit 
her first time going public! 
there's a book poster over at facebook
who writes in cyrillic or some other language that i have no knowledge of
but posts beautiful books.
this is the back of a book.
can you imagine?!

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