sleet in the weather report

and winter approaches.

i hauled in milkweed

and chopped each stick into three or four pieces so they'd fit into my big pot

 for steaming. then began the interminable stripping

 and scraping

 the next morning a few tiny bits appeared in the sunshine.

there was a lot of pulp in my big pot.

and the leftover stalks which are slick and clean and so lovely.

i've now hand beaten all that pulp 

over 3 or 4 days, 3 or 4 hours daily 

Yes the hands were sore)

 and will make glorious paper soon.

upon coming home the other day i found

evidence.

a narsty squirrel invaded my black walnut stash

ripped my screen door when pushing through a too small tear.

blacl walnuts were lined up in a row across my driveway 

and up the steps, where s/he stopped for snacks.

under the other big dyepot, 

a surprise

goldenrod

in the morning yard today

the light breaks through clouds

the old maples are shedding their varicolored leaves

pileated woodpecker, 

cock of the woods, 

called and flew over

and continued calling while scouting for a good place to feed

in the back meadow

where last week i harvested that huge bagfull of milkweed

light dances.

serial photography/cereal photography

wrapping paper, hangi, from aimee became one long strip

soy beans added to help keep paper from sticking to itself

after the spinning and most beans were removed...

and the spun thread

kami-ito ready for north country shifu

a night prowler

yes, it's a bobcat.

m's seen this one or its relative, up close, too close, and personal.

buckthorn berries

harvest from my yard

retired the potato masher to the dye kitchen

the froth settled

the cook begins

draining through a paint strainer

borrowed from the paper mill

the liquor

why cereal photography?

the top bowl is from east fork pottery and is their cereal bowl.

the bottom bowl is a pyrex (vintage same as the potato masher) mixing bowl

the cereal bowl my once teenage nephew used to use.

black walnut work

the new reality of blogger is that i can no longer make comments 

to you wonderful readers

so conversation is curtailed.

i will move the blog back to square space, where my website lives

because i hate all this confusion.

if feels like that strange phone call i got from the admin.

or the email that also came.

i call it lousy.

~~~

for all of you who read and comment and/or try to comment

bear with me as i try to make the switch again,

and leave the clunky blogger.

it may take a bit.

~~~

anyway,

here's a little tale of a warm, medium brown.

i had the gift from a black walnut tree from my neighbor Val.

this was a sweet thing because i really want to make stuff this fall.
as antidote to craziness.

 this big stock pot completely full

was filled with water (which barely covered it).

 i've seldom picked black walnuts,
i wait till they fall (usually the trees are huge).
this time they were all very, very green.

the citrus scent was fresh, lovely!

another neighbor and sometimes student of mine Regan 

and her granddaughter helped pick.

 it went fast

the tree was so generous and abundant with nuts.

 covered with my hard well water, set covererd on the stove, at full high heat.

(it takes a while to get up to heat)

but here's the pot after the first un-lidding and tiny stir
9not much room to stir)

 the scent intensified, 
a hot citrus dance.

 you can see the change.
 after stirring the pot-they start to darken.

i never saw this before

 duotone walnuts

 after an all day cook,

who knows how many hours-maybe 9?

 they were all dark and dye liquor was developing from the water.

 punctured hulls are beginning to fall away from the inner nut.

i stirred and chopped away a bit with the big spoon.

and then it cooled slowly,
 disintegrated more overnight.

 this morning I started the stove again and it's simmering away now

and smells of earthy, off-chocolate.

 much more "in pieces" than before.

on the way to becoming a colorant: 
ink and or dye.

something positive.
i also made 5 big boco prints. 
antidote to despair.

golding

autumn is late and the golding of trees seems pale and unhappy.

virginia creeper and a few red maples have flamed up,

but it's a weird late fall

mirroring the weirdness in this country.
hard frost forecast for tonight.

so i continue making art

in my corner of the adirondack foothills

an act of hope.

these goofy buckets? 

prizes from horse shows in the 90's

 my students continue to amaze me.

the papermaking, and this week volvelles

and this one who took barry's peace piece

and wears it with deep pride.

Quin explained how he and another student enlarged the holes

just enough to lace through a thick leather cord.

another student, eli, 

is making custom moulds after lee mcdonald.

~~~

on the kitchen counter of alchemical delights

turmeric ink, and black eyed susan leaf dye

and in the shadows an ancient one

judy serebrin's polar bear

guards the table that's not just for meals

and lovely ink from tim mclaughlin and shanna's rocks

a wee stack of indigo flax papers 

a skein of petal-dyed yarn.

to the right of these objects is a west window

that looks out on my back yard that decreases in size

 as the woods reaches in around the perimeter

 young deer learn that this place is a safe one

and they get used to me speaking
a little bit. 

i have always loved the ancient south american textiles

perhaps they mirror a politic as vicious as ours is now.

where our deepest language reveals our acceptance of 

injustice and misogyny.

when i look at these pieces

i don't try to understand much about their place in space and time, 

that's the work of the good scholars, not me,

i look at the color, the design, the weave/craft of the making

imagining what the whole cloth might have been like and how precious it must have been,

the many hours in the making,

their power and art.

these thoughts sustain me.

when i can turn my mind from the worldly worries.

~~~

and,

from the very great hedi kyle to all of us who fold paper into books and things:
it's out!

elissa showcased projects from this book and i have been a little envious of her.
also, i admire her like heck as she's blogged about the book 
while caring for her wee daughter.

i had a weekend workshop with the amazing hedi at syracuse university 
several years ago. 

she was a clear and kind teacher, 
generous with her huge understanding of the book arts.

if you're not familiar with hedi,

know that she is one of the greats 

who has taken the arts of the book to new places with her curiosity and work.

i had taken a stack of my papers for the weekend,

and hedi honored me by buying a bunch. 
~~~
modern weavers making a scaffolded warp...
keeps me thinking.