double living

i drive from one home to another

quite often now.

there is so much to see 

and to love 

about this landscape

landskeins and rainstorms and fawns.

 a doe and fawn 

at first surprised that i was disturbing them

this morning in one big haymeadow.

 a short time ago i found a road-killed oriole,

 mourned the short beautiful life,

hoped there were no alone babies

in a hanging basket of a nest closeby.

i buried the body in my garden

after taking a few feathers

placing them in this strangely beautiful bowl.

 i continue making shifu squares

 and spinning kami-ito

 the tiny squares have filled up their basket

and then some.

 so this weaving continues until it's done

 needle has curved

for my hand's pleasure

hours and hours of plain weave. 

aimee sent me a duck

celebrating

retirement

just the other day i surprised

a duck family scurrying off the dirt road 

 in front of the new place.

there was no room

but they all disappeared quickly

make way for ducklings!
echoed the past.

~~~

i had to cancel my class at the morgan, but

here are two events to consider, 

this first is close to home

and 

highly recommended

downeast maine in august is stunning

and cobscook is one of those magical and earthy places

and, though i am teaching this time, i'd go again.

this group of bookish sorts is very cool:

New England Chapter Mini-Conference in Northern Maine 

August 26th - 28th. Delighted and inspired by the local plants and vegetation of Maine, we invite you to join in a weekend retreat at the Cobscook Community Learning Center that will include two 1-day workshops with Andrea Peterson and Velma Bolyard, evening lectures with Katie MacGregor and Nancy Leavitt, a mix and mingle event and material swap. 

Schedule of Events:
FRIDAY, August 26th:
7:00 - 8:30 Evening Reception - Dining Hall
8:45 - 9:30 Mix & Mingle plus Material Swap - Lodge

SATURDAY, August 27th:
Workshop Day One - Andrea Peterson or Velma Bolyard
9:00 - 12:00 Morning Session
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch - Dining Hall
1:30 - 4:30 Afternoon Session
7:00 - 8:30 Evening Dinner - Dining Hall
8:45 - 9:30 Vendor Room

SUNDAY, August 28th:
Workshop Day Two - Andrea Peterson or Velma Bolyard
9:00 - 12:00 Morning Session
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch - Dining Hall
1:30 - 4:30 Afternoon Session
7:00 - 8:30 Evening Dinner - Dining Hall

Registration is open to both members and non-members of the Guild of Book Workers and covers both workshops and all meals. We also invite you to bring your spouse and/or friend along to join in the evening festivities and enjoy the beauty of rural Maine. Dormitory-style lodging is available and conveniently located on the grounds. 

To register and find more information about the conference see descriptions below or please go to: https://gbw.formstack.com/forms/negbwconference

If you have any additional questions, feel free to email Erin Fletcher at negbwprograms@gmail.com. We hope to see you there! 

~~~

and 

in australia in march 2017

a 6 day master class

paper and books!

bliss

i can safely say there is some bliss happening

each day i wake to the sound of birdsong

and some nights i go to sleep to the sounds of...

er...

coyotes singing in the background as

a startled deer snorts

then

a gray fox

yodeling away with some firmness

i think she's a mama doing her best for her brood

and then

a very very angry raccoon

snarling and scritching for some time

probably has something to do with the gray fox and my empty barn.

once the convicts were found

the most local color took over.

and then there are the wildflowers...

a rich wet and cool spring has brought them on

brilliantly

in a way i can't remember!

and there is news:

Grampians Texture

the site is alive and kicking and the brochure is out,

the classes will fill up with some urgency

if i remember right from last time.

go over and take a look!

~~~

we work and work,

caliban press and me,

towards completion.

the map-fold book is done,

but some need a little stitching,

as per plan,

and the envelopes aren't complete yet

but it's almost done.

~~~

saturday i leave for my class 

at Women's Studio Workshop

am i excited?

you bet!

long absence (for me!)

i haven't left town, 

not yet,

but will in a week and a half

for oz.

first stop: beautiful silks

and a very exciting class

on making our own cartographic explorations

contained inside

artists' books!

three days of intense play

serious play*, in fact

i can hardly wait!

 i have reluctantly pulled myself away

from the printing on silk

 seen here

 and here

and morojifu

moons

 and winter sunrises keep calling

 to me-get all your ducks in order!

those ducks include 

a list long enough, 

too long, actually

here's an amish farmhouse i pass

ten times a week

on the way to work.

 and the ladies fly by

 but i had to stop

full stop

to photograph them in blizzard dress

one morning last week

on the way to school.
after melbourne, it's on to the grampians.
(should you wish to join me,
check out the events button.)

*serious play is a term coined by my dear friend
carol j blinn of warwick press.

guess where…

i will be in february, over winter break?

Austalia!

i will be teaching three classes.

the first will be at amazing and wonderful

BEAUTIFUL SILKS

in Melbourne.

we will be working on paper as/on/in textile

in BOOK format.

a codex will be made by every participant

'twill be a medieval style

with very contemporary implications.

your very personal marks

maybe not words, though, but you'll be making

the stationer's binding.

a medieval version of a three ring binder,

only with tackets and hideyholes.

my amazing friend

and proprietor of Beautiful Silks

Marion Gorr says there will be

a couple of surprises, too

a dyepot or more,

imagine: indigo, cochineal, ecoprints…

making paper sing.

making paper string.

making paper speak and listen.

 ~~~

and then after Melbourne,

i will be in a more faraway place called

Grampians Texture

where i will teach first a two, 

then a four day workshop!

shifu

enough time to delve lightly, 2 days,

or deeply, 4 days, into shifu making

shifu Shifu SHIFU!

we will spin and weave and color up our

paper/thread/books. the four days

will be enough time to go very deeply 

into a formal book presentation of your shifu.

you will reach a bit,

work hard,

and expect some amazing work.

 i am very excited

and i am hoping like mad

that the weather gods smile on this winter traveler!