shifu and healing

the summer 2017 issue is out

 and i am so happy to be part of it.

paper as textile,

paper as practicing empathy.

seldom have i been so proud of my work

not because it's so grand but to be part of this issue

in the papermaking community

astonishes

and delights me, too.

 my article is about my observations of how shifu

facilitates healing

 and there's a sweet sample of humble lokta

paper and kami-ito.

which Mina and friends put together for the issue.

 there's work here that is new to me

 and my dear friend aimee's work as well

 a lace bark cap here

 and julie's work 

(which I have seen, yes, but have never met her)

 two samples in this issue

plus full color!

 when i finally climb down off cloud nine

 i will take some time

read this one in depth.

and enjoy.

 in other news here

i had a lovely mile or so walk last night

 and i felt terrific.

 i saw my first goldenrod in bloom

which means the summer really has turned

 and sunset creeps into the long days now.

change is coming.

still down under

i have some exciting news,

well, it seems exciting to me.

my almost neighbor genevieve nordmark and i

have been asked to participate in handpapermaking's

next portfolio, number 12, which pairs up olders and youngers

as collaborators to make art works for the portfolio.

this portfolio will be published 

to celebrate their 30th anniversary.

although genevieve and i are not quite 30 years apart in age

we are beginning to plan as soon as i return from oz.

Our intergenerational experiment seeks to consciously de-emphasize didactic mentor/student dynamics in favor of a creative melding of unique and vital perspectives in contemporary paper. We hope the finished paperworks will convey the spirit of youthful energy interacting on equal footing with the wisdom of experience. Each pair of artists will determine how to express these concepts visually through their work in paper.

i'm beginning to get a wee bit excited about this one!

(note: wisdom and experience)

~~~

while here i received the news that a few more copies of November, A Map 

have been sold

and my large 12 Moons shifu book has also found a home!

thank you alicia bailey and Abecedarian Gallery.

 in the town of the weird baby egg

some nifty buildings 

 and then a shifu two-day workshop

hosted by 

the papermakers of victoria

at an amazing old stables (a stud)

 these women all had great hand skills

and a lovely sense of community

and we made lots of beauty.

kami-ito stars!

 there were stories.
and terrific hand skills.
~

and below, this was part of the endless

beautiful attention to detail

now given over to artists and the community

instead of horses.

 there was some work by mark lander on the wall
and one of his critters and a valley beater
in the beater room.

 and everyone here thinks that flax 

is not my old friend of the blue or white tiny flowers and bast fibers long and strong

but new zealand flax!

 spinning kami-ito

some marvelous thinking was happening here.

 notes and first weaving

 some older experiments with paper and silk

which were great experiments

 a plethora of sampling and threads

 pattern paper and silk

 the warning:

 brushes

 deepening color

 something heavy and graceful to hang drying mitsumata on

 the effect of gravity

i continued on after this workshop 

to geelong, today to cape otway

to work with a friend.

 i had a great conversation with mary jane and wendy

at the school of lost arts.

 and in wendy's house

filled with books and textiles

 wendy showed me this amazing book.

after geelong 

and one more 2-day workshop

melbourne and then i turn east and north towards home.

where, i am told,

the robins and redwing blackbirds have returned.

i hope i make it

out onto the land

before the ticks wake up.

feeling all right!

i'm feeling all right!

and particularly grateful 

that this came today.

the summer HANDPAPERMAKING

with a review that i wrote 

about hiroko's amazing book Kigami and Kami-ito.

i was really happy

and honestly

a little scared, too,

when HP editor mina takahashi asked me to write this.

but i am so happy it's in print.

and proud to honor hiroko
who gave me a weekend of her precious time
teaching me paper spinning.

~~~

in today's mail came a wonderful,

colorful box

of overbeaten abaca scraps from 
helen heibert

who offered two boxes

to two artists who had creative solutions

for what could be done with them.

i'm tickled to try 
with these so much fun colors.
(i've always loved working from the scrap bin) 
and this will be especially fun with such spiffy scraps!

~~~

the last day for students was monday,

and already my wonderful t.a. lori

and i have been planning for next year.

in between, though,

we will have a nice summer break.

first thing, 

though,

is to finish my edition

NOVEMBER, A MAP

which i hope to write about here,

soon.