marching orders

i love march and november

for the way the landscape opens and you can see

really see 
the bones of the land.

here it means hard walking,

 in november risky hiking,
(hunting season).

in march it can be mud season

or, like now, a foot or so of good snow.

i haven't been on skis this winter

mostly an arthritis in my foot issue.

but i do get out a bit and tromp in my mighty sorels.

today i collected arbor vitae (white cedar) and fern fruiting bodies

for the prints i folded, built, wrapped and cooked this afternoon.
i cut up some paper for kami-ito.

in the mail came a couple of things, this:

 japanese indigo in a soft mattress of fine flax

ready for spinning

from two looms textiles

and socks.

and then naomi velasquez sent this tonight

because i'm headed to idaho to teach shifu

at the end of the month.

i'd love to meet you there!

~~~

in other news:

i have seed for the spring: 

indigo and flax.

oh joy,

oh rapture.

~~~

tomorrow my what is an image class meets 

to make paper...

images.

gratitude and paper

thank you all for your kind wishes for hannah and tyler.

they are feeling a bit better, a bit less shell shocked.

which makes my heart beat more easily.

after the first evening walk in ages

 i gathered up some black eyed susan petals,

from my backporchpatch

 and set them to soak

(maybe for ink)

 in paper doings 

my student todd brought me this lovely gampi/cattail paper

(an apple for the teacher, he smiled)

it's delicious, 

much more subtle than the photo shows.

 todd's gampi supports two little flax with lokta stitch sheets i took along to maiwa

 here they are with some indigo dyed hand spun hemp 

 and then some walnut dunked earth pigmented sheets

on a walnut/flax/stitched sheet

there seems to be no end to the possibilities

of which i've just scratched the surface.

 and then this came

oh, my.

if you've ever thought of making your own ink

you should check out this book

 a touch of color on the corners entices you to open

 an illustration from the book: 

buckthorn ink

a green earth pigment dunked in black walnut

 and then an ochre, likewise dunked

 and the backside of this indigo dunked flax and lokta

 a wee bit of hemp basket in making

 one of my flax samplers 

(there are a few of these...

 nice back, don't you think?

contact printed acrhes text wove.

 my class worked with drew matott and johnny lafalse

while i was at maiwa

drew overexposed

 my students learning and pulp painting

 how to form a sheet, 

back left is johnny

 each bucket a different pulp, 

mostly from knitted cotton shirts

 and almost black and blue pulps, 

and a brand new sheet.

i came back and we all have to slow down now

and make really good sheets 

after repulping half of their first abaca sheets

they are really, really attentive.

(t)here and back again

 i received two men's robes

both cotton indigo that my friend found in japan

 i promptly washed them.

the lined one had accumulated years of dirt and dust which 

i washed once 

and rinsed at least a dozen times.

 both pieces dried on a very  hot day in a very 

short time.

are scented now with north country summer

not dust.

 the ikat patterning on the lined piece

 and the lining

 nearby

 the chimney brick with the lichen patterning sits in the sun

it has become the perch of some bird--lots of what we as kids used to call bird-do 

but still color that inspires me.

 i have been making some contact prints with the square flax sheets

and cloth, this is old cotton 

 here you can see a flax square

and the red daylily spent blossoms.

  the flax square still wet

 concrete steps are the perfect background, if narrow.

 and i made some more linen paper.

justaposition:

a.  plain raw flax paper                                           b. linen fabric, my sister's pants by Flax

c.  two sheets of the above with fabric inclusion    d. linen paper (made solely from above 

                                cloth 

 i decided to travel to maine

and then i undecided

 and took a happy walk yesterday evening

 overlooked by luna

 below that sky was the july harvest baled for the neighbor's cattle.

first time i ever remember it being cut almost on time.

evening shadows.

 two pair of little ruby throated hummingbirds played at the feeders 

this morning. 

 i'm wearing cotton socks on my feet today, 

celebrating happy respite from the humid heat.

over on fb i found a photo of two of my favorite australians

that i just had to share.

colleen and brian

collen of the astonishing hair, brian enwrapped in a hat and scarf,

probably needled by colleen.

and the title above? 

i was going to maine today.

but i decided not to. i love my maine family

i wanted to see them and 

see the ocean and

visit the arctic museum

but

i wanted to stay home, 

with the round bales and the hummingbirds

and the cresent moon

and the blessed cool weather, more.

i am off to make more prints and paper

and hang out my laundry and go to town

to resume mail delivery.

i'm home for a while.

below zero again

the view on that really cold saturday.

see the solar panels? they cranked away, 

so the woodstove's morning fire plus the solar gain from windows

kept the house warm all day and through the night.

snow is about a foot deep.

stuff on the work table

 more experimenting

portable mess-making.

it seems to be what i do even though i think i'm organized,

see my old stump?

and the empty nalgene bottle, 

hydrate, hydrate.

 trails in the snow? 

 stitching holey indigo flax before burnishing.

indigo smudge

i probably had a bit too much pigment in the pulp, 

though the water seemed clear,

or almost.

upon reflection, that almost is the problem.

 crazy icicle growth

they are really curly

 on the 

 woodshed.

weekend photos for you
and for dear wendy, who continues to move
back to good health.
hugs.