morgan shenanigans and...

 mason and aimee

and julie mclaughlin's kozo dress

big ass paper, indeed! 

no, it will be displayed differently, 

but even armless

and legless 

you get a sense of the grace and beauty of this piece.

tiny beads accent 

 charity fitting out ugly girl's hair
calculating how to best display this indigo dyed piece,

another of julie's garments 

with a stairstep woven and dyed indigo bodice

 leftover body parts

(what can i say?)

aimee and mason curated this show,

mason is hanging it and was in charge of this catalog.

the back cover below

shows my latest hortus siccus book.

 i feel a bit like i'm 

on the cover of the rolling stone!
and am in the community of fine paper artists.

 where i stay when i'm here--

 the other half is a wonderful big paper mill

way behind the zebra hide

and this

rather important and famous artists' book

by bill drendel lives here.

i was delighted to find it.

it's handmade paper heaven here in cleveland. 

a mouse story

when you teach at the morgan

they ask you to supply a sample

something for their table that exemplifies 

your work or what the workshop

will offer.

fair enough.

 so when i went into my library to get a stamp

to mail my bit to aimee 

at the morgan.

this is what accosted my eyes at 6:45 a.m.

 this is my stationary drawer

about 12 x 16

it had been 

apparently

 appropriated for a nest

 while i was away.

i open this drawer quite frequently, 

since stamps live here

as well as envelopes.

 i was puzzled by the bright threads

until i examined the rug in my kitchen

woven by the amazing susanne arens

and much used and loved by me.

and now nibbled by a mouse momma to be

 she also shredded only handmade paper bits

from my stash.

the favorite was from 

the yahoo papermakers

stationary swatch swap from long ago.

this was how the fringe looked after the last wash 

(i had cut it down over the years

from a generous six to three inches).

sigh.

farmhouse living is definitely

NOT for the faint of heart.

second day

we repeated day one, in more depth.

papermaking with flax and abaca

ecoprinting from ohio

with a little help from northern new york

large pots allow for better results on large paper

many delicate greens

indigo experiment to see if there would be

any transfer

there were no prints, nor overdyeing

the morgan alleyway is a good worksite

rinse buckets full of magical rainwater.

~~~

on to a two day shifu class

and then home.

there's a clunk in my right front tire that i need to have looked at.

sigh.

almost new car. new tires, low mileage. sigh.

but we had 14 engaged students who, i think,

learned heaps.

several came from far away, michigan, pennsylvania, ohio and MAINE!

aimee beats me, though, she had a student from

eastern europe. 

~~~

i have been staying in

a magic box of wonders.

tom, i found the frog.

it's now in the dining room

hanging out on a lady.

happy/healthy/teaching

 i washed and froze the bloodroot (finally).

 waiting so long meant i lost some to rot. stupid waste.

 health issues this week have once again surprised me. 

the good news is that the weird dizziness is caused by an inner ear thing...

... that physical therapy has assisted. not an ear infection. YAY. 

lots of driving today to get to p.t. and car dealer and a very long wait (for a little issue). 

good news was in the mail.

 she writes my story

 a hanji gift from aimee

 she's exploring some new book ideas

nifty closures

the inside, cords, dak, hanji

also

the morgan class is on (there's room for you if you'd like to come)

the papermaking class, and the talks in washington (state) are on

and i am looking forward to these SO MUCH!

mail call

i am so much a country woman; i love the mail. 

i love it especially when it contains not one, not two, but THREE good things! 

and yes, several recycle bin fillers, but there were three good things!!!

i opened a card from hannah advising: TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER. 

a valentine. 

but i smelled something great...maybe pine? 

is it the lichen covered twigs i found in my pocket yesterday? no, they are scentless. 

what is that?

there's this letter/contract...where i plan to teach this summer (yay). more about that later. 

i can still smell that wonderful smell.

a chinese new year wish from aimee, which i opened... and woohoo! the scent of...

eucalyptus!

from oakland. complete with letterpress MOON.

my head is reeling with the scent of these delicious leaves. 

aromatic is not the word.

wondrous is.

allergies

sometime around the end of july, early august they kick in, and i, like most northeasterners are allergic to mother earth. i manage. it's just how. it. is. when i was farming i had fewer allergies than i'd ever had before; haying was a joy, not a trial.

so i fight the scatteredness of a cloudy head each morning. i finished the shifu for the morgan,  three sheets of morgan kozo wove about 7 1/4 x 11 1/2. they were small sheets, and the web is very stiff. i'm thinking of printing on this with bloodroot.

i have allergies on my mind, because i had a scare with my fingertip cuts, one became very irritated after being exposed to god only knows what nastiness i had my hands in as i cleaned out dead and gone pulps and dyes, moldy nastiness and dust and insect bodies everywhere. a little tlc and all is well.

so i've been weaving until my fingertips are a little tougher. but i'm eager to make paper.