dyeing to get ready

i've been dyeing and making books and

making numerous trips to the post office

and being a helper

to my sister

her shoulder is healing nicely.

.

some of my three layer silk

top piece dyed with fresh indigo last summer

and then

both dyed this week with st john's wort

and other stuff

all in paper bundles

and this bunch was ready for the next dyeing

those papers were grand.

roz shared a wonderful

interview with squeak carnwath

and she has this to say:

Artists are—I think of us as radio receivers. Our job is to be available, to accept information and to make it visible. And it works best when the information that we accept is the information we recognize as a part of our deeper self. We’re all individuals, but we’re also kind of the same. And it’s personal, but it can’t just be that. It can’t just be what I had for breakfast or what color hair I have. I think it has to be so that someone else can say, "That’s mine." The viewer has to be able to claim ownership.

making the edition

hortus siccus

board books, edition of 10
two spoken for

the boards were sanded 

by my students as service learning.
there is the occasional foldout or gatefold, depending.

 boards are poplar
or popple as they say  around here.

~~~

and lastly, 

there are a bunch of us who joined in

this book includes 

many, me, too. india

www.indiaflint.com provided a platform

for her students

to share what they do.

to honor them.

but perhaps she didn't realize this

was also a way to honor her right back.

then, another little blurb book:

and she's written a new one

it's one of my very favorites

it seems so bright and well developed and clear

and very very rich

more 
words of deeper knowing and dyeing, 

and some even about paper, yay!

this book is really wonderful.

this coming week i prep for two classes at the 

MORGAN CONSERVATORY

which will be fun!

mouse activity is more vigorous this summer
than ever, ever before. 
and then there's chipmunk relocation.
but i persevere!

preparation

i am prepping for my class at the morgan conservatory

and a private class following it.

four days in cleveland.

 but i ran across this large silk shawl

 and decided to dye it along with a few more arches samples.

 the milkweed behaved so differently 

than it did in salida!

hmm. even on paper it was different

of course there were some distinct differences,

the least of which was 3000 miles!

 another shifu sample

indigo

 with this heavenly 

habu yarn

 and here's the shawl

before pressing

 green, gold, pink and gray

not bad at all!

(and milkweed sap, which did eventually go away)

but it was a decidedly

different mindset

silk, paper

and one piece of cotton.

noticing

once school begins

i get quite a bit quieter

and the (art/soul/heart) work slows

touches of color appear

but i am still noticing

the marsh down the road 

is refreshed by rain, but still 

quite thirsty

 i just love this silk

stitching with it on my paper

 around and around and in and out

 one lovely page spread

and this little shibori message

may become a text block in the book, too

today's clouds 

illuminated by autumn

settling in.

on any day around here

 so i took a little walk

along the perennials

and spied one slippery elm

 which i sawed down

and peeled

 and i have had narcissi 

on the table for several days

 and i washed up 

some more amazing silk

ready for the next thing

and there they sit,

other things on my mind

they look so monochromatic

 and i wrote in the journal

and found a treasure

 flattened fauna

 so small

so real,

so paperlike, leatherlike

skin

so they're all on the table where i sat for a while

between naps

as i'm in the heyday 

of a spring cold

process

 the process of how a book becomes is

fraught with tiny decisions 

and then i placed

maybe arbitrarily

the one piece of silk that was 

just over 16" x 20" 

 and did a bit of math

and thought about page spread size 

and divided the cloth into eight 5" x 8" pages

which would be folded into

pages that were 4" x 5"

i then cut the attachment slots

 in this case the dummy was quite small

so i played with some silver oddments

to see how they are on the silk 

a nifty thread in natural and dyed with copper 

and a few other alchemies

the first cut

on this stuff i love so much 

was the hardest

more to come...

silk and wind

last night the house shuddered

when the big wind hit

rocked my bed

heart racing once.

the night before,

ice ice ice

rain

  alone can be daunting

when the weather is huge

on my mind: 

my country is winter

winter count

ultima thule

inukshuk

snow bunting

hungry white tail

sailing crows

deep. cold.

happy

 hannah came home to wendy's delight!

 and katie came over

such girl energy

 they all love each other

so much

~~~

 some studio interruption is welcomed

  i was working 

on a new structure

 with these silks

 and looking back

at this work

from last summer

when she goes back to grad school

perhaps i will

have completed 

a book.

doesn't matter.

she's here!