landing on my feet

back home in the foothills

after almost a month away

reentry is sweet.

this year it's more of an unfolding

gently easing me back into this glorious place.

this is where my feet know the land.
this is home.

 in australia i am always finding treasures to bring home

and stephen and theresa dairing have fibertreasure that move me.

(they also have wonderful edgy and utterly cool things, too!)

here is thin hemp thread, slubby handspun silk, and two bundles,

green and brown (both will brown out in time)

of "bark" thread. 

stephen said there was no translation. 

bark thread.

before leaving tim ely suggested i meet up with adele outterridge. 

and she did meander over to anne's home 

a week ago.

(anne newton, me and adele outteridge)

 and i'm prepping for this event

 and on my table there are some things to read and think about.

brambok booklet from the center where my class has been held for three years running.

my students

in the 6 day master class

gave me this amazing book,

so very generous and loving of them!

peek inside

 i'm saving reading this until after the book arts bazaar

that's coming up next sunday.

 they wrote me some lovely words.

in melbourne

i bought some pigments

but i also got a whole packet of pigments

from trace willans

not sure what will happen with them, yet.

think pulp and pigment.

barb adams helped me prepare for the papermaking class.

she gifted me with two books.

 this small piece was a memoir of our work days

 and inside the shifu bag 

  this shifu book

 grounded by a wonderful pebble

stitched to the back cover

in between the covers...

circles worlds

 it's a beautiful book.

and then i bought this little gem
at brambok.

 found this novel in a lovely shop

down near cape otway

traveling with wendy warren.

it's dense and rich and echoed

much of my experience as i finally feel the land here

a bit more.

i need to read to help frame

my experience and this book helped.

look!

 i also bought this

which is fascinating.

 bell did field work, a single mom with two kids in tow.

perhaps of necessity, but my thinking is that

it informed her experience (and those of her kids)

and enriched field work.

(i'm reminded of the things i did with my kids,

volunteering with the disabled riding program, 

bread and puppet, 

art and music events
but this! imagine 2 years of field work!)

 i had two too brief conversations with marion gorr

and i bought this lovely cloth

 silk and amazing stitched images

 i came home to a box from shanna leino

a wonderful little talisman

with political ramifications!

she's sending the proceeds to the aclu

 and one last little thing

helen, from the grampians texture staff

 made this. 

she had her stitched pieces on exhibit 

her first time going public! 

there's a book poster over at facebook

who writes in cyrillic or some other language that i have no knowledge of

but posts beautiful books.

this is the back of a book.

can you imagine?!

a week in the mountains

the season turned while at gareward,

which may be misspelled, apologies,

but is the earlier name

for the grampian mountains surrounding hall's gap.

where i taught a six day master class.

big wind, rain, fog, cool,

refreshing cool.

we made paper from

abaca, hemp, red hot poker, papyrus, new zealand flax

once i set them up

and admonished them repeatedly about mould care,

i could walk away

because these artists had magic hands.

i don't think i have even one photo of the mill

where socialist paper was pulled for three days

(thanks to frank brannon via aimee lee for the concept)

before private paper pieces were constructed

some students continued working as teams

making sample sets of inclusions and other ideas.

inside the mural room we did dry work

structures, 

spinning kami-ito, 

weaving shifu, 

unfortunately i took few photographs

(students, feel free to send me some of yours, i would love to post them)

andrew brought in his book 

begun three years ago in his first class with me.

robyn made a special sketch book for the class

i walked the room one day after clean up

just to record the students,

foolish because they were mostly gone.

this is the working cartoon for the mural

we made beautiful marks on paper

kathy's work was stunning

colleen made marks with special brushes

she brought along

xanthorea and ocher ink stick

robyn prepped samples for us all

immediately behind my cabin was a rich ecotone

the stump guards the gully

my window was directly to the right of the stump

and one morning i heard rustling

and watched as a wallaby inched along the precipitous path

just below that stump,

seeing first the nose and then head and finally amazed that those

longlegs could maneuver on the slope.

quietly s/he moved, unaware of my eyes

above and behind the shielding screen

evidence: kangaroo

the work of brian, colleen's husband,

who was in another 6 day master class with desiree fitzgibbon

karen's shifu book sculpture begins to take shape

karen also made the tiniest blizzard book i've seen.

and that's all the photos (more or less)

i took, it was a busy busy time.

many repeat students-

such an honor as a teacher.

and because i am don't have to rush home like a crazy woman

back to school

we had one last get together day at my host anne newton's home

and adele outeridge, with her lovely daughter stopped in!

here is adele and me with anne newton above.

what a great day!

i leave early tomorrow morning for 

brisbane, 

vancouver, 

ottawa, 

and home.