sometimes lovely surprises in the mail save your life (above).

and sometimes they disappoint (below).

i’ve thought lately, about how the community of makers has something special: making stuff. all kinds of stuff. beautiful, good, useful, fun, silly, poor, foolish…

above you see sarah swett’s photo of her vessel and my paper. there is a connection here. maybe more than one thread that ties.

this book looked interesting, the contents included three of my very favorite paper/fiber artists, aimee lee, mary hark, and sarah swett. how wonderful to find them all in this book, along with that phrase i like so much, “worm spit”! but what a disappointment this book is in so many ways. what is the cohesive, ‘long’ thread? who wrote the bits but more, why? and why is so much of the writing about papermaking inaccurate? it’s been such a disappointment to read text that i know is inaccurate, now i suspect the text i know less well is just as inaccurate. why? it contains work and profiles of artists who i respect deeply, “articles” or “chapters” i want to love. but instead it’s confusing and shallow. a shame, really, but it’s pretty to look at. and, well, aimee, sarah and mary. i just can’t figure out what this book actually is, either… catalog, profile, fiber tips and ideas, magazine?

i missed the fiddleheads and the fern dust during this pandemic spring, because of moving, and the new owners at my old place uprooted those long-time perennials from the yard. i’ve planted things here at the new place, but will in all likelihood miss them next spring because i’m moving again. this time to a house by a river with a nice big studio. more on this eventually.

there are a few of these caterpillars around the place this fall. they are, i suspect, the makers of the small silk cocoons. but i’m still not completely sure. i’ve reached out to two biologists, both academics and busy, but no definitive answer. yet.

i find the exhaustion of this political season and now the horribleness of a horrible person getting a horrible illness a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing. seems to be no end of crazy. i’ll try to post again, soon, maybe.