winter settled in and is keeping us on our toes. i ran out of fuel twice (this house uses fossil fuel for now) despite having a regular refill order, and the strange company who took over a local one, was unresponsive. it took over four hours both times to get results. and i was angry, oh, yes, i was. it took up hours and hours while I worried and became chilled. but that is indicative of all the weirdnesses about moving to an unloved house. i’m working on loving it now.
my river is iced up even more than here, but it is a mighty little river
there are many pieces of news to share with you all. above is a sheet of 12 x 18 inch milkweed paper, a few of which I was able to part with for a friend who is making something special. i love making stuff that others will use.
also i was notified that I will receive two NYFA grants to help me with household and living expenses after my st lawrence teaching gig ends in early april. i’ve scoped out some plants here, some of which i may find after the snow melts. and I have delicious river water to cook in.
paginated pages and covers
a pamphlet stitch sewn with cotton gima from my daring friends in australia holds them together
and then I sewed them all and lined them up like pretty maids all in a row.
each boingy* book has a shifu cover and six sheets of my paper, daylily flax + earth pigments, plain flax, and flax and maiwa’s indigo. it takes a long time to pull 120 sheets of paper, and even longer to prep, spin, and weave these hanji covers.
*boingy because of the energy in these papers, they want to be opened
I am so happy to have completed this project, not only because of the commitment I made, but because this completion marks a change for me, that i can complete good work, something i needed to relearn after this difficult time.
hanji shifu, 20 book covers. notice the tiny circles on some corners, created in weaving four selvedge textiles
another piece of mid-winter news was the sale of three of my shifu books, one of the vellum stationer’s binding books and two slot and tab (or slip and slide) books. these are now in the cynthia sears book arts collection at the bainbridge island museum of art. having my books be included in this stellar collection is a huge honor for me.
also this winter, one evening i skinned and flensed my haddock dinner and made another piece of fish skin parchment. i live by a trout stream i’m told, i may need to learn a new skill.
and i’ve been sitting in on a couple of online classes, even while i’m teaching online myself.
as I try to find homes for all my supplies and made work, without having enough shelving (ikea isn’t shipping here at this time) and try to sort what is necessary for now what isn’t, i’m also learning how to live in my studio/house.
evidence, not here, though
i’ve seen few animals at the new house, a handful of whitetail deer moving through, a gray squirrel or three preforming joy in the trees, one skeleton, and smallish coyote tracks in this deep snow traveling from my driveway to the river.
happily, some words are returning, a poem or two, not much yet, but it’s time for me to get out the few projects i’ve been working on for a while and finish them. maybe more words will show up and demand my attention. if i’m lucky.
be safe, take care, and enjoy this deep mid-winter for what it is, poor (wo)man’s fertilizer, balm for the soul, a pause inside another bigger pause.