gratitude and paper

thank you all for your kind wishes for hannah and tyler.

they are feeling a bit better, a bit less shell shocked.

which makes my heart beat more easily.

after the first evening walk in ages

 i gathered up some black eyed susan petals,

from my backporchpatch

 and set them to soak

(maybe for ink)

 in paper doings 

my student todd brought me this lovely gampi/cattail paper

(an apple for the teacher, he smiled)

it's delicious, 

much more subtle than the photo shows.

 todd's gampi supports two little flax with lokta stitch sheets i took along to maiwa

 here they are with some indigo dyed hand spun hemp 

 and then some walnut dunked earth pigmented sheets

on a walnut/flax/stitched sheet

there seems to be no end to the possibilities

of which i've just scratched the surface.

 and then this came

oh, my.

if you've ever thought of making your own ink

you should check out this book

 a touch of color on the corners entices you to open

 an illustration from the book: 

buckthorn ink

a green earth pigment dunked in black walnut

 and then an ochre, likewise dunked

 and the backside of this indigo dunked flax and lokta

 a wee bit of hemp basket in making

 one of my flax samplers 

(there are a few of these...

 nice back, don't you think?

contact printed acrhes text wove.

 my class worked with drew matott and johnny lafalse

while i was at maiwa

drew overexposed

 my students learning and pulp painting

 how to form a sheet, 

back left is johnny

 each bucket a different pulp, 

mostly from knitted cotton shirts

 and almost black and blue pulps, 

and a brand new sheet.

i came back and we all have to slow down now

and make really good sheets 

after repulping half of their first abaca sheets

they are really, really attentive.

scary business

being human is indeed scary business. 

there are joys, which i write about often.

there are, as nigel peake would call them, tiny adventures.

but when you get a telephone call from a tearful daughter that she's been in a bad accident.....................................................................................................................................................but she's ok and so is her guy.

well, it's life.

a small life,

it's what has rich meaning, but so does good work.

teaching and learning

making 

however ephemeral.

in my thoughts lately are ink, color, dye, pulp, and dead leaves as sarah swett calls them:

and here is my very poor handwriting, an ink pen and Atramentum ink,

on very rough abaca waterleaf.

 here are my tools

my first pen from when i was around 10 years old 

given to me by my second sister Carol 

and a never used but old nib

and a brush i made from white tail deer, waxed linen, and a bone knitting needle.

 the brush was more than funky, but also fun.

 the ink delicious on rough waterleaf unbleached abaca paper

 a weaver's web

 and a morning gift on my step

 one leaf from the grandfather maple

made into a home for tent caterpillar babies next year.

 there are plenty of these here, 

so it's ok to look closely,

unlike the monarchs which won't tolerate my scrutiny.

 this book, Songbirds and Daylilies is in the Artists' Book Cornucopia IX show.

                                                    this page is pretty large,  
                                               and covered with a days musings, 
                                                             summer 2016.

so hannah will be ok, 

and her boyfriend as well.

her car will have to be replaced and life will skitter along in beauty and grief and ridiculousness and joy.

and, with luck no more read enders.