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Velma Bolyard

wake robin papers & books
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everybody eats somebody

everybody eats somebody

hard easy winter

December 28, 2019

stewart brand said: there’s no such thing as free lunch

i love how ugly broken tires become a useful doormat.

twill?

twill?

my mind wanders this time of year, reinventing what winter celebration means. i’m not the one who can figure it out, can’t even do it for myself.

or this one found on the roadside late in novemberor the living spider found in the snowed over roadway this weekor the moth that flew in the back door last night

or this one found on the roadside late in november

or the living spider found in the snowed over roadway this week

or the moth that flew in the back door last night

some things defy experience or understanding. physics?

some things defy experience or understanding. physics?

flax pulp molded to form a vessel, waiting to see if it will work. or if i can work with it.

i bought this ornament made by a Tuscarora needleworker in lewiston, ny, when i was a kid

i bought this ornament made by a Tuscarora needleworker in lewiston, ny, when i was a kid

so i look back and forward, and down (quite a lot) and gifts are bestowed far too frequently to list, today it was another chunk of mica, excavated by thaw and freeze and left to be gathered. i’ll put it in paper, north country glitter.

out of the blue and from far away came a delicious surprise, showing the hand(s) of the makers

in beauty.

from shanna, clay and linen

from shanna, clay and linen

and from here, wood: best $7 ever spent

and from here, wood: best $7 ever spent

i went to the local junk place and found this lapped wooden box which proved hard to photograph.

such simple elegance could hold many of the things in today’s wobbly scattered post. but maybe not the wishes, the ones i send out to you my dear ones, hoping you have what you need as the year winds down, and that you may find yourselves inspired and full of joy from time to time and even make some good things with your hands, heart, head. me, i’ll be making paper stuff in all likelihood. there are books brewing, and some other things.

stone book #2, from a decade or more ago

stone book #2, from a decade or more ago

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grasse riverside earths gathered by my papermaking students, and some of my small earth-laden flax papers

grasse riverside earths gathered by my papermaking students, and some of my small earth-laden flax papers

middling december

December 14, 2019

where do these days go? they’re quick

red sandstone lines always seduce me

red sandstone lines always seduce me

eaten at either end

by deep dark

there’s been over 20 inches of snow so far…but look at today

there’s been over 20 inches of snow so far…but look at today

snow then not snow then snow then rain and rain and cold

ice under rain

ice under rain

but i can see

IMG_0107.jpg

really see these ridges here.

spine after spine of this landscape

this place i now call home

threshold

threshold

further up and further in

pileated workplace

pileated workplace

deep.

poems breathe me in winter

good, bad, indifferent, mattering not at all

new cloth

new cloth

because i am uneasy and rootless

snowed in or iced up or just plain wet.

like today.

dirt road

dirt road

the book fair was fine and fun, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. now it’s the holidays school just finished. their kozo (okra formation aid) paper was fine.

beating kozo with gigantic mallets

beating kozo with gigantic mallets

they liked this beating stuff

they liked this beating stuff

those papers up close

those papers up close

there is a little excitement brewing for me: next semester i’m teaching book arts at slu, the class filled almost instantly. and then in may i’m teaching at maiwa. my book of north country shifu class filled up quickly, too, wow, i’m looking forward to it as well. it’s taken me so long to get this written i will end with a word or two about my new hero, her name is greta and she is amazing, she’s fearless and inspires me with hope. you may know about her…

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