i traveled to vancouver and maiwa for tim mclaughlin’s ink making class. i had, as they say, a great time. linda marshall of washi arts hosted me and came along (rather, drove me every day through border crossings and traffic!) for the class, so we worked happily side by side. she’s a treasure.

learning how to set things up is really helpful. linda’s inventiveness = a long handled spoon: she taped two short spoons together!

3 days of weld pigment separation/extraction, day 1

linda’s library grows: how these inks behave on a variety of washi

these three images are by genevieve robertson’s show ‘looking through a hole in the earth’

of note to sarah, day three and final filtering

it took a while for it all to drain through the filter

sachi and her shifu shirt, kozo, cotton, madder and cutch (if i’m remembering the dyestuffs right)

sabrina sachiko neibler (sachi) works at maiwa, is a fiber artist and shifu maker. she’s making exquisite work. the design, spinning, dyeing, weaving, all hers. a beautiful, functional, wearable beautiful piece.

sachi brought samples for us to see, as well as wearing her shifu shirt

i finished taking meds for the sinusitis while away, felt terrific, and even the long ride home didn’t bug me, i had so many things to ponder. linda is shipping my inks, so i returned to teaching happily anticipating slu’s winter break. during break we heard news that my partner’s new puppy is coming, and i got sick. resick? out walking the other day i felt like crawling home. i didn’t, but am once again taking meds. and supplements, covering many modalities.

cornice finally crashed yesterday after becoming even bigger (probably another foot long) than this photo shows.

back to this project, and i have some spinning to finish

newly downed trees (all diseased, probably this somebody who left evidence had something to do with that) hauled home means that the woodshed will continue to be replenished.

the community of makers moves me deeply. seeing sachi’s shirt being worn, meeting tim, and the others in our class (rock stars all, said one student) seeing really good art, and having deep conversation and time with linda (and her husband and three large-hearted dogs) and planning for a new class on ways of manipulating washi…my heart is full. class this week will be about letter locking (what is that you ask? go look at the letter locking society…)

this is american elm firewood. my partner harvests these trees as they die (too many reasons for here, now) and they make very good firewood. the smoke is a little stinky, but the heat is good. these tussock moth cocoons are scattered all through the 3+ year old stash, and i harvest them as they come through my hands.

variety of sizes, mostly around an inch long

i began to wonder about these, so posed a local biologist, tom langen from clarkson university, a question: what are they? he identified them as tussock moth cocoons. i hoped they were wild silk moths, and they are.

a nice one, many have stains and more than one exit hole and, er, sawdust

i began to gather them up, first a few, then more and more. i tried hand teasing them, cleaning out as much of the detritus as possible, and then found a small steel crochet hook does the best job of cleaning, with retired dental tools a good second choice (thank you dr ross).

hand carding seemed the best thing to coax these fibers apart

i found that washing didn’t really do much to improve the fiber. there must not be too much seracin left in these cocoons after years of outdoors weathering. although this is only a supposition.

i carded each of about seven rolags three or four times, as much as needed to get something spinnable.

the hepty spindle was not easy for me because my hands had too much work to do, a huge amount of teasing even after i split up rolags into two or three smaller ones and re-carded. and re-carded.

louet s 40 with practice wool, then the local wild silk.

i thought since i’m much more adept at the wheel why not try the s40, despite it being almost brand new to me…fortunately when i wound the first ball the twist dispersed itself a bit and it wasn’t too nasty.

here it rested for a couple of days, and i thought about my ineptitude as a spinner.

and it looks SO much better now. i’m still waiting, and hopefully will process another ball and then ply to see how it is as 2 ply. it will certainly be a stronger yarn.

i am so glad i persevered and took my time thinking about what was happening. it made such a difference, and now i have some things to explore with this next little basket of cocoons i’ve collected.

some recent developments in the paper studio

my paper, milkweed seed fiber painting by kathy kelly

kathy left this string of her prayer flags in my care

after so many years when other stuff got in my way, kathy and i have reconnected. such joy, to see her as a painter! and to have lunch together in the paper studio and talk about the makingness of making.

i have had a couple wonderful opportunities come along, but the first one is self chosen—tim mclaughlin’s the ink maker’s pen class. at maiwa. in vancouver! and, lucky me, i will spend time with linda marshall, owner of washi arts. my book arts class at school (st lawrence university) is going well, 11 students (one adult) and all are learning to fold and stitch and write and, er, make artists’ books!