rust

my header (is that what it's called?) is made of several things. three layers of handmade paper (daylily, flax, and hosta) rust and compost dyed cotton sheeting, cross stitched with pattern paper spun paper (not yet shifu). a detail from this piece, rust moon.

photographed matted and under glass, this is called winter count. there are seven senselessly slaughtered coyotes and a red fox. eight. handmade paper, rust colored and indigo and walnut dyed paper, and rust dyed cotton. stitched with paper.

diamonds

quartz from friends, and a bit of lokta shifu, dyed with rust and hollyhock blossoms. these things, bits of art, seem to me to be what living in a place of dichotomies is like. beauty and ugly. on the way home saturday, i saw another turtle. a painted turtle, smeared on the tarmac where a car had broken and injured it. fatally, i'm sure. joan says it beautifully. we all know what memories bring. they bring diamonds and rust. life could just be about managing the diamonds and rust. the balancing act. juggling. staying sane.