spring gallops, horseless


 they're still making 
tiny collections
there were two of these, 
two days in a row,
two different shoes.
the first one was QUITE a surprise
at 7 a.m.
my foot exited the shoe 
lightning quick, 
glad mousy had gone away.
 i found another rock book
 which is a lot like 
one of the old, big ones
 we're having rain and rain and rain
some of which i drove through
yesterday and today
while i went to syracuse
 and back
twice
in order to get a new computer
 because the old is slowing  
and the spinning wheel of death
made too frequent appearances.
 i completed my sketch book
fixed the mistakes
and will begin to use it.
thanks to tim ely
my mind is playing games
around pictures and ideas and books and
threads.
 while the spring wrestles 
through
 high water and flooding
 create wonderful plays
layers of color
texture
meaning
red osier dogwood
 and then the fence lines
make their arbitrary
deliniations
between space and time
light and darkness.
this changing
leaving a bit more green
after every shower.

working with a master

in 1997 i attended a wonderful workshop
we worked with pina
so 
when aimee lee told me asao 
was coming to the u.s.
and I found that he would be teaching in syracuse
i asked holly greenberg about it 
and received a gracious invitation to
sit in on the class.
so i drove down yesterday
 asao creates magic: a table full of color
(pigments, dyes)
 placed  by asao shimura
master papermaker
 who is on his kon'nyaku tour
 so we ogled the dyes and pigments he prepared
and used them
asao wearing pina shifu
up close
asao clothed in shifu with dyed paper yarns
bengara (for jean)
holly and a sutra by asao
printing 
kon'nyaku thickened pigments and dyes
holly's papermaking students got to play
with the "paste"
genevieve nordmark
a lover of hand papermaking
and a friend 
who may find her way to my mill sometime soon
some of her lovely paper
working into her paper with kon'nyaku and pigment
coating sheets with kon'nyaku
the lime cook
a short immersion
rinse and dry
printing blocks
and a final note:
pina spun paper, colors to dye for.
i almost jumped over the table for these treasures.
it was a good day.
making marks, making friends.