Monday, June 30, 2014

two books

wake robin
has produced a small edition
(two)
called
NOVEMBER SONG
 carol blinn of warwick press
provided typographic expertise
and, let's be honest,
the encouragement for me to have
mark tomlinson
build two boxes for these books.
 each book now lives
in a lovely soft, barely gold box
with carol's title page and colophon--
 and are now, 
here.
shown.
there are several gatefolds
so the book stands alone
as a map of my ecotone, new york's north country
plants, metals, fungi,
and mineral laden water.
(secrets and truths about here) 
 showing off the structure
and i show off the title on the box spine.
my
NOVEMBER SONG:
cave paper covers, 
presentation box by mark tomlinson,
typographic design by carol j blinn,
and
a plethora of ecoprinted arches velin (text wove) papers
 printed in the cold seasons before, 
bound in autumn of 2013,
and ready in june 2014.
part of the HORTUS SICCUS project
by me, 
velma bolyard.
two books.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

transitions

 at longridge
everyone brought things to look at.
betsy brought two boro kimonos, simple, beautiful
 some of her marks 
become light windows
dancing 
 dorothy had kanthas for us
to see
my favorites were a wonderful
amalgam of old technique and modern story
this is a sampler
 and these are thread
and string
some mark place and time
others stitch books together
 in st albans i drove past white foam all over the curbs!
popples (as they say around here) just shedding 
their seeds
cottonwood relatives
 in just a few moments 
i gathered a bag.
cleaning up the community
while acquiring some quantity
of fiber to experiment with.
 a basket from
jamin uticone
at swamp road baskets
 holds one of my samplers from
human mark making
 can you see his heart?
i have a serious love of these
black ash baskets
beautifully made, 
meant for a lifetime
arbor vitae shingles
cut by local folks
is icing the cake
still more, but it's beginning to look
like a home.
after studying with 
a vibrant group of learners
under the thoughtful direction
of a master teacher
the stuff of home is rich.
one more half day of school.
then my summer work commences:
paper, fiber, book, textile
spirit.
 through the islands
 eagle? osprey?
i stayed in putney
where the local library
has words 

Saturday, June 21, 2014

humans persist

 roxanne was a high energy
positive
inquisitive
and experimental 
table mate. she worked in hot pink
to push herself.
 dorothy considering our
"blind" stitching
 out my window
at the place i was staying
appaloosa sky
 considering kantha
 batik discharge
 kami-ito
spun by therese
brought for me to see
 her sweet spindle
 something holy
 something old
 something borrowed and blue
 betsy's marks are formed
of fire and light

 graphic delight
 workshop hands
made things with string
dorothy made string
to document place
 and i kept sky watching
while filling up my car, 
for example
 patterning under my feet.
 a simple 
little structure
suitable for kids and smaller sampling
sorts of books,
textile sensibility/
some of our small books
with that nifty easy binding
betsy's little book
on a spiraled pie basket
that held betsy's wool,
beautiful!
so, this kind of class makes you think and try things unlike
the same old same old
but the women students were grand in this group.
hearts of diamonds and rust,
caring
meeting and knowing one another,
in 5 days you can dig
a bit deeper, 
in your own work and support each other.
we all wanted to keep going.
we will,
just not at longridge farm
or with dorothy caldwell,
both of whom we will miss most dreadfully.
i am making marks with a certain 
kind 
of
difference, now.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

humans at it again

last day of high school classes
was monday.
afterwards, i got in the subaru
to drive to vermont to stay here
and go to long ridge farm.
 good eating and shopping here
 community art
 ~a community
at work~
 a wall in front of the coop
 and some humans came along
to longridge farm
where i return this year
as a student
 of dorothy caldwell
we made marks in many ways on the first day
 looks like starling flight
 roxanne is my amazing table partner
she (of the white coat 
which i did not touch
because i had india ink on my hands) pictured below
 some odd brushes were made
 which made interesting marks
ink on paper
(i remember the brushes i made 
out of turkey beards and sticks
in oz in february)
 i was compelled to pour water over my marks
 others were more reserved 
(but not really, look closely!)
here's roxanne's amazing coat
today we looked at yesterday's work
pages
 kantha
 today we made marks with thread 
after looking at kanthas
i like these fish
 one woman's marks
 this composition was
on betsy and nancy's table.
the contrast between working in black and white
and the riot of green and 
flowers
in the great northern woods
is huge!
it is very good to be away and here, 
working and learning.

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