Sunday, May 31, 2015

in all honesty

in all honesty,
this school year has left me deeply
.........tired........
i've gladly agreed to teach twice this summer
both at places i hold in high esteem.
immediately after school ends i go to the morgan conservatory
to teach with aimee our four day
that class isn't full yet so may be cancelled, 
and i am ambivalent about promoting it.
surely i could just stay home and rest?
but it is so good to be at the morgan!
so do consider this class.
is set to go.
it's a place i have always wanted to visit,
and now i get to do just that, 
paper and spindles in hand.
it will be lovely to be in a new place.
but oh i am tired.
may has been a month of light nursing and has turned
on me so now i'm flu-ish myself.
so i am getting some rest!
the joke is on me because the beautiful old world goes on dancing
and springing.
and once this flu runs its course
all will be fine.
the book project, 
unsurprisingly,
has been on hold this little while.
do you recognize this seed?
sophie has me looking at seeds, bless her.
and do go here
to look at an amazing exhibition
put together by india.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

old man blue

outta dodge
that's where i'd like to be.
instead i'm home in bed.
the intestinal scourge.

Monday, May 25, 2015

curiosity

i am curious about a few things.
it seems odd that my interests are so, well, so weird
but i'm used to that.
hmmm.
julie johnson sent this to me a while back,
i'm sure i blogged about it, 
but i love how it's now ok to think of knowledge as both 
traditional and scientific.
connecting rather than separating.
 here's a seed from the poplars, i think,
along my walk.
they're hairy and encased in a papery tear.
they were in a garland of cottony fibers,
now they are separate.
and woodhenge, as i call it,
the structure my neighbor has left unfinished
looks mysterious or just plain odd
depending on how you see it.
 on my refrigerator
dard hunter has pride of place. 
my kids as teens and me, the princess
and james dean all hang out there
mari sent me some cypress shavings from japan
to weave with
there apparently are competitive planing competitions
and these are the waste
 they remind me so much of the bits of paper
left over from big ass papermaking at the morgan
 hibe- yellow
sugi-pink
hinoki-light pink
 all good


 i think i might have found it
it still smells great 
(don't worry, i took it from a spot that will be mowed this week)
the tiny blossoms were just waning 
 maybe it's what i hope it is.

Friday, May 22, 2015

IV, III, II, I

 thursday there was so much good news:
my sister claudia macdonald, 
got her masters in school administration degree.
she did it just days before she turns 71! 
my hero.
~~~
and my friend wendy
wrote about textiles and healing
in the on-line hand eye
with lots of captioned photos 
crediting the textile makers, too,
of her healing work with and children.
my first botanical paper and shifu book is there.
~~~
there was other book news in north russell:
this:
collection 
housed in this birch box
is a letterpress book set
and the words
are excerpts from
who just graduated from esf
(another masters degree!)
was interning at the center and helped with
making the cover papers...
she sent me this.
THIS!
she took it to dr kimmerer's office 
also at esf,
and had her sign it for me.
such a treasure,
words, well, they fail me...
the illustrations:
one in each booklet,
are lovely, too.
~~~
here:
fiber raining down
pink maple seeds, too.
circlet of sweetgrass.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

another roadside attraction

in a tiny town with a funny name on the way to work.
that wooden tree cookie is the doorstep,
the portal too small for me.
on the way home from work
 on the highway, 
near the college
 there once was an ugly rock
 that became something
else.
rockbeast.
the beast has acquired its very own cairn.
~~~
in other news, the patient is very well, 
no more doctor's appointments.
hernia well mended.
one more day of class and then memorial day weekend,
four days off. hurrah!
working on the edition.
also hurrah!
the weather here has flown from 80's to 40's
in just a couple days.
rain still needed, though.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

healing and human

there are a couple of people 
who may be able to identify this
 years of fingertips patinaed this wood
over the funky decorative painting
the latch many times repaired
this is what an old house holds: layers of time and lives
and if
i look up
on an ordinary may day
i sometimes see little dances
 or down, the ferny places





 that invite me to ponder
 as do the cool mornings we had last week
as healing progressed
and i didn't work on the book.
 i think
healing and decay
all keep us human
 knowing our place.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

humid and hot saturday

i've been a barely adequate nurse 
for two days.
my dad thought nursing would be a good career for me.
i thought
i'd like to be an artist,
whatever that was.
my partner is healing from a successful hernia operation.
helped by so many good wishes from friends:
my initial made by therese, 
gold on walnut, 
i like that.
and here i am watching gary frost
 using the plough at syracuse university's bird library's conservation lab.
a photo found in the ethers by tim ely!
it's from when my hair was more brown than white.
~~~ 
about the book project:
 the printing is complete, 
we think,
after a really frustrating day
when only one side would print on the big press.
the next day an elf brought over a stack of printed magic.
my happy dance
wrecked my photo.
 the printing was excellent, 
the photography lousy. 
i can only say that all my photos were like this,
i was so excited!
 i harvested slippery elm bark
 as the ferns came along,
they are MUCH bigger now, 
now, when it's 90 out.
ugh!

and here's a little something-
a stationers binding that i saw online 
and didn't save the source.
but i quite like it.
~~~
surfacing here a little bit to say that i am swamped
but fine, sniffling the pollen,
but 
feelin' allright.
nursing with a smile.

Friday, May 1, 2015

may day

ROADBLOCK!
driving home from school there was a singular roadblock
pulled out across both lanes
a team of three with single bottom plow.
by the time i fished out my camera
their young driver had u-turned those large dancing workers
and moved ahead, waiting for me to drive past
he had a huge smile and a wave which i returned, 
and off i went.
the huge energy of these big horses
always has me in awe.
there was this, too:
 hepatica after dyeing
a shock of tomato in the contact print
 the bloodroot down the hill
in a spot new to me
has appeared amidst the stubble of last year.
 tiny stars
 here and gone so quickly. 
 again an evening walk
 and that moon has changed this week
as she always does
 silver weft on cedar warp
 fiddleheads in the evening sun
may day.
i won't be attending the wayzgoose 
at wells college in aurora next saturday
as planned, my 
dear partner has surgery on friday.
so i will be tending to that and to two bird dogs.
but please consider making the trip
supporting wells and the book arts
and finding treasures.

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