Friday, February 26, 2016

a (her)story-- a book

an announcement:
i've prepared
with enormous help from carol blinn,
my dear friend, who slaved over this job
through the dark of winter
(special edition with original printed cover and shifu left, 
photographed cover with printed sample on the right)
who did ALL the work
while i just printed and wove and wrote the stuff.
a little book for australia
about my journey through shifu
and printing.
after long conversations with carol 
who is a long time letterpress printer and book designer
and who is still my friend after this herculean effort to be done,
and alicia bailey from the abecedarin gallery
one of a handful of book arts galleries in the u.s.,
i decided to use the nomenclature
that the book arts community overwhelmingly preferred:
"botanical pressure prints*.

fortunately the only confusion
with the word shifu
is the martial art also called shifu.
sigh.

these will be available first in australia
and back in the states 
at the end of march, when i will put a button in the shop to order.
there is an edition of 50
with 12 special ones that have an original print for the cover
and a little shifu square inside.
below is one of the limited edition of 12 
complete with blue berry prints
should you wish to have a copy
the price will be posted soon, 
and you can let me know and i will set one 
aside for you.
(you'll have to wait until after OZ)

*botanical*
alchemy has a certain glamour.

here is a little much cooked pot of walnut ink
water & 
a short slurp of vinegar,
it's lovely stuff.
more botanical alchemy.

*botanical pressure print: specifically, what many of us once called eco prints, then later called contact prints; book artists find it useful to describe this print process on paper, because the term "contact print" is a photo process on paper. clear as mud, right? 

Sunday, February 21, 2016

finish line

 the week that was winter break
flew and plodded along 
 with icy marvels 
and deep cold.
the birches drooped
and the fence lines made new patterns.
 just over a week until i leave for australia!
more about that in a day or so.
good news graced the inbox
my two books available above on this site
(see the bar with the shop label?)
Poor (Wo)man's Asparagus and November, A Map
were just purchased for the poetry collection
at the University of Buffalo (Lockwood Library).
i am dancing to think that my poem/books are there.
 i loved the woven ice as the sun began to sink
 and saw scarlet and purple and greens in the dazzle
as i get my stuff together for the trip
to australia
i've spotted above this summer prunus print on arches
 and below 
four hosta papers
colored with north country ochres
i also realized this terrible headache
and weariness is
a sinus infection
so i got myself to the after hours clinic today
and am taking a killer antibiotic.
the wonderful doctor had an auspicious name: wendy.
there was a wonderful visit from hannah this week
who modeled a unicorn head
at brewer bookstore.
i had a wonderful and wonderfully long chat with an artist 
about some new teaching locally.
and more news is coming,
i promise.

Monday, February 15, 2016

windfall

a friend from p.b.i. 
makes amazing work in his home workshop
including lots of paper experiments.
charlie showed some of these on facebook
and offered to send me
a couple of squares.
instead an entire box came
filled with experiments and thoughts. 
this is the second layer, actually,
the first i'd taken out
before i grabbed the camera. 

 these, alone, are what i was expecting
 but instead i have lots of food for thought.
thank you charlie wisseman!
 meanwhile, the weather turned.
from warmish and no snow
to lake effect snow
which means
 the winds swept over lake ontario 
and hit the north country
 probably another vortex--
i don't know.
i am relieved to have one week off.
winter break.
 from this to this
 at the place i'm calling home 
gwen rests, a sundog,
at my feet.
 while out the window
the cold dances.
30 below zero is cold indeed.
i was trying to get a shot of myself
with the winter tree line behind
i did get some clouds.
today it's warmer,
around zero,
and i have appointments
(teeth and car)
and work to do.
so many preparations still to attend to.
a week off is a great treat.
keep warm you all!

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

sandra's gift

as i prepare for oz
i'm working
weaving and spinning and drawing.
 i finished up
 a soft book
 rooted in a gift of cloth
shop cloth
mechanic's clean-up cloth.
(i am the final,
fifth daughter
of a seamstress and a mechanic.)
 and kami-ito spun from lokta
 sandra brownlee's gift
 became a small book
full of many stitches.
and touch.

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