Saturday, July 30, 2016

natural disasters and thank you

the beeswax book was in this shape,
more or less,
yesterday morning.
 the mail came
and with it paperwork pertaining to retirement
so i had forms to fill out and
financial people to speak to on the phone.
the iphone works best,
when it does work, that is,
on my screen porch.
where trace willan's xanthorrhoea resin in solution lives.
in a jar with a not very tight lid.
it must have eased over
by preoccupied me
all 12 ounces of it.
and i didn't notice until i saw evidence
 after i used up all the spillage
to decorate the book
there was a huge clean-up,
using the only solvent i had that worked
nail polish remover. 

 they went out into the sun to air.
 and as the book cover dried
it morphed into something else altogether
 inside pages got a bit of mark making
thanks to 
the bolyard xanthorrhoea spirits spill

 aromatic is too nice a word.
 this morning
 i will try to sew the signatures to tapes
and lace in the tapes.
 it has a wonderful surface now
and it's 
 no longer sticky!
(sorry about the darkness, 
i was too excited to go noodle around in iphoto)
i don't recommend bookmaking 
by chance
but i do recommend
making hay while the sun shines.
thank you trace!

17 comments:

  1. hi louise, thank you. does zanth grow in n.z.? trace willans has been urging me to use it more and more, painting it (ok, soaking up the spill with it) over waxed flax case paper has been really cool. a terrific surface!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Velma, the Universe works in mysterious ways to make you use the Xanth. You should just be able to top it up again and leave it to become rich again. But maybe get a better fitting lid. Other solvents that work are alcohol, tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil, so possibly there are some more indigenous to you that might work. It does look lovely. The other week I added a layer of Xanth to my case paper. x te

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those last few pictures are remarkable ... what a happy ending (though I don't envy you the "aroma therapy")

    ReplyDelete
  4. trace, i had no idea about the other solvents, so a huge thank you. there's a tradition here of making cedar oil, i wonder about that. (lots of aobor vitae, white cedar, growing in the north country). and as i have put the same poorly fitting lid back on (ducking head in embarassment) i will see to making that change, too.
    liz, yeah, it did work out, strangely enough. fortunately i live in a breezy location, so at least the stink didn;t stay around too long.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ode to joy!
    i am experimenting with alcohol and acrylics. it would seem to go well w. other stuff as well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. neki, yep, it's worked a treat. haven't sewn signatures yet, but i will.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ha! fabulous (both the tale and the outcome!) ---- I wonder/worry about the use of Xanthorrhoea -- some years ago they were popular to use in some woodworking projects as well as in gardens --- this encouraged folk to go into national parks to dig out the very slow growing grass trees.... I'm still recovering from folk rushing into the park behind my place and digging out every. single. plant. .... bastards.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ronnie, EXCELLENT concern, indeed. this came from trace who sourced it on her own land and harvests sustainably. it's like any usable plant, it must be used with restrain and understanding and most importantly, permission. permission from the land owner AND fromt the plant.

    ReplyDelete
  9. love how the materials make the moves & you dance with them so gracefully!

    ReplyDelete
  10. mo, that's a kind thing to say. this time i didn't give up, though sometimes i do or i go to far...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Velma! I have just read your last two posts and all I can say is "YUM YUMMY YUM"! This is my kind of fun…spillage and all.
    I love that you chronicled it all. It has me itching to get back to work.
    OX Marianne (Marianna too, long story, sorry I haven't explained, you have it all right, all the time)

    ReplyDelete
  12. mariannne...oh these names! yes, this summer is all experimenting

    ReplyDelete
  13. that cover is a beauty...so rich.

    ReplyDelete
  14. thanks, glennis, and now to stitch the thing together and be done!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Whoops! And then serendipity steps in to make magic. What a disturbing then delightful adventure for you V!

    ReplyDelete
  16. fiona, you said it! this summer has been like that.

    ReplyDelete

be in touch!

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *