Wednesday, August 30, 2017

stars and fiber

this came home with my partner
delicious and beautiful
supper was fresh sweet corn on the cob
amazing bread
and garden salad lettuces
at Zone 4 
the paper mill at SLU
the papermaking continues.
(today i begin teaching papermaking and book arts 
and next week
peace paper comes to visit)
a small test sheet.
linen rag,
a FLAX suit
turned into pulp after three or so hours of beating!
the color is quieter than the original cloth
which was a tan with a pink tone that i found rather off.
here is the sheet with the original cloth
the sickly pink tone is gone now
to this base pulp i added
retention aid and 
caput mortuum (dead head)
earth pigment from Melbourne Printmaking Supply. 
close up 
and full size.
it's a small sheet, still damp here,
 but has possibilities.
since i have 3 buckets of this linen
i'll be coloring some more
for, hopefully, a book.
and finally
barry smith sent me leaves of peace to share
the word
peace star echoes the bread star
bread and peace.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

a week of muchness

patterns on the morning table
remind me of where my thoughts
 traveled this summer
summer,
(which is now waning.
morning temperatures in the high 40's.
and heavy dewfall.)
i play patterning paper into spheres.
changing 
 reflections, 
 there has been so much rain
 and the babies are so big now.
 evening
 and below,
some useful and beautiful plants
goldenrod, canada thistle
 and these are the indoor doings:
i had the incredible honor of this gift,
shifu:
 margaret sent me a piece of beautiful shifu
woven by sadako sakurai
a piece that i held in my hands earlier this summer
in seattle.
she also sent some reading, 
articles i'd perhaps once seen, but had forgotten.
an astonishing package, and
so welcome!

 and i found i actually had this catalog
hidden away in my studio shelves! 
YAY!
 see the paper here, 
thread and the small rice seed 
where the sadako spun around the corner (so to speak)
 my 4 selvedge shifu echoes this,
so different, 
like a country bumpkin cousin
  i now have enough pages here
spun from kozo account book paper
for a japanese stab bound book,
and a few wee squares
left over.
 i've been spinning
 AND i discovered this woman's work!
i'd heard this summer that i should see a show of sarah's work.
i wish i had. she's written two zines
full of comics and fiber,
you'll learn a lot and be delighted.
i promise.
more news this week includes me acquiring a parking sticker
at st lawrence university
where i'll be teaching book arts this fall.
and a slew of slu meetings
exhausting
but next week: class begins. 
this is going to be a semester of possibility,
we have sophomores, and adults and a printmaker and me teaching.
i'm expecting to be challenged and have some real fun!
oh,
and i've spruced up my website a little bit:
www.velmabolyard.com
it's still a work in progress, though.
sigh.

Friday, August 18, 2017

weaving and gray

kozo account book moro-jifu,  milkweed and hosta paper
composition games
not smoke and mirrors
just me in the old milk house resevoir
making gray for caliban
out of fresh black walnuts, 
water, 
pickle juice vinegar, 
iron & copper pipes
on paper and three cotton cloth strips

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

participate

my post from sunday i've decided NOT to post
everyone who stops here knows
understands our crazy country, and knows they must act.
so,
here
here is the project that rowland ricketts asked for community participation from
so here, 
in the north country,
i put this square in my window.
 we will see what the northern sun does to a circle of indigo cotton cloth.
(i have chosen circle over square)
 so there's some ai in the window 
until december.
in town at st lawrence university
 peace paper project is installing a show.
 since i will be co-teaching book arts there this fall.
i am privy to some of the excitement,
and have been hanging around
making paper
and talking to drew matott.
who gifted me this.
 this piece was printed on paper made from the american flag.
flag paper.
hand papermaking.
 this exhibit shows what is going on
in many spots in the world
as handpapermaking 
and making art from that paper
inspires social justice.
 iphoto is the program i have a wee understanding of.
here, 
silly iphoto 
superimposed or whatever you call it
some of today's images.
i wanted to tell you about jim koss's new book of poems
(available from amazon).
i am so happy to have this book to dive into.
the photo is sort of what's happening in my brain right now.
nevertheless i make work.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

paper!

 i've been working with hemp
these sheets are hemp top that i processed
in Zone 4's valley beater
 using three pigments procured 
from melbourne etching
caput morte, raw sienna, terre vert.
learning to manage retention aid after too many years.
 and a sweet message arrived from seattle with the 
prospectus for Jim Koss's new book
 and these special needles,
thank you Kate!
 save pulp
 the beater/press room at Zone 4

 hemp sliver half beaten
yesterday's batch was a fine warm white hemp sliver
looking forward to seeing how the pigments work on this stuff.

 this beater and i have some history

 lovely stuff
 just before finishing.
just under 2 hours of beating.
my hannah sent me this lovely bone feather
that i can string and wear.
and so far the weekend is only half over!

Saturday, August 5, 2017

worlds turn

this morning i was reminded again
of beauty,
mortality,
and human doings.
it's rained so much here
and where i was out west, not enough.
not enough and forest fires
too.
i am feeling normal and fit now
i can lift pulp-filled buckets again.
 this sign placed by my new amish neighbors has a subscript:
no sunday sales
 the semintals look on
  i love her piebald face hiding behind goldenrod
her tiny whiskers sunlit
 sunshine
 on cattle

 here's their pasture
with all the things:
woodhenge, signage, machinery, 
that woodsy area on the right borders my place
 across the road is their old stripey barn
 robin's eggshell on my drive
 this week i printed
and 
made paper
(paper photos to come)
 these were pretty fine
 and the pot is fine, too
 terra enamel diaper pot.
sort that one out for fun!

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