where paper travels

 these worlds within worlds
pattern and color
abaca and other fibers
abaca, silk, kozo, cotton 
on the work table
an egg-moon
some strange colors on green daylily paper
all daylily
tiny, crisp when wet
drying like a patternless seersucker 
and i made a bad moon
shifu piece
the lokta shifu is tiny,
but strong
as it dries into a cycle
of november, a sphere
my month, the one i love 
for many reasons, 
perhaps the strongest 
is that now,
now and in march,
i see the bones of the land.

working with a master

in 1997 i attended a wonderful workshop
we worked with pina
so 
when aimee lee told me asao 
was coming to the u.s.
and I found that he would be teaching in syracuse
i asked holly greenberg about it 
and received a gracious invitation to
sit in on the class.
so i drove down yesterday
 asao creates magic: a table full of color
(pigments, dyes)
 placed  by asao shimura
master papermaker
 who is on his kon'nyaku tour
 so we ogled the dyes and pigments he prepared
and used them
asao wearing pina shifu
up close
asao clothed in shifu with dyed paper yarns
bengara (for jean)
holly and a sutra by asao
printing 
kon'nyaku thickened pigments and dyes
holly's papermaking students got to play
with the "paste"
genevieve nordmark
a lover of hand papermaking
and a friend 
who may find her way to my mill sometime soon
some of her lovely paper
working into her paper with kon'nyaku and pigment
coating sheets with kon'nyaku
the lime cook
a short immersion
rinse and dry
printing blocks
and a final note:
pina spun paper, colors to dye for.
i almost jumped over the table for these treasures.
it was a good day.
making marks, making friends.