i love march and november

for the way the landscape opens and you can see

really see
the bones of the land.

here it means hard walking,

in november risky hiking,
(hunting season).

in march it can be mud season

or, like now, a foot or so of good snow.

i haven't been on skis this winter

mostly an arthritis in my foot issue.

but i do get out a bit and tromp in my mighty sorels.

today i collected arbor vitae (white cedar) and fern fruiting bodies

for the prints i folded, built, wrapped and cooked this afternoon.
i cut up some paper for kami-ito.

in the mail came a couple of things, this:

japanese indigo in a soft mattress of fine flax

ready for spinning

from two looms textiles

and socks.

and then naomi velasquez sent this tonight

because i'm headed to idaho to teach shifu

at the end of the month.

i'd love to meet you there!

~~~

in other news:

i have seed for the spring:

indigo and flax.

oh joy,

oh rapture.

~~~

tomorrow my what is an image class meets

to make paper...

images.

thank you all for your kind wishes for hannah and tyler.

they are feeling a bit better, a bit less shell shocked.

which makes my heart beat more easily.

after the first evening walk in ages

i gathered up some black eyed susan petals,

from my backporchpatch

and set them to soak

(maybe for ink)

in paper doings

my student todd brought me this lovely gampi/cattail paper

(an apple for the teacher, he smiled)

it's delicious,

much more subtle than the photo shows.

todd's gampi supports two little flax with lokta stitch sheets i took along to maiwa

here they are with some indigo dyed hand spun hemp

and then some walnut dunked earth pigmented sheets

on a walnut/flax/stitched sheet

there seems to be no end to the possibilities

of which i've just scratched the surface.

and then this came

oh, my.

if you've ever thought of making your own ink

you should check out this book

a touch of color on the corners entices you to open

an illustration from the book:

buckthorn ink

a green earth pigment dunked in black walnut

and then an ochre, likewise dunked

and the backside of this indigo dunked flax and lokta

a wee bit of hemp basket in making

one of my flax samplers

(there are a few of these...

nice back, don't you think?

contact printed acrhes text wove.

my class worked with drew matott and johnny lafalse

while i was at maiwa

drew overexposed

my students learning and pulp painting

how to form a sheet,

back left is johnny

each bucket a different pulp,

mostly from knitted cotton shirts

and almost black and blue pulps,

and a brand new sheet.

i came back and we all have to slow down now

and make really good sheets

after repulping half of their first abaca sheets

they are really, really attentive.

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