feeling all right!

i'm feeling all right!

and particularly grateful 

that this came today.

the summer HANDPAPERMAKING

with a review that i wrote 

about hiroko's amazing book Kigami and Kami-ito.

i was really happy

and honestly

a little scared, too,

when HP editor mina takahashi asked me to write this.

but i am so happy it's in print.

and proud to honor hiroko
who gave me a weekend of her precious time
teaching me paper spinning.

~~~

in today's mail came a wonderful,

colorful box

of overbeaten abaca scraps from 
helen heibert

who offered two boxes

to two artists who had creative solutions

for what could be done with them.

i'm tickled to try 
with these so much fun colors.
(i've always loved working from the scrap bin) 
and this will be especially fun with such spiffy scraps!

~~~

the last day for students was monday,

and already my wonderful t.a. lori

and i have been planning for next year.

in between, though,

we will have a nice summer break.

first thing, 

though,

is to finish my edition

NOVEMBER, A MAP

which i hope to write about here,

soon.

a new paper book

who could imagine one autumn would have

two books about shifu

published and available and perfectly 

complimenting each other?

my teacher, hiroko karuno,

has published her new book

about japanese handmade paper 

and the thread made from paper.

hiroko is a very private woman

whose relationship to japanese handmade paper

is deeply felt, understood; intimate and beautiful.

hiroko gave me permission to write 

about this jewel of a book.

it is a rich how-to book

precise and philosophical

simple yet profound.

here is an example of the precision she insists upon

the standards she sets for herself.

i remember trying hard to spin this intentionally

when i worked with her.

the book includes a wonderful frontispiece

an entire page of koshi-no-kigami-kobo, kadiode-washi.

 your fingers can dance over this amazing paper

perfect for spinning.

i found myself wanting to begin immediately 

working with some of this paper!

this is one of my favorite photographs,

a small group stripping kozo bark.

it brought me back

to sitting on my kitchen floor

stripping milkweed bast from stalks

wet from snow after winter gathering

for my first edition of milkweed paper.

i could hear hiroko's voice

in my head as i read her words.

hiroko came to shifu

from a more traditional weaving background.

so she knows dyeing and weaving thoroughly, and understands paper.

this book will be available soon, she hopes,

from the japanese paper place, sri textiles, the textile museum

in north america. for now it's still in japan, awaiting a january release.

you may find out more here.

hiroko writes: 

strong and beautiful thread comes only from strong and beautiful paper

and 

beauty from necessity lasts forever.