On a sunny, still winter's day

Oh, the delight - a frosty morning with sunshine - a perfect morning for making willow charcoal sticks. I gathered my materials: copper fire pit, a box of scrap wood, newspaper, matches and a small metal can with a lid. First I punched a hole in the lid of the can. Next I gathered green willow wands the size of my thumb. My first tingle came when the bark peeled right off - in long strips. Such a treat - it's like carving wood but without all the effort. I next cut the sticks so they fit inside the can. I got the fire going real hot (It's a great way to use up those scraps laying around the farm) and then placed the can upright in the middle of the burn. I made 3 batches  before the fire died down.  I labeled them real hot fire, medium hot fire and just coals.  I am wondering if I will noticed a difference when I use them.
I am telling you - it was FUN and primal! (only one day past the full moon)

 

 

 

Talk about the little engine that could... or maybe it's the little artist who could. I know, it's a bit ridiculous to get so excited - I mean you can buy willow stick charcoal from Wal-Mart for pennies, but there's just something about doing things from scratch.

 

Meanwhile, back in the studio... I have been working like a crazy woman. It is almost time to enter books in the Puget Sound Book Artists member exhibition. It has taken a lot of effort because until recently it just wasn't happening. I don't know, I think it was the stars - they weren't in the right alignment or something. At least I wasn't the only one that noticed things were off.

Of course there is no explanation 

which would account for "comb-over's popularity.

We have been warned for a long time about

the coming of the anti-Christ. Well, he's here!

Not only have I digressed, but I also made my blood pressure go up!

 

Anyway....

 

The first set of books I am going to enter is called Weeds.

The envelope simply a sleeve which has been sumi inked.

 

The weed prints were made on the gel plate with Charbonnel Lamp Black ink.

I love the etching-like quality of this particular ink.

The cover is Mylar so that's why it looks dull and frosty.

Book one contains the story of my relationship with weeds. A drama!

 

Project 2 is quite a bit different.

It still pertains to my year long theme -Sense of Place

and desire to utilize the resources on our farm -

the plants, the weeds, the sticks, the stones, the soil and so on.

The box is painted with the earth pigments I collected last fall.

The books inside are called Leaf and Twig. They are plaster casts of blackberry

and hazel each with their own little story.

 

 

My last entry for the exhibition is called

"Playing with Earth Pigments."

The book is a record of my experiments with the earth pigments I collected on our last two trips. The purpose was to try all of the various binders I had read about from various sources. I also wanted to, once again, learn how to do it from scratch. It is so satisfying to work with the colored pigments in the mortar and pestle, the sieve and on my little flat rock and rock mortar. I used a Coptic binding on this book. I am slowly learning how to make books that look like "normal" books.

 

 

 

I am hoping there will be time to play with charcoal tomorrow.

A New Year

Wow... perhaps it isn't good to say you fell down a hole. Obviously it has taken me time to crawl back out - months in fact. Rather than try to reconstruct time, I will just begin anew.

The new year begins with thoughts of making new art work. After all my dirt collecting on the back roads through WA, ID, MT, ND, SD, WY, OR, and CA this past summer and fall I thought it would be easy to use the materials to express the concept "Sense of Place."

 

It became apparent early on the soils collected wanted

to express their own story -

the story of land from which they came. I tried...

 

 

 

and I will keep trying, but just because you see a place

or take a photo doesn't mean

you know it deeply - down to the dirt level.

You can travel to a place, pass through it or

 immerse yourself in it for a period of time,

but unfortunately you will never "know it"

in the biblical sense of the word

unless you live on it and with it through thick and thin

 for a considerable long period of time.

Perhaps it takes generations of knowing to

understand and feel the rhythm of the land. 

I am sure this is why over half the country is moving all the time.

They are searching for their spiritual land

that was encoded before birth.

 

So, in turn I collected the soil from our own property

(we have been here 40 years now).

I felt a sense of satisfaction and knowing as I painted

 with the rich brown colors.

It was deep work.

I nearly wore my brain out in an attempt to come up

with something meaningful enough

for these special soils.

I realized I was pushing rope so I turned to play.

Rocks came to mind.

I love rocks.

The constrictions lessened... but then...duty called.

 

 

 Items were needed for the PSBA silent auction.

 

I was going to call this desk folder with sticky notes -

rock, paper and scissors. I still need to find a scissor charm.

 

 

Convenient with a natural earthy look.

 

I also wanted to share my new love - earth pigments.

This collection came from Northeastern CA.

 

 

It comes with some suggestions on types of binders to use with the pigments.

 

 

My last item -

 

Who doesn't need some Scandinavian hearts to hang on a heart shaped wreath of birch boughs for Valentine's Day?

 

Hopefully they will make some money for the organization this weekend.  

 

Alice fell down the hole

There I was hovering over this great mole hole in search of the right dirt (for making paint) when I  slipped into the other realm. I suddenly noticed mushrooms all around me. There were tall ones, skinny ones, white ones, yellow ones, orange ones and ones that looked like sponges.  The reptilian brain remembered you could make spore prints at certain times of the year. After a short internet search I was off to the pasture with my school lunch tray papered with my precious kozo paper - smooth side up.  I was glad the cat who has recently adopted me went along. It makes talking out loud more acceptable when bubbles of excitement burble out of me.

Of course this doesn't mean I didn't freak out the new neighbor. He is always watching us. When he saw me slowly make my way over the pasture "deep in search mode" he was on alert. He could not make sense out was why I was carrying a hors d'oeuvre tray and looking down at the ground. His curiosity finally got the better of him so he sent the dog over. Now he had my attention!(due to my new friend the cat) Thanks to inbreeding it was a non-issue between the species. Talk about dumb as dirt! The dog that is and his owner, possibly only a few steps behind. So, he looks at the tray and asks, "them edible?" I respond, "I have no idea. I am simply doing a photo shoot today and later I will be doing spore printing." I am still giggling at how his eyebrows touched his hairline and his mouth agap. When I said I would be using them in my artwork he was totally dumbstruck to the point of sputtering.

I can't imagine what he would say if he knew just the day before I was painting egg yolk and DIRT. I couldn't help but cackle as Yum Yum, the cat and I turned back to our searching. I wished I was wearing my black Halloween cape so I could shout - "And I make brushes out of a horse hair and feathers from birds too! Tell your little dog Toto to watch out - I liked his stiff little whiskers!" cackle-cackle.

 I KNOW, it's a bit absurd but seriously - there is beauty all around us. Just look at these beauties.

 This little bundle looks like chocolate cups filled with white chocolate and sprinkles. Farther down you can see the little eggs. Someone should use this inspiration to do a marzipan Yule log for the holidays!

 I will warn you - this type Boletes, I believe, turn to a withering pile of mush at about the 36th hour of the printmaking process. I kid you not. Future experiments will all be done in a uninhabited distant 'out building'.

 These giant ones below were discovered in the parking strip at Costco not far from the homeless encampment. I hope I didn't ruin someone's weekend plans. I think I have identified them properly as Amanita muscaria. These huge specimens are hallucinogenic, not to mention toxic. No doubt the reason they are so pretty. Can't you hear them saying pick me - pick me? They have white spores making them a little harder to capture, but we will see. Let me assure you I have no intention of eating, indulging or consuming any of these specimens. I am already crazy enough. I will coat any print specimens to assure no transmittal too.

 This little mess is a rusting experiment that I had going at the same time. I have placed paper, paper toweling, metal, tea bags, salt  and leaves into a bundle and placed into a Ziplock bag. I then put it in my press (old laminator).

I call all these little experiments - Field Study. It goes right along with my dirt study and prior to that the weed study. All of it relates to understanding the natural resources on this parcel of land and the connections between the various pieces. All in hopes of developing a better appreciation for the land and those things that live on it and in it.