Riverlark

Wading back in

2011-03-13T10:08:00.004-05:00

I've always done my best work in settings like Penland or Haystack where I can play with an idea with all the tools around me (including the board shears for cutting and trimming book board) and have unlimited time...or at least two weeks worth of time. I've also learned that I do well in a situation where others are working on similar projects around me. Someone described it as "parallel play."
The former, of course, is what makes those schools so special. And the latter is hard to find as well. But I've been spending some time over in the MCBA studios this week and finding that the quiet busyness of the studios is a perfect place for me to work intensely on my own projects.
I'm taking Jody Williams' Extreme Box Making class...again. I've had a new box project in my head for over a year and this seemed like a great way to realize it with the help of Jody's guidance. In addition to the positive feedback and support of Jody, I found that I also was really buoyed up by my class colleagues comments as well. It didn't feel like an idea that should be dismissed. Jody's own display of her "not empty boxes" triggered a small rainfall of my own ideas. So my challenge this week, as we come to our last class, is to stay focused on my original idea and not chase new idea #3 or #5.
It does feel like I'm reconnecting with something important. I'll post pictures here this week of works in progress.

Katazome love

2010-12-03T20:39:00.003-06:00

The Paper Place is having fun this month with the Great Katazome Giveaway.
To celebrate, I've loaded new images to my Flickr account, Katazome Love.

There really is no paper on earth that is more beautiful or wonderful to use!

Scatterings

2009-08-02T11:00:00.006-05:00

I'm enjoying this lazy Sunday morning and am just going to leave you with some pictures and a few links.

Jody Williams with a swan outside the gallery.

I had a wonderful drive down to Maiden Rock yesterday with a friend to see John Pearson and Earl Gutnik's new show "Bark/Bark" (open through September 6 at Swan Song Gallery). Maiden Rock is on the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin...which is really just a very wide part of the Mississippi River. As we drove through the river valley, the cloud formations were fabulous and ever-changing and my friend and I both watched in delight as the light moved across the very green fields in unexpected ways. The new art by John and Earl was breath-taking and the works complemented each other in surprising ways. A few years ago, we talked about "nutritious" friends in my leadership program; I would say that yesterday afternoon was full of delicious ones.

Earl Gutnik's textile work "Coral Branches"

And in other news:

I have a major crush on Minneapolis author Kate DiCamillo. I actually have to fight feelings of terrible jealousy around friends who know her. Marianne Combs reports that she got to see a proof of her newest book due out in September. (Kate is technically a children's author, but I don't know any adult who doesn't love her work for themselves as well.)

Minnesota Public Radio has collected a number of tributes to Michael Steinberg. You can also listen to his warm and charming voice in the number of interviews he gave over the years to MPR. The link is here.

Sometimes art gets dirty. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has to clean the gorgeous glass work by Dale Chihuly once a year. This year they showed us how they do it.

Saturday was the two year anniversary of the 35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis. I didn't drive over the bridge at all, if ever, but I drove under it at least once a week. For me, that collapse was the day that I discovered how much I loved my city and how proud I was of all the people that work for it...from the mayor to the citizens who stopped their cars and got out on the bridge to fish people literally out of the river. I can never drive under the new bridge without thinking of my city and all of the people that were changed by that one night.

Bartok and the Geranium

2009-07-26T21:28:00.007-05:00

My friend Michael Steinberg died this morning. When you first met Michael, he could seem a bit formidable. His knowledge, especially of classical music, went deep and his opinions were strong. For years I worked in classical music, but without any of the knowledge that comes from musicianship or even scholarship, and it was easy to feel intimidated around him.

But I soon learned that that intimidation was my problem. If I could get over it, I found in Michael a soul who was always curious, always passionate about helping musicians, especially young musicians and ever receptive to the always changing beauty of a classical work played in performance. He was truly generous and lived by his values.

We were at the inaugural weekend at Music at Menlo in 1992 together (with his wife Jorja Fleezanis, who has just retired as concertmaster of the Minnnesota Orchestra) and he was a regular there for six years after that. The festival has published a lovely tribute to him on their web site with special attention to the Poetry Reading Workshops he led there..workshops which were entirely unique to him.

These workshops were quite informal...a gathering of people in a semi-circle around Michael who had spread a number of photocopied poems across a closed grand piano. He would read one or two and then invite Menlo students, musicians, audience members or (in my case) radio producers to come up and choose a poem to read out loud. After we finished reading, we'd get a little gentle coaching about the text, our physical stance or the cadence in our voice...and then a chance to read again. His wife Jorja said about these workshops: "he believed that "rhythm, the gait, and the expression required to read poetry well are intimately linked to what is required to play music well." As a non-musician it was a chance for me to engage in the famous dynamic of coach and student which so many students at Menlo enjoyed with Michael.

So with great gratitude to Michael and love to his own beloved Jorja, I dedicate this poem by Dorothy Livesay, a poem that I picked up off of the grand piano at Menlo one day and learned to read out loud, thanks to Michael.

Bartok and Geranium

She lifts her green umbrellas
Towards the pane
Seeking her fill of sunlight
Or of rain;
Whatever falls
She has no commentary
Accepts, extends,
Blows out her furbelows,
Her bustling boughs;

And all the while he whirls
Explodes in space,
Never content with this small room:
Not even can he be
Confined to sky
But must speed high and higher still
From galaxy to galaxy,
Wrench from the stars their momentary notes
Steal music from the moon.

She's daylight
He is dark
She's heaven-half breath
He storms and crackles
Spits with hell's own spark.

Yet in this room this moment now
These together breathe and be:
She, essence of serenity,
He in a mad intensity
Soared beyond sight
Then hurls, lost Lucifer
From heaven's height.

And when he's done, he's out:
She leans a lip against the glass
And preens herself in light.

And the winner is...

2009-07-26T08:28:00.006-05:00

The winner of the inaugural MCBA prize is Veronika Schäpers of Tokyo, Japan. You can read her artist statement here.

The evening event celebrating the finalists at MCBA was one of the nicest evenings I've experienced there. Live music, good food (and pomegranate martinis!) and everyone dressed up in their downtown best. It's a rather amazing experience to see your friends...normally in t-shirts, jeans and ponytails now wearing heels, jewelry and even make-up! As my mother would say, we all cleaned up nicely.

4 of the 5 finalists were on hand (sadly, Veronika was not...no cheap tickets from Tokyo). The books were out of their case and each one had a handler turning pages so we could see the whole book in person. After a lovely award presentation (Artistic Director Jeff Rathermel forgot the secret envelope at his desk, but turns out he knew the winner all along), there was sparkling wine and all kinds of chocolate.

The working studios of MCBA are, as someone said, "book arts heaven" and I completely concur with that statement. But MCBA is also an exhibition space, and the organization itself is located in the building called Open Book which holds an excellent coffee shop, The Loft (an amazing organization devoted to writers) and the nonprofit press Milkweed Editions. A staircase to the second floor is designed to represent the pages of a book and on the second floor is a small performance hall where we gathered to see the books and hear the award presentation. As we moved from space to space, I was reminded how lucky we are in Minnesota to have both MCBA and Open Book and to have a space that celebrates all the aspects of the book.

The MCBA Prize

2009-07-14T20:03:00.005-05:00

I visited MCBA this afternoon to discuss the MCBA prize with MCBA Artistic Director Jeff Rathermel in preparation for an article I'm writing for Bonefolder (an e-journal for book artists). Because I came in the back door, I entirely missed the lobby exhibit of the five finalists' books. So Jeff and I walked back to the lobby and took a look at the books up close.
Capturing an artists' book through just a few images is a particular challenge. So it was epecially great to see the finalist books in person. Julie Chen's book Panorama is impressive first just in its size (in the case it is 41" across; it opens to 60"), but as is typical of her work, the size fits the message. There are no gimmicks in what she does.
Avalanche by Clifton Meador is a bit harder to grasp through the glass of the case. It has an intriguing layout and was printed offset which allows for some new possibilities in content and layout. Jan Owen's Requiem has all the beauty of a truly handmade object. The paper is from Cave Paper and the text is hand-calligraphed in gouache and ink. Bomb by Simon Eddington appears to be a classic in the tradition of woodblock layouts. Besides Julie Chen's book, I was most intrigued by Veronika Schäpers' Durs Grünbein: 26°57,3’N, 142º16,8’E. The size and format of the book are fairly standard, but she printed the book on papers which are almost luminous and so thin as to be impossible to get through a press. The book is complemented by a clear vellum cover and an acrylic box.

The really fun news is that the books will be out of the exhibit case on Saturday, July 25 when the MCBA prize is awarded. That means pages can be turned and the book truly explored. At the moment, the three jurors have been working off of images and conferencing by phone. They'll come in to Minneapolis on Friday, July 24 and see the books in person and make their final decision then.

You can see more pictures of the finalists' work here, as well as pictures of all of the books that were entered. The MCBA Prize will be given out every other year as part of the Book Art Biennial.

What happens in class

2009-07-01T08:39:00.004-05:00

I finished my mixed media class at MCBA last night with Julie Baugnet. It was four Tuesday nights and as minimal as that was, I think we were all sad to see it end. Julie is a thoughtful and inspiring teacher and as we experimented with different media, she was adept at letting us find our own way and giving us good feedback at the same time.

I think that there were about nine of us in class: 3 people that I would describe as very experienced in book arts, and 6 that were either brand new to the book arts or nearly so. We spent a few minutes at the end of the evening last night going around the room, talking about our work and any other thoughts that we had. What I found notable was that, without exception, everyone had caught the book arts bug. And the three of us that were advanced also took big steps forward in new and exciting directions. In a good class with a generous teacher (and this was absolutely one of those), students often share techniques, supplies and information as much as the instructor. Community happens very quickly. I don't know if it's that way in other fields, but it's one of the reasons that I love taking classes.

The other reason I love taking a class is that...very surprisingly, as I'm a raging introvert...I find security in the class setting to take risks in my work. This happened consistently at Penland and it happened here as well. There is something about being in a room with people working intently, talking sometimes and being able to turn to friends or the instructor for feedback that frees me up. I work hard and fast and often start finding something very good in what I'm doing. Perhaps the community of class drowns out my own inner critic (who is way harsh)...I'm not sure why it works so well for me, but I do love it when it happens.

How to fix Romantic Comedys

2009-06-20T09:12:00.002-05:00

Ok, first of all, I need to admit I love a good romantic comedy.
But the operative word is "good" and I'm thinking that the last really good one I saw is the classic "I know where I'm going" (1946, I think, tho I hasten to add I wasn't alive when it was released).
I did go see "The Proposal" last night. The two main characters have a decent chemistry on screen and there was a kernel of an interesting story buried in an otherwise very silly (stupid?) plot. It could have been such an interesting and fun movie if only it had included some of the following:

The plot device was believable. No large firm is going to let their best employee get deported without helping her from the beginning. And no firm would let that employee force another into committing a potential felony. How about 2 people getting married for mutually beneficial, but not criminal, reasons?
Let us see that the "witch" is actually really good at her job. I'm tired of flat characters that are all good or all bad. And then 100% redeemed with one realization.
Same with the good guy. He had some issues himself that were actually interesting, but just glossed over in the movie. In "Proposal" they had the pieces to have her character help his but just dumped them for a comedy bit.
Even if you have a lot of funny character ideas, you don't need to use them all. More narrative, please, less cheezy lap dances and yes, no cute dogs.
No more long chase scenes to be reunited. Boring.

Thank you for letting me vent. When are the writers going to be allowed back into the movie business?

Festschrift for Hedi Kyle

2009-06-15T17:26:00.008-05:00

Hedi Kyle, Penland, 2004

A "festschrift" is a collection of essays written in honor of an individual's work by that person's colleagues. (It's from the German fest for festival and schrift for writing, sort of a festival of written articles...a nice concept, especially when it is about one person or their work.)

I was really delighted to learn last week that a festschrift has been published for Hedi Kyle. Hedi was, until recently, the Head Conservator at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and is a founder of Paper Book Intensive. To say that she is a major influence on many book artists and binders is a significant understatement. I don't imagine that there is a single binder or artist currently working who hasn't learned from her directly or indirectly, a notion supported by the 27 contributors to the book. In this festschrift you'll find essays by Julie Chen, Carmencho Arregui, Claire Van Vliet and a number of other artists, binders and teachers.

In all my work with musicians and artists, I don't think I've ever met anyone as naturally creative as Hedi. Or as generous. Most of her original structures come from her experience and observations as a conservator. But she is also constantly folding or manipulating paper, thread and/or glue to try new things. One of her most famous book structures is called a Blizzard book, one long sheet folded into a self-bound book with pockets and pages. The book was created one morning a number of years ago when she was socked in at home by a blizzard. She spent the day folding and unfolding simply being curious, until she unexpectedly had the Blizzard book. The structure has been a staple of many of her classes and is now in the general milieu, often being taught without appropriate credit to her originality. I was at a workshop with her a few years ago and someone asked her about that problem. She simply shrugged it off with this comment: "When I teach someone one of my structures, it just means that there is room in my life for a new one to come along."

You can order the Festschrift for Hedi Kyle here. I'm thrilled that the original response was overwhelming enough for it to go into another printing.

An update: I just did a google search for Hedi and found some pictures from the presentation of the Festschrift here. She cut her hair!

Further googling: I found a wonderful audio interview with her here, as part of Steve Miller's podcasts with poets and artists.

Painted evenings

2009-06-09T10:21:00.005-05:00

Penland, 2007

I knew when I was at Penland last year that it might be the last visit for a little while. Certainly money was a factor (though I think the cost of the sessions are very reasonable), but I also had a strong sense that when it was time to travel again that another location would beckon.

Circumstances are such that there is not going to be any traveling this summer but I have decided to splurge on a class at MCBA, a class which starts this evening. I haven't yet met the instructor, Julie Baugnet, but I was drawn to the class by the beauty of her work. There is some similarity in the painterly qualities of her books and those of my Penland instructor in 2007, Laura Wait and it's a form I'm anxious to explore again. The class is formally titled "Mixed Media and the Artist's Book" and plans to "explore the realm of possibilities for creating content and working with materials such as watercolors, acrylic, pastel, collage and cut paper."

It will be wonderful to get back to these kinds of materials again...to feel them in my hands.

Stitches and Sewings for Bookbinding Structures

2009-06-06T10:58:00.004-05:00

One of the reasons I was attracted to the world of book arts was for all of the wonderful stitches that were possible. I remember something called a sewing card when I was a child...a card with connect-the-dots hole and a colorful string to weave in and out of the holes. Perhaps because I was successful with that card I felt emboldened to continue in that "field" as an adult. ;-)

I almost missed this on the book arts forum, but Betsy Palmer Eldridge and the Guild of Book Workers have generously published a wonderful document on their web site that collects sixty different techniques of sewing from the different bookbinding traditions. Originally a presentation at the GBW/CBBAG conference in Toronto in 2008, its history actually began at Paper Book Intensive in 1991 when I imagine a group of artists began to try and collect all of the ways that they knew to assemble a book using thread. (Being PBI, I also imagine that it was quite late at night and that there might have been drinking involved. They have a lot of fun at PBI!)

The diagrams are in color...each stitch is in a different color thread and there are helpful symbols for where to start and end. You can find the PDF here. There is also a version available to print out and sew together yourself, if you'd rather have a book than a handout. It's a very valuable and generous resource.

MCBA Prize for Book Arts

2009-06-06T10:33:00.006-05:00

Jan Owen

Requiem

My own Minnesota Center for Book Arts has established the MCBA Prize to "recognize book art from across the field and around the world" and named the five finalists here. The prize comes with an award of $2,000, not to mention the distinction of being the first winner of this hopefully bi-annual award. (It is being given in conjunction with MCBA's biennial.)

Simon Redington

Bomb

The intent of the award seems to be to encourage not only form and craftsmanship but also the development of content and how these three elements work together. I'm not familiar with all five finalists, but having taken a number of Julie Chen's classes, I know that she works particularly hard...both in her own work and in encouraging others...to see that her voice is understood in all aspects of her final book.

Veronika Schapers
Durs Grunbein

The question of what makes a book art is always an interesting one and I'm sure that this prize will elicit more of that discussion. What makes it successful is an even more elusive question. There are so many possible elements to a potential book: is there text? is it handwritten or is it printed with letterpress? (Some would say that the modern invention of polymer plates in printing is not the same technique as using metal type.) If the work is a single sheet of paper (as in a broadside) is it a book? I'm beginning to have my own definition of all of this, but in the meantime you can enjoy all of the submissions and the finalists' work on the link above.

Clifton Meador
Avalanche

A note to the web master at MCBA: it would be lovely if we could click on the photos and see them in a larger size on our screen.

Julie Chen
Panorama

Cloudy inspiration

2009-03-05T10:39:00.004-06:00

This has caught my imagination today. The designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have created a new sculptural fabric, called Clouds, that is made up of multiple pieces that can be both linked together and "sculpted" on their own. The photo itself is pretty delightful: who wouldn't like to carry a cloud around as camouflage some days? Maybe even a pink and orange one, like a sunset (the fabric comes in several colors). But it's the possibility of what you can do with the fabric that has made me smile. A pillow that your guests can redesign as they enjoy drinks with you? A sculpture in a child's room? A wall hanging in a studio? Coated with a sealant, could it be moved outside?
You can find more information on ordering your own cloud fabric in today's NYT.

Multiples at Walker Art Center

2009-02-27T09:32:00.004-06:00

My life has been a bit up and down lately, so I missed the opportunity to see the wonderful book arts event at the Walker last Saturday, called Multiples Mall.
But my favorite video-chronicler of the Twin Cities arts scene, 3-minute egg, caught up with them here.

Slowing down time

2009-02-26T18:28:00.004-06:00

Our local newspaper has described today's snowstorm pretty accurately as coming "with a quick, heavy thud" (and that is also, by the way, uncharacteristically imaginative writing for them). When I checked the weather site online this morning, there was a white crescent moon of storm just about to circle the Twin Cities. At noon, you literally crossed the street from no precipitation right into a curtain of snow. One estimate in the last 7 hours is 6 inches, a very fast 1 inch an hour.
At the Literacy Center this morning, there was a lot of complaining about the storm and my lunch companion muttered "I make no bones about hating winter at this time of year." But here's how I see it: We live in Minnesota and have to make peace with winter temps until late March. I would rather see fresh, white snow than a gray frozen landscape. And storms like today have a certain "event" quality. We ditch our plans for the evening and let the wind and snow gently remind us to slow down just a bit.

Walker Librarian on Artists Books

2009-01-25T10:36:00.003-06:00

Walker Art Center librarian Rosemary Furtag is really the spiritual hero behind the current Text/Messages exhibit of artists' books at the Walker. Local media outlet Twin Cities Daily Planet spent a few minutes interviewing her on her work and her definition of an artist's book.

And have I gone myself to see this exhibit? Shamefully, no. I'm scoping out the next Free Sunday (Walker's admission is $10...trop cher! ..too dear!.. as we said in French class.)

Hoar frost vs rime frost

2009-01-23T08:42:00.005-06:00

Rime frost (L) and hoar frost (r)

Once I get out of the city, I spend about 20 minutes on the freeway before turning onto a smaller highway that takes me through lake country to get to Franconia. It's this last section of the drive that I enjoy the most every morning. Lakes, farmland, small towns...it's always interesting.
Yesterday, I drove right into dense fog. You could see it rolling over you and as I went up and down the small hills, it would grow less thick and then surround the car once again. And every single thing in the landscape was lined out with frost: fence, grass, twig, and bark. The word "rime" came back to me....rime frost....and I wondered if that was the correct term for this particular frost or if it was "hoar" frost.

I've done a little research this morning on the different kinds of frost. It turns out that I was correct. Rime is often the result of dense fog, caused by millions of water droplets in the air freezing on contact with a surface that has been cold for a very long time. In northern England, they call it "snowcrumb." Both terms are lovely. Hoar frost, if you're interested, is spikier than rime...more like thorns and long crystals. It occurs on cold clear nights when the air becomes warmer than the trees and fences. Now I am somewhat knowledgeable about frost.

Coop at Minnesota Center for Book Arts

2009-01-03T23:50:00.002-06:00

I just discovered this lovely video on MCBA's artist cooperative program...and its participants. Nicely done, it really shows the arts center in action. (There's a weird 2 minutes at the end on another art exhibit...perhaps it needs a bit of editing?)

New Year's Inspiration

2009-01-01T19:10:00.009-06:00

I've been looking on and off today for an New Year's offering for you.
Finally, I remembered the video that has been watched over 15 million times on YouTube...and for good reason.
Where the Hell is Matt is about 4 1/2 minutes of one guy dancing....all over the world. His geeky dance steps are repeated over and over again: in Paris, in India, in Africa, in the ocean, in space. And everywhere he went he found adults and children who were happy to dance with him.
Is there any more optimistic message than this: given the chance people will always dance together.

PS. The gorgeous voice you hear is Palbasha Siddiqui, a 17 year old second generation Bengali of Bangladeshi origin from Minneapolis. The words are a poem titled Gitanjali (Stream of Life), by Rabindranath Tagore. Here is a translation of what she is singing:

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves
of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death,
in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

You can find more about Matt's adventure here.
And if you have a truly high high-speed connection, watch the video in gorgeous HD by clicking the link in blue just below the video.

Birds vs. Squirrels

2008-12-26T09:26:00.003-06:00

photo credit Briana Lee, 2008

I live just a few blocks from the Mississippi River. It's a neighborhood rich with trees, birdfeeders and generous neighbors. When I first moved into my house, I was feeling particularly poor and was focused on paying the mortgage every month. That Christmas I received a check from my parents...not the kind that Paris Hilton might get...but enough to allow me to have a little fun. I chose to use it on a few things to make life in my home just a bit better, including a squirrel-proof bird-feeder for outside my dining room window.
That feeder has held up remarkably. Situated in the midst of several lilac bushes, the feeder is visited from dawn to dusk by sparrows, juncos, chickadees, and two pair of cardinals. When the sun is shining, the male cardinal glows in the tree like a ruby.
And every day the neighborhood squirrels make another pass at trying to figure out how to access the food.
Yesterday my niece was here for Christmas breakfast and we had a nice time watching the activity around the feeder. The cardinals showed up and garnered some applause. And of course, the squirrels. At 9, she's actually turning into a quite a good photographer. She provided some nice documentation on the tenacity of the squirrels, Christmas day.

photo credit, Briana Lee 2008

The Christmas groove

2008-12-23T11:17:00.003-06:00

I'm using a picture from last year's blog, but I'm happy to report that the vintage 1979 beater is still going! Of course, the true test is tomorrow's annual baking of the secret family recipe for Orange Cookies. In all my reading (and eating!) of Christmas cookies, I've never seen anything like this one. It's light and lovely and fragrant with orange...and takes forever to make. It also uses 4 cups of flour...a real challenge for my old beater.
In addition to the family orange cookies, I've made 3 new recipes. We'll have to see how they go over. I've browsed Gourmet and NYTimes for recipes and printed some out. But even as I collect them in a binder, I miss the history of a shared recipe. The recipe for orange cookies is in my Aunt's hand, which is scary-similar to my late Grandmother's. The tradition of recipe cards with "from the kitchen of" printed on them is one that I miss. I think the new brown sugar ginger crisp cookie is one I'll make again..and I never would have found it without being able to browse the Gourmet web site, but I do miss the spots and stains...and even difficult handwriting...of shared recipes from family and friends.

Snow and show

2008-12-20T13:50:00.004-06:00

I was planning on a visit to the Walker today to see their new artist's books exhibit Text/Messages but the snow is coming down too hard to go anywhere. (6" snowfall by evening is one prediction.) It's a lovely day to stay in, wrap packages and start Christmas baking.
Instead I can post some links to reviews and articles on the show:
StarTribune
links to Walker blogs here and here

MCBA's 20th annual Winter Book

2008-12-19T09:08:00.003-06:00

For 20 years, Minnesota Center for Book Arts has produced a Winter Book...a collaboration between an author, printer and the book arts community. This year's edition is called Winter Ink and features the poetry of (recently NEA-d...that is, he just got a grant!) Bryan Thao Worra.
My favorite way of staying current on Twin Cities arts and culture is through 3-Minute Egg. Here's their wonderful video of the Winter Book launch party. Bryan says correctly that most artists are used to working alone and that the Winter Book process encourages trust between all the collaborators that the final book will be a thing of meaning (and, I might add, done on time!).

I dream in Japanese (paper)

2008-12-16T12:03:00.005-06:00

With a nod to Green Chair Press, I've now discovered that there is an amazing store in Canada for all the gorgeous Japanese papers I love! And not only that, but The Paper Place is running a contest on their site...the winner to get an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of every Chiyogami paper they have.
Really, I try and be a generous person in real life, but under normal circumstances I may not have shared this information, believing that the fewer people that know about it, the better my chances of winning. But smart people that they are, they have offered me more chances to win if I post a note on this blog about their contest...so here it is! Good luck to you and wish me luck as well. I think if I won I would sit at home all day and spread them all around me and never stop looking at them!

Walker Art Center celebrates their book collection

2008-12-15T21:18:00.003-06:00

Starting this Thursday through April 19, our wonderful Walker Art Center is bringing into the light of day their collection of books by artists. Text/Messages: Books by Artists brings pieces from the Walker's collections into the same exhibit with the books by artists collected by the Walker's librarian, Rosemary Furtak. "Even in today’s digital age, artists’ continued engagement with books—as medium, material, and subject—is evidence, say Engberg and Furtak, that this is an area of artistic invention alive with ideas and possibilities."
Walker is also sponsoring 3 free workshops in conjunction with the exhibit:
January 8 and 15: TXT IMGE BK GNR8TR (a workshop on texting and the book)
January 22: Making a Traditional Artist's Book
January 29: Odd Materials: Make an Out-of-the-Ordinary Artist's Book

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-27T08:48:00.003-06:00

Sorry, friends, for my absence. I had hoped to make weekly posts here but I've found myself letting go (temporarily) of a few things as I make the transition back to working woman. I wish I could share those stories with you....they're good ones.

I took a moment to go back to my Thanksgiving post last year. It was the end of a momentous year in my life and one that I'll never forget. In fact, it will probably get a name like "B.C." or "A.D" in the Roman calendar. I was a little emotional about all the goodness I had discovered in my world, but even a year later, it's still all true.

This year, my gratitude has bloomed out a little more. I have a job, and just that simple fact is something to be deeply grateful for. And it's a good job for me. My family has welcomed home one of its members and we're so glad to have him. My friendships have deepened and I'm excited by the new things that my friends are doing. I love my city even more now that I'm friends with its mayor. I'm sad that gocco has stopped making supplies but happy that Wet Paint and Japanese Paper Place seem to be doing well. Above all, I'm unbelievably happy that we have a new leader for our country who has already started doing his job even though it's not his until January 20.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Breaking rules, again

2008-11-03T07:39:00.002-06:00

Bruce Springsteen meets Obama's daughter Sasha.

I don't care if I said "no politics" on this blog, I get just teary thinking about what could happen tomorrow.

New Sculpture at Franconia

2008-10-24T10:15:00.004-05:00

I'm breaking my self-imposed pledge to not discuss work on this blog, but for a good reason I believe.
Last weekend, Franconia took delivery on an amazing sculpture by artist Mark di Suvero. The piece, called "Johnny Appleseed" was at Chicago's Millenium Park for a few years and now resides at Franconia. With the good karma that Franconia seems to have, a reporter/producer for the local paper just happened to come by the Park with his son while the sculpture was being installed and shot this video.

The sculpture is really beautiful sitting in the Park. Even though the trees are done with their color displays, it's still worth visiting the Park!

Pumpkin carving=paper cutting

2008-10-24T09:47:00.004-05:00

I have to admit that Halloween is not my holiday. But I love seeing what other people do and how the holiday inspires them. (The only exception to this is the blow-up decorations on people's lawn. They creep me out, and not in a good way.) This video caught my eye, certainly because of this David's talent, but also because it seems like pumpkin carving uses the same eye and concepts of paper cutting.

I wonder if Beatrice Coron celebrates Halloween? That's a pumpkin that I'd love to see.

Road to Heavens Above at Penland, 2008
Beatrice Coron

List

2008-10-19T17:34:00.006-05:00

A pair of columnists in my local paper got tired of talking about the election so, on a positive note, published a list of their favorite things. I'm having a little trouble getting the energy together (blame it on the new job) for full posts, but I thought I could tackle the same kind of list.
So in a celebratory spirit over Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama*, here's my list:

Emerson String Quartet
Weekend to-do lists
Fall
Minnesota Literacy Center
Mad Men
Dunn Bros coffee
Midtown Greenway bridge
The board shear at Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Vera at Wet Paint
my MacBook
Helpful salespeople
Minnesota cornfields
Walter Mondale
Bruce Springsteen
Spoonbridge and Cherry in the Walker Sculpture Garden
Ngon Vietnamese Bistro
Open Book and its book-like stairway
Obama signs on my block
Maira Kalman
New York Times
Ultra fine point Sharpies in all the colors
Jorja Fleezanis playing anything
Tiny cupcakes at Lucia’s bakery
Target
Salsa Lisa

*oops, I promised not to talk about the election. My bad!

The Twin Cities Arts Seen

2008-10-15T19:34:00.002-05:00

"The Twin Cities arts seen" is the 5-word description for a great new media blog called 3 Minute Egg. Host/producer Matt Peiken visits some of the events and openings around the Twin Cities for us and lets us know what's going on...all in 3 minutes.
I first found the blog when he did a post on Franconia Sculpture Park, and in the last few weeks, he's visited the Twin Cities Book Festival and the opening exhibition for the Jerome Fellowship Artists at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Watch here if you want to see a book installation that you can walk through.
I'm enjoying his post purely from an audience perspective but I'm also excited about what he's doing from a media perspective. It's getting harder and harder to find arts coverage and Matt serves it up in just the right way. The videos are nicely done, have a sense of fun and are just 3 minutes. And who doesn't have time for that?

Is it love if it's a machine?

2008-10-05T15:56:00.003-05:00

Like most love stories, I wasn't even looking for it. But when I saw it, I knew immediately it was the answer to so many of my problems: dog hair, sand, and dry leaves.
Bella is the shaggy dog that I share my life with. I adore her and don't even mind the dog hair. And I've learned to live with the bits of dry leaves she brings in with her at this time of year. I'd wait until the weekend and then assemble broom and dustpan and sweep up each room and the stairs. It was always awkward and never a perfect job and the broom would have to be cleaned afterwards of the dog hair entangled in its brush. I couldn't use a vacuum because of dog hair getting tangled in the rollers.
But just a few weeks ago, I saw the Dyson "Root 6" and thought, "if it works like it looks, my problems are solved." And it does. This baby sucks up anything. You hold it in your hand like a giant ray gun, pull the trigger and it sucks up sand, leaves, dog hair, anything small. You can run it along the corners of your floor and get all the stuff that sits in the cracks. And because it's cordless, you can go anywhere with it. My car is clean. Both sets of stairs are free of dog hair. I can even suck up spilled coffee grounds in the burners of the stove.
Of course, like any love story, there is a problem. Its charge only lasts 6 minutes and then it stops. But the truth is, I often don't need much more time than that. And now, instead of waiting until the weekend to haul out broom and dustpan, I just grab my super-gun-sucker and quickly suck up the dead leaves of the day. I think the relationship is going to last.

Enjoying genius

2008-10-04T10:47:00.003-05:00

I thought I had reached a sort of plateau in my relationship with Apple. My laptop is humming along happily; I love my iTouch and its new applications, but I had been feeling like we might have stopped growing together (Apple and I). Then one night idling around on iTunes, I discovered the new "genius" feature. After allowing iTunes to see what's in your library (by clicking "update genius" in the Store menu), you select a song in your library and it finds 24 other songs from your own library that make a great playlist for you...often in a completely unexpected way.
I've built a couple of playlists that I enjoy, but the genius button has found items in my library that I've forgotten about...or forgotten what they might sound like combined with other songs. Genius is a strong word, but this is pretty close. It creates the list, you can edit it if you see something horrible, and then save it to your iTunes library for your iPod or burning to a CD.
Apple is rather genius-like as well, as they're happy to "suggest" new music for your genius playlist, which you can buy from iTune...much like the Amazon "you might enjoy this" suggestions when you order a new book. But it's easy to ignore if you want, and especially if your own music library has become rich and diverse.
Apple, I'm sorry I doubted you.

Everyone's printing on lokta

2008-09-22T18:29:00.010-05:00

Lokta is one of my favorite papers. I've always loved the deep and varied colors it comes in: everything from a glorious garnet red to sea green. And it is easy to glue...it doesn't curl up and get nasty the way that some machine-made papers do. (I like to say that it behaves itself.) The paper is handmade in the mountains of Nepal from the inner bark of the lokta bush. Lokta is one of the strongest paper fibers, and since new growth regenerates quickly it provides a renewable resource.

Just this season, there is a whole new batch of lokta papers coming out with some great silk-screen designs. Paper Source (which does their own designs, I believe) has these two fun and funky prints:

Note to Paper Source...I love your new batik lokta as well, but not the color.

Wet Paint has a new assortment as well. (And yes, the picture was taken of paper brought home from the store!)

And Paper Mojo has some Japanese-themed loktas which are very trendy, but still lovely.

One of the most well known manufacturers of lokta is Lama Li, a firm in France that produces wonderful designs. Everytime I visit their web site (you have to get a password from them) I wish there was a way for all of their gorgeous papers to get to the U.S. It almost makes me want to get in the paper distribution business!

Konnyaku

2008-09-21T17:54:00.010-05:00

Wet Paint invited me to do a demo for them on konnyaku starch and I had a blast. One of my favorite things to do when I'm feeling low is to go and look through their paper folders. (I always tell them that they should serve beer on Friday night and it would be a nearly perfect place.) So it was an incredible thrill to go behind the paper counter and talk to my fellow customers.

Konnyaku is a starch made from the root of Devil's Tongue, a plant that is a member of the philodendron family, and is widely available in Japan and China. Papers treated with konnyaku become stronger and more flexible. Wet Paint buyer Ann Snowden shared the demo with me and we both had experimented with a number of papers to see how it worked. Any paper that had long fibers (most Japanese and the Nepalese loktas, for example) responded really well. Short-fibered papers, like most American machine-made, became a little more flexible but didn't seem to gain any strength from the starch.

A small paper purse stitched out of paper and a few samples of paper before and after being treated with the starch.

We had a lot of questions about how to use it; I think it's simplicity was almost puzzling to people. Really, it's just brush it on the paper (both sides), let dry, use. Crumpling at some point makes it flexible but that can be done before, during or after. My preference is to brush the starch on the paper and when it gets damp dry, to crumple it up. It's such a great product; there's not much that can go wrong. Even clean up is easy: just soap and water.

Paper prepared with konnyaku starch drying in my kitchen.

Konnyaku is quite economical. One small teaspoon of the powder makes up a little over a cup of the starch and it goes a long way.

Ann ran a couple of pieces of the prepared papers through the sewing machine...you can see here how beautiful the result was. I liked the starch for strengthening paper that I use in box joins or joints. I don't have a picture here, but it's possible to smooth out the paper flat again in gluing but have a much stronger join because of the starch. Japanese Paper Place owner and washi enthusiast, Nancy Jacobi, wrote me that "One artist, Loree Ovens, here in Toronto creates etchings on washi, crumples them up with konnyaku, then flattens them so it gives this wonderful texture after the artwork is printed."

The starch is available from Japanese Paper Place and Wet Paint. Currently Wet Paint has small portions of just 3 teaspoons (enough for 3 cups of starch) made up to sell so that you can try it without a big investment.

September, this golden month

2008-09-13T08:30:00.008-05:00

I do love this month. I don't know a single person who doesn't have that "back-to-school, let's start all over again, this is really the new year" feeling in September. And it's doubly so for me this year, with my new position at Franconia Sculpture Park.

As per my self-imposed restrictions on blogging, I won't be talking much about the Park. (A reminder, my blogging rules are: No jobs, family or politics*...though that last one is so-o-o-o-o hard right now!!) I can say that I just have to break into a great big smile when I step out of the car at the beginning of my work day. You just never know what you're going to see that's new on the grounds. My "to do" list is long and the "someday" list is even longer, but I do hope to use Flickr, YouTube and other sites to allow others to see what I get to see every day.

I have been so distracted lately with my new work and other news (cough, Sarah Palin, cough) that it's hard for me to focus on anything. So in that spirit, let me just post about a few things that have caught my ADD-like attention lately:

These new labels from Paper Source just fill my heart with delight. They've priced them pretty high though: 8 labels for almost $5. Still, I might have to pick up one or two packets....there's nothing like getting a beautiful envelope in the mail.

BookGirl is on the board of a fine organization in Asheville, NC called Interlude Editions. They are holding a fund raiser this month to support their next artist-in-residence and are holding a raffle for this amazing collaboration. She writes about it here and also has a link to how you can purchase tickets. Asheville is in the heart of some fine book-making territory and participating artists in the collaboration include Dan Essig, Margaret Cogswell, Matt Liddle and Frank Brannon.

I don't work with leather much but I thought that this book by German artist/blogger Tulibri was beautiful in its simplicity. The best part? She made the cover from a pair of leather pants that someone gave her, even incorporating the pants seam into her front cover. Ingenious! She blogs in German and English...thank goodness!

Finally, I'll be doing a demo next Friday night (September 19) at my one of my favorite places in all of the world: Wet Paint Art on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. They've asked me to experiment with a Japanese paste called Konnyaku. The paste is a starch made from a root. When the starch is used on papers, they become so strong and flexible that they can be used as fabric. So that's this weekend's work (preparing for the demo)...I'll post some of my results here later in the week.

*Ok, I have to break this rule. The rumors are strong that Tina Fey will be playing Sarah Palin on tonight's premier of Saturday Night Live. If true, that is just excellent!

And now for the transition

2008-09-04T19:35:00.003-05:00

The subtitle of my blog is “book arts, dogs, gardens, and transitions” and I’m afraid I haven’t served the last two items well on this blog. But I can say now that I’m in the middle of a new transition: I’m excited to have taken a job working with an wonderful group of people at Franconia Sculpture Park, just outside of the Twin Cities. I’ll be working on the administrative side while their Artistic Director keeps the artists supported on the large-scale sculptures that they build right on site in the park.

I’m excited about many aspects of the job. The park has a bit of that “Penland” feel in that there is creative work going on all the time. I’m looking forward to learning more about the materials and tools involved in big structures (I know that there is a blue-painted crane at the park and I’ve heard rumors of a pink fork-lift) and how a sculptor goes from studio-size work to really, really big sculptures. But my responsibilities will include keeping the money going in and going out in the right ways and working with the rest of the staff to help introduce the work of Franconia to more people. It’s not impossible that I could start a blog on the web site. In the meantime, you can search “Franconia” on Flickr and see some wonderful sculptures built in the park over the last 10 years.

After leaving my last job, I made the decision to take a full year off from work...an incredible opportunity for which I’ll never stop being grateful. I had the chance to rediscover my hometown, build a community with my book arts friends, and find meaningful volunteer work teaching ESL to immigrants through the Minnesota Literacy Council.

This isn’t a farewell post by any means. I like blogging too much! It does feel like this is a big enough transition that it deserves a mention, though. But maybe I’ll change the subtitle a bit. Perhaps something like “book arts, dogs, and gardens I love.” (You’ll have to come visit the Franconia site for updates on big sculptures!)

Big Ideas, Little Art

2008-08-25T19:11:00.003-05:00

My favorite diminutive book artist, Jody Williams, has finally launched her own web site. Jody is fairly tiny herself, but the diminutive adjective mostly refers to the scale in which she works. Small is the first thing you notice about her books and boxes, but I don't think it's the most important thing in what she does. For me, it's her extraordinary ability to combine text, visual images and structure into a conceptual whole that makes her one of my favorite book artists.
Some of my personal favorites from her gallery (photos used by permission):

Science Experiments (1997)

Science Experiments is designed to be similar to the 3 boards so many of us set up for our 7th grade science projects. But this book captures with gentle humor the many unusual observations of the 5th grade class she observed.

Condensed Creatures (2000)

An accordion permanently attached to the inside of this tiny, tiny box (1 1/2 inches!!) and printed with creatures from her own imagination. The yellow and white check paper on the outside began life as chiyogami from Japan, but Jody ran it through her etching press to add letters and symbols, making it even more integral to the content in the box.

Some Specimens (2005)

Perhaps my favorite of all her books. Some Specimens contains sketches, poems and an actual sea shell from her trip to Ireland in 2005. Yes, the book is only 2 3/4" by 2 1/4" but she has managed to encapsulate the tiniest shells imaginable in the cover of the book. (Her secret is microscope slide covers.)

Jody was the first person to receive the Minnesota Book Artist Award this year (and deservedly so!) and for the occasion she actually wore a dress (I'm glad it was documented as I would never have really believed it.) She is currently on the faculty at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and has a loyal following of students who would take any class she came up with from her at MCBA. Thomas O'Sullivan has written a wonderful essay on her work...well worth reading!

The Exhibitionists

2008-08-22T09:19:00.003-05:00

Carmencho Arregui (she of the fabulous Crossed Structure bindings) has posted a fascinating new section to her web site entitled The Exhibitionists. Using some ingenious folds and rolls she demonstrates a number of ways to exhibit flat art or images.

Commissioned work

2008-08-22T08:46:00.008-05:00

I'm lucky to have picked up a few commissions this summer. So far I enjoy that way of working: I know the individual is excited to have the piece (or pieces), they understand the work and time that goes into the box or book so the price is fair and it's a great motivator for me.
A friend brought her daughter over a few weeks ago to see my Penland work and she asked me to make two boxes: one for her daughter and one for her daughter's best friend. They chose paper that has the same pattern but two different colors and wanted the box structure with the "secret page." For the secret part of the box, she sent me an absolutely adorable picture of the two girls, totally best friends! It was so fun to make (her daughter loved it) and it gave me a chance to work on the secret page structure a bit more and improve the hinge.

She also asked for a journal for her husband to celebrate their anniversary. We went into my paper stock and she chose some great lokta paper for the cover and a print of bugs for the fly leaves (the book block is a lined paper). I'm not sure I ever would have thought of that combination, but I really love how it turned out (another fun thing about doing commissioned work!). The structure is a Belgian Secret Binding. Since the book is quite tall (8" high) I increased the number of times that the cover threads ran through the book block threads (the "secret" in the Belgian Secret Binding) to increase the book's overall stability.

A small but important detail: A few weeks ago I was teaching at MCBA and one of my students used the beautiful deckle edge of her lokta paper as a design element in her work. In my mind that deckle edge is one of the loveliest parts of the paper but I usually cut it off when I'm working (generally to get a "square" edge). For this book, I used the deckle on the front and back covers and gave a mental thanks to my student for reminding me how much I love that part of the paper.

Counting to Four

2008-08-15T23:07:00.001-05:00

I never get tired of Sesame Street. Who writes these lines? ("Chickens just back from the shore.")

Brass box making angle

2008-07-30T10:00:00.003-05:00

I've had a dormant shop at Etsy for a few months. But now I'm sorting through some things in my studio that I'm not using anymore and will be posting them in the shop. This angle is wonderful for box and book making...and hard to find. (I'm only selling it because...for some reason...I have two!)

Font humor

2008-07-29T17:37:00.002-05:00

(TOH to Sassy Art Goddess)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

More boxes, not mine

2008-07-28T15:25:00.002-05:00

Little Paper Bird is a boxer (new term!) after my own heart. I see these little gems and I want to make some for me as well as all the rest I have sitting on my dining room table!
Someday I'll have to rent a storage space and then I can just store all the boxes I want.

Stitched stone

2008-07-27T08:44:00.005-05:00

Working with paper and books is really only a breath away from working with fabric and thread; there's a huge common space that's shared by the two crafts. So I subscribe to FiberArts magazine to see what's going on in the world of textile arts. (I always wish for better writing and more photos, but it's still a worthwhile publication.)

The current issue contains a small article about Clyde Olliver, a British artist who embroiders stones. The concept alone is wild, but the actual work takes my breath away. It's one of those things that I could stare at forever. I quite literally want to have one of his stones in my house.
He was awarded a grant from the British Embroiders Guild a year ago, and as part of the grant, he kept a blog for a short period. He's stopped writing, but I'm glad that the blog is still available, even if it's not current. It's a small window into his work and method. One post in particular describes how he works with the slate flakes. I'm not going to quote from it...it feels rather spiritual...but I hope you'll click through and read it.
He also has a photostream of his work on Flickr.

Big gardens and big bugs

2008-07-25T09:39:00.008-05:00

A friend and I took a walk last night through the Dowling Community Gardens, which are now at their peak. Bella and I usually make the gardens a destination on most of our walks since I'm doing so little gardening of my own this summer. They get full sun and lots of attention from the various gardeners, so it's really fun to see how fast things grow (and how big they get!). But I haven't taken pictures for awhile...I'm guessing that there may be over 200 individual garden plots and each is as unique as their gardener.

Oh yes, and the bug? This big guy was hanging out on my hallway floor yesterday. I expected to see bugs of all sorts at Penland, but we really just have spiders and mosquitoes in Minnesota.

Visit AskHayLee

2008-07-20T19:36:00.002-05:00

If you'd like some good advice about dogs, problems at school or with your friends, I hope you'll visit the blog AskHaylee! She'll be glad to help you and she's very cool!!

Pasting or Gluing

2008-07-14T21:39:00.002-05:00

I've just discovered that Shepherds Bookbinders in England (also associated with Falkiner's wonderful store) has started a blog for their products. One post has a very good description of glues and pastes and the best uses for all the various types of adhesives. A mundane subject but unless you are only stitching books, you're going to be using an adhesive at some point. Everyone I know uses glue (and paste) differently. I love rice paste for Japanese papers but I have colleagues who won't even consider using it. But every once in awhile, it's good to see what's out there and try something different.

Trees

2008-07-14T18:02:00.008-05:00

I'm coming up on my 7th anniversary in this house and I still love living here. But every time I have to mow the lawn, I toss mild curses at the enormous tree that grows in the middle of the back yard. Its root system has chewed up the back lawn and mowing is like pushing a machine over a broken up parking lot with tufts of grass growing in the cracks. Estimates of the tree's age vary from 90 to 25, but it is so large that two people on either side could not touch hands.
Still I love trees and I particularly like how many my neighborhood has. In the last week or two the Dutch Elm Tree Inspector "H" has been through the area and several lovely trees have an orange circle around them and the letter "H", which means that their time is now coming to an end. It never ceases to amaze me how different a place looks when a tree is gone.

My neighbors have been trying to decide what to do with a tree in their back yard that is clearly dying. They've decided to have it "topped" tomorrow, meaning only the top, dead branches will be taken off. I'm afraid the tree is really not in good shape, but I think I can understand the difficulty of taking down an entire tree.

This afternoon when I pulled up in front of my house, I realized that the lovely shade in my front yard was actually coming from the enormous (and healthy) tree in my own back yard. So no more curses (or at least only ones under my breath). I really do love my big tree.

Remembering

2008-07-13T12:00:00.004-05:00

I have wonderful neighbors, who among many kind acts, like to take care of my dog while I'm gone. They had Bella with them for the two weeks that I was at Penland, so an appropriate thank-you gift had to be found for them. Their daughter is keeper of the orangutans at Como Zoo and they've enjoyed being "grandparents" to the new baby born there recently. Coincidentally at Penland, one of my studio colleagues brought some Malaysian money for us to use in our boxes...and one bill features...yup, an orangutan. Perfect to feature on the outside of a box to store photos.

I didn't have time to make up their box until I got home, but it was good practice to see if I remembered all that I learned with Julie. Whew! I did. The box is a 3-sided tray, large enough to hold 4"x6" photos with a wrap case and a magnet closure.

Useful tools

2008-07-13T09:19:00.006-05:00

One of the great benefits of a long workshop is seeing what tools your colleagues love and use. I made a short list of items to add to my toolbox when I came home from Penland:
* a small plastic jar for PVA. I have a large container of PVA, but it's much easier to use in small amounts. I often use a small dish to hold an hour or two's worth of PVA, but it's often either not enough or too much and I end up letting it dry up. A small jar with a lid is the perfect solution.
*a bead caliper. Julie Chen used the caliper to measure covering materials and book board for the fold gaps in our wrap cases, but I like it as well for measuring the depth of a book block to make a spine.
*a "magic" eraser. Ok, it's not really magic, but it is absolutely necessary to keep on hand when you're using book cloth and glue. There's always a tiny spot that shows up on the fabric, no matter how careful you are and a rubber cement pick-up eraser does a good job of taking care of it.
*more key stock. I have no idea what the original use of key stock is, but if you go into any hardware or hobby store, you'll find a display of brass stock in different widths. The flat pieces in 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" and 1" measures are invaluable for quick measurements. Generally the price is less than $5, though Michael's has now figured out the value and are selling a packaged 1/2" measure for $10! The hobby store display also offers stock that is "cubed" (my word for equal measurements on all four sides) and is great for measuring the gap in your case wrapped boxes.

We used magnets in many of our boxes and I really liked the supply I brought along with me from K&J magnets...so wonderfully tiny and powerful. Instead of trying to match up magnets and polarities on each side of a closure as I had tried previously, Julie suggested using tiny, flat pieces of steel on one side of a closure (covered by paper or cloth) and a magnet on the other side (also covered). That way the closure always works, even if your box measurements are off by a hair. The same company that provides brass stock also sells very thin steel sheets. I understand it can be difficult to cut...the clerk recommended a metal blade in a jig saw; Julie uses a slug cutter in her typesetting shop. Good old super glue is all that's needed to glue the metal or magnet to your book board.

Celebrating the Second: 15,000 Bottle Rockets

2008-07-04T08:33:00.004-05:00

The award for "most fired-up," a glass firecracker made in the glass studio. (You can see "most patriotic" next to it.)

Penland knows how to throw a Fourth of July celebration, except they do it on the Second. Or at least this year they do. That's because we're all packing up today (the Fourth) and the scholarship auction was last night (the third). So on Wednesday, we celebrated our country's independence in a display that I'll never forget.

The dancing cicadas (Penland Director and Deputy Directors)

It started with the Penland parade. A chance for any studio, family or Penland neighbor to show off...well, whatever they wanted. We had "Veterans for Peace," "choo-choo Oliver" (parents towing a child in a decorated wagon), "Dancing Cicadas" (the school's director and co-director), and many, many more. I don't think any of us will forget the glass making studio working on creating a large object in their van and pulling out...a watermelon (real). Various studios had created awards and they were given out at the ice cream social that followed the parade.

Clay studio gives us "I'm a little teapot"

But wait, we're not done yet! Penland has its own fireworks tradition beautifully organized by the ground's maintenance crew. You can tell it's got to be the best part of their job description: Keep Penland grounds and building in working order, produce outstanding fireworks display on Fourth of July.

The bonfire on the knoll preceding the fireworks.

After ice cream, blankets were spread on the hill and we watched a great fireworks display. Since they were being shot off on the meadow's knoll only 3000 feet from us, they filled our entire field of vision...wonderful. The finale is a Penland tradition: 15,000 (yes, thousand) bottle-rockets thrown on the fire and set off at one time. Words and pictures can not do justice to the spectacle.

Final Boxes

2008-07-03T15:31:00.003-05:00

As I'm getting ready to ship boxes and we're all getting ready to clean the studio, I've had a few minutes to snap pictures of my final boxes. Next week when I'm home, I can post pictures of my colleagues' work on Flickr.

The black box is a cigar box...ostensibly a tray with a lid that is attached. But this one is done in the manner of a real cigar box, with a lid that fits inside the side walls (you can see it best in the photo of the box with the lid up).

The "fall apart" box was very fun to do. It looks like a simple box, but when you remove the lid, all four sides fall down. Terrific if you have an object to display inside!

The culmination of our work this week was a collaboration with the print studio. Our group made a portfolio box for ourselves and one for a print student. While each box was the same size, we all did our own interpretations of the theme. (The inside of my portfolio uses an off-cut from the print studio of a collograph.) In return they did a portfolio of prints to fit inside our boxes. The exchange was yesterday and the results were spectacular.

Yellow Box

2008-07-01T08:01:00.004-05:00

If you happen to have a problem while you're at Penland, chances are the staff at the Yellow Box can help you. The box hangs from the ceiling in the meal hall (decorated, of course, in glitter) and is staffed at lunch, breakfast and dinner. Last night got quite cold, so I asked the box for a blanket this morning, and "poof," I got one!
It's also the place to check out the schedule for the day (and if you really want to the know the date, that's there, as well).
Today's schedule:
*7 am yoga
*8 am breakfast
*12:30 lunch
*6:15 pm dinner
*7 pm laughter yoga
*8 pm slides with the glass and wood instructors
*9 pm "cheeseburger" demo: the glass studio has been producing large food objects (powdered donuts, hot dogs) and it sounds like we're invited to watch a giant cheeseburger being made out of glass.
Another normal day at Penland.

PS It turns out that it's also Indigo's birthday, so we had cake for lunch. Who is Indigo? I really have no idea, but I liked her cake.

A Warren of Boxes

2008-06-29T20:43:00.007-05:00

The finished boxes are beginning to line up now in a very satisfying way. We didn't have demonstrations this weekend but everyone had enough to do to keep us busy and still allow a few hours away from the studio for visits to other studios, reading or naps.

I did two versions of a puzzle box, or Jacob's Ladder. The one on the right (blue) is the more usual version. The black box on the left is actually made up of two trays...though I know it's difficult to see because of the monochromatic colors.

I came into the studio this morning with an idea in my head...something about trying to create a hidden page on the top of a box and using a magnet to be sure that the page stayed closed. I created a model out of mat board to see where problems might exist and then did a full box with a hidden "page" on top of the lid. A tiny magnet is embedded under the bird illustration so it snaps closed. So far, no one who has handled the box without knowing about the page has found it. The question we're talking about in the studio is whether to provide a clue on the box, or simply let it be.

The final box here has been our most challenging. It's 3 trays on a wrap case which wind up and close tight with a magnet. As each tray unrolls, it's covered by the top of another tray. I think each of us has had success in the end with the box, but there have been many stressful moments along the way.

Fresh boxes

2008-06-26T21:15:00.005-05:00

Ok, here you go!

The first set of pictures is a shadowbox with a plexiglass lid and a recessed picture in the lid.

The second box is a box with a drawer in the bottom and a lid that opens like a cigar box. A magnet keeps the lid closed tight.

We have two "core" students in our class: students who can stay on the Penland campus for two years and take any courses they're interested in. One of our core students, Andrew, is primarily interested in metals and blacksmithing. At one point we were discussing how to make and/or find good weights for holding our work while it dries. In his quiet way, Andrew says to us, "you know, there's an entire iron studio up the hill." Here's Andrew delivering a box full of goodies to the box studio: freshly cut weights for each of us!

Glass bugs and flocked wallpaper

2008-06-25T07:42:00.002-05:00

I thought blogging from Penland would be pretty easy, but it turns out my brain is already too full to pull out just one or two thoughts, and it's only the morning of the third day.
I have a strong feeling of "senior year" this time here: I know where everything is, I'm familiar with my materials and techniques and I'm here to stretch myself as much as I can. There have been a few wonderful improvements in the school this summer. The process of returning dishes to the workstudents doing clean up has gotten much simpler: no more gridlock at the garbage pail. The rockers on the porch over our studio have lovely cushions now. And, in a nod to the inevitable, the whole campus has wireless access. Some might say that's too bad, but I don't think too many people are glued to their laptops instead of exploring materials. But you do see the glow of Apple logos (on laptops) around the campus at night.
Our studio has been approached about one collaboration (with the print studio) but we're not making any early decisions yet. There's too many interesting things going on in other studios to make a commitment now: one glass studio is only making bugs this session; the textile studio is screening wallpaper and there is a rumor that they may try flocking. You can imagine that the paper-hungry box artists would be lining up for their scraps.
Photos will come soon!

Changing Spaces

2008-06-20T08:37:00.006-05:00

Book studio, Penland

The hike up to Northlight

For the next two weeks, this will be my home. Up on a hill in a building called Northlight is the book arts studio at Penland. The room to the right (with all of the windows) is the old print studio and I have some dreams about being able to spread out our work into that space if it's still unused (there is a gorgeous new print studio down the hill now). Our studio is lovely, tucked under the trees, it stays cool all day and there is a good breeze generally through our windows along the other side. But work space is a bit tight. Working at home, I like to have a cutting area and a gluing area, and there isn't much room for that in the Penland studio.
Why am I fretting about this? I'm not fretting really, but I do love to create my own "nest" in a space. I'm pretty flexible and can adapt to almost anything (someday I will post about my traumatic adventure in Utah for book making in the mountains...in the cold...and the snow...without heat). But it's part of the anticipation for me to think about how my little space will be set up.

2004 studio storage

I'm actually dealing with a little bit of homesickness (already!). I do love Minnesota in June. My peonies are full blown and the air is rich with the scent of them. We've had our first days in the mid-80's when a sleeveless top feels amazing. This month has been full of new efforts for me: first grant review panel, first class teaching box-making, and some interesting new directions in my job search. It will all be waiting for me when I get back.

My favorite iconic shot of Penland.

PS I'm quite sure I'll be blogging from Penland, if only to take a break from all of that box-making!

Word Clouds

2008-06-15T20:37:00.003-05:00

Painting Speech sent me to the web site, Wordle, for a few minutes of distraction. I pasted in some text from the instructions I wrote on assembling a Jacob's Ladder book. The results feel quite complementary to the actual structure.

Penland prep

2008-06-15T08:07:00.005-05:00

After I finish teaching this afternoon, I'll begin packing for my Penland trip...I'll ship a box of supplies and a roll of paper tomorrow.
So why am I illustrating this blog post with a restroom door? It's a photo from the current Penland page and an example of why I love the place so. Here's the description from the site:
So, two weeks ago, this was a bright white metal door, which looked a bit out of place surrounded by the weathered siding of the old barn that houses our resident artist studios. Then, we had this class is in decorative painting, and the instructor, Bob Nulf, and one of his students, Cary Bevers, made it look like it had always been there. It's amazing what a coat of paint will do. (It really is a metal door.)

Being at Penland is like being on a scavenger hunt. As you walk a new trail or turn a corner, you're bound to find something that someone has added to the landscape, hung on a wall or hammered into a spoon.

The last time I was there, we were talking about this phenomenon in our studio and one colleague said that there was a hammer nailed to the rafter in the ceiling of the Northlight auditorium. (She had observed it while taking movement classes every morning in the space.) That seemed a little unusual even for Penland so we all trouped up to check it out...it turned to be just an electrical connector for the projector. We had a great laugh, but it also says something about how Penland inspires you to see...and use...materials in different ways.

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

2008-06-13T21:02:00.003-05:00

I'm going to be teaching the Jacob's Ladder book and box this weekend at MCBA. Each time I sign up to teach something new, it means creating the hand-out of instructions to go along with the class. I've taken classes in the past where I had to write my own notes and I didn't appreciate that, so I don't want my students to have to do it either. The "sequencing" of the pages is particularly important if you want your images or text to be right side up each time you turn the book over. For fun, I'm including some of the diagrams I've created for the hand-outs....and perhaps you can figure out how to put it together yourself!

As often as I've made this book (and its box cousin), it still fascinates me. When held upright, the blocks flip end over end to “tumble” down from top to bottom. Flip the top "page" back and they "tumble" down again. (Hmmm...maybe I'll have to make a little video of this!) The structure is named after the biblical story of Jacob (grandson of Abraham) who had a dream in which a number of angels moved up and down a ladder between heaven and earth. I think that I'll be dreaming about how to glue the pages of this structure correctly tonight.

I'll be sure to post pictures from class here after we're done!

Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center

2008-06-13T08:21:00.009-05:00

Fire girls at Penland....I think I want to be one when I grow up.

I leave for Penland in a week and have sketched out a couple of goals for myself for this intensive. That's a little unusual for me, but I have a sense that this will be the last experience of its kind for a few years and there are a few things I want to pay attention to. While the Penland experience is about exploring and trying new things, and I certainly intend to play hard, I also want to have a better sense of my own artistic focus when I get home. I know that rich things happen when you stay in one area for awhile, but I am constantly distracted by new techniques and new materials. (I got a new book this week on making cold connections with metals and I felt as furtive and guilty about it as if I'd just brought in some porn into the house!)

The Nokomis Theater following its extensive renovation. The grand re-opening on October 19, 1929, also featured the theater’s first “talkie” picture.
(courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society, Norton & Peel, location no. Norton & Peel 78503, Negative no. NP78503)

This is the guilty preface to the discovery this morning that a new arts center is underway just blocks from my home. The Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center will support activities around blacksmithing, glassworking, welding, jewelry and electronics/LED, art activities produced by heat, spark or flame. They are now in the process of buying a building on 38th and Chicago (in South Minneapolis) that was once the home to the Nokomis Theater and is now an auto repair shop. The center has a wonderful plan in place: one that welcomes the curious or emerging artist as well as one who is experienced but needs a devoted studio space to work. They'll also have a gallery space in the front for sales and shows.

The Nokomis Theater, January 2008, currently the home of Wreck Bros. Auto Body.
(photo byAnn Dee Bashyal)

Succumbing to my own version of ADD, I have taken classes over the years in silver work, soldering and using electronics to light up books and boxes. At Penland, I find myself sitting on my hands when the blacksmithed items come up for auction and had to think hard not to sign up for this summer's course in black-smithing my own garden gate (the return shipping would have been a nightmare!). If I was really true to my intent to stay focused in one area, I would not be writing about this, much less have already signed up on their mailing list. But as the moth is drawn to the flame (ironic choice of metaphors, isn't it?), I just can't help myself.

A rendering of the restored Nokomis Theater, home of the
Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center.
(Montana Scheff)

Poetry boxes

2008-06-07T10:45:00.002-05:00

A friend who is a poet asked me to use one of her poems in a box...a collaboration that will be a gift for her sister. I had done this once before, using a poem on the inside of the box. But as I worked this morning, I realized that the box top is essentially "reversible," that is that the owner can choose whether they want the poem on the top of their box or as an interior message.

Mixed media delight

2008-06-07T09:00:00.006-05:00

I didn't make the book party last night at Studio Bricolage, but I won't miss tomorrow's garage sale at the same location. Here's the description from their email:

Sunday, June 7/10-2 Spring Cleaning Sale at Leonardo's Basement (4301 Nicollet Ave/Mpls.)
This Sunday will be spring cleaning day at Leonardo's Basement, readying the workshop for summer classes. Rather than throw it all away, we'll sell our junk to you (and others). And, because it is our 10th Anniversary (more about that later), we decided to sell everything for 10 cents to support the Scholarship Fund.We are also cleaning out our warehouse space so you will be able to buy everything from scores of boxes of Magnetic Poetry, to hundreds of 4'-long solid glass rods, to gazillions of really cool plastic orbs.he sale will be on the sidewalk and in the shop. You can't miss it. Kids will be selling refreshments for, you guessed it, 10-cents. Join us! Bring a friend.

I leave for Penland in two weeks and am starting to think about what fun things I'll bring to work with in the studio. The opportunity to work uninterrupted and in community (125 students and teachers are there for the same reason you are) is a great chance to try new things and stretch yourself. Julie Chen, who is leading our class, has sent along a note encouraging us to bring a few small things to "house" in our boxes, and to bring some things to share with the class. I'm counting on this sale to find the perfect items (and cheap, too!) to pack in the corners of my suitcase. I'm pretty sure no one else in the studio will have anything like what I find. And who knows what fun projects will result from it all.

Historic day after

2008-06-04T08:16:00.003-05:00

I woke up with an usual sense of hope and pride this morning. Just across the river from me, Senator Obama claimed the top of the Democratic ticket last night. I still don't quite understand why he picked St. Paul to speak...some say it's because the Republican convention will be here in August...but it really doesn't matter. He spoke last night in the Excel arena which holds 20,000 for a Bruce Springsteen concert. At 7 pm last night 50,000 people were lined up in the streets of St. Paul waiting to get in to hear Senator Obama. I call that extraordinary.
They say that Minnesota is now a swing state, but I don't believe it. I still see Wellstone bumper stickers on cars everywhere I go. I think we just haven't had the right Democrats on our ballot for 8 years. And now we do.
(I, um, borrowed the map from News Cut, my favorite source for behind-the-scenes information on news in Minnesota. Click here for a great post on the Obama line.)

Grant is in

2008-06-02T18:06:00.004-05:00

The deadline for the Minnesota State Arts Board grant was at 4:30 pm this afternoon. The materials were very clear that if you showed up at 4:31 pm you were out of luck and would have to wait two years to try again.
But at 1:30 today I slid my materials into an envelope and dropped it off at the MSAB office. Whew! I sort of felt like there should be some kind of fanfare. Someone standing there saying "great job! congratulations on finishing!" But there was only a receptionist who nodded her head at the table with three milk crates for collecting envelopes: one marked "theater," one marked "dance," and a nearly overflowing one marked "visual arts."
Once a month, we register new students at the Literacy Center and each one of them is greeted with a big welcome from all of us. It's a big deal to try something new, whether writing a grant or learning a new language. Maybe some year the MSAB could set up a band outside their office, like marathons have at the finish line. It's a thought anyway.

Magnetic attraction

2008-06-01T13:00:00.009-05:00

Several years ago, a colleague in a book arts class showed me how she used magnets on the closures of her boxes. It was one of those things that I never followed up on but at the same time never forgot about either.
We'll be working with magnets at Penland in a few weeks, but I decided to get a jump on the technique a bit and work some things out myself. I ordered two sizes of disc magnets and two sizes of block magnets to try out from K&J Magnetics.
It's been fun to work with these little guys (and they are little). And then there are times when they are just fun to play with. It's like 3rd grade science class all over again. They spin across your work mat to attach to the most surprising things (like the camera). And because they are so incredibly thin, it's relatively hard to pry them off.

I used the 4.5 mm drill bit in my Japanese push drill to create a pair of holes that fit the 3/16" disc magnet. The disc is only 1/32" deep, so you don't need to drill very far into your book board. In order to keep the same measurements for the other piece of board and the pair of magnets it would need, I cut through a piece of scrap paper as well. Then I used the scrap paper jig for markings on the other board.
One of the things that came back to me from 3rd grade was the fact that magnets have poles and they only attract on the opposite sides. If I had embedded the magnets with the same pole facing each other, there would be no closure. So I marked the magnets with a Sharpie ink dot on the corresponding sides before I glued them in. With a tight fit and a little PVA, the magnets are virtually invisible when covered with paper or glue. And they hold incredibly well. I really only needed one magnet on each board, but it seemed more balanced to have two.

The magnets are so tiny that I've started thinking about other fun ways to use them. It will be great to have full days and a sharp board shear (for cutting book board) at Penland for two weeks to play!

Cut Stories

2008-05-31T10:55:00.009-05:00

Beatrice Coron with her paper cut fan "Changing Air"

We're lucky to have paper cutting artist Beatrice Coron in town this weekend at MCBA. She gave a slide presentation to the book arts roundtable last night that was almost overwhelming in its depth and breadth. Starting with paper cuts in China and Japan and continuing to include her contemporary artists and friends, we saw beautiful examples of paper cutting from around the world.

Bronx Literature, 2006, faceted glass

She brought many photos of her own work (I've borrowed these images from her web site with her permission) and some some actual examples for us to look at after her talk. She is so prolific in the medium that it's almost impossible to focus on one particular work. Currently she's is doing a lot of designs for public art projects (baseball parks, subway stops and sculptures outside of fire houses), her own book sculptures and a series she calls "the whole 9 yards": literally papercuts that are 9 yards long.

Flower City

I think the work that I enjoyed most were the ones that showcased her unique combination of wit and intelligence. Many of her "9 yard" projects include cities of her own inventions: cities in trees, cities in hot air balloons, cities in water. Dogs run, people read and talk with their neighbors hung high up in the air. In her web site personal statement she says "Everything is time and space. The viewer is invited to find his or her own way in these worlds."

Fleurs d'Insomnie, 2005

Like so many generous book artists, her site is full of terrific links to other artists, research on the topic and places to find supplies and books for your own cut stories. She keeps a current schedule of her workshops there as well, and dropped a hint that she will be at Penland next summer.

Road to Heavens Above at Penland
@ 2008 Béatrice Coron All rights reserved

P.S. Did you know that the word "silhouette" comes from Mssr. Silhouette, a French minister of finance who drastically whittled down the budgets in his country in the 18th century.

Building Words

2008-05-28T17:23:00.007-05:00

Studio Bricolage in south Minneapolis (the older sibling of Leonardo's Basement) is offering a free evening next Friday in building words.
It's not up on their web site yet, but the email agenda for the night is highly intriguing!

Susan Armington will be on hand to "make words that swing, stand-up and stick out."

Some books will be cut with a bandsaw with the help of artist/engineer Willis Bowman.

Books will pave a sidewalk and buttons will spell things out.

And on June 2, you can find 10 things for just a dollar!

Still improvising

2008-05-28T09:16:00.008-05:00

I'm taking a big leap in my own perception of my work this month. I've decided to apply for a Minnesota State Arts Board artist initiative grant...due June 2! They say that Minnesota is the land of lakes (and treatment centers...we're famous for our recovery facilities), but really it's the land of artists. I went to an informational session on the grant last week and the room was nearly full up of artists all interested in applying for the grant. The top award is $6,000....just enough to encourage you, but not enough to pick up and move to Italy, for example. The moderator said 1 in 5 visual artists generally receive a grant, so I'm not overly optimistic. I'm mostly doing it for the discipline of writing about my work and my goals. A process like this often crystallizes previously cloudy concepts and benefits other work, often without even being aware of it.
I'll need to give them 9 samples (or pictures) of my work. Since the January experiment in documenting my work, I haven't progressed much. A friend suggested that I try again, but go outside on a hazy day when the light is somewhat filtered by the clouds. So I gathered up a white sheet, a few display fixtures to hold my books and boxes and went outside this overcast morning to experiment.

It's too bad that my neighbors aren't blog readers, as I know they're watching out their window and wondering what I'm doing. And Bella has been in and out checking on me as well. (I wonder if a friendly dog nose in a picture would help my case in front of the grant panel?) But even as the sun was still in the east, I started to get some decent pix. I'll keep experimenting all day...you have to love the digital camera...but my first efforts have definitely been rewarding. Many thanks, friend!

Heartbreak

2008-05-25T07:46:00.003-05:00

Despite a really lovely day yesterday, I actually feel a little heartbroken this morning.
I have to be very careful about what movies I see because I actually, somehow, think that they are real. (I remember being nervous about walking in the movie theater parking lot after watching a movie about Chicago mafia members shooting each other throughout the entire film. I was sure that I was about to get gunned down.)
Last night I went and saw the beautiful movie, "The Visitor," a movie about a middle-aged professor who meets an immigrant couple living in his apartment and, inspired by them, reconnects with his life. But the couple are not here legally and one simple misunderstanding sends one of them back to his dangerous home in Syria. The story was so well told (and acted) that I sat in my seat as the lights came on simply heartbroken.
I woke this morning thinking about the friends that I work with at the Minnesota Literacy center every week who are there to improve their English. I have no idea if they are legal or not and to me, it doesn't matter. But if they are here without their papers, I think about how they have to live with the fear of discovery every minute of their day, and that is the price that they're willing to pay to live here. A car accident, a home robbery....there is so much that they can't control that could reveal their situation to the authorities...and yet it is a risk that they're willing to take in order to live here. I would be absolutely heartbroken if one of them disappeared, and unlike the movie, it would be all too real.

Redbud is blooming

2008-05-18T09:28:00.004-05:00

I've always thought my life list is pretty pathetic. I have no desire to climb a mountain, learn Italian or read Plato. (Although I would sort of like to learn Spanish lately. I think it's only fair to my students at the MLC to not be fluent in their language.)
But one item on my list is having my own Redbud tree. My KC family knows how crazy I am for them...I often try and time my visits to when the Redbud (and the Whitebud) are blooming. In Missouri they are so profuse that they are sold on the sidewalks of local hardware stores for $19. And now our own University of Minnesota has taken the tree and created a hybrid that can survive our more difficult winters.
The history of the back corner of my yard is a long one and not quite done yet, but last year I finally planted a Redbud. Last week, the branches showed lots of "bud" but no blooms. "At least it's alive," I thought. But this weekend, it's having its day in the sun (so to speak). I sort of want to throw a party for it. Welcome to spring, Redbud! Congratulations for making it through the longest winter of your life!
I'm not sure what else to on my life list to start working on, but this item has been very satisfying.

A good morning's work

2008-05-15T13:18:00.006-05:00

It looks like we'll have 70 degrees for the first time this year. Out on the porch for lunch today, I can hardly imagine a more beautiful day. There is even a hint of lilac in the air.

Anne passes out hairnets for all of us.

Food tastes especially good to me after my morning experience at Feed My Starving Children. Together with about 50 students from the Minnesota Literacy Center and 10 teachers and volunteers, I spent the morning packing food for easy-to-prepare meals which will be sent to aid-relief organizations around the world for distribution to families. In just two hours, our group packed nearly 120 boxes of meals. The cost of the meal is just 17 cents to produce (although expected to go higher as the rice shortage becomes more severe) and has been designed to be easy and safe to transport, simple to make with only boiling water, and culturally acceptable worldwide.

Ali waits for everyone to get organized.

FMSC is located in an unremarkable office complex in the suburbs, but the facility is well-designed to get the job of food packing done quickly and economically. Each station is set up for 5 people: 2 people to hold the food pouch (taking turns), 1 to add a protein powder and dehydrated vegetables, 1 to add soy and rice, and 1 to seal the plastic and line them up to be boxed. Bags are weighed to be consistent (to hold down shipping costs) and spills on the table are swept right back into the rice bucket. We even did our own clean up at the end of the morning, washing utensils, tables and sweeping the floor so it was all ready for the next group.

Amah scoops up the rice.

We had a goal of 120 boxes for the morning..and just about met that goal (our bus was a little late). That was 4320 pouches of food that provided 25,920 meals or just about enough to feed 20 kids for a year.

Jorge tastes the meal after we're done.

Proof of Spring

2008-05-14T12:59:00.005-05:00

My redbud is blooming.

A robin's egg discovered on the ground, but completely intact. No nest visible anywhere. The photo does not do its "turquoise-ness" credit.

Bleeding heart. I seem to have lost a peony bush in the front yard, which is a bit of a surprise. But its siblings should be blooming in a few weeks.

The Bee Box

2008-05-11T09:41:00.010-05:00

I started way too late on my preparations for Craftstravaganza (CG), so I pretty much stuck with the box patterns that I did well and that had sold at the MCBA sale last Christmas. But a few days before CG, I decided I wanted to do a box with a divider on the inside, a "bi-valve" box as a friend said.

One of the divided boxes used a paper printed with a bee for creativity. The paper is not actually Asian and is difficult to glue, but I really liked the design and wanted to build a box that used it really well. (It looks good on the front of this box, but I wasn't happy with the other 3 sides.) So I've spent the last few days measuring the pattern to down to 1/32 of an inch and cutting board that will show the pattern particularly well. Usually the paper I use is either solid in color or has a broad enough pattern that it doesn't matter where I cut.
When I get into production mode for boxes, I will often cut all my paper at once and do each step on 10-15 boxes before going onto the next. But the Bee Box is all about slowing down and doing each step with great attention. In fact it almost uses a new technique in covering the box, as I want the bee stamp to be centered on each side of the box.

I had assembled the boxes yesterday (one step that I could do in production mode), but this morning, I cut the paper for only one box and worked out all of the problems in covering it as if this one was the only one that would ever be made (I actually hope to make 10). It was a new way of working for me: no pressure of an upcoming sale; no Christmas or birthday gifts. It was truly a step into what I most want: working on a design that I'm intrigued with for no other purpose than that I want to see what it looks like. And because of that, and the bee's own value of creativity (it says so on the box!), I think I have to keep the first one for myself.

Playing God

2008-05-10T19:39:00.005-05:00

Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist and kinetic sculptor who creates beach animals (or Strandbeest) that, over generations, are learning to take care of themselves. Not truly alive, of course, they are nonetheless beautiful as they walk the beach and learn to avoid the waves and to flap their paper wings to give them energy.

A book on his work is available and gives some insight into his inspiration:
Since 1990 Theo Jansen has been engaged in creating new forms of life: beach animals. These are not made of protein like the existing life-forms but from another basic stuff, yellow plastic tubing. Skeletons made from these tubes are able to walk. They get their energy from the wind, so they don't have to eat like regular animals. They evolved over many generations, becoming increasingly adept at surviving storms and water from the sea. Theo Jansen's ultimate wish is to release herds of these animals on the shore. In redoing the Creation, so to speak, he hopes to become wiser in his dealings with the existing nature by encountering problems the Real Creator had to face.
The Great Pretender is a testimonial to his experiences as God. It's not easy being God; there are plenty of disappointments along the way. But on the few occasions that things work out, being God is the most wonderful thing in the world.

Board shears karma

2008-05-10T08:06:00.004-05:00

I'm lucky enough to be just five miles away from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and not one but two full-size board shears. Cutting book board (the preferred material for boxes and most book covers) is incredibly hard by hand and nearly impossible to cut straight. (Right, Sarah?)
My teachers would all totally and completely disagree, but I think that there is a karma involved in cutting book board "square." Sometimes I almost want to burn some incense before I start. It's pretty simple to cut a few covers for books at the shears, but more complicated to cut, for example, 20 of the same boxes at one time. You do the best you can, pack up the cut pieces and take them home to see if you did it all right. If not, the best thing to do is sweep them into the trash can and call for some more time on the shears. (It would be great to assemble the boxes in the studio, but studio rental is a little pricey.)
I was lucky during the lead-up to Craftstravaganza...virtually everything I cut was usable. But the week after I booked an hour on the shears and came home to discover that everything was off just enough that my boxes looked like the homes in Ron's neighborhood in Harry Potter.
Yesterday I went back to do the boxes again. I took big deep breaths, and tried to pay attention to what I was doing. Clearly, though, my karma was having a coffee break: I came home with 2 sets of "Side A" and no sets at all of "Side B."

The Six Word Memoir

2008-05-09T12:26:00.004-05:00

A friend told me about the concept of the six word memoir a few weeks ago. Begun as a project by SMITH, a story telling magazine, the responses have now been published as a book "Not Quite What I Was Planning."
If you sit down for a few minutes and think about what you'd like to say in exactly six words, it can be quite illuminating. Stephen Colbert's memoir is spot on: "Well, I thought it was funny." Daniel Pink's is "Pink. Yes. Just like the color."
More from SMITH's six word web site:
"I gave God credit. He demurred."
"It's ok. My dogs love me."
"Told to marry rich. Married Richard."
"English major. You do the math."
And mine?
"Full of wonder, full of pie."

Rent this fish

2008-05-06T10:33:00.003-05:00

I'm living on the cheap these days, so one site I check often is the .99 cent movie of the week at iTunes. Every week iTunes offers up one movie for .99 and the beauty is that you can download it and watch it any time in the next 30 days.
This week it's the classic Fish Called Wanda, one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. (No. 1 is probably the slapstick What's Up Doc?)
Here's the plot description. If you only know Jamie Lee Curtis as the great mom in Freaky Friday, you really have to see this.
In A Fish Called Wanda, Jamie Lee Curtis plays an ambitious con artist who uses every ounce of her sexual wiles to obtain a fortune in jewels stolen by her gangster lover Tom Georgeson. First, she romances Georgeson’s dimwitted but deadly henchman Kevin Kline (who won an Academy Award for his performance). Then, to clear the path for her getaway with Kline, Jamie woos Georgeson’s starched-shirt attorney, John Cleese—and it’s Cleese whom she genuinely falls in love with. Michael Palin, Cleese’s former Monty Python cohort, plays a stuttering mob flunkey who continually messes up his one big assignment: killing a little old lady (it isn’t that he has any qualms about knocking off the old dear; it’s just that her pet dogs keep getting in the way). A Fish Called Wanda was scripted by star John Cleese.

Pop up delights

2008-05-06T10:17:00.003-05:00

My favorite pop-up artist/teacher, Carol Barton, is doing a great job of blogging about pop-ups. Her classes in pop-up structures are pure delight, even if it's not your primary craft. And she has now distilled her easy to follow instructions in The Pocket Paper Engineer, Vol I and Vol II (available in June). I always tell people to buy 2 copies of these books: one for themselves and one for the favorite child in their life.
With thanks to her, you can enjoy this video of the movable ABC's.

Supreme jewelry organization

2008-05-04T09:30:00.005-05:00

Every Christmas the catalogs and stores are full of monster mahogany (or creamy white) jewelry cases. But no matter how big they are, they really are not the right size for holding a girl's jewelry stash. And more importantly, when those drawers are closed, it might as well be "out of sight, out of mind."
I love my jewelry, but because it's not really a collection that I want to display (too many different moods and kinds) I had it stashed in various boxes and drawers...usually with this kind of result. Any time I thought about it, I was frustrated with the organization of it all.
I'm not sure where this idea came from, but I started to think about putting up some kind of horizontal paper towel holder on the inside of my closet door to hold my bracelets. A few weeks ago I went on a mission to Target and came home with a variety of hooks and hangers, ready to figure out a way to organize necklaces, bracelets, pins and earrings once and for all.
A series of hooks across the top of the door was good for necklaces. But the long ones tended to bang when the door was opened and shut, so I put a little felt underneath and a loose band across to keep them secure. The paper towel holder didn't exist in the right size, so I improvised another pair of hooks and a dowel for my bracelets. It worked for the flexible bracelets but the bangles didn't fit so I made a trip to Home Depot. This time I brought home a men's tie organizer. With the prongs bent up just a bit, they do a lovely job of holding a batch of bangles. (And so far I haven't spent more than $15.)

I had never seen a good solution for earrings so I spent some time on the internet and finally ordered an earring organizer from here. It came a week later and I have to say it's perfectly brilliant. There are different holes for post earrings, fishhooks and hoops. I went through my entire tray of earrings hanging them up nicely together and found several that I had totally forgotten about. It makes such a huge difference to actually be able to see them, instead of reaching for the "usual" pair. (And unlike clothes, you never have to think about whether earrings will fit you on this particular day.) If you click on the link marked "factory seconds" you can find a nice assortment of organizers that aren't perfect but still serviceable.

You can see here the different types of holes
to hold your different types of earrings.

Finally I hung another piece of felt (I'm lucky to have a closet with 2 doors!) to hold my pins. And because everything hangs inside the closet, I don't have to think about them getting dusty. Voila! C'est magnifique, if I do say so myself.

Books make the neighborhood

2008-05-01T07:51:00.004-05:00

It's often the case that a new idea or, in this case, a building, will be vaunted about and then forgotten. Even in its own neighborhood, a place that started a trend may not be given the credit it should 10 years afterwards. So it was particularly wonderful to see this article in the NYTimes yesterday on Open Book, the building in Minneapolis that houses the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, The Loft and Milkweed Publishing. The building won numerous awards for the architect when it opened and they were well-deserved. I visit the building at least once a week for lunch, to work, to teach or to take classes and it still works without a whisper of complaint (well, ok, it's impossible to find parking during a Twins game, but that's really all).

Freaky Saturday

2008-04-30T09:49:00.001-05:00

The booth set up with optimism and high expectations (note the cheery tulips)

Snow. Raw damp cold. And wind. On April 26. Not even life-long Minnesotans expected this.
And in an unheated building on the State Fair grounds, with the doors open all day, it made for one miserable experience for the vendors of Craftstravaganza. (A fellow blogger/crafter called it "excruciating.") There really was nothing that the organizers could do (except maybe close the doors, but then the building looks locked up). My letterpress partner and I had been delighted to find ourselves assigned a booth right in front when the map was sent to us a month earlier. But on Saturday, it just meant that we were in an 8 hour wind tunnel of damp, freezing wind. Excruciating. Exactly.

When I got home I made some toast and crawled into bed. I was so exhausted from pretending to be oblivious to the cold that I couldn't even get into a hot bath. I felt the warmth return to my toes around 9:30 that night.

My booth partner Allison pretending that she's not cold.

But the odd thing is that...except for the physical misery...I really enjoyed it. I liked the prep, arranging the display, meeting people and other crafters. I got tons of inspiration from my frozen colleagues and some great feedback from people who stopped by. I had a postcard out for the classes I'm teaching at MCBA this summer and those were all gone at the end of the day. So it's definitely something I'll do again.

Boxes waiting to be packed up

Fortunately, there is another opportunity for all the boxes I made in the last several weeks. This weekend is Art in Bloom at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, a beautiful exhibition of art and floral arrangements. Their special garden shop has taken my boxes on commission. So I'm glad not to have to pack them back into the basement quite so soon!

A pair of favorites

The Label Binding

2008-04-28T19:22:00.002-05:00

I'll have details about Craftstravaganza in the next day or so. (Suffice it to say I'm still trying to warm up!) In the meantime, Carmencho Arregui, my favorite Spanish book artist, has posted instructions for her "label binding." This is an ingenious binding which uses the book's own label protects the sewing supports of the text block. Photos and her own charming story are on her web site.

Working alone

2008-04-24T08:20:00.003-05:00

I've read enough and know enough artists to know that working alone for long periods of time can make you crazy. But I don't think you really know what it's like until you actually experience it. In the course of one day I go from wildly optimistic to thinking that everything I'm making is junk. In between, there are moments of high-paced gluing and skipping over important steps with poor results just hours away. But there's also moments of being in "flow" that are marvelous: when the rice paste is flowing nicely and the chiyogami wraps just right around a new box.
I'm an experiential learner, which means I like to learn while I'm doing. That's great, as long as you give yourself time or mental room to make mistakes. With Craftstravagnza, I've done neither and it's beginning to take the fun out of it all. And I really don't want the fun drained out of this work! I often take notes about new projects as I work. Last night I wrote: Start earlier and you'll enjoy it more.

Production Boxes

2008-04-17T07:45:00.003-05:00

In preparation for next weekend's Craftstravaganza:

Materials cut and ready.

Trays in progress.

Bottom halves are done.

Finished.

And we start again.

Cigar box bounty

2008-04-13T09:47:00.009-05:00

A deep black treasure chest

Given my love of boxes it's sort of amazing that I never developed a passion for cigar boxes...until now, of course.
I picked up one recently at an antique store to hold my embroidery threads. In the basement studio I use quite a few different plastic containers to hold my supplies and I'm content with them. But I wanted something different for my embroidery floss...maybe because the box sits out on my coffee table while I'm working and I wanted a box with character.

That simple acquisition set off a chain reaction, though, and I began to think about how one or two more cigar boxes could be used around the house. I knew a local liquor store offered them for sale once a month, but not until the end of the month. Then I was reminded by a friend that a cigar store in St. Paul has them on sale all the time. So as part of my Saturday errands yesterday, I stopped by.

A red box with a removable tray

I felt a little foolish...it was clearly a man's store, but I decided just to have fun with it. The clerk asked how he could help me and when I said I was looking for cigar boxes, he told me I'd come at the right time and pointed to a sign that said "April Special: All boxes $1 each"...and then led me back to a room with literally hundreds of boxes stacked three and four feet deep. There were more sizes, shapes and colors than I had ever seen before in my life. Many of them are handmade with beautiful hinges and clasps. But even the cardboard ones are as sturdy as you could wish and close beautifully.

Two unusual specimens

When you come across something like this, you don't just pick out one or two. I put my purse down and set to work to choose an assortment for myself. Across the room a few guys were enjoying the actual cigars and watching the Masters Tournament on TV. They began to heckle me mildly for my fascination with the boxes but I knew it was just gentle ribbing. I went to the front of the store to pay for my choices and when I came back to put them in a bag, they were gone! My cigar-smoking friends had actually gotten out of their chairs and had some fun with me by hiding my stack. (I wonder what they would think if I had hid the TV remote from them?)

It's always hard for me to put new treasures away right away, so I have a nice collection of cigar boxes on my coffee table this morning. The house smells like my Uncle Joe (who loved his stogey)...a nice mix of cedar and tobacco. I now have more boxes than even I think I could possibly need....except I actually do want to go back for more.

Garden glove season

2008-04-11T10:15:00.004-05:00

Ok, maybe not quite yet.
We've had some pretty dramatic weather this April. 6 or 7 inches of snow last week and threats of another significant snowfall for today. (Parts of Minnesota did get 6-12" overnight.) Last night the sound of icy snow hitting the windows was so loud it made me wonder if there was a window or door open somewhere. Then for good measure, lightning would flash followed by a good April thunder-crack.
Nonetheless the gardening stores are gearing up. While at Home Depot this week I couldn't resist this pair of gloves to add to my collection. They are chartreuse leather with a rather 60's type paisley print cuff. And yes, another collection. I adore garden gloves. If I could, I would buy 4 or 5 pair at a time. I love the prints used in the cotton ones that remind me of old fashioned quilts, the range of materials (I have a pair with rubber fingers) and the colors (my fuschia suede pair). I have a pair from Hable Construction in New York that are too cute to use, but the others all have their day in the yard.
And the weather people are all promising 60 degrees next week.

Summer classes at MCBA

2008-04-07T10:34:00.005-05:00

MCBA has posted their summer class schedule and I'm excited to be teaching three workshops. Two are on the same weekend: Jacob's Ladder: The Book, and Jacob's Ladder: the Box (June 14 and 15). I love the whimsy of this structure and the surprise element. I have seen some serious books that use this structure, but mine always seem to be fairly light-hearted. Perhaps it's the fact that the book is really a toy. (See "Pies" above.)
Later in the summer, I'll do a repeat session on The Outer Layer (August 9) which includes 3 elegant structures for wrapping your books without a lot of fuss.
There is still room in the April 19 class for the Accordion Storage book (below). I'm going to work on some class examples this week and will post pictures here. This is such a fun structure and the results are really only limited by your own imagination!

Discipline

2008-04-03T07:56:00.005-05:00

A while back I wrote about a feeling of personal disarray I named "Art Distraction Disorder." Very cute, but I'm now seriously considering the fact that this disorder is truly holding me back from my goals. Or even holding me back from creating and committing to my goals.

In my old life, learning new bindings, surface techniques, etc was a real joy...and distraction. Who could argue that learning how to do shibori or make book cloth was anything but positive? Classes often brought that awesome feeling of flow...where you are lost in the moment, completely focused and engaged on the problem in front of you. And if you are having a tough time in any other part of your life (and who isn't?), aren't those moments of flow a gift? As a good friend once said to me, there is a reason we embrace distractions.

I still love to learn new techniques and try out new materials, but the new skills may now be more of a hindrance than anything else. I have to admit that they are keeping me back from going deep in any one thing. For so long, that sense of discovery was labeled "fun" and even "healthy"....and it is. But like any good thing, there may be a time when you have to introduce some discipline or balance. In my case, it's the d-word. It does feel like a bit of a downer...do I have to skip the classes at MCBA this summer on working with metals? Or like my other experiences with purging and letting go, does it bring freedom and a deeper joy in the end? And, as they say, is admitting you have a problem the first step to recovery?

Dancing with the tax guys

2008-04-02T07:52:00.002-05:00

No, I mean it.
I have always done my own taxes, and been sort of proud of the fact that they're generally done by mid-February. Of course, in my old life it was one job, some charitable deductions, some interest statements, a mortgage deduction and that was about it. This year was different and I knew I needed to invest in some help. I heard over and over again about Fox Tax and how well they worked with artists so I signed up for an appointment.
They're located in a wonderful section of Minneapolis bustling with artist studios and coffee shops and...as a demonstration of their commitment to their clients...have a small gallery in the front space of their offices. How cool is that? My meeting with them was really a good one: Not only am I getting a nice refund, but I learned how to keep on top of things this year (transition year #2). So I walked away very happy.
But yesterday, I get a note from them inviting me to celebrate "Accountant's New Year" with them...listing three different events to celebrate their favorite holiday, all of them involving art, music, and the threat of accountants dancing. No wonder their clients are so loyal to them!

The answer is "Most likely"

2008-03-28T07:30:00.005-05:00

Remember the Magic 8-ball...the clunky ball that had about 16 possible answers to the questions you posed it during girlfriend sleepovers in your teens? At one point this week, I had so many unknowns in my life that I just thought I might have to go find the 8-ball to give me some answers.
But it seems that patience is rewarded. The mailman came about 2 hours early yesterday and brought a bill from Penland...which is their way of saying, "Congratulations! you got the class you wanted!" I'm totally thrilled...I've said before that this class is exactly what I want next in my own book arts learning. Julie Chen is a deeply knowledgeable and generous teacher. When I worked with her at Haystack a few summers ago, she was famous for bringing the most supplies ever! Among the boxes was one containing an ink-jet printer, and of course her famous collection of rubber stamps. But I really value her ability to push you in your own work process. If you land in a place with a project that you think is "pretty good," she is wonderful about challenging you to get to the next level...and help you find a way to do it. (If you have a chance to take her "bookbrain" series, don't miss it!) There are no blank books or boxes with Julie...you have to put a little of your own brain, heart or soul in them.
Because there's still so many transitions in my life at the moment, I'll take a few weeks to decide whether I'll go this summer. But I think the 8-ball is "most likely" right.

Penland Dreaming

2008-03-24T08:18:00.004-05:00

This is the week when I'll hear whether I have a spot at Penland or not. (For classes that have too many applicants, they go to a lottery to determine who is accepted.)
On my first visit to Penland, I was struck by the number of people who were a bit on the fanatical side: "Oh, I come every year." I was already completely in love with the place, but I really couldn't see myself making the pilgrimage every year.
So I'm embarassed (a little) over how badly I want to go this year. I was just there last summer and there are so many other places I want to visit. It's just that they're offering a new class this year on the box as more than just container but also as in integral part of the experience of "opening" a piece of art. So Penland+boxes+Julie Chen (a great teacher)=Return?

Here's the class description if you're a box or book geek:
The potential of the box form as an expressive medium goes far beyond that of simple container. The box, through its design and function, can create an experience of discovery and wonder for the viewer, and can itself become a vital element of content. This class will take the art and craft of boxmaking to a new level of complexity, both technically and conceptually. We will explore the potential of the box form both as housing and as an integral conceptual element in artists’ book projects. Students will learn how to create complex hybrid box structures with drawers, multiple levels, and compartments. We will also look at strategies for incorporating text, image, and object into the box. Because this is a two-week session, students will have the opportunity to work deeply on the development of complex box projects.

Oh, and did I mention that I really can't afford to go this summer? Changing your life sometimes means a few changes in living style...which I mostly don't seem to mind. I almost hope I end up on the waiting list, just so I don't have to decide!

Spring Things

2008-03-22T09:30:00.010-05:00

I did a little Easter shopping yesterday. It's really a good thing I only have one niece in town or I would run through my grocery money filling their Easter baskets. I always like to think of a basket in a broad sense: they can be boxes, purses or bags. In this case, it's a fun paper bag. And doesn't chocolate really just mean "yummy things?"
So here's what's in my niece's "basket": a wind-up bunny, a bag of beads to make "6 bracelets," a sparkly zip purse and a little notebook. I particularly like the schooled lines on the paper; they're so comforting, somehow.
And for my trip next week, a pair of gifts for a 3 year old boy and his 1 year old sister. I'm sure she has about a hundred stuffed toys, but I couldn't resist the look on this one. This little bunny has the same coloring, nose and floppy ears as my dog, Bella.

And for me...a rayon make-up bag for my purse from the 40's, $3!

Everything except the make-up bag comes from Patina, a unique collection of stores in the Twin Cities that now has an online store. I made the mistake of browsing their new items and mentally marked this beautiful wallet (not that there's anything wrong with mine):
and a bracelet that could just announce to the world my training as a producer:

Wild about Washi

2008-03-20T17:56:00.007-05:00

It's no secret that I adore Japanese papers, particularly the Katazome*and Chiyogami* from Japanese Paper Place. For over 20 years, owner Nancy Jacobi has been a tireless supporter of using Japanese papers in creative work. She is as much a friend to the artist as well as to the paper makers in Japan.
Like so many wonderful crafts and traditions, the number of people knowledgeable about papermaking in Japan is dwindling. Instead of sighing about it, Nancy has been a remarkable advocate for finding new uses for washi and encouraging artists around the world to experiment with its strength and beauty in their own art. She was in Minneapolis a year ago and gave a great slide lecture on the process of creating washi...but I was particularly floored by what contemporary artists are doing with the paper: dying it like a textile, sculpting with cement and washi, printing. It seems that it can be used for whatever your imagination comes up with.
Now she has had the brilliant idea to bring all sorts of artists, scholars and users together in Toronto this June for the first World Washi Summit (June 7-15). And she's so excited about what is happening that she's abandoned her fear of technology and blogging about the artists, techniques and events that are being lined up. The list of workshops is pretty tantalizing (details will be posted by April). I'm hoping a friend with a camera will step up to help Nancy with her blog, as you really have to see what people are doing with washi to understand how amazing it is. In the meantime, send her a note and thank her for keeping all of this goodness going!
** If you're browsing the papers in the JPP catalogue, you may not be able to buy them directly from the store (unless you're in Toronto!). JPP wants to keep them in shops around the world and only wholesales their papers to local resellers. In the Twin Cities, Wet Paint has folders and folders of their stock.

Lotta Jansdotter fabric

2008-03-20T11:56:00.005-05:00

I've loved designer Lotta Jansdotter's work for many years. I can't remember when I first ran across her, but her Scandanavian and urban influenced designs have a huge following, particularly in Japan (for some reason). For years, the only way you could get her fabric was through Etsy sellers living in Japan and Australia and selling to the U.S.
Late last year she announced that she would begin selling fabric on her web site (along with the charming bags, aprons, and table linens she's famous for, but it took until this month for the details to be worked out. As far as I can tell, it only went live this week, and already the bag of Lotta scraps has sold out! Drat!
I know I'm supposed to be on a craft-materials ban, but who could resist a bag of her oddments?

A poem for Spring

2008-03-20T08:29:00.001-05:00

in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
the

goat-footed

balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee

--ee cummings

And what is Spring like in Minneapolis? They're predicting 3-5 inches of snow tonight.

Smarter than we think

2008-03-19T11:45:00.003-05:00

I have a few rules for this blog: no family issues, no comments on my professional work (current or past) and no politics. But I do think about media and how we use it quite a lot...it's one of the reasons I'm such an Apple enthusiast. The company is really redefining how we integrate culture and technology into our lives.
As with any change in our lives, there are benefits and things that we miss. It's easy to worry about our younger friends short-attention spans from web-surfing and text messaging friends instead of old fashioned letters. Some even predict the end of the book (I don't believe it).
The success of You Tube, the video sharing web site, has been extraordinary. While silly dogs and fictional personalities are certainly prevalent, it's also a resource for vintage music performances, craft techniques and old television programs (I'm a fan of the Rocky and Bullwinkle videos).
If there is a question about the benefit of the internet, let me point you to the news this morning that the most-viewed video on You Tube today is Barack Obama's speech on race. As of this writing over 1,200,000 people have chosen to watch it. Time magazine's television blogger, James Poniewozik, points out:
"Given that online video is an opt-in medium, that one million doesn't mean people who happened to have YouTube on in the background while they made dinner or happened to catch the video because it was on after Oprah. In other words, it was a million motivated viewers,...It was people seeking out for themselves the kind of context, complicated argument and lengthy discourse that commercial media assumes that they will go out of their way to avoid."
The beauty of sites like You Tube is that it doesn't assume anything about its audience and, occasionally, we demonstrate that we're smarter than we think.

Talent gone too early

2008-03-17T08:10:00.005-05:00

In 1990, when I heard that Jim Henson had died of pneumonia, I was in shock for days. Only 53, he had created a whole world of delight for children and their parents. I was just a bit too old to have watched Sesame Street myself, but that didn't prevent me from being delighted by the characters of Kermit, Miss Piggy, and my own favorites, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. To this day, I'm known to tell my friends to take their colds seriously. It floors me that someone as wonderful as Henson could die from a treatable disease like pneumonia.
In much the same way, I'm still in shock from the news this morning that film director Anthony Minghella has died. Not quite as prolific as Henson, still he created the same kind of magical worlds on film that drew you in and held you until he let you go. Seeing the movie Truly, Madly, Deeply was a life-changing experience for me. It's still one of the touchstones of my adult life. He followed it with the Oscar-winning film The English Patient, a work that the obituaries say he professed to be the pinnacle of his life's work. You may know his work as well from Cold Mountain and The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Just 54, he should of had years ahead of him in which to continue working in film (or whatever medium he chose) and I would have always trusted him enough to want to see what he was doing. I chose a photo of him from the movie set of the film that he's just completed, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency....a gentle comedy this time, but still a world that would not have existed without his own extraordinary vision.

Authentic Light

2008-03-11T17:01:00.002-05:00

I have a terrible time the week after the spring switch of Daylight Saving Time. In principle, I don't suppose I'm opposed to the idea....especially in June when we have light in the sky until after 9 pm. It's just that I really think we've nudged the change-over date up too early in the year. In Minnesota, we treasure our signs of spring, especially when we know we could have snow anytime in the next few weeks. One of those signs is when the sun is up before us. But this week, we've gone from full sunshine at 7 am to barely seeing the dawn. The last time the sun rose at 7:30 am it was February 4.
I know that we're supposed to enjoy the sun more at the other end of the day, but when I see full sunshine at 6 pm, it just feels "inauthentic" to me, like my body knows it was supposed to have gone down about an hour ago and this is some kind of fake sun.
On second thought, maybe I am opposed to the idea. I don't mean to sound like one of those people who write letters to the editors on subjects that will never be taken seriously, but really, what if we did away with it all together?