In the Studio

Yesterday I wrote this all down as I was recording what might be the next blog….Somewhere in the night I told myself, “Nah, don’t post it.” But today I think it really captures what it is like being alone in your own space adjusting materials and thoughts in good company and having a legal pad and slick ball point pen that can keep up nearby.

So I will start there…as written.

January 21, 2023

I am writing this on a Saturday afternoon, 3 p.m.

A banana bread just went into the oven. The kitchen is cleaned up and now I am back in the studio surrounded by scraps of paper and cloth.

And my iPhone is tuned to Lyle Lovett Radio. The music jogs memories.

Lovett sings of $10 worth of what he values most. I love it that one of those things is a poetry book that he loves more than the woman who wrote it for him.

Willie Nelson has a voice that can make you want to live in Texas. But the reality of being a woman in Texas brings me back here in the studio where he is temporarily on loan, keeping me company with my things and memories.

I have poured myself a scotch to better just sink into this mood that is hard to describe. It is a comfortable, mellow place that begs to be put into words.

Jackson Browne was just applauded by those who loved hearing him in person. I give a smile of appreciation toward the iPhone.

John Prine just strings the best and simplest words together and chuckles as he does it.

Keb’ Mo’ sings about women like they matter more than his guitar. Nice.

Then there is an occasional Bob Dylan, who makes me happy to have a scotch to fall back on. Obscure lyrics that end about the time I take a guess as to what he is saying.

So that is pretty much the musical part of my afternoon. The best I can say is it is “comfortable”. Does the generation behind me have comfortable music?

Oooh, here is Van Morrison with his extra syllables.

“Time is slipping away”

“She is only queen for a day”

Today is my queen day and they don’t come often. I sometimes wish I had a bit of company for them. But soon talk myself out of that. What if they hated Lyle Lovett? What if they thought only “classical music” was the way to access deep places in the heart? What if they wished they were some place else? I have saved them the dilemma of how to make their exit by not inviting them in.

Here is what is going on to get me here with scotch and the Lyle Lovett station. My basket making friends from down under have finished their gathering and all gone home, leaving me here with this just-started book I am working on to sort of feel like I am sharing in their fun….a way to be “with” them.

So I drew some more weave structures and picked up scraps of paper and cloth to stitch together. They were doing the same with their bits of cloth while they chatted away about what might go with what and their aged, sore fingers from making baskets.

They are on my mind as I stitch odd bits together. A piece of botanically printed paper bordered by a rusted paper piece, a scrap of cloth recently sent by one of them there, a flowered paper from a bar of soap, and a strip of paper made in Claudia Lee’s class.

How do I know when this collage is finished? When is it ready to glue down and turn the page?

When I picked up the paper from Claudia’s workshop, I remembered what I spent most of my time doing in that class. Here it is as it sits on a shelf in my house, near a felted “journal” page made by Chad Hagen.

It is a boat I made for me to row away in. With only one oar I was just going in circles with my bundle of belongings. One of which holds a jingle bell to remind me there are happy times wherever I was headed back then.

Do other artists put so much immediacy of emotions into their work? I hardly talked to anyone in that workshop and have not taken another since….. four and a half years.

Then when I decided this bit of sewn pieces looked “finished”, it became about how to fit it on the page.

The filler folio did not reach to the top. Would that bother anyone else? I don’t know. But I needed a small stitched scrap to cover the 1/16th” gap.

I like this page. So much thinking and remembering and touch of longing went into each placement and stitch.

The scotch is almost finished and the banana nut bread is ready to come out of the oven.

I like this blog. So thanks for hanging in there. You are “the mystery companion” Jackson Browne is now singing about. Thanks.

 

Now the follow up.

I should have checked the recipe when I had doubts about 1 teaspoon of baking soda instead of baking powder. The banana bread never rose but cooked itself into a nice solid, heavy but tasty flat loaf. I will take it in tomorrow to the boys. They will eat most anything.

Today I thought it a good idea to use up some chopped onion I bought. So made more scones. This time adding a full cup of those onions and extra salami to my spinach and cheese mixture.

They didn’t rise much either…..there is a limit to how much you can cram into a scone and still expect it to puff up.

Still a good breakfast or lunch though.

And just a quick return to Lyle Lovett. In a nod to his “Pony on a Boat”, I keep them close together on my mantle.

And Australia greets me every time I open the front door.

Til later….

First off the other day I made a large pot of vegetable soup. I put crusty old rosemary bread in it to thicken. Since I don’t cook or eat chili anymore, I tossed in a couple of cans of chili hot beans in sauce for extra heat. It is tasty and will last me several meals without wondering what’s for lunch/dinner.

Next I spent the day in the closest town that could help me get my drivers license address changed. Beautiful view heading over the mountain to Franklin.

While in town I went to one of Lee’s and my favorite restaurants (it has been years since I was there) and treated myself to what we usually ordered.

The appetizer that came with my wine.

Calamari….our favorite there.

And a finish of crème brulee.

I also worked on the book I am making along with friends down under who are gathered making baskets and stitching bits of cloth.

Yesterday a long overdue walk at the dam.

And this morning finally back on the river…..lovely!

I wore the necklace Jude made for me when I went to lunch yesterday. She is so thoughtful to send this and others all the way from Australia. Now she is beavering away with friends making baskets and stitching at their Nindethana Gathering.

Thanks Jude, I miss you all.

That is all for today….mostly pictures.

Now back to laundry and mopping floors with my new cleaning mop.

Better get some lunch, too.

Til later…..

 

Snow came the other evening and the yard looked like this the next morning.  All melted off by noon. I finished my sewing and after a bit of mending will put the machine away. The second shirt (blouse) was pathetic. By the time I finished it and tried it on, I really hated it! So I opened the sewing trunk and tossed it in…shoving it all the way to the bottom! The lessen learned is if you like the two shirt patterns you have, use them. Don’t try anything else with too many pieces and too many confusing instructions.

I have been missing my sketching every day or so. The house book has been finished. The meadow book has stopped until I see something out there like a different bird or interesting plants/bugs. Now everything seems frozen and lifeless.

So I had told friends in Australia who are getting ready for one of their basket gatherings that I would weave or stitch along with them for the next several days. All of my basket materials were given away when I changed house….and I definitely don’t need any more baskets. I thought I would do some small stitched patches like I did in one of my other books from almost two years ago.

But I needed to make a book for them and drawings as well.

Yesterday I dug out some paper from a Claudia Lee surface designing papers class for the covers, and folded folios from mixed media paper.

I folded over the fore edges thinking I could attach fabrics, etc there but seemed to forget until the middle of the night that the book would never close no matter how many extra filler folios I put in the spine area.  I ripped all the folded sections off this morning…

Anyway I finished the book yesterday with the help of some old familiar tools. The beautiful bamboo awl was made by the young man I gave my board shear to.

Golden needles from a general store in Richmond, Tasmania that friend, Jude, took me to.

And the large wool blanket needle case Jude made me many years ago. Bits of her embroidery on every page. I finally removed all the ends of wax linen threads from this book and with the leftover Coptic binding threads from putting this book together, made a small basket to put inside.

Then knowing that stitched cloth bits would be added, I decided to cut out pages to allow for the additional bulk. You can see below that the book was not going to close!

The front page was cut out to show the basket.

I drew an Anna Lizzotte basket I bought years ago when I was with them at their gatherings. I am sure Anna will be at this one, too. And then on the inside cover put the small note from Jude (who will also be there) on the inside cover to line up with the hole.

Now I can draw baskets, stitch patches of cloth and cut holes where needed. I will also fill it with writings, so added straight lines on some pages.

Now to get its flatness back after spending a night kept from closing, I have weighted it with a stone I covered with kangaroo hide….how fitting!

Now I have something to work on this week as I join the basket makers in Tasmania.

*Note: In case you were wondering the 3 1/2″ x 4 3/4″ brown stone was patterned using my Dremel tool before encasing it in the hide that was stitched along the edges (the bottom is one piece cut to fit the shape of the stone). The top is cut to expose the design and grip the stone inside. I learned the basics from Jian Frontini (exceptional book binder and friend).

When he used to come south from Canada to teach locally we would always get together to share ideas and work together. I learned so much with his exacting attention to detail and technique. Now he does not come this way anymore and I am so grateful for the time we did have. He and Lee would sip red wines, preferably from the Tuscan Valley, and his wife, Pat, and I would have our single malt scotches while catching up on news and what we might be doing next,

As I unpack my tools in this cozy little studio I am surrounded by the friends who have always been there. Another tool that barely left my hand but is not in the pictures is Kent Stewart’s Delrin plastic bone folder. Absolutely nothing sticks to it and it does not make a shine on the paper when used to press folds. Kent and his wife, Catherine Ellis, came down to visit me during the hard times adjusting to Lee’s dementia. And he faithfully sent at least two hand drawn postcards to Lee every week. I kept them all. Those, Barbara’s fun postcards and the many, many cards and notes sent to Lee from Australia.

I keep my most favorite tools in this tool pouch I made from a pattern sent by a friend in Australia.

And all zipped in…

Well that’s enough for today…

Til later….