Feature Works

Blooming trees across the river.

Cherry blooms on the way back home from coffee in town.

A new sign at the turn down into my subdivision.

Getting greener at the river.

My furniture for the porch came the other day. Gravity was not working for me in putting it all together. Hardest part was keeping two washers together while lining them up with holes to get the bolts through. If you scotch tape the two washers together and then tape them to the hole, gravity will stay out of it!

They are very comfortable and fit perfectly.

I have black shades that can be lowered to block sun and neighbors’ houses. Here is the opposite wall.

It is a perfect size porch for one and a bit of company.

And then the new sleep sofa came yesterday. Perfect size because no pictures had to be moved over to be centered.

I went over to the llama shop here in town and bought a lovely llama blanket in a blue that matches the night skies in the stitched images and also is in the rug. The cats love it. We find it very comfortable.

Then the past two days I worked on the Sticks and Stones Book.

Right before dropping off to sleep the other night I thought, why not wax that book? So I did each page with a lump of Lee’s bee’s wax from his bee keeping days. It does odd things to the painted and graphited pages….makes it look older. And the feel is very nice to the hand. Here is a detail so you can see how the wax permeates the colors and paper.

There is an oldness to it now…not unlike old wallpaper in an abandoned house. I am not quite half way through and need to put it aside this weekend to do some stitching.  I am wondering what to do with those tempting fold down triangular pockets on each fore edge fold…and then there is the entire back side waiting for some hand written story about these stick and stones.

The idea of a story appeals to me because the other morning a new fellow came in while I was having coffee with the men. He sat with us and asked about where he could locate a long galvanized pipe to put up a yard light. He said he had no curtains on his windows there in the woods but sometimes had a creepy feeling after dark and thought a yard light would help.

Then in another conversation while we were pondering where a pipe could be found, he asked why one of the fellow’s dogs had such an odd looking collar on. We told him it had citronella in it and when the dog barked at customers coming in, he soon learned to stop because it gave out a whiff of the citronella. Now just putting that color on keeps him from barking.

He then tells me that a barking dog reminded him of a folk tale his mother read to him and his brothers about the Hobyahs. It is an early English tale written by Joseph Jacobs,  of an old man, his wife and a young girl living in the woods where evil Hobyahs dwell. The old man had a dog that barked every night and to get him to stop, the old man would, suffice it to say, do irreparable harm to the dog. Could be the Hobyahs took exception to this and ended up killing and devouring the old couple and stealing the young girl away in a gunny sack. Now what the benefit of telling this story at bedtime was, I can’t say. But the fellow looking for a pipe for his yard light was still bothered by it. I found the whole tale fascinating and had to look it up. There are newer versions, rewritten and illustrated but the old one read to him would be interesting to see.

Then it turns out in further conversation, that he went to school in the same town I did in Florida, and the places I could not remember too well, he could because he is fourteen years younger. It was quite a chatty morning. My social skills are definitely getting better and I asked if he could return to tell us when the light goes in and if he becomes less fearful of that lurking woods near his house.

So, I am thinking that my book with trees, leaves, sticks and stones invites an old tale to be written on the back. I like the idea of it written with a graphite pencil in cursive.  Maybe it could take the form of a series of letters back and forth….and maybe those pockets could hold hand made stamps. And maybe, just maybe, there could be drips of red sealing wax on the letters….

I need to put it away for a few days and give it some thought over some hand stitching.

More later…..

This is the tin of twelve graphite pencils that I bought in Australia. I love the crocodile on the lid and seldom open the box because I am afraid I will use them all up. Silly reasoning because they will last quite a while even after many sharpenings. The mechanical pencils I have been using have limitations when it comes to drawing, and shading in particular. Plus with these I can get darker areas. So here is the Sticks and Stones Book so far with the use of watercolors and these pencils.

And I have put a bit of color into Lorraine’s leaves a few pages ahead.

Anyway, it gives me something that is a constant in my routine. I can pull it out whenever I wonder what to do with myself….and get lost in the drawing and the beauty of Australia on every page.

Rain has been a regular event here so not too many walks. But there is always baking and drawing.

I went back to the Basket Gathering Book.

On the left is a drawing of the boucle technique when making string from natural fibers. The late Judy Gray-Gardner taught me this at a basket conference years ago in Australia. Before  plying the two twisted fibers together, you simply over spin one to the point of it buckling up on itself and then cross it over the other one to ply the two together. Then repeat. You will end up with a lovely “bubbly” string that can be used with another one like it to give an irresistible feel to whatever you are weaving.

I do not have many fronds/leaves/grasses here to process into useable bits but I do have plenty of papers that can be spun and overspun. I might give it a try…

On the right is a drawing of this basket that sits on the shelf in my studio.

One day in the mid eighties my basket instructor, Grace Kabel, asked if I had a favorite book that had an image of a basket in it. Grace was a master at looking at pictures of baskets and figuring out how to duplicate the weaves. She wanted to make it as a gift. So I showed her my most favorite children’s book.

The Castle of Grumpy Grouch. Written by Mary Dickerson Donahey and illustrated by Pilagie Doane in 1948.

When I was little I had white/blond hair like Princess Floria and my grandmother also thought so when she bought this book for me back then.

Anyway Floria has many adventures as she travels to find her lost temper. She is given a magic basket to help her on her way. I think Grace did a wonderful job of working out some suitable weaves from such small pen sketch drawings.

I read this book so many, many times as a child. It is one of two books I managed to keep with me through the moves my family had. It is delightful to know it is on the shelf whenever I want to dip back into it. And to have Grace’s gift of a small replica of the basket is just as special. If you are a basket maker, you might want to ask if someone you care about has a story with a basket as part of the telling. It would be such a gift and bring back many fond memories when the book could be long gone.    Just a thought.

The basket inspired me to add it and its magic capabilities to my Stoat Story book a few years back.

The sun is out today. No clouds. No rain. So I am going to the river and then taking myself out to dinner at a local restaurant where Lee and I spent so much time. I am thinking a few oyster shooters, salmon Caesar salad with a glass of fine white wine.

So next time there will be walk photos and more drawings of sticks and stones. Maybe some stitching…..

Til later….

Walks. First the river here….

Where I found a tree that looked like it was yelling something at me.

And walking back…

Then off to the Riverwalk in Murphy.

The tiny leaf buds are appearing with this seventy degree weather. Still rain most days.

The new frames arrived for the little stitched animal drawings. I need to paint them grey this weekend. Then pop them in a box until I think of what to do with them and if I want to add more to the series.

The patchwork of print and cloth is all stitched where I wanted to. But still sits to my left because it seems to want more but is neglecting to tell me what. Could be I am not listening.

So, remember this book of Lorraine’s contact prints that she sent me (with several others)? I used one for this.

And another for the Fairy Book…

Then I received a bunch of pens and thought I would stipple into the next book. I was thinking Sticks and Stones.

I tucked it away and got busy with all the changes in my life going on. The other day I pulled it back out and went to look for the brown ink pens.

Most had dried up. And I did not really like the starkness of the pen marks with Lorraine’s subtle leaf prints. So I got out the gouache and Caran “Dache crayons to smooth out the ink marks.

I added a bit of watercolor on the leaves to brighten them ever so slightly and this weekend will work back into my sticks.  But am wondering what I might draw into the background if anything. There are many pages to this book with pockets, so I could develop a narrative of sorts….maybe what the sticks and stones could make when properly assembled. A series of woodland shelters with stone walls and arches.

I think I am anxious to just sit and draw again on a project that takes lots of time. Maybe a daily meditation until the meadow comes alive again and I can go back to that sketchbook.

Not much more new right now…just feeling like I need to start another daily practice for my own satisfaction.

More later….