I like to think these ducks were coming to greet me as I stood on the bridge at the Riverwalk. No geese in sight two days ago.
And then this morning’s moon here in the yard before seeing the sky at the dam.
Beautiful mornings here.
Two days ago I finally cleaned out Lee’s side of the closet. Four bags for recycle, two for friends and family and one for trash. I spread my things all the way across for the first time ever…we always shared a closet and both of us tried very hard to not cross the center line.
Yesterday I met friends for lunch. We ate outside on the porch with no masks and I thoroughly enjoyed not just our own conversation but listening to others who seemed so happy to be out. I hadn’t been to that restaurant in over two years and it was nice to be back.
Scraps of cloth have been stitched together and added to my journal. The trees pages finished and another one as well.
Detail.
I like drawing in the stitch lines. The one below has a piece of the freshly contact printed cloth we did this week.
And this morning I found just enough iron on bonding scraps to face the center backs of three of the male wood blocks. Then I went back to working out the designs for the blocks to fit in their empty spaces.
I wanted three stages of a tree but this morning decided to add the black bird. He makes it even more of a narrative and I have used the idea of the bird bringing messages in my work over the years. It seemed appropriate to return to him here. But I can always change my mind once I get going.
I have decided to add stitch to the prints so needed the backing material. Once the new blocks are carved and centered on the bodies, then dried I will make more decisions. Could fine scraps of cloth and threads be fused into the prints with a thin wax solution? It would be nice to have some of Lee’s bee’s wax become part of each piece. Lots of time to think about it. Even time to make serious mistakes and start over.
Anyway I am back to the studio to start transferring images and carving away the light.
Til later….