Papermaking Soup to Nuts

I spent the past five days teaching a small group at Oregon College of Art and Craft almost everything I know about papermaking. We began by constructing our own moulds & deckles to use at home. I showed them how to make paper using linters and abaca sheets in a blender and in the Hollander and how to prepare Japanese fibers (we cooked, stripped and beat Phillipine Gampi by hand). We played with inclusions, collaging, embedding, watermarking and pulp painting. We colored pulps, did a wee bit of casting and stretched a few sheets of paper over armatures.

All of this took place Wednesday through Sunday, which doesn't give me a weekend to catch up! Tomorrow morning, my intern from the Savannah College of Art & Design arrives for 3 weeks full-time in the studio.

Mother's Day Blog Hop!

I'm typing today for the Mother's Day Blog Hop. Click on the title to read all of the great recent posts by artist mothers! I have a book by Anne Mavor called "Strong Hearts, Inspired Minds", which tells the stories of 15 artist moms and how they structured/juggled their lives. It is a good read.

I woke up to breakfast in bed on Mother's Day... of course I forgot to take a picture, but I got scrambled eggs with homemade salsa (okay, I made the salsa) and strawberries with whipped cream. We packed the car, the kids, the dog, the sled, the gear, etc. and headed up to Clear Lake Fire Lookout near Mt. Hood. We skied and snowshoed uphill the 3-1/2 miles to the lookout with windows on all sides.

I was a Mother's Day baby, and this year my birthday fell on Monday, so this was a nice little Mother's Day/Birthday retreat.



And I spent the morning on Saturday with some friends crocheting roots for my Mother Tree Project, which is now visiting Newberg, Oregon.



Then to round out our mini-vacation, we picked up our new puppy as soon as we got home. Toby is a sweet little labradoodle.

Newberg & Sofia

The reception for the show in Newberg on Friday evening was lovely. About six of us crocheted strands and got to know each other. Conversation ranged from being new in Newberg to the local art scene. I enjoyed it and was happy that Jillian, a current intern and Monet, who will start interning this week, both came down.

I'll be going back on May 7th from 10am-1pm for more crocheting and a Mother's Day/Birthday party!



On another note, there is a paper biennial in Sofia, Bulgaria, which I am participating in, or rather, my film The Secret Life of Paper is (http://www.filmbaby.com/films/3550). It opens soon, and other international artists have traveled to the site to set up installations. I look forward to seeing pictures.



Paper Faszination opened in Germany last week, and I hear that was well attended. My book, Alpha, Beta, ... (pictured here) is in the show.

Poetry Reading by Carl Adamhick

I went to Spints tonight to hear Carl Adamshick read from his new book, Curses and Wishes. Carl received the prestigious Walt Whitman Prize which included the publication of this book. Carl also wrote the poem, Similar Lives, which accompanies my suite of knot drawings, String Theory. It was a packed event with Oregon's poet laureate Paulann Peterson introducing Carl with a clever poem of her own.

Mother Tree in Newberg, OR

I installed the Mother Tree at the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg yesterday. It is good to have her back in Oregon! I got to see the lovely crate that was built with funds donated by my lovely supporters. The armature went together easily.





The inscription in the roots is in honor of Earth Day and Mother's Day, which will both occur while she is on view.



Opening reception is April 22, from 5:30-7pm, and I'm planning a special Mother's Day/Birthday party for May 7th.