slowly she turned

Living the Slow life in North Carolina

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  • Eh. Dan isn’t going to write me the recommendation letter for Penland. I understand his reasons – he probably doesn’t even remember me. Let’s face it, I’m one of hundreds of menopausal overweight white women he teaches a year in probably a dozen or so venues – I’m sure that after a while we all look alike. At least he was kind enough to respond and give me advice about the application process at Penland, which was more than Sonya bothered to do.

    So, I’m not going to bother applying and wasting $45 on a scholarship app that isn’t going to be a good one. Maybe next year I’ll be able to round up two artist/teachers who will be willing.

    Yeah, I cried because it really hurt my ego, but now I think that it probably means that something else is going to happen or that I should concentrate on what’s in front of me, which is the woodcut class this semester.

    And, I’m very happy that we are now the proud owners of a brand new toilet that doesn’t have to be flushed twice per use! What more can a girl want?

    We’re refinancing the house with enough extra cash to fix the joist, to put in a second bathroom, and to redo the deck so that we can get into the basement. Why does a couple of DINKs need a second bathroom you ask? Well, I’m trying to think long term. Our current bathroom has a big clawfoot tub with a jerry-rigged shower. If my mother needs to come live with us, there’s no way she could use it safely. Plus with my hip problems, who knows what the future might bring for me? We have an odd little nook that a corner shower, toilet and sink would fit into nicely. If it ever comes down to us needing to rent out a room to a college student, the second bathroom, back bedroom, and computer room could serve as a nice private area for a renter. Or the Fabulous ZhaK could move in.

    Yep, I’m an INTJ, always planning for contingencies.

  • 2009 hopes and goals

    Well, we’ve already started off the year right with black-eyed peas (Eden Foods canned but organic) and turnip and mustard greens from the Back Forty. I cooked the greens with a couple of strips of cooked bacon (certified humanely raised, and organic to boot) and a couple of cloves of garlic, also from the Back Forty.

    For tonight, there will be pot roast from Rocking F Farm, with onions and carrots and mashed potatoes from Deep Roots Market. Fresh herbs from the Back Forty, although I think that my parsley has had it with the wild weather swings.

    Rumour has it that whatever you do on New Year’s Day will be what you do during the coming year, or something like that. Happily, then, I am not hungover. I spent the morning writing in my journal and binding a book. After I post this, I’m going out to the studio to weave and work on another book.

    I don’t reserve New Year’s Day for resolutions. I resent being expected to do things on certain days. I guess that’s why I hate feeling obligated to buy gifts for certain days. I definitely don’t mind giving gifts, but buying or receiving a gift that doesn’t have some thought and care behind it bugs the crap out of me. I’d rather wait to find or make a meaningful gift and give it on whatever day it presents itself, and prefer receiving nothing to anything else.

    For example, my grand nephew gave me a chunk of cedar wood at Christmas. He told me that it was about to be thrown into a fire and he remembered from when we went to the lake that I liked weird pieces of wood. What a wonderful gift. Not that I didn’t like the Rachel Ray cookbook that his grandmother gave me on his behalf, but that piece of wood really rocks.

    And food gifts. I love receiving home baked or canned goodies. However, that leads me to Goal #1 for 2009, not necessarily the most important goal, but the one that will begin this weekend. Losing weight and exercising. Really. I want to lose at least 25 pounds by the end of this year. I have to stop this weight gain, less for my vanity than for the strain it is putting on my back and hip, and the strain it will put on my pocketbook if I have to go up a size in clothes.

    To that end, I’ll walk at least 30 minutes 3 times a week, and add more as my hip gets better. In a month or two I’ll be working on the garden again and that will help too. And I will drastically lower my sugar intake, which I hope will not be that hard for me. Giving up butter and bacon – now that will suck big time. But I need to lower my saturated fats too.

    The second, and equally if not more important goal is to continue to develop my artistic life. I begin my woodcut/wood engraving class January 20. I have a direction for my books – remember the woven ATCs? They are becoming covers for books. I have a new warp on my loom for more dishtowels because I enjoy doing something with a simple pattern and a rhythm now and then. I am teaching a two-part workshop for my weaver’s guild on the Sarah Swett tapestry box in February and March. That’s winter and spring.

    My immediate goal is to apply for a scholarship or studio assistantship to Penland this summer. Daniel Essig and Helen Hiebert are both teaching there in June and July. There are other artists teaching this summer that would further my artistic goals as well, but those are the two I am familiar with. Now the scary part – I really need for Dan to write me a letter of recommendation, because I’ve only had a couple of art teachers lately and he is one of them. Normally John would be my go-to person, but he is gone and none of the professors at UNCG know me yet. So I’m going to email Dan and ask him to consider me for an assistant and to write a letter recommending me for a scholarship or assistantship or both. This wouldn’t ordinarily seem so scary, but I had a former instructor ignore my repeated requests the last time I needed a letter. It’s quite a kick in the chops. Susanne has agreed to write me the first letter.

    I’d prefer a scholarship because I don’t think that I could work 25-40 hours a week AND do an intense art class for two weeks. I know that part of it is working the day before and after, but with my joint problems I just don’t see it happening. What would be the point of taking the class if I was too tired or achy to get the most out of it? But having seen Dan’s class and what his assistant did before, I feel pretty confident that I could handle being his assistant. He may already have one, or doesn’t want one, or wants one that is better experienced with tools, which won’t hurt my feelings if he will recommend me for a scholarship.

    Oh yeah, and save money to go to Italy next year, as I’ve done every year and watched my plans go down the drain! But I’ve used the money for other, almost as nice opportunities.

    Soon we will refinance the house and add in some money to do some of the expensive repairs and renovations that we need to do; for example, the missing joist under the house and rebuilding the deck into a small porch that will give us access to the basement without it being a major two-person operation just to change the freaking furnace filter.

    Another goal is the same one from last year that I re-affirmed to myself several weeks ago. I will be less judgmental and more compassionate for others and myself.

    And I will spend more time doing things that I like to do, and less time doing things that I don’t like to do. But regardless of that, I will keep the dishes washed and the kitchen relatively clean, while cooking and preparing more healthy food for my husband and me.

    These are my intentions for 2009.

  • 2008, a year of loss and growth

    Every year I look back through my blog and write up a little retrospective. I think that it’s valuable. It usually seems like a longer time ago to me and there are always things that I have forgotten. I’m especially surprised at all the headache complaints.

    In 2008, I was reeling from the loss of my furchild, Squirt, but I felt strangely freed as well. I didn’t understand it at the time, but the thing that I had dreaded most had happened, and my load was lightened. I understand better about the damage that living in a negative future can do to your psyche, and I turned my energy toward art. I learned a lot about letting go and living authentically.

    So here are what I gleaned as the highlights of the blog last year.

    In January 2008, Sandy was rehired. I changed medications and got on with my life, especially my creative life. I planned and explored some paths that didn’t work out, but I did begin weaving the tapestry bag.

    February brought the finished tapestry bag, the beginning of the labyrinth tapestry, woven ATCs, the discovery of podcasts and free audio books, the rediscovery of discussion lists, and beginning to fix up the house.

    In March, I was thrilled to finally earn the trust of Mama Kitty after 12 years! I got heavily into the woven ATCs. Usual garden stuff. After years of grousing, one of my major goals of replacing the SUV was completed by the purchase of a purple Honda Fit.

    April 2008: “By the Sea” tapestries. After photos of the Back Forty, with my favorite photo of Mama Kitty. Obsession with the free book shelf at Ed McKay’s. A LOT of time hanging with Mama Kitty on the deck.

    The Back Forty is at its most beautiful in May. I went to Art and Soul and bound my first book and carved my first stamp. Mama Kitty went home. I changed my mind – this is my favorite photo – from 2007 just seconds before she whacked the bunny. I miss my feline garden friend.

    In June we took our annual week-long vacation at Lake Waccamaw, with an unwelcome wildlife encounter. Cherry picking. Heat wave from hell. Most significantly, I made my first paper with the help of Susanne.

    July was all about papermaking, binding books, journaling, and spending lots of time in the studio. Said goodbye to my friend John at the celebration of his life. These artichokes, from which I would later make beautiful paper, were in bloom.

    In early August we put up a gazebo with mosquito netting in the very back – a wonderful place to relax and journal nearly bug-free. Recycled papermaking, altered journals, and more small bound journals.

    I actually went to Slow Food Nation in San Francisco in late August, but I killed my camera and didn’t blog about it until September. I started back to school as an art undergrad (for the third time!) but I dropped my design class because I was frustrated with the Mac and physically hurting from being on the computer all the time. My need for blogging decelerates quickly. Finished the Labyrinth tapestry.

    October brings another loss with the passing of Miss Peanut. I take an incredible week-long class in book arts with Daniel Essig at John C. Campbell Folk School.

    Naturally, as an Obama supporter I was excited about Election Night in November. Guido had dental surgery, while I had the fun of forcing antibiotics down his throat twice a day for weeks.

    And I didn’t blog much in December. Did the usual holiday family stuff. Had a lot of pain problems with my hip, but my attitude is pretty good. We bought some new furniture and painted the porch. Picked up and shelled a lot of pecans. Greatly disappointed with Obama and his lack of vision for our food future, but happier than I would have been with the alternative. A pretty laid-back Christmas, all-in-all, and focusing now on 2009.

  • Election Commentary

    As much as I want them to definitely call North Carolina for Obama ASAP, wouldn’t it be totally cool if we were the ones to put him over the top?

    I’m so psyched about Kay Hagan, who is my state senator and will be a fantastic US senator, whupping Liddy Dole that I’m as excited about that as anything. I was so sick of coming home to an answering machine full of messages telling me that I’m a do-nothing godless unAmerican. When Liddy got so desperate that she put out that incredibly slimy “godless” commercial about Kay, I would have been very upset if that had not backfired. That was so unbelievably low, and I’ve lived through quite a few of the nastiest Senate campaigns according to anybody, having endured 20+ years of Jesse Helms.

    Deception should not pay, and I’ve been sorely disappointed that it does in this country. At least this time it did not.

    My mother, who has always been a good Democrat until she came under the influence of an extremist right-winger preacher and, unfortunately, my brother and his wife, loves Liddy Dole. I think that she is entranced by the fact that she is an older woman. She also subscribes to the county newspaper, which is so far right that they regularly run Ann Coulter’s column as their main editorial. My sister and I get quite frustrated, and Mama won’t tell any of us how she votes any more, but I’d be willing to bet that she voted for Obama and Dole. This would be in keeping with my family history – my father once voted for Mondale and Helms.

    North Carolina is complicated. We elect Democrats in the state government at the same time we elect Republicans to the federal government, and vice versa. I don’t know why we’ve been painted a red state (because of Jesse’s long success, maybe?) but from my observation, we’ve always been purple.

    Looks like we might have a female Democrat governor, too.

    I wasn’t playing the drinking game tonight because I’m sitting here alone, but I’ve heard “historic election” enough times to get a good buzz on if I had been.

    Hope I’m not devastated in the morning like I was in 2000, but I think that it might be safe to go to bed with a book.

    11 pm, with laptop in bed: Virginia just went for Obama. I love Virginia.

    Now there is less than a 1000 vote difference in NC. Aughhh! What a nail-biter. I know, Obama will win, but it would be really groovy if he won in my state. Then there would be TWO Southern states! Okay, three if you count Maryland, but that’s a fuzzy call around here. And even Floridians know that Florida is not Southern.

    Whee! President Obama! I wish that Miss Mary had lived long enough to see this day. (She was my babysitter, who lived into her 90s until this year.)

  • Reflections on Little Brasstown Creek

    I wandered down to Little Brasstown Creek late Friday afternoon and did a little reflecting. And picked up some pebbles, of course. On the way back I photographed a few wildflowers. This beautiful lichen was on downed limbs all over the place.

    Every time I walked over this meadow I felt like twirling around and breaking into song like Julie Andrews.

  • Happy Halloween from John C. Campbell Folk School

    I finally forced myself to stop making books today and get out into the beautiful weather. I’ll finish uploading photos etc. when I get back home, which will be tomorrow afternoon.

  • Thursday at John C. Campbell Folk School

    We finished binding the spine of the wooden books today. We still have a lot of work to do to it tomorrow. Mine is named “Brasstown Book.” It looks a lot like an old celestial map.

    I filled the mica window of the third book with sparkly beads. Oops, I thought that I was finished but I didn’t do a closure. Shoot. That will be a problem to solve tomorrow.

    We learned how to make this “centipede” tonight, but my eyes were too tired to do the second one he taught us! I like this a lot, though.

  • Wednesday at JCCFS

    Well, last night after I posted, I nearly ruined my first book with a green ink mishap. Today I think that I redeemed it and it will look better after I work on the inside at home. In a way it was a good thing, as accidents often are, because it gave me the idea to make it into an alphabet book using the stamps that Rice gave me and the ones that I carved.

    I decided to start another book with the same basic class materials. This time I stopped when I started getting really tired!:

    And the real show stopper and the focus of our class is well under way. We finished painting, distressing, and cutting the wooden book covers today. Tomorrow we start sewing the binding.

    I’d love to make at least two more little books while I’m here. We’ll see. Tomorrow and Friday nights we’ll have things going on here and in beautiful downtown Brasstown, NC.

  • Tuesday at JCCFS

    Last night I bound a book with the paper that included Squirt and Mama Kitty’s fur and the artichoke paper. Today I found a piece of mica that highlighted Squirt’s eyes – perfect!

    I’m working on three books at once right now. The wooden covers for the main book of the workshop have been drilled, beveled, sanded, and banged and scratched. I’m working on futzing around with the first book’s cover. And Squirt’s book is nearly finished – I’ll put a bone bead (not his, I promise!) and a closure on it tonight.

    I took lots of photos of Daniel Essig’s books and other books from his collection that he brought to show us. Most of these books are very small. They will be on my flickr site. I will edit and describe them when I get home, because I’m getting in all the work play I can here!

    Here’s a shot of my workspace with Squirt’s book.

  • First book of the week

    First book of the week – Greek binding, mostly finished.

    Second book made tonight from my handmade paper, but I’m too tired to fight this Mac any more.

    But I’m happy!

    I’m trying to upload photos each day but I probably won’t blog unless my hands need a break.