a confession - with a postscript

i've been feeling very bad 

on the last day of my class in Vancouver I was given a card from my students

i put it away to read later because my attention was being called to something in the next room

thought i had gathered it up with the papers from the clothesline 

and have been looking for it ever since

so if there was something in it that i haven't responded to

it's not because i am ignoring you

it's because i've lost it

and i'm sorry

that's all. 

not quite all

am delighted to say that as i was packing for the Mansfield workshop series...the card magically appeared (from a place i had looked in before) and so all is well. i could have deleted this post but hey i figured it might as well stay

+
 

happy wanderer

You know you're working in a good place when neighbourhood dogs swing by for a quiet word with the house pups and are welcome to hang out together in the sunshine for a while

I've been made welcome too and am being pampered within an inch of my life. 

Our outdoor studio is just beautiful. 

Each afternoon the pot goes on the fire

In the mornings I step out (carefully) into fields of flowers

My grandmother would have loved the dandelion patch below. She used the flowers for champagne, the leaves in salad and made ersatz coffee from the roots

We are making exquisite bundles

And above our heads

notes about dyeing with plants

flutter like prayerflags in the breeze

I'm counting my blessings today

grateful that my work takes me to magical places like this

(and so very happy to be so wonderfully hosted by Hilary, John, Binou and Diva)

Turning toward the sun

I travel north and across the border

Enjoy a splendid afternoon in good company 

Gathering salmonberries

Spotting likely lichens (yes they would yield purple but no I did not gather)

Wandering about the shoreline 

And then I followed many signs east

I stop at a beaver pond 

Find violets

I think nature's architect is long gone

And has abandoned this project

But

I saw him

On

A sign

I drove between mountains and through woods

Past leftover snow and rushing rivers

And beautiful stacks of crates

And just after a spotted lake

I reached my destination

In the hills above Osooyos 

To begin telling stories afresh. 

I notice to my surprise that the magic number 1313 has appeared in the sidebar 

Glad to have y'all along for the ride. 

colour literally gathered from the gutters

we haven't had to look far

for beautiful colours here at Maiwa

they are literally drifting to the ground from 

local trees [within 200 yards of the dye studio]

no adjunct mordants are being used

just

leaves and water

paper and cloth

+

i am having a splendid time

[i do hope they ask me back]

at Maiwa

i left Lopez with considerable reluctance

but warmed by the comforting thought that

i will be back. it really feels like another home.

it's a rare thing to feel so compatible with hosts you've only just met

that it doesn't feel at all out of the ordinary to be sitting over the remains of dinner

reading poetry to each other

and comparing pocket music libraries

+

it was a very good time

thank you Christi

and Patsy & John Sangster

and all my lovely students

the train journey up the coast

was truly beautiful

through dazzling scenery

+

now i'm teaching at Maiwa

[again being thoroughly pampered by my kind hosts]

and there is rather a lot of magic emanating from the dyepots

the pavements provided a clue

as to potentially useful material

prunus leaves

literally scraped out of the gutters

the magic of maple

dogwood over prunus over cotoneaster

and good old sugar maple strutting her stuff

conclusion

thanks NSCAD

for the gift of a week

in which to re-examine my practice

which

by coincidence [no such thing as]

began in a place with a view

of the island where the Acadians were detained

prior to 

Le Grand Dérangement

which led to some of them

winding up in Louisiana

where this work will continue

in

2012

this small rockpile

left as a token

of my appreciation

nine things and counting

and here are the links...

NSCAD

Sandra Brownlee

Five Fishermen

Anna Leonowens Gallery

happily at the coalface

yesterday's wind has generated a rich harvest

i arrive at the studio laden with fragrant greenery

now you see it

now you don't

it goes into the pot

and then

i have breakfast

lovely rosemary and olive bread

salvaged from the supper table

outside the window

there is a passing parade

inside i inhale the aroma of the dyepot

and play with shapes that echo those of the containers

on the boats

eventually my dumpling is cooked

and the alarm on my batfone alerts me to my responsibilities

so

i speedwalk back in to the city

and put on a frock for the exhibition opening

am pretty sure some folks in the street think

that i am dressing up for Halloween

i think more people should wear frocks with big skirts

that hide a multitude of sins

[as opposed to the sins of a multitude]

94 starving students turn up

eat cheese and vegetable bits

do a circuit of the space

and rush off to get stuck into Halloween

[i'm told this is an excellent turnout]

meanwhile i am given a splendid bunch

of very red flowers

for which

i 

am 

grateful