more green

i am on Madeline Island
midst fields of green but slightly nervous to tread in them
having already been attacked by the dreaded chiggers
not to mention ticks literally raining down on me
every time i am foolish enough to set foot under a tree.

there are big ones and little ones

those little ones at the bottom are particularly insidious.
apparently they like to attach themselves to gentleman's vegetables.
they are hard to spot and can give you Lyme disease.
i am very glad i am not a boy.

green abounds in our samples

 in the instruments we make
to apply proteins to our pages

and on a hill

though there is less of it on the other side

a little way down the road i find peony heaven

so far we have limited ourselves to using colour
literally gathered within 500 yards of the cauldrons

after class hours i play music amplified by a jug
which is a good deal cheaper than extra speakers
every bit as effective
and amusing to look at.

the Madeline Island School of Arts prides itself on its food [on the website at all events]
but does not provide evening meals.
for those of us without transport [such as yours truly]
this has meant a simple diet of corn chips-washed-down-by-gin for supper.

this evening i discovered a clean cauldron in my digs
and cooked soup [lentil+potato+squash+corn] for my students.
in the absence of herbs [none that i could find at all events]
i flavoured it with peanut butter, garlic, chili and maple syrup;
dressing it with a mix of yoghurt/green onion/lemon
which some of us also anointed with Tabasco.
it sounds vile but was actually delicious.
sadly the visuals did not match the flavour and so i shall spare you an image.

and now
i have to get back to my sewing. i have a Fall collection to construct
so every non-teaching [waking] moment has to be put to good use...

a LOT of pictures of the big apple

i have a confession to make.

i have been in New York since yesterday morning

and not set foot inside a single museum

instead i am living in the present

taking note of the everyday

and wearing out my boot leather hoofing it around town

blessed be the waitress at the Diner on 9th avenue

who made my day by asking to see proof of age before supplying me with a margarita

 

even though i am as wrinkled as the vinyl on that chair

 she probably just forgot her contacts

but it made my day

New York is full of marks and signs

delicious bookstores and really interesting clothing stores

like Mieko Mintz, where Eiko kindly let me take her picture

loved the road markings laid out in ducktape

 who knew that wedding gowns had a season

and that they were stored when it was off

the boots have the last word

 

time out

after the giddy excitement of having my work accepted 

by a rather lovely store in Los Angeles

it was good to retreat 

to the woods and shores of Haystack in order to be a quiet student

thinking about traces and marks

under the guidance of Helen Carnac

the weather varied from almost tropical

to cool fogs and mists

there was time to walk barefoot in the woods

and to eat wild strawberries

i will admit to cooking up the odd brew after hours

there were lovely rust marks on the steel plate

that appeared overnight after i left some fern fronds 

resting on it

light-and-shadow drawings

and the enchanting Maine coast landscape, those rocks

perfect for drawing and dreaming in the daytime

and

at night, the best place to lie back companionably

gazing up at the heavens and the shooting stars

or marvelling at the fireflies below

all the while listening to the lick and curl, slap and splash 

of the incoming tide meeting the small waterfall

that chuckled its way down the hill

through the bog

and out from under the tree roots

to the rocks and the shore

+  +  +

i filled an entire journal

stitching in extra pages

and

even having to let out its waistband