"See You Soon . . .

God willing and the creek don't rise."  One of my favorite southern sayings.  And now that I will be living where I have to cross a creek to get to my new home, I completely understand where that saying comes from. 

During the summer months, the creek bed will be fairly dried up, but during the winter and spring, there will be times when I won't be able to cross the creek when the waters are exceptionally high.  But for me, a self proclaimed recluse, it will be a bit like Brer Rabbit saying, "Oh, please, don't throw me in that briar patch!"  I will be happily holed up in my studio, knowing that no one will show up to bother me.  I can hardly wait!

Creek crossing.

House of Belonging

A lot has happened since my last post.  I had recorded in my journal for November 4, 2010 that I was done with struggling with my art and my living situation and I made a decision to "Let go and let God".  Not only did that work for me, but it may even have worked too well!  Within a month, I had received a new House of Belonging.  The House of Belonging is an ancient Celtic metaphor for the human body as the earthly home for the soul.  Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of  "Simple Abundance", says that "the blueprints of your House of Belonging exist as spiritual energy and hover over your head, ready when you are, to be pulled down from Heaven to shelter your soul on Earth."



Painting by my husband's Uncle Leslie VanHook.



I believe I have been ready for quite some time for my new home and was pleasantly surprised when the perfect  home appeared for me.  Of course, as with everything that seems to simply appear, there are certain unforeseen problems that must be dealt with.  In this instance, my husband and I have received a wonderful new home that was never really finished and, having sat for a long time unattended, was in bad need of repair.  But we are getting closer to the finish date and will hopefully move in soon.   The image shown above is a picture of a painting of the house as it would be upon completion.   You will see in subsequent pictures that  not everything was finished.



Split cedar log house built partially by my husband almost twenty years ago.

The greatest surprise for me, however, is that I will finally have a good sized "wet" studio that can also easily be vented if I choose to continue exploring mediums that need a good ventilation system for safety.  I have wanted to try working with encaustic medium but have hesitated since I did not have a good way to ventilate the wax fumes.  So, I may just jump in sooner than later.


The living room/den in need of some repairs and finishing touches.

We are just in awe of this room.  I haven't decided if this room will be the "man cave" or something more matriarchal where I can dance by the light of the moon coming in through the large plate glass window opposite the stone fireplace.  The walls are split cedar logs, sanded smooth and varnished, the ceiling is sassafras, and the floors are handpegged, white ash -- stunning!

Now on to the next order of business.  I have to find a realtor to sell my house.  I will be meeting with someone this weekend who seems to have great potential.  And more great news, I have had an article accepted for publication by "Cloth Paper Scissors" for their Sept/Oct 2011 issue.  I have to dig through my packing and find the materials I need to get started on it.  Not sure when I will be posting again.  I am just going to have to wing it until I get settled in my new home.

Taking a Break

I am taking a much needed break from all things mental.  My poor addled brain needs a rest!  And right now with the weather pretty much perfect here in Middle Tennessee, what could be better than to spend time outside digging in the dirt and doing some home improvements.  My husband has cleaned our beautiful cedar fencing with a pressure washer and yours truly is applying a water sealant to it.  A daunting task as we have lots of fencing and arbors in our landscaping.  But I am doing a little bit each day and have already made some noticeable progress.

But when the winter winds start nipping at my nose, I will be back, hopefully with my head clear and ready to immerse myself in whatever appears to be my next venture.  I am spending my down time knitting so I should have much to share about that before long.

Enjoy the fall, it will too soon be over!

Work in Progress

Last meeting of the Book Babes, theTennessee Bookmakers' Guild, we made a prototype for a concertina bound book.  When I got home, I decided that it would be fun to finish up the prototype, warts and all.  So I got out some old "Art in America" magazines and tore through the pages to make collages for my "book".  Once that was done, I felt that I wanted some content, so I went looking through my journals for quotes that had particular appeal for me at this time.

As I began to collect quotes, I started to tune in to some underlying anxieties and very quickly the small book I was playing around with became something that I rather needed as a gift to myself to help me cope with an emotionally trying time.  Another member of the Book Babes, our only regularly attending male member, had recently shared with the group that he and his son, who was battling cancer, were working on a book together of memories of how they each dealt with difficult periods of life.  So, if you are reading this, John, thank you for planting that book "seed" in my mind.

I still need a title and a few more quotes, but I am already feeling pleased with my little book, imperfect as it is.

Home Improvement

Summer is losing its grip after a hotter than usual July and August, and hubby and I have spent the past couple of days tending to our much neglected landscaping.  Our backfence neighbors have taken down a walnut tree that was growing into our fence which has inspired us to pressure wash the fence and do some pruning and garden cleanup.

Our new and improved view and clean fence!

Now if only I could get Blogger to cooperate and put the pictures and text where I want them, I would be a very happy camper!

Making Paper

Today I sent off my ginkgo leaf paper samples for the 2010 Papermaking Swatch Swap.  I also sent two cover papers and will receive a bound book with samples from a total of seventy papermakers.  Just about the entire group I think.  So here's my paper samples . . .

I harvested the leaves last fall and partially cooked, rinsed well, and put them in the freezer right next to the frozen meatloaf!

 

Using my crockpot for cooking fibers has revolutionized papermaking for me.  No more pot boiling over on the stove and stinking up the whole house.

Hand beating fibers.

And finally, I got to use my "new" hydraulic press that makes a world of difference in the quality of the papers I can make.  Smoother and stronger and more able to put through my printer.

And here's a list of the junk that was used to make my press by my ever handy and resourceful hubby:  1.  Hydraulic press and handle.  2.  Long bolts from electrical poles.  3.  Clothing rack.  4.  Scrap angle iron.  5.  U-bolts from cable assembly in chicken house.  6.  Eyebolts from TV antenna brackets.  7.  Pre-formed metal for Peterbilt truck replacement parts.  Modeled on a picture of a press that retailed for $1,200!

Now that the weather has cooled some, I will be making lots of paper -- and some experimenting with new processes, too.

A New Swimming Hole for Me . . .

I am a water baby and come summertime, I need to be immersed in water.  So when a friend offered me the use of her pool for the summer, I thought I might have died and gone to heaven.  Tucked away inside 350 acres, is this beautiful pool.  The house is vacant and no one uses the pool after the early morning hours.  A dream come true to for me to swim by myself, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Tennessee countryside.  Do you think that if I make her one of my famous New York cheesecakes it will even begin to thank her for such a gift?