Wintertime Views Out the Window
Oh, the quiet of January as I unpack hastily assembled boxes, and take stock of what I have. I bound myself a new datebook, filled in my calendar, and started making my workspace, well, workable. When I was at Penland this summer, I was lucky to convince a few amazing folks to trade their work for a year of letterpress postcards. Erin Curry printed on silk and Georgina Trevino, took a break from her jewelry design to try out some etchings and traded me one mint green lovely. Also, Constance Metcalf gave me a panel of handmade paper, inspired by a process shown to me by Amy Jacobs. All together, my windows are little fancied up. Also, with some help, I finally hung a lamp over my desk so I can see what I am doing at night.
January (in California) is great for walking. Andy discovered a sci-fi themed cafe near out house with coffee and 5 or 6 pinball machines. There's lots I want to do but it is nice to take a walk every day too, and see what is out there.
etching by georgina trevino
etching by erin curry on silk on the left, panel of paper by constance on the right
through the window as the sun goes down
light over the work table! small victories 2015!
More from the Desktop
friends' front door, new orleans
The first datebook I ever made for myself was really just a tall journal with blank pages. Each page was a list. Once I ran out of room on one page, I would transfer the parts of the list that had yet to be completed and crossed off, and that still seemed important, and started again until I finished the next page. I did have a lot of deadlines, so it worked well. I like lists a lot. i subdivide lists into other lists. But the chance to reevaluate is important. To cut loose what is unnecessary, to re-prioritize. This might be what is so appealing about the idea of a new year. I know that January 1st is an arbitrary date to choose to start over, and check in, but it works for me, as I stay in a little more, have a little more slow time, and anyway my other favorite time to do this--my birthday--is nearly 6 months away from January 1st. So here are more things I saw this year that I wanted to share, other things people made that are inspiring and important and beautiful.
knotless knitting demo on handmade paper vessel by Tamaryn
postcard from the new orleans book fair
zines procured from the new orleans book fair
Catching up with the passing year
My desktop is covered in photos I was saving to share, stories I meant to tell. The end of the year is like this, sifting though all the things that seemed important or had potential, trying to remember what we saw in them. So here we are.
handmade paper flowers by allison milham
Home again on a night as someone offered me a ticket out but I've just been so tired. End of the year slight sickness and balancing going out and staying in, sharing and saving for yourself.
goodies from Taylor of Baskerville
So here are some nice things other people made. Now I am going to sleep. And then tomorrow I will get back to work.
the rules/no rules from Taylor of Baskerville
New Orleans Without Color
my dancing shoes
I brought a camera to New Orleans, I even checked the batteries before I packed it. And then it stayed in my bag for my entire visit. Most of the time, I wanted to just be with my friends, ride around, not answer the phone, not check my email. Aside from arranging meet-up times with busy friends, mostly it worked.
My first day in town, my friend Matt Runkle made a facebook challenge. Normally I ignore these, I duck in the internet corners so I don't get picked. But this one was about posting five black and white photos in five days. It was a challenge I was willing to participate in. I love color photos. Phone cameras and apps have improved, making it easier and easier to take lovely square images. I used to own a poloroid camera . The colors and instananeos nature of poloroid was appealing. Also the physical photo that emerged, to be tucked into a notebook, or glued to a journal cover. With all the instagram fanciness, it was nice to focus on composition with the same instant results. I took a few photos that didn't work in black and white, but here are the five I chose. I posted them on facebook but I thought they were nice all together. Maybe I will start taking more.
two against one.
woke at 6 am.
the industrial canal from the end of the world
end of the world graffiti