Final push before holiday

I got up before 7am today to shower, do laundry, iron, make 50 cords, and cook a very well-rounded brunch after all of the work. Then I rushed to the Ulster Museum to see this giant clam (I was a little disappointed. I thought it was going to be GIANT, being the largest specimen in the world or something like that).

Then I shopped for tights in case it gets too hot in London to wear pants. Well, also b/c I'm only bringing one pair of pants so they might get too gross to wear every day. Then I got caught in the rain and was somewhat soaked when I got to the studio. But I had a mission: make an edition of 10 books by the end of the day. Ben also reminded me today via email that I have to make art, not drown in admin. He said, let everything else slide: the work is the most important thing. That was a good kick in the ass, and it worked!

Last night, I had been unable to fall asleep b/c suddenly I was being inundated by ideas and visions for work. Not surprisingly, they came right before I have to leave my studio for a week. But better than them coming right before I leave for good, I suppose. This book was one of the ideas. I had started it in CT at my last residency last summer, so I had a dummy.

But the final piece is 100% hanji instead of mixed, and has no loose parts, and can be opened to hang if desired. It is super simple: an accordion, no separate covers, and all the text is hand-penned. Even the colophon (that was the worst part, but I edited it down as much as I could). It was a big push, and I can barely see now, but I did it: 11 books (varied edition of 10 + 1 artist proof). Numbers 1 and 2 are gift wrapped in dyed hanji and hanji cords and ready for my hosts in England.

Just for kicks, I photographed my pile of stuff that I've made here thus far. Some of it is actually stuff I brought but most of it is new. There's more, but not in the pile (I bunch them up and then cover them w/hanji to protect them from the sun). I'm bringing enough hanji to make 90 cords, paper yarn to knit, and my computer. I am very bad at taking vacations, right? But my justification is that I have two talks immediately when I return, so I have to prep them on the road. And I would LOVE to have the "busy work" of the knitting and cording DONE so I can spend the last two weeks here making the things I wanted to make out of them.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Tonight's mission: a good night's sleep.