Already

December! That was a sneak attack, but I had a lovely end to November. I caught up with Terttu, who did my book's cover photography. Then I went to Harlem for a studio visit with an artist I randomly found online because she shows at the same gallery as Melissa. Fumiko was fantastic, so full of energy and questions, and her studio was crawling with bugs and creatures on paper that she adds to her paintings. I absolutely love her color sense and we had a long talk about the "art world" and its addiction to trends and credentials. She you have to continually practice, and through the practice, you develop your philosophy. She and I know about practicing, too! She used to play the flute and I saw sheet music under her paintings. She teaches printmaking classes in her studio and lives in a building dedicated to artists. Afterwards, I saw an old friend who is still on the music/violin track, over a huge and delicious Korean dinner.

The ongoing big project has been getting the book into the world. Last week, I walked into a local bookstore, plenty nervous, but was invited to a book signing event in two weeks! It will be nice to do something very local (I can walk my books over). On Friday, the local paper ran a story about the book and what I've been up, so I went to the store to pick up a couple of copies. The store owner grinned when I entered, which I didn't understand until I went to pay. He pointed at my headshot on the front page, then pointed at me, and then shook my hand. He's Korean, so he was very happy to read about hanji in the paper. Later that day, I dropped off a print for a show in NYC, where I hope to schedule a book talk next year, and then went to a specialty bookstore. The book buyer was out, so I was told to call the next day. Partly because I know it's easier to say no to people on the phone, and partly because my knee went into excruciating pain several hours later, I stayed in town and returned the next day. I went to the info desk where I was refused, pretended to leave, and then came back and found the book buyer, who clarified their stance on carrying books. Hopefully a consignment deal will be in the works soon.

And now that December is here, it's time to get my hands onto something. Today, some bark!