Quiet milestones

I originally thought that I should spend my decade turning birthday at a cemetery because I did that the last time. Then my tooth hurt enough to make me scared enough to rush home and see the dentist. A good excuse to take care of things, see the beau, sleep in my own bed, and relax (though really I was running errands every day—amazing how many things you end up having to do when you are no longer nestled in corn fields). I got one major surprise that will become real in the coming year or two, and will be the big work for this chapter in my life.

I did some jiseung and methylcellulose coating, as those are the easiest things to do on the road. Thought about the next steps for other pieces while putting in all kinds of maintenance orders (amazing how the natural direction for human-built structures is into decay and disarray. Sometimes I wonder why we ever bothered).

Made new tiny ducks. There are three other ones (bigger than these, on copper stands) that are now on sale starting today, running through Oct 22, at Still Point Gallery—meaning you can get a discount! Also, the Hand Papermaking art auction goes live today! Though I'm back in Michigan after yesterday's drive, it's already time to head next week to Tacoma for the Standards of Excellence meeting of the Guild of Book Workers. I shipped my hanji today for my demo.

Also, now that I've been reading and thinking more about tools and making, I so appreciate Jeff's post today about critical looking. This is something most people are NOT taught to do anymore. Thank goodness it's not completely lost.