I don't know where I put my camera

But here is a piece of a piece by Brooke Inman in the Morgan show of prints. I couldn't sleep last night so I got up early and commuted to work and Tom and I finally started gluing up the big vat. He had cut all the pieces (of course last night as I tossed and turned, I realized the dimensions I gave him were INNER dims, not outer. But I think we'll be okay w/the missing few inches) so we glued and clamped and drilled and put in corner seals (I don't know what they're really called) before lunch. After lunch, we took Jim, a great intern, and glued up the walls to the bottom and sealed those (which was tricky. Not as clean a job as we'd like, but the best we were going to do in this weather and time crunch). So tomorrow afternoon, after Tom picks up yet another Vandercook press donation, we'll screw the bottom to the walls and add more reinforcements. I mentioned handles and we might try that also. He leaves Sunday so we want to get as much done before then.

In the meantime, a generous donor is going to ship me stainless steel rods to experiment with sewing metal screens for student moulds! I also did a video interview this afternoon before attending a board meeting tonight to help out with minutes (in many ways, I am a die hard arts administrator). In return, I got a lovely Thai dinner and a ride home. It's still super hot upstairs in my room but I am feeling more at ease now that the big vat is taking shape. Hopefully tomorrow I will find my camera so I can prove it!

Dirty clothes

I didn't bring enough clothing at all. I'll be lucky if I make it two more days w/o doing laundry. The letterpress class was cancelled so I have my weekend (and focus) back, though it was a real blast from the past when I started to prep for the class. I asked Eleanor to make a hell box b/c there isn't one on site, and showed her how to cut leads. I did public transport today, too, and survived, but just barely--b/c of the weather. I can't wait until this heat wave breaks.

Tom has started on the vat and I'll attend a board meeting tomorrow. I'm still on a hunt for a substitute for bamboo splints to sew screens. I'll be happy, though, if I sleep through the night. Hopefully I can also do a teaching session w/interns before the week is up. I am keen on that and remembered that years ago, I started an internship program for NYFA and loved doing it. Oh, and I also met Ahmed today--an artist who had to flee Baghdad and is now here.

Obies in the house

This morning, after the errands to send out rewards for one tier of my backers for this project, I was lucky to get a ride from my host. The whole getting to and from has been hard and stressful b/c I hate asking people for favors, even though everyone has been super nice about it. But I finally found out a better route on public transport and will attempt it tomorrow. In the meantime, I got to work to find a group of Oberlin students at the Morgan! They're all library workers and came in to do some papermaking and letterpress. They were super sweet and one even told me that he's already seen my books in special collections since he works at the art library. I also got to meet Eleanor, an intern from Colorado College, who is a printmaker.

Today I put together my Korean mould (minus the brace that goes in the middle across the long bars) and visited Tom's studio. Ridiculous: four floors of a warehouse. Multiple gallery spaces, printmaking studio, ceramics studio, paper studio, etc. I can't even begin to describe it b/c it's probably as much stuff as you would find in an entire museum. I saw some gorgeous wood panels standing upright and asked what they were: flooring from an old bowling alley. He's converted a lot of them into table tops. We talked a lot today about plywood options and timelines, since he's leaving on Sunday for PBI and will be gone for 11 days, so it's best to get as much of this done before his departure since he's the one w/the best carpentry skills. When he finally got a better sense of how Korean formation works, he said, "why do Koreans make everything so hard?" It's hilarious but also true, in this case.

I almost forgot: tomorrow is the opening of the 60th anniversary Fulbright Korea show in NYC at Gallery Korea starting at 7pm. I have a piece in it but won't be able to attend.

Also, I will be teaching a letterpress class this weekend at the Morgan. Plus, I've gotten the green light to do workshops to teach the interns new book arts skills. Party on! I love this place, despite being mauled by mosquitoes behind the paper mill area today. Let's all hope this heat wave passes SOON.

Sweating

I could say, I posted an update on Kickstarter and that's as much blogging as I can do today.

But I wanted to repeat how amazing people have been here. So generous, so ready to help out. Even in this killer summer weather. Just the fact that I'm getting rides to and from work is remarkable (though this is stressing me, b/c I can't just rely on chance and people's good nature to make this happen every day).

I especially love the interns here. Stephanie was out in this VERY HOT area of the Morgan for hours doing careful drawings of my Korean mould so that it can be replicated in the future. Emma helped measure lengths of hanji yarn. I wish both of them were around all the time but they can only work one day a week. Marcus taught bookbinding today and I helped out at the end. There is so much I want to teach them all, so I'm going to talk to higher ups to see if I can make that happen.

Overoverflowing

What a great fourth! I glued my camera today (and still have super glue all over my fingers) and intended to take pictures today but didn't. Things were just too present and beautiful. I got to spend the whole afternoon and evening and night with Treva and her family, met her daughter Taya, and re-met her daughter Trinity, who was in a stroller when I saw her last. What a ridiculously gorgeous family. We caught up, and ate, and spent time outside and inside, played Wii w/Trinity, tried to put Taya down, walked, and then drove back to my place just in time to catch the fireworks. My hosts then were incredibly generous and hospitable and we all hung out for another long while before T&T went home. It's so inspiring to be here, even though I am still in adjustment tired land. Tomorrow will be a good day at work and play. The balance is great.

Day two

Blurry, but exactly what I needed to read before I came here. This morning, I walked w/Susie and Norman (host and Bernese Mt. dog) around the area to get a sense of what is around and accessible on foot, and then Susan (neighbor) took me to the Morgan and I showed her around and she made her first sheet of paper at Paper Bridges and then I spent the rest of the afternoon doing I don't remember what (besides putting tape on my newest mosquito bites: I have been attacked every day so far, but as to be expected). I met Emma (intern) who will be helping me in the wood shop and spent more time explaining my research and hanging out with people while cutting down hanji for a sketchbook since I need a new one. Spencer (intern) gave me a ride home again and expressed interest in my hanji sketchbooks, which was a funny thing for me to hear since I haven't sold blank books in a long time.

This evening I attempted a workout and lasted three minutes before giving up and showering and relaxing. I tried to run errands but forgot my wallet so it took two trips but now I'm settling in. I talked with Treva (old friend from NYC who now lives here) to hopefully meet up with her and her family and Katherine called so I am feeling more and more at home. I'll see one of my fave Oberlin profs next month and will make a date soon w/a contact from over ten years ago who happens to work very close to my new digs. She saw me through my symphony administration days through grad school (she was best friends w/my then dept chair) and beyond.

When you find your place, practice begins.

Talk about shattered

I went through my old sketchbook from my Nebraska residency years ago and found this. I am in Cleveland and today was my first day at the Morgan and I held up fine in the morning but then crashed and all I could manage to do was make hanji bracelets for my Kickstarter backers. But I met a whole bunch of great people and yesterday had already gotten the tour, which was amazing, and then was up late w/my hosts. It'll be great, but I just need to get a good night of sleep before I can function properly. But six pieces of my mould already arrived, as well as white bark from Korea; yay!

I found this, too, and it shocked me that I was doing a little bit of cording w/o even knowing it back in the day. Destiny. Also, the Lost Coast Culture Machine website is finally live, and fantastic. They are out in California and paper will be one of the things they do; they have a few of my books on consignment. Right now, I'm going to lay down for a moment before meeting the neighbors.

Studio, emptied

I got this for myself at the Polish shop on my way to the studio today, after knitting and watching Derren Brown all morning.

I was intent on finishing this panel, and it's finally done!! 73 x 10 inches.

Then Inga and Andy came by to check out the studio. We wanted to get some tea after that, but all the cafes in the hood close at 3pm (I know, outrageous), so we had to instead go to a pub. I was drunk pretty instantly and on the way to their car, Inga stopped to pick up letters from a building that was taking them down and just painting the name on the exterior wall since the big "A" had fallen off in a storm and they didn't want to risk the rest of them flying off. So now they own these fabulous green plastic letters!

I went back to the studio to felt one more piece, pack up, wait for it to dry, and then get it all home. I figured I should be realistic and just close shop now b/c I don't think I'll be getting much done in the next week. I'll deal with distributing it into two suitcases tomorrow, after I hopefully sleep off my recent deep exhaustion.

Real baby steps

[Wood sculpture by Park Chan-soo at his exhibit at the Korean Cultural Centre UK.] I've been having a very unlike-me schedule in London, staying up late, getting out of the house late, eating dinner late. But tomorrow will be the last bit of it all before I fly back to Belfast and get back to work. Yesterday was the Tate Modern, British Museum, and "Scaramouche Jones," a one-man play at theatredelicatessen.

[Seal gut.] Today was lunch w/a friend and an afternoon park and dinner date w/another friend and her baby girl. I haven't seen either in years (and this was my first time meeting the little one). The highlight of my day was sitting in the park as Lis exclaimed, watching her daughter walk. Those were her first steps ever!! I grabbed my camera and got a little bit on video since she persisted for a while, working hard to get her balance first in down dog, and then upright. She looked like a tiny dancer.

Then I met Michael at Angel and headed to the Lyric to watch "A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky." Tomorrow will be a picnic and then the adventure to the airport. I have a lot of work to do but hopefully will be better equipped to get it done after all of this. I've been lucky and feel like a pampered princess.

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.

All at once, a downpour

I was so tired of this scrap of hanji that has been following me around since October and then I realized I could cut it up to make yarn. Now I love it. I rushed myself to the studio today, and was amazed that it was empty until 1pm! Soon after I arrived, a guy from the lens factory downstairs came up to tell me that the gate lock had broken and that he had to get a new lock and key and we would then have to cut new keys for everyone in the studio for night/weekend access. I knew this would NOT be fun news for the studio manager. But it was a good conversation; he said the building was old and creepy, and the area sketchy at night. I liked that he was honest about all that. He talked about how small the country is and how the last two summers of excess rain caused flooding and the land couldn't take it. He also said that there was nothing wrong with being an American, and that was nice to hear, of course.

I made 20 cords, had lunch, and prepped colored ones. Then I had a nice mentoring session with Helena, one of the graduate residents, where I remembered how much I'm able to run at the mouth. I hope that the info was useful to her, though. I was too cold to wait more than half an hour for my next session, so I left to avoid the rain forecast for later in the day and caught a bus home. I'm in admin zombieland, but am blown away by the support I've been getting for my hanji in Cleveland project (I am getting closer and closer to goal!), and was happy to see my work in OTI Magazine (scroll down to see three images) in their poetry section.

Another castle, but not a balm

Why not visit another castle today? I am still feeling very blocked, so I walked to the studio and then mapped the route to the Belfast Castle. I knew it would be far, and on the way, I bumped into Lisa, who said I was going in the right direction, and to take a bus on the way back.

The walk was fine on the way there, and the park was super lush. Gnats galore. The castle interior is not interesting b/c it's refurbished, and the grounds are hilarious b/c they redid them in a feline theme (the tiling in the right corner of the photo is of a cat). I was just glad to have climbed up to a place that the tour guides tell people to ride to.

But I should have taken Lisa's advice on the way back. I walked to the studio, but I was a puddle by the time I got there, after over 9 miles of walking on a bad ankle. What I learned today: I complain a lot less about everything when I am alone. After eating a big lunch, hydrating, and sitting, I got back to normal. I still felt wholly uninspired so I decided to Photoshop some more things, but I think it hates me: even on the Flax computer, it crashed and burned. I had to reopen it at least five times.

I decided to throw in the towel early, around 3:30pm, but bumped into Yvonne, the new temporary studio holder downstairs. She's from Dublin and was lovely to chat with. I realized I was saying, "I don't know," constantly and she kept saying, "sounds like you need a break." I think that my issue is that I don't feel like it's appropriate for me to appropriate any of the history and conflict here to make work. It's not my story to tell, and though it affects me as someone temporarily living in this city, it's not for me to work out. I think about how papermaking has no tradition here, nor do Koreans, and though those are not the only things that drive my work, those are the two BIG things that I have been devoted to for the past few years, so I'm here feeling so very disconnected.

On the way out, I stopped by PS2 for their exhibit of Polish design as part of Polish Cultural Week, and then got some souvenirs for a friend's kids and then figured that since I had 30 min until the next bus, that I'd stop in Victoria Square to use the bathroom. Then I saw people walking up the tall spiral staircase (my 2nd one today, 3rd one this weekend) to the observatory, so I went, too. You can see Cave Hill in this pic, the top ridges resembling a man's profile, the area I had visited today. On my circuitous way home, I thought about how I'm having a hard time working here b/c even though Belfast is like a big town more than a small city, it's still an urban area. I remembered what Velma told me when I was in Korea last year: living in a city is hard and stressful. And I am no city girl. I mean, I've done it before and love cities for plenty of reasons, but they are hard on me. So that makes me thankful that I will get three nights away, in a lake house, come next weekend.

A Carrickfergus afternoon

[The view of the Belfast Lough from Carrickfergus: you can see the big H&W cranes in the distance, marking where Belfast is.] Last night I stayed up WAY too late fighting w/Photoshop and my computer, both of them freezing up. I woke up feeling too funky to hit the studio, but Jeannie saved my day by explaining that the moon is in Pisces. Translation: it's okay to take it easy. I went up a couple blocks to the fruit stand and got good produce (why I was killing myself going 2 miles further to get more expensive produce for weeks, I have no idea. Well, I do. But now I know better). After cooking a good lunch, I finally brought a blanket down to the sofa, and lay down to rest my eyes.

I'm not sure if I actually napped, but when I got up, I felt restless. I didn't want to go to the studio, but didn't have it in me to hit north Belfast. After weighing Armagh vs. Carrickfergus, I decided on the latter: it's closer, tiny, and there was a train leaving in half an hour.

I grabbed an apple and ran to get the bus. It took 30 minutes and though I had no map or anything, it's such a tiny town that it was pretty easy to figure out which direction to go to find the castle (thank goodness I know the cardinal directions by the location of the sun; this is what I was using to guide me in Dublin yesterday, too). Here's a handful of photos.

The castle wasn't nearly as beautiful as all the water and the sun and the wind and the people outside playing in the water and sunning themselves on the basalt rocks around the castle and walking on the pier and fishing. I walked around St. Nicholas Church and the graveyard that surrounds it. Everything smelled and felt old. In the castle, it was the same deal: how to fight, how to protect, how to fortify, how to penetrate, how to escape, etc. After a couple of hours, I hopped a train back to Belfast and walked home. Easy peas, and now I feel less funky.