More than a charm

"Welcome home," is what a friend said when she saw me at the Morgan today. WOW. They always do incredible hangs of every exhibit, but this one takes the cake. I think there are five shows or something crazy like that there. This is just a piece of the big wall w/different papers.

The Colossal Paper show is all over the Morgan and they are HUGE and BEAUTIFUL.

Watermarks lit by bindery lights! Catherine Nash was teaching her encaustic class in there. She looks so different from what I imagined but SO warm and wonderful and enthusiastic.

This is some of the juried member's show, and it's impressive. I love seeing the field evolve and grow. The energy here is always special, but with this many people, it's insanely infectious.

Tim Moore was teaching a mould-making class. OMG! How is any of his work even humanly possible? His students were so engaged and excited and I was so impressed by how well-prepared he was for something he's never really done before (in terms of packing up lots of tools and equipment and samples, and then setting up shop and teaching all at once). It was the sweetest when, after the two-day workshop was over, one of his students excitedly explained intricate parts of the puzzle to me.

Del Foxton took this shot of me outside beating kozo. I didn't want to disturb the classes inside (India Flint and Helen Hiebert), so Christine helped me carry this station outside. BEAUTIFUL day. She just found out, minutes after we met in person, that she won a 20K artist grant. What a day! I had been so moved because she started to weep when I told her about my book because she was so emotional about waiting for news on her grant and so happy for me. In general, everyone I met today was so excited and proud about my book. Except for me; it's completely surreal. I feel like I didn't even do it or something--that's the weird part of the production process of these things. It's like what a friend said today about a show she made for this summer: "I don't even know the person who made that." I'm sure it will all feel more real tomorrow, when my publisher drives over the new books, but for now, I am so grateful for everyone's support and enthusiasm.

Like many things at the Morgan, I have no idea what this is doing on the ramp outside. But it looks great along the skyline (from a different angle you'd see it but the sun was fierce when I shot). I was so overwhelmed by the familiar and new faces in Asao's class today when I went to visit that I didn't get to take any pictures but they made AMAZING and wondrous work. I was so pleased to see him well rested and in his element. The conference has not even started yet and I feel like I'm at a family reunion of the largest possible kind, but in a good way. No crazy drunk careening relatives. Just lots of love. I kept on turning around and there would be another old friend, past student, colleague, new face connected to lots of back and forth emails, and it went on. I don't know if I've ever had a birthday with THIS many hugs. I feel so incredibly loved in this city on a normal day, but today I was sung to at least three times (and the final one right before midnight by a professional singer), got to blow out candles, take a good long morning alone, rise to love via text, get a kiss (chocolate!) in the kitchen before breakfast, and sooo much outpouring from the rest of the world. Today, loved enough to almost set me airborne.

I am lucky, fortunate. Imperfect, growing. Overwhelmed, grateful. It gets better every year!