Bouncing

We did the final bundling of kozo (and a little bit of actual mulberry, too, though we didn't get as much as we steamed because no one was around to steam on that awfully cold and rainy night when Tom was outside alone taking care of the fire. So the mulberry shrunk back to unstrippable)—yesterday. As much as I'd LOVE to think people will scrape fiber while Tom and I are away this long weekend/week, I'm not holding my breath, and am not interested in harboring mold! It's a lovely sight, though I wish there was more white bark and less of the raw.

John Seyfried shot this at the ICA annual meeting last week. Jamye is a paper conservator, Morgan advisor, and all around great colleague. I love how smart, responsive, friendly, and professional she is. I had been running up and down the halls of the penthouse where the meeting was held and was about to run out to my next nighttime engagement when John insisted I be photographed (he was my very first photographer, 14 years ago, and shot my first set of slides ever). It made me think about how I've met so very many people in the few months I've been here, and the map I keep fleshing out as I continue to meet people.

I have lots of introverted tendencies but also plenty of the opposite, and when I wondered about that to a friend, she reminded me that relationships are very important to me. This is Ana, Tom, and her husband Ivan. I met Ana in the summer at the Case farm, which she directs. While telling her about the Morgan and Tom, she exclaimed, "Tommy?!" because Ivan used to play soccer with him. It had been years and years since they last met, so I insisted they come out for the harvest. It was ridiculous, because as soon as I saw them, I went RUNNING to find Tom, shrieking. What a touching reunion. I am positive that this was a million times more exciting for me than anyone else.

Today was a catch-up day, plus Morgan meetings, and then a great studio visit with Lauren. Another person here that I really like: smart, engaged, committed to her work and being here, always working towards more growth, and amazing with people. I am endlessly pleased by the relationships I've been nurturing here on so many levels, though I will have to take a break on Friday to head west and see friends in the Bay for my second Cali leg of the book tour:

Sat, Nov 16, 6:30pm: Hanji lecture
San Francisco Center for the Book, SF, CA

Sun, Nov 17, 12 - 4pm: Joomchi drop-in workshop (family friendly, no registration required)
Korean Cultural Day @ Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

Mon, Nov 18, 2pm: Private tea hosted by Barbara Shapiro

Tues, Nov 19, 1 - 4pm: Papermaking workshop
Mills College, Oakland, CA (for Intro to Book Art students)

VERY happy about flying into temperatures twice what we have here.