First day of class is always like the first time I taught – never get used to it. Always a new start, new students, Never sure what’s changed in the class room – what works, what doesn’t – lots of bugs to figure out…BUT the students always make it OK. Here is this year’s freshmen drawing class – doing drawings of their new environment – and adding to it – taping on new pages I keep handing them for over an hour. Always surprises me and them how everyone’s work, given the same instructions and same subject is so different. My job is to help them grow but to keep them all different! Isn’t easy.
There were boats everywhere!
When I came back from Finland I was ready for a new project but since I don’t have a press, and although there are places where I could rent time on a press, the way I work wanders about and as I work the work its self develops. So I decided to work with woodblocks. Been a while so there was a period of reacquainting my self with my tools. I wanted to work with images I took of the little wooden fishing boats pulled into every cove I saw.
Once I tried the first image I cut 4 more and tested them, tested papers, tested myself… Once these are dry and I have had a chance to analyze them, then I will refine my cutting and more testing.
The final project is still evolving so…
Print the Midnight Sun Exhibit
Excited to have my print included in this exhibit, “Print the Midnight Sun”. I was really happy with the work I did in Finland and the work chosen, a photo etching titled “Water and Grass”, was one I felt captured my feelings about that part of Finland.
Alpacas
While we were in Vermont I saw an ad for a yarn shop that sold alpaca fiber and after a number of fresh starts I found my self at The Green Mountain Fibers and Yarn Shop in Rutland. They did indeed sell alpaca fibers but they were already processed into rovings and I wanted unprocessed fibers that I can mix with some white wool that I already have. I spin as a meditative thing, not to necessarily produce a result (although that’s a nice byproduct) but it’s a process I enjoy. They have some beautiful shades of grey and tan but as I will mix this with white I wanted dark brown. Long story short, the very helpful woman in the shop gave me the name of their supplier, saying she didn’t know if they sold unprocessed fiber or not.
This was Maple View Farm, about 20 min down the road. So, down the road we went. I expected a small operation with a few alpacas and some fiber being hand carded… No, this was a major, if small, fiber mill specializing in alpaca, llama and wool. Thirty or so alpacas and a full fledged shop with all the professional wool processing equipment one could wish for. They process not only their own fibers but are booked up with orders from others.
I was graciously sold about 6 oz. of unprocessed dark alpaca fiber, enough to keep me happy with the small amount I need for the winter. I know I could purchase fiber from alpaca farms in PA, but this will also be a reminder of my time in VT as I spin this snowy winter.
After purchasing the fibers I photographed some of these wonderful creatures.
Very curious—nosy—they seemed to enjoy being photographed.
They had just been shorn.
Baby Alpaca
The gals and babies were seeking shade under a shed roof.
The guys were out in the field making faces.
Like This!
Handsom guy!
Nosy gal.
Vermont
Another Working Vacation. This time a long weekend to Vermont to work on our portfolios.
We stayed at the Maple Leaf Inn in Barnard, VT—a wonderful Inn run by Nancy and Mike Boyle about 10 miles or so from Woodstock, located at the end of a long drive into the woods. Very comfy, great breakfasts, Beckett the guard dog, and terrific hosts made busy days fly by.
Maple Leaf Inn
Very quiet and surrounded by flowers it was perfect for our plans to head in different directions each day.
The clematis was outside the breakfast room window. So pretty
Sunday we headed west and hiked up to photograph.
Looking past my shoes to the mountains from the top of our hike.
And Monday we headed north and hiked down.
Texas Falls in Hancock, VT
(This beautiful area was severely damaged by Hurricane Irene but is now open to hikers once more.)
Lots of good images, lots of sore muscles (the inn’s whirlpool bath was great), and lots to work on now that we are home.
My Grandfather’s Mother
This is a rough sketch for a drawing of a Great Grandmother I never knew. My Grandfather’s Mother, Ellen Burton Shaw, lived in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and spun her own yarn – or so I was told. She had 10 children and at least 31 grandchildren. If she did spin her own yarn, I often wonder if she enjoyed it as I do or if it was just another chore? I only have one or two snapshots of her.
