Late Night Paper Shop

I said "I'll go home by eight." but then I was in the print studio prepping for an extra hour. So ten sounded reasonable. Can still get enough sleep. And I didn't have a proper dinner with me. Only some decaf espresso because the real stuff is just making me impossible to talk to and yet, still tired.



Now it is one thirty a.m. I need to go to sleep but I thought I would share with you these hot air balloon previews, with the handmade paper still drying on them.



And these are for the next two--a lovely orange made with an old linen blanket and some crazy sharp grassy plant from my driveway, mixed with abaca for strength.
Sleepytime now!

Where Is My Mind?

A perfect example of my week: I somehow managed to publish this post with just the title before I wrote anything else. Not enough sleep and constant revisions of a mental to-do list leaves me wondering how the rest of the semester will go if I can't pull it together. I finally have a photo of the ten-days late Keep Writing number 33.



I have continued the weekly vegan cookie extravaganza but neglected to photograph the delicious chocolate with surprise-peanut-butter-center treats. I also built this, the first of at least seven large hot air balloons. Well, this is the frame. Before I covered it with paper. Wet paper. And when it dried, I realized I may have a lot more work to do. But this is all I have to show you for now. Since my brain isn't working, I'm going to dancing.

Not Ahead At All

Ha ha. Sometime in this past week I thought, maybe I am not behind in my work. Tonight I stayed home out of tired- and cranky- ness and realized while posting this that this first photo is of coffee cake I made last week. Persimmons on top because it is fake fall here, but yes, I've been busy.




I finally printed and mailed all 143 Keep Writing postcard number 33. I think most people have received theirs so I will post the photo of the whole card soon. The handmade paper is ready and I have a plan for number 34. No typesetting. Maybe, just maybe it will be on time.




Also last week I received the Current Even Print Exchange prints and they look lovely. I had intentions of posting some of my favorites and instead this is the note that came with my package. My print is shown below. It depicts the first African-American LSU undergrad who was harassed until he dropped out. He recently received an honorary degree from LSU.





I will try and keep up. I am about to make paper for a Circle Takes The Square bookmark. I am sewing up prints for my final show, making things to sell at the New Orleans Bookfair, talking to someone about building a website for me because apparently, you can't make it our of paper,and I sort of quit one of my jobs so maybe, maybe I can get all this done before December.

Best Weekend

I am aware that sending mail is not a contest and this one would be a fixed game but this is the best mail I received yesterday. In exchange for his postcard subscription, Lasse sends me a box of vegan cookies and treats every December. When I visited him in Berlin last summer, he brought me to his favorite liquorice shop because I too love liquorice. Now he sends a variety of gelatin-free liquorice every few months. The thing about Scandinavian liquorice, is that they like it sweet but also salty. I drew myself a little diagram of my favorite pieces so I would not be fooled by the salt-centers. I sent the picture to Lasse as a thank you. He brought it to the liquorice shop and voila (or, however you might say that in german) a package of my favorite treats. The only draw back is now that I know I love each kind, I eat them so much faster. Really, those pillowy cube ones are delicious.



A great start to the weekend. Followed by this Saturday morning breakfast of cheesy fried grits with basil (you may as well call it polenta at this point) and coffee. I sometimes work at a diner that is very busy on the weekends. I never eat there on weekends. I often work on Saturdays. But this morning was all mine. I continued working on the NY Times crossword like I had nothing else to do.



But I did...these postcards are the slowest progressing. One spooky layer of lovely ladies. Let;s hope for the best for tomorrow. I'm calling it an early night.

I Can't Do It All Alone

As much as I would like to think I am unstoppable, I am tired tonight. No more homework, no drawing, no letters, no more awkard evasive phone conversations with family. Just this double batch of Irish Creme Cookies for me to share with my classes tomorrow.

Labor Indeed

Tropical Storm Lee has moms all over the midwest worrying, but here in Baton Rouge, we are lucky. The rain wasn't too heavy for too long and mostly what we are getting is a lovely and cool Labor Day weekend. No camping or beach this week, but a good chance to post all the things I have been meaning to, like these postcards I printed almost 2 years ago with Ella's help.



Also, to motivate myself a little, I made these chocolate-almond cinnamon rolls (vegan of course) to share with friend at our pre-studio brunch. We both made it to the studio and I made two batches of pulp, including this lovely blue made from scraps.



At 8 pm I was back in the print shop, drinking coffee and preparing for a few hours of drawing and sewing when I was invited over for dinner. So much for the drawing but 8 hours is still a good day of work, I mean, it is what Labor Day is all about. So I left to meet up with other studio art friends and a pile a eggplant parmesan for a full night of fun. Now back to the studio today to sheet that pulp!

Measure Twice...

This week I suddenly had a sick feeling thinking maybe that when I sent off the files for the miracle plates that were gonna save this months postcard I maybe set the images in the wrong order. I checked the files. Nope. Everything is ok. And then the plate arrived. So tiny. Too tiny. Why didn't I check the image size when I changed the resolution? Why don't I know better?




Meanwhile, I've had plenty of time to post more responses to the Keep Writing project. Including this one from an unknown sender, which makes it mysterious and great. Note the title is Sofa King Queer and has something to do with going out dancing at gay bars. In rainbow colors.

And now I am going out in this:


tropical storm to pick a bunch of basil and make pesto.

Lady vs. Machine

So the postcards are "late" every month because I set deadlines for myself that no one else notices. Some times I have excuses. Like how when I went to expose a screen for the first layer of this month's postcard, the exposure unit would not turn on. A bummer for me but something to cause my professor a whole lotta cursing as it was the first day of classes. The situation is temporarily resolved for the shop and Blackbird Letterpress, my employer and print-guardian angel, added my image to their order for a polymer plate. I should be able to pick it up soon as I finish this post.



However, in the dark room mess, my professor found my coated screen after he turned on the lights, with the transparency taped to it so we exposed it on my studio desk. I think it is a little over exposed but we'll see if we need/want another layer when I go to print this weekend. So, no later than usual and Ms. Ella D. has offered her assistance in addressing cards. Which may be more helpful than the hours of Glee I watched in June while writing addresses.



The sun is hesitant today but yesterday it shone through my new bottle of blueberry kombucha and made it the most beautiful thing in the world. I experimented, adding mashed organic blueberries to the tea and it came out lovely. A little tart, a little sweet, a little somethin'. Now I must go show my appreciation for the letterpress shop and show up for work.