From One LA to Another

My friend Jason is originally from Louisiana but he lives in Los Angelos now. He is good listener. Which is why it does not surprise me that he co-authored a book with Juanita Leonard called "Juanita's Hard Times Bus on Hwy 71". It is a collection of her stories and his photographs of the folk art wonder she created in North Louisiana. And now they are published and for sale. If you are in New Orleans you can get a copy at the Ogden. Or you can click on the link and purchase it online. If you do that, all the proceeds go to Juanita.



Cookie day again but things were so frantic at school (that is, in my head) that I forgot to share. So I guess I will share them tomorrow. Salted almond cookies with oats. Seriously.



Sunday I missed a lecture downtown because I was trying to photograph these five little buddies. I don't think I can use thisimage as a slide for a juried show but I know y'all appreciate it.

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!

Wake Up Call

Something about the weather and weird dreams, but I couldn't sleep last night. And when the alarm rang at 5:30 am, Andy would've been ok with going back to sleep. Instead we filled our mugs with iced coffee and drove across town to the last day of the Baton Rouge Hot Air Balloon Festival.



I have been making prints of hot air balloons and paper hot air balloons and I finally made it to the event. There were not too many folks skipping church this Sunday morning, so we had plenty of room and it didn't get hot until about 8 as we were leaving. Lots of beautiful balloons, different shapes, a million ideas and, when we got home, a nap and a lazy day.

Little Bits

The night before my portfolio was due I took photos in the studio of me most recent prints. None of them look very good. Here are two close up bits of intaglio prints from the past month. Maybe better photos will follow.

Balloons part 3

These I saw in the window of a shop on the island of Murano, where fancy glass comes from. Admittedly, these are not the fanciest glass but the effect in the window is nice. I tried to explain in Italian that I too made hot air balloons but out of paper. She did not seem to understand or care. It was very hot and there were a lot of tourists. But, being an island made of canals, like Venice, you are always on the water.

Part 2

This is in the window of the pastry shop in Frascati. The frames are very simliar to the ones I made for my final project in papermaking. Except theirs are even and consistent. Boring.

No, Thank You.

Some one sent me a link to a website. You know, someone you hardly know sends you somewhere because you have something in common. The internet makes it easy. So I looked at this website, slick design stuff, wine labels and such. Then I found tiny books. Very clean, crisp little silk screens and letterpress. I found contact information and wrote an email telling this stranger that I liked his little books and asked him if I could send postcards to him. I included a website address so that I might seem less creepy. As if by seeing that I send postcards to lots of strangers that would make me merely "eccentric" or "an artist" instead of a creeper. He responded and offered to trade. A few days later I received this little book in the mail and a nice letterpressed card. People still get it. Even strangers.
So thank you Bryan Kring. If you want to see his little books go to: www.kringdesign.com .

Now, as promised, more school projects. I was hoping to get a picture of these in the skylight where I eventually hung them but things did not work out okay. In total, I made twenty-three hot air balloons out of different fibers, some of them with handmade paper sheets, and some with partially processed kozo fibers. These are some of the fifteen that I assembled and hung in a corner of the print shop.


And that's it for the semester. I'm going on vacation.