Thunder and Max, 2007.
Gratuitous cute animal photo! In the summer, you never see this cat - he's always outside. This last long cold stretch he and Thunder have taken over the comfy chair in my office that's supposed to be for clients.... they spend hours cuddling. Occasionally I'll get that feeling that someone is staring at me, and I'll look over and they've both got pitiful faces on. I laugh and assure them that spring is coming, but they've still got about a month of napping to do. They stretch luxuriously, give a long slow sigh, blink a few times and nod back off.

Scepter, 2004. Beach rock, driftwood, leather, feathers, copper wire.
I really have enjoyed this piece. It was strong, and a symbol of a time which has passed. This summer I plan to travel to the secluded beach in Northern Maine where the elements were found and return them. I'll dismantle the piece and save the copper wire for a new piece, to carry forward. For some inspiration on working in nature check this out: www.naturesculpture.com.

Portrait of the Director, 2007. Windham Center Stage Theater.
It's been interesting to watch this show come together. The director is also the playwright, and he's altered his adult script to fit an all-kids cast. I was wondering what pictures he had in his head as Molly and Logan sing a beautiful duet called "What are we to do?" Pierre wants to go to war and Amelia must stay behind. It's probably the scene in the play that comes closest to what the director had in mind when he was writing lyrics for grownups. Add to it that this show is special- any kid who auditions and makes the commitment - gets a role. What's that like for the director/author? It must be torture to hear his lines getting butchered by second graders, and heart wrenching to decide where to spend limited rehearsal time tidying scenes. This is dress rehearsal week and emotions are running high. Last week, the kids were relaxed, lazy backstage, tired and bored by rehearsals (they've been rehearsing twice a week since before Christmas), and on-stage they were laughing and fooling around... . This week, backstage frenzy has hit - 46 kids crammed into a school hallway, costumes, props, and streetclothes, boots and coats in piles. The incesssant chatter from kids and backstage parents is a deafening drone. Costumes flying on and off the racks. "Where! or When! starts almost every sentence. At the stage door the cacaphony stops. On-stage, the kids sense the presence of the audience to come and instantly are wearing their characters too tightly. Tension between characters rises, faces lose the recess look,replaced with real emotion: excited, scared, happy. The director? He's sitting very very still in the front row of the audience. Suddenly, he springs from his seat, notepad flying, a whirling dervish. The flow shattered into a million pieces and everyone in the huge auditorium turns silently. Something happens. And then he sits again. Very still. And the magic starts again.

The show is "A Little Princess" and it runs this weekend and next at Windham High School. It is an entertaining musical with lots of laughs, and in a couple of spots, you might find yourself teary-eyed. 46 kids, from 8-14 years old. The director is (the patient) Michael Hjort.

Ice 1, 2006. Taken in the parking lot behind the old IGA where the Subway and the credit union are now.

First frost. Fall 2007.

Collecting stuff

My windowsill. Rusty items in jar. 2007

Paste Paper!

My altered book came to an abrupt halt when it started screaming out for paste paper. And I was out. Last weekend I didn't cook nothing for nobody. I got Zoe around where she had to go, but after that, the paste paper was calling and I shut the outside world out and surrendered to the lure of the paste and paint.

Zoe and I came up with 86 sheets that we kept for our stash.


Here's the recipe for the paste I used. It was smooth, but wasn't as pliable after drying as I would have liked.
Mix 2 cups cake flour with 2 cups water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat (stir fast and don't stop!) just until it thickens. Stir into 10 cups of boiling water (stir fast and don't stop). When that thickens a bit, take off heat add 1 teaspoon glycerin and a 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn dish soap and let sit over night in the refrigerator. It will keep 2-3 days. If lumpy strain before using. Put some paste in a cup, add some color to your liking. I used 60lb. white laserprinting paper purchased at Staples for these papers. Paint the colored paste onto the paper. make designs in the paint by dragging combs, brushes, your fingers, lids etc., through the paint. Let dry flat, after dry, if it curls, you can iron the paper to flatten it out.



The paste papers can be used for anything! Endpapers in books, collage, greeting cards. My daughter Zoe is 10 and this is a project that she enjoyed - we spent hours making papers - every surface in the kitchen was covered with paint and drying papers! Including the floor, trash bags worked great for laying the papers on.

A note: except for the "feathery" piece, all the other samples here were made with the same "Fluff" lid cut into a funky shape. And, Garth had found a whole tub of fingerpaint and washable paint at the recycling center's "good pile". The tube acrylics made the most vivid colors, but the "kids" paints made lovely pastel - and there was plenty of it. Having plenty is a real treat for art-addicts.