« Focus | Main | Putting My Feet Up »
July 11, 2008
Finished (or Nearly)
When I got back to my room at 5:45 this evening, there was a friendly little note attached to my door saying, “Hello, 4:00pm after class 7-11-08 Palm Desert departure. Thanks. (Smiley Face.)”
I leave here tomorrow. Dammit. I just got into the swing of things. I’d become part of a community. I had people I usually ate with, people whose work I asked about, people who came into my studio to see what I was doing. I had a routine. I was getting so much done. And now I have to go back to trying to do it for myself. I hope I can. I’ve learned so much, and I really want to continue on with this art form.
Today I finished—FINALLY—my accordion book. It looks pretty slick. I also finished my Japanese stab binding. I painted, cut/tore, sewed and glued my painted book and painted & tore pages for another. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with those yet, whether I’m going to make another book or not. Wow. I may be closer to being done than I realized. Excellent.
We’re finishing up tomorrow morning. We’ve already created a number of folded books in different styles, and we’ve completed various sewn bindings as well. And today we began painted books, which will have both sewn and glued bindings. Things I’ve learned as a result of this:
- I already knew what a kettle stitch was. I just didn’t know that’s what it was called.
- This stuff is far easier than I ever imagined. And I’m pretty good at it.
- I now know what PearlEx is for and I want more of it.
- Using a spoon to burnish acetone transfers helps the transfer stick.
- Even experienced bookbinders can suck at the Coptic stitch.
And I have to pack up tonight, because tomorrow I will be working much of the time. Though maybe not, given that all I have to do is bind a couple of books. I just have to make a template and cut and paint some covers. Or just cover them. I haven’t decided yet. Anyway, I need to get as much as possible packed so I don’t have to try to squish it in at the last minute. Since I’ll most likely be running late.
How do I know this? Because today we started at nine and sort of broke for lunch kind of around noon. I meant to go to the lecture, but what I really needed by the time lunch rolled around was some time alone. So I took it. I had lunch in the cafeteria with several million youngsters. And when I was done, whatever time that was –I’m guessing before one—I wandered back to the studio and kept working. I started cleaning up my workspace around 5:30, because my ride to the Mexican restaurant where we all decided to have dinner was picking me up at my dorm at six.
I will miss these women I’ve spent the week with. We laughed so much today. And helped each other. And shared our supplies and stories and lives. What an amazing crew of people. I shared a table with three incredible women. Llewellyn is 84, and just got back from a solo trip to Iran. Sharon is sweet and funny and generous and sharp as a tack. Janice is kind of who I want to be when I grow up. Deb and Vicki—who are at the table across the way--know so much and were willing to answer all of my annoying questions and give me help with art techniques I hadn’t tried before. Joyce doesn’t speak much, but her work is gorgeous. Katherine is just a sweetie. And Sybil is so generous with her time and abilities and supplies. How very lucky I am to have had this week.
Now I just need to be able to fit everything in my luggage.
Posted by sally at July 11, 2008 08:20 AM
©2006 - All content copyright Sally Eames-Harlan unless otherwise noted