Potato chips

That's right, my favorite food group after scrapple. I am currently eating some delicious potato chips, generously donated to the cause by one Kevin C., for dinner. Yes I was too lazy to microwave a nutrisystem meal for dinner, why do you ask? Anyway, I had a great night in the studio. Melissa Craig, one of the AIR at WSW right now let me hang out with her and showed me how she pours sheets of paper, with this funny little contraption called a deckle box, aka my new best friend. So I did some of that, using over beaten flax and abaca. I am not sure of the proportions since we were playing with leftover pulps and mixing them willy nilly. Anyway, the paper should be pretty awesome. She had some tests that she had done and they are so much like skin it is a little creepy. I of course plan on using this to my advantage, and have some projects in mind already.

In the meantime I started today my first real project for while I am here. So far the only thing I have really decided on is to write a letter to my Mom every day for the next month. I have some ideas about where I want to take it, but no definite final plan. The only thing I know other than that I will write to her, is that while the letter will be part of a project, they will not be readable. This kind of project is tricky, but also something I need to do. While it needs to be done, and I need to be able to have all kinds of sloppy feelings about it, I want it to be executed well, I want it to be relatable and evocative without being confrontational and exhibitionistic.

I have also been thinking a lot about peonies recently. My sister mentioned that they were one of my Mom's favorites. She even had them in her garden. I never knew, or noticed. It is amazing the things that we are totally oblivious to, I must have walked by them every day for years and never noticed how awesome they were.

Ugh, spell check does NOT recognize scrapple, what is that!

spelunk?

These next few post are going to be mostly picture posts. Kevin came up to spend this past weekend out in the woods, there was a lot of hiking and general distraction. Which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. I have thoughts and feelings to share about this past weekend, but first the pictures, there is so much catching up to do here.

In the future

In the future I will post to this blog, the very near future. It is around midnight and I just got home from the studio. It has been a very exciting day more to come, in the future.

Sleeping in

Getting up early(ish) was a complete failure today. I woke up at 10 laid in bed for till 12:30 trying to still be asleep. Luckily Lady J was still asleep when I called her around 1. We decided to just hang out around here when they are on their way out of town. In the meantime I have been hanging out in the studio, enjoying internet speeds that aren't reminiscent of 1997 and and feeling more productive than if I were lying in bed on the tubes. There is also coffee here, very important.

I even brought my camera over here to load up some pictures for you, but then I saw the photo's that Abby (an AIR) has been taking. These are WAY better than mine, so i'll leave you with them for now. I'll practice some more and get back to you.

stormy weather

I believe that is the name of a cocktail, or stormy night, or something. I just got back from a "cocktail party" at Babs' house. I put that in quotes because it wasn't quite a party, though there were cocktails. Babs is one of the 4 co-founders of the studio. She had invited us and the AIRs over at the welcome picnic we had last weekend. It was really nice we just sat around the table and let her mix us drinks. We talked about art, and life, and how they all (the co-founders) met each other back in the day. Babs' work now is mostly these giant text pieces in shorthand. They are really beautiful. She offered to teach us, I think I am going to try. It's all loops and dashes and specific combinations of things that represent sound to make words as a single mark, rather than multiple letters strung together, or maybe just like that, in a very abbreviated way. It is a little confusing to me still, but it is interesting to think about people's reactions to the work. It is only a specific age and class of women that can read shorthand. I can't, women from the era it was used in who did not need to work don't know it and men don't know it. I look at it and I see the marks and the columns, but women who know shorthand, know what she is saying. It's a curious thing, like a totally different language, but not.

I also spent my daytime hours hanging out with Lady J and Schroder. I took them to the summit. I got some better shots of the caves as well as some of us hanging out at the tippy top. We hit Kingston and Saugerties, and I will be getting up early(ish) to go up to Saugerties to check out a sweet swimming hole with them, make a short trip to Woodstock , and who knows what else. I've also got to firm up plans with kfed for next weekend sometime soon. Oh yeah and post those pictures I took for you all on my half day.

Friday halfday

I will spend my time catching up on my blog reading and taking some pictures of the studio for your enjoyment.

Home sick, schmome sick

It's been a busy couple of days here at the WSW. I know it looks like I haven't posted since Monday, but due to technical difficulties that post didn't go up until Tuesday so bear with me.

I have been learning and doing some really rad stuff so far. I have started processing some flax type R fiber for one of the Artists in Residence (AIR), which means first an overnight soak and then today we cooked them down with soda ash. We will rinse them tomorrow and then put them in the fridge until it comes time to make her paper.

Today, on top of checking the fiber every 30 minutes I was helping another AIR with some binding. We are doing a basic kettle stitch, and I am learning new knots constantly. There was so much talk about a weaver's knot today that I looked it up, we also went over the square knot and a granny knot. Phew! Ooh, I was also sewing on a frame which is a first for me, and really satisfying. I love that you can just keep stacking the books one on top of another, I felt like the energizer bunny of bookbinding. On top of all the in studio commotion, we also have the front yard veggie garden completed. Pictures soon, its been raining everyday, we planted yesterday during a brief respite.

The icing on the cake for today was that I got an email from Lady J in Philly saying she was headed up this way for the weekend, and not a second too soon! I've been terribly homesick, which is a new feeling for me, and was planning on making a trip back to the region. I feel terrible leaving, you know, because I should be embracing the experience, and I could miss something really awesome here, but I've kind of been aching for some kitty cats and bacon bread and roof decks and familiar faces and conversations, and not feeling all those awkward silences. Now that Lady J is coming up though, I get the familiar face and lack of awkwardness, with out the travel time. I am hoping that this family visit will tide me over till next weekend, when Kfed is coming to visit, which will then have to keep me happy until the Summer Arts Institute is over.

Did I mention I am assisting some really awesome classes? Well I am, more to come on that later.

double the pleasure double the fun

Today was orientation. We went on a hike to kill some time during the orientation because the studio director gave herself more time than she needed to talk to us. It was a beautiful way to start the day. Then we went back to the studio and got started on lunch. This really just consists of putting out plates and utensils since lunch is a potluck everyday. That's right I said EVERYDAY. I'm pretty stoked about it as is, imagine how stoked I would be if I had something other than nutrisystem meals in the cupboard. (i never turn down free food)

Anyway after lunch we finally got down to some business. We were split up and given some tasks. There was power sanding to be done, as well as some recently cooked fibers that needed to be rinsed, bagged, and put in the paper studio fridge. We didn't get all of the sanding done. There is still a giant deckle that needs to be sanded and sealed for pouring enormous sheets of paper. I definitely foresee some paper projects while I am here.

Anyway, after work I ran home grabbed my camera and went on another hike. I NEEDED to share how amazing my morning hike was. It starts here:

Right behind our house.

These are just a stones throw away. That's right, caves!

These blurry caves are actually just beneath a Plateau that will be host to the art farm of the future.

More caves. These were pretty awesome because the temperature dropped as you were walking past them. Natures air conditioning.

Ah the final destination

That chimney there (it's there, look closer)is from the old cement factory that used to be WSW. It sits between our house and the art farm. It seems so far away from here, but is only a 20 minute walk.

This lake is definitely a future swimming destination.

I proceeded to run home as I was mercilessly attacked by mosquitoes. Note to self: Remember to wear bug spray

Some thoughts for thought

First of all, that last post did not work at all like it was supposed to, so please excuse the shoddy formating. I've been working on that post off and on all day too, how sad is that?

I've been posting a lot about my adventures this past weekend and wanted to share how magical this place feels with you all, so much so that I haven't really shared anything else. Despite how wonderfully beautiful this place is, and how great the people are there are other things.

Being here is a little strange for me. I've been out of the game for about 2 years. A lot has happened in that time, and a lot has not happened in that time. I think I have stepped foot in a printmaking studio once since graduation, and that was only to let people know that I got the internship. I have all of these weird feelings of inadequacy. I know I'm not, but I don't know how to explain it. I feel a little like an outsider in a place that a few years ago I would have felt right at home. I know these are just growing pains, and who knows maybe it will help bring a little naivete back into how I feel about the world. Maybe that's just what I need...

Where I live

So I guess it is about time to talk a little about where I live. We are in the middle of nowhere, and when i say no where i mean it. there are three houses on our street that do not belong to the studio and that's pretty much all of the houses on our street.

Here is a picture of our road.

You can see the windows of the front porch peaking through the neighbors car port. On top of the downstairs porch is a second floor patio with a rocking chair (swoon)

This is our front garden/yard. The right half has been lovingly planted and caged in by one of the past interns. We are adding some of our own greens to this patch as well as ripping up the left side and putting all of my potted plants in the ground.

I'll have updates soon, this is what it looks like right now. There is a beautiful peony that divides the two halves of the yard. I apparently love peonies. Who'd have thunk?

The View

While I am editing the pictures I took around town today I would like to give you a taste of the area where I am going to be living for the next six months.

This picture was the view from the balcony/porch of the hotel I stayed at my first night up here.

The hotel is situated in the center of a nature preserve, and I am looking into getting a membership for the crazy amounts of hiking. I'll have more to say/show from the hotel stay later, but for now I will tell you I felt like I had walked into a Nancy Drew novel.

I have arrived

I am here! Somewhat settled in and fortunately able to use both the internet and my cell phone in the house. I wasn't sure what kind of reception I would get up here, so far so good. Anyway about the move!

We got up here last night/afternoon. We spent last night at an amazing hotel, took a hike this afternoon and arrived at my new home around 3 pm. It's been a bit overcast and drizzly today but that's okay, it seems to make the green more vibrant. And boy is there a lot of green!

I will post pictures soon...