February's Disintegration

I HAVE another Disintegration Project going on this winter, after hearing about a similar experiment by another altered bookmaker. Last night, just as the night time temperatures dropped, I took this bucket outside. It holds a softcover book, some water and has dripped paint in it.

Who knows what will happen?

I only overheard a bit of - a sort of an explanation of - what someone else had done, so now I'm trying my own version. You know that old game of "Telegraph" where you whisper a message to one person and it gets sent around the circle? Usually, it ends up something quite different. I'll bet this book will be a one of a kind thing. I plan on adding some metal bits and letting that soak and rust, and more paint (acrylic) from time to time so I can see what that does.

I'll reverse the book now and then, also, to give both top and bottom equal time in the juices of February. Brr! I feel cruel, but the whims of science (and art) must be bowed to - femminismo

p.s. The container of puzzle pieces was very colorful. I could barely stand not having time to put it all together!

Can You Imagine? Well, Can You?

FIRST, imagine you want to make a book from rectangles of painted folded paper. But you don't want to stitch them together.
So then imagine your brain says, "What if we just fold them down the middle and punch holes in the edges and tie them together?" This must have been my right brain talking. (That's right; my brain. We're talking about me and all the painted paper I've been blobbing away at.)
So you fold back the edges and discover there is no way this will work. The brain, left one maybe, says, "Hold on, now. This won't do."
Somewhere in the middle the brains meet and after a couple of days and several observations later, it's decided by everyone that a smaller fold will take place at each edge - one up, one down - and then the pages will be glued together to form a long, long book. A book that can be written on front and back, with the reader scanning over words and images on both sides.
What will the book be about? Who knows for now. Time for both brains to get busy and cooperate since the folding and gluing has been done.
While that is drying I gathered up my Disintegration Project to begin A DisCo (Discovery?) Project with the weathered goods. Literally weathered! Do you remember this picture? Ice storm late in the year and I rushed home to take photos. (Yes, certifiable-crazy.)
Tonight I have painted the dried pages, deciding for the time being to keep them pretty much "as is," except for one picture matte-gelled onto the front of a book section. This work is keeping me sane. That is my mantra. And I have a question here: Does anyone else get nervous when they upload photos and Blogger tells them they've used up 71% of their picture storage? I'm so addicted to blogging by now that they could probably charge any price and I'd pay it. But don't tell them I said so, OK? - femminismo

May Day and the Eerie Wind

THIS AFTERNOON, if we lived in California, you might have thought the Santa Ana winds were kicking up a storm. But it was just an odd sort of very warm Oregon wind loping through our local area. It felt so very good after a week of cool temperatures, with mornings in the frosty 30s just a couple days ago.
But this isn't the Weather Channel, so enough about the wind. How about some "Animal Planet"? I was over by the window and could still hear the birds chirping away outside and it's almost 9 p.m. Do you suppose Mama and Papa Bird have to do 3 o'clock feedings? Well, someone was making themselves heard outside in the camellia bushes!
Speaking of birds - and one subject does seem to lead to another - I was outside in the garden earlier and, between the mourning doves cooing and the empty spot in the garden where the Disintegration Project used to be, things seemed a little mournful. That is, until I noticed how very well my transplanted lupine is doing and how the Solomon's seal is forming its floral pendants. And how very lusciously lovely the tree peonies look.
Now the project that Seth started among 123 artists, in many parts of the world, has ended ... sort of. The Disintegration Discovery - DisCo - begins, and we'll see where we go from here. Here is a bit of what the tied pages look like after four months outside laying on the ground. Can you see the glittery slug trails? Click on it to make the picture larger. Not too lovely, are they, these aged things? Have we learned something about the ravages of time here? But look at the character! They made it through rain, wind, snow, hail and freezing weather. Does this tell us something about perseverance?
Here is the project on the very first day, laid out in the garden, pristine and white with just a touch of gesso to protect the pages a bit.
OK, just a couple more pictures of the loveliness from the garden and then I'm off to bed. Tulip petticoats in yellow with a touch of red.
And this white fluted-edge tulip does look like a white slip a lady might discretely reveal by crossing her legs oh so graciously.
Flowers are such sexy things! - femminismo
p.s. Here's a lady who knows it's true.

Unfurling And Pushing Up

MAY is on its way, and soon these luscious tree peony petals will be layering the sidewalk. This is always a sad moment of spring because I would so like to save all of these pink petals just as they are, so ripe and juicy with this great color. (The branches are over my head, about 6-7 feet tall.)
However, it's never to be. Time cannot stand still for any man ... or any flower. Here they are reaching up into the April sky. Behind them is the copper-topped trellis that supports the clematis. I don't happen to know its name, but I may post a picture of a bloom when it happens. Maybe someone else out there has one and knows the official nomenclature.
It's been cool and rainy and the day is fast approaching - May 1 - when our Disintegration Projects, inspired by Seth, will come in from the weather and submit themselves to our human hands, rather than Mother Nature's. I have been considering what to do with my rotted and withered pages, but have decided "persactly" what to do.
I had a lovely April birthday with these glorious flowers picked from my daughter's own yard. She is now in her "own" first house since she left home and there may be a purchase in the offing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her - femminismo
p.s. Speaking of flowers, anyone know what these small yellow daffodil/narcissus crossbreed are? The scent is lovely, like something you'd want to eat!

Earth Day 2009 ... and my thanks to Ma Nature.

WELL, for starters, you're probably wondering how I saved my piece of the Earth today.
The morning began much as any other, except for the bucket I now keep in the shower. I use the gray water that accumulates during my shower to irrigate patches of the yard that get very little water because of the overhanging eaves. So proud of myself! (This is a good incentive.)
Also, while I'm running water, waiting for it to warm up so I can wash my face, I save that water that used to go down the drain. I was amazed how much was wasted. And, I washed out my plastic sandwich baggie to use another time or two. And - well, that's about it for today. Small steps, but they add up.
The Mister was even busier, turning over the earth and adding mushroom compost to what will be our garden spot. You can see our small "potting area." (Euphemism for old picnic table.)
The Mister loves our neighbor's old garage. I sort of like it better when the grape vines grow real tall and disguise it a bit. *Note: I've come back into this post to add this because, after looking at the garden picture, up close it looks as though the fence is falling over. It's not. Not to worry!
We are putting in beans, zucchini, tomatoes and some corn - things we will eat and enjoy. The berry vines, on the posts and wire, produce enough for eating when we're working, or for a small pie when they come on all at once. The only problem with our garden is the lack of sun. Because of the redwood tree to the east and our other neighbor's trees to the west, there's a shorter window of sunshine than we'd like. Well, we shall see what happens.
And last but not least I could not pass by my Disintegration Project without taking a peek. The pages have dried out with the sunny weather we had - which is now gone. It was almost 80 yesterday and then 50 (43 with the wind) today. Brrr! There's a fire in our fireplace and things are cozy.
Well, happy Earth Day, Earth. Even though we treat you badly sometimes, we really do love you - femminismo

Disintegration Means Being Eaten Too!

BITS NIBBLED AWAY, that's what the slugs were up to during December, January, February and March. Hidden away and protected from the elements, the bundled and tied pages provided some protection from the winter storms - snow, ice, rain, sleet.
Now it's April and I could stand it no longer. I wanted to see what had been happening under my Disintegration Project. You can see by these results that the paper or gesso provided something(s) with quasi-nourishment. Yuck!
There were also bulbs sprouting under the pages and weeds growing, so they needed to be moved and rearranged a bit.
It is lovely to see words glimmering through the thin application of gesso, and a little gross but nevertheless fascinating to see words through the "disintegration."
THE back yard is so full of blooming things: muscari and dandelions, yellow and blue, are an appealing color combination. The muscari are loved more than the dandelions, however. The tulip tree is in full glory, so I climbed a ladder to get some "underbelly" views. You can see our redwood tree through the upper part of the tree. Needless to say, it's been around for quite some time - much longer than any of the other trees or plants. Longer, even, than me!
Last pic: the back of the house through the tulip tree.
We're going to a barbecue today - first of the season, so I'd better go do something related to housework. I already made a batch of cinnamon espresso chocolate chip cookies, which I sampled, and that wasn't necessarily a good idea. Not a bad one either, since I'm buzzing with energy now - femminismo

Today Is A New Day.

WELL, actually, today is almost over. Only a few more hours here and it will be tomorrow.
But it was a new day today and somehow it finally worked out OK. Some more gloominess today and trying to figure out what is going on. A good cry, some talking, some work in the yard, took some pictures, had a hot shower, then painted some paper.
April is National Poetry Month and I have not honored it here yet - so let's get on with it!

THE RETURN
Earth does not understand her child,
Who from the loud gregarious town
Returns, depleted and defiled,
To the still woods, to fling him down.

Earth can not count the sons she bore:
The wounded lynx, the wounded man
Come trailing blood unto her door;
She shelters both as best she can.

But she is early up and out,
To trim the year or strip its bones;
She has no time to stand about
Talking of him in undertones

Who has no aim but to forget,
Be left in peace, be lying thus
For days, for years, for centuries yet,
Unshaven and anonymous;

Who, marked for failure, dulled by grief,
Has traded in his wife and friend
For this warm ledge, this alder leaf:
Comfort that does not comprehend.

- EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

I WANT to show you the little book (up above) I made of my papers I painted (last post). There is a special punch and some plastic binders the receptionist at work uses, and she showed me how to operate this and the papers got put together. My friend, JoAnn, said maybe instead of the plastic, use ribbon, yarn or wire. That sounds good, too. Next time.
Tonight I started painting more paper - greens on one side, purple and pink on the other. Does the transfer of the eye detail look familiar? It was on Seth's blog, a detail from an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I believe.
I also took pictures of my Disintegration Project this afternoon as I worked in the garden. I decided to turn over the book pages and allow the back side to get some of the sunshine due in the next few days. AND I couldn't stand giving the slugs refuge for much longer, so they are now g.o.n.e. Pictures of the pages coming soon. May 1 is the day to figure out what to do with them.
And Judy Wise, who attended, taught and learned at Artfest, is doing some self portraits on her blog, and since I like to steal her ideas, I did my own self portrait tonight. I'll leave you with that - femminismo

Library Cards Gone to 'Players'

YES, the library cards have gone out to those other "grown-up" players who also like to have silly fun once in a while. Or as often as we can, whichever comes first.
That means I must finish the story, so that is what I will accomplish tonight.
Tomorrow we are having company - several family members, I hope - and I can't wait. I think I must have gotten this from my mother. I like to entertain family. And it doesn't hurt that we all get along. That's the sweetest thing. I can't imagine life any other way and wouldn't want to!
On Monday it snowed here and it bothered me more than I can tell you that I had to go to work and couldn't stay home and wait for more bird feet tracking through the snow onto my Disintegration Project.
However, when I got home that afternoon there was hail raining down - bouncing in an icy hiss on the pavement.
I grabbed the camera and off I went! No, that's not big chunks of salt scattered around. It's really hail among the green leaves coming up. But I know it's almost spring because the star magnolia and flowering cherry are beginning to bloom - femminismo
p.s. Must be honest: I sneaked back in to add two photos. One is X's for Seth - on journal pages in his honor - and the other pic is of the last two library cards and pockets with the END of the story. (My card - hee, hee, hee!)

Maybe There Really Is Hope!

THE VIOLETS are here and the Lenten roses, too - just in time for Lent, despite the freezing temperatures and the snows of December and February.
It's so difficult to believe that the lifeless bushes and leafless trees will ever be green. It's so difficult to believe things turn around as they most certainly always do. The whole world seems just a little uncertain, a little hollow and a bit empty of color and joy right now.
I never really thought much about the word "hope" - not until this election and everyone echoing that one phrase. But now I must say it truly will be the one thing we will all have to believe in the most. And if something as fragile as a slip of a crocus flower can work its way through our Oregon clay soil, then we should be able to keep our heads up too.
HOPE is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune - without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm. - Emily Dickinson

April is National Poetry Month and in one of the magazines they are promoting April 30 as "Poem in Your Pocket Day," where you carry around a poem to share or exchange with someone else. Cool idea. I know someone who was thinking of writing a poem a day in April. Might be a good thought! I wonder how many poems have been written about "hope"?

There are many good things going on in the back yard. I thought I saw forsythia flowers along the fence. I'll pick a few branches tomorrow and force them to bloom. That yellow will wake up the meanest spirit.

The Disintegration Project is coming along and if I'm not mistaken it looks like an enthusiastic gardener trod on this page. Well, all's fair in the disintegration process.

One more library card is on its way to Nathalie in Missouri. (There's one left to give away.) I hope she enjoys her portion of the story. It will really be mysterious, however, since the other seven parts of it are spread around the globe! What a thrilling thought. Now if they only come back together. Well, we're going to listen to the Battlefield Band tonight. Cheers - femminismo

There's a Slug Behind the Disintegration!

WELL, there's no slug behind my own *personal* disintegration, but there is a smallish one underneath the pages decaying in the garden.
I didn't take a picture of it this morning (this is an older photo) but I had to go peek - take a quick look - to see what's going on underneath the "project." The pages are sodden. It's been raining quite a bit lately, with some real downpours and then sunshine.
The garden is quite muddy and the weeds and flowers are starting to come up around the paper packets. Under one of the stacks of pages it was really quite dry. Amazing what a little protection from the elements will do. When I lifted up the second packet of book pages (they are tied with string) I found a curled up baby slug.
Now normally I do not let slugs survive. In fact, if I have a motto, it is "No slugs on my watch." I am merciless in applying salt or turning them into slug paste with the back of my small hand shovel.
Can you see me now, dancing in the garden under the full moon, applying slug paste to an effigy of my mortal enemy - the aphid? My hair is flying in the midnight breeze, the stars whirl overhead, the neighbors are coming out and standing in their yard to stare ... oh, what was I saying?
Sorry. Got carried away there for a moment. The Disintegration Project is coming along. Two library cards left to give out. Hurry, hurry, hurry! Talk to you later - femminismo

February is Almost Over.

THE month of groundhogs, valentines and presidents. That's how I think of February.
And *surprise* snow showers! This morning I awoke and walked into the kitchen to grind the Java Rocket coffee beans and goodness gracious! There was a white world outside and the kitchen skylight was covered with snow.
I felt gleeful and kid-like and knew immediately my disintegration project had come through another grand round of weather. Wind, rain and now a second frosting of snow.
I grabbed the camera and a jacket - and, oh yes, some shoes - and took off for the back yard. There were no bird tracks this time, but the wind a couple nights before had nudged the leaves around and the book pages were soaked through and through.
(For anyone just checking in - without having heard the whole idea of this "project" - a group of us are testing the boundaries of disintegration. Some of us are working in parts of the world where winter holds court, and some are in southern climes where they are upside down and it's now their summer.)
I haven't touched my pages since January, so I don't know what they look like underneath, but what fun it's been to just. see. what. happens!
Tiny little *snowflakes ** fell down on my hair as I stood there in the garden hearing the silence ... the birds all quiet wondering what had happened to their happy springlike weather from a couple days ago. (They were chasing each other around the front yard, careening through the magnolia tree, flirting with each other like mad.)
Here you can see our Oregon grape bush draped in snow, with our neighbor's shapely fir tree - elegant, as always.
My "Readers Share Story" project is still ongoing. I offered library card packets, with a part of a story written on each one - to those who wanted to participate. I have five cards left (see photo). Let me know if you would like to be in on this. I write part of a story on each library card, mail them off to participants, they decorate the front of the library card holder and then take a photo of what they've done. They send it to me and then I will post the photos and the entire story I wrote on the cards on the Rendezvous blog site. Think about it and let me know - femminismo

Disintegration Happens When You're Watching ... When You're Not.

HERE are my packets for the Disintegration Project that Seth Apter at The Altered Page inspired.
I am so glad I read his mysterious post and figured out he would be letting books or pages disintegrate over the winter! Yes, it's always been one of my deep-seated goals: having a book rot in my garden.
Now you know!
Actually, it's only recently that I've been able to do anything harmful to a book. Books have always been my salvation. I remember keeping my nose in one at recess so I wouldn't have to play with the other kids because I was so shy. (I know there are people out there gasping at those words! "Shy? She's shy?!? No way! Yeah, right.")
Well, it's true. I still covet books. They are dear to me. I don't know that I could stand to hold a Kindle instead of paper and book board.
Well, feast your eyes on these pics, my pretties.
And one more photo that make me grab my camera and take a picture WHILE I was DRIVING! (Don't tell my kids or the Mister ... or my insurance man.)
Do you think the little cars were in case the price of gas goes up again? I think it must have been Grandma and Grandpa in town buying one of the little cars for the grandkids. I bet there were some excited youngsters in town that day.
You know, if I had one of those - just a little bigger, however - I could drive one to work. OK. Nobody steal that idea. I'm contacting the Patent Office right now - femminismo

Valentine Blog Party ... I'm Here!

KATHRYN Antyr, the moderator of the SoulJournal Yahoo Group, invited everyone to a blog party - complete with party treats. So much fun. I am finally getting around to posting before everyone on the East Coast goes to bed and Valentine's Day is over.
First a valentine for everyone. This comes from a scrapbook my aunt once had. It must be around 60 years old, at least. She saved all her cards and letters. This particular valentine is glued down, but is embossed and colorful, still, after all this time. When you pull on the "to my valentine" part the girl "steps" forward. It's very charming.
Here is the art journal page I did for the blog party. I will post it on the site when I finish here. The theme was "birds of a feather" and included some other ideas to incorporate. I'm not crazy about this, but I did have some happy accidents that I will apply to other pages in my journal. Learning, learning ... all the time learning. Kathryn found the bird templates for us and Martha (the Martha) provided the roses and tea cup. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!
I am going to use this post to catch up on EVERYTHING! On Friday, Feb. 13, at about 11:45 a.m., I opened my new blog - where the finders of guerrilla valentines were told to go - and SOMEONE registered they had found the first one. They left no contact info, but I am hoping others find the valentines soon and decide it's safe (that may be a worry) to comment on the blog. So exciting and I knew you would all want to know what's going on with that.
Then, as if my sanity is not being questioned often enough lately, I am doing the Global Guerrilla Stitch-Up with Grrl+dog in Australia. Here is my knitting which is destined for a tree in an unnamed (as of now) city near me. Don't you think this will keep the skinny little tree cozy until spring is really, honestly, truly here?
Last, but not least, the Disintegration Project with Seth at The Altered Page: My pages are slightly soggy and the title page is covered with a very fragile rotting leaf. The pages got some sunshine today and I got a chance to snap a photo in-between clipping roses and other foliage. Bulbs are sprouting and spring is on its way. Hip Hip Hooray! I was going to snip back my tree peonies, but could not do the deed. The flowers are so lovely I can't live without one of them. Maybe next spring I will do it, but not this year. Not when winter has lasted far too long. Again, Happy Valentines - femminismo