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My New Book is Here! Woohoo!

I'm so happy to have this book filled with over two hundred pages of poetry. It is notably published by MoonPath Press in August of the year of keen eyesight, 2020, and the notorious pandemic and the pandemonium of this dubious election year. So I haven't read in public much at all yet because of the Covid-19 (i.e. the Trump Plague). But as this website becomes more useable, I will be making some headway in that department, or at least I plan to.

You can see my new book in the Bookstore section of this website (once it's prepared), or go directly to the—MoonPath Press website—to read about it now, and maybe even make a purchase. It's also available through most independent bookstores, like Village Books in Bellingham.

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With the Artist's Handmade Papers and Collage Illustrations

Artbooks are my latest interest. I've been making them for years, but now that I have a Hollander beater to make paper with, I'm even more enamored with creating one-of-a-kind artworks in the form of a book. This one was showing at a group-show of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen in Everett in March... at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibit was powerful and would have been significant, I think, if only it were able to stay open longer than ten days.

So it seems I've been thwarted in art and poetry by pestilence and famine. No. Not famine, as I grew a large garden this year that was fairly productive. But I have to say we've all had more than our share of pestilence these last few years.

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The Wonders of a Pulp Beater

I've been using a heavy-duty Hollander Beater machine for a couple years now. It's has made paper pulp from natural fibers like iris leaves, bamboo, straw, and also from cotton rags from shirts, socks, nightgowns, sheets, and towels. The most recent papers I made were from those red mechanics rags, which turned a sarcastically pretty pink, and floral patterned napkins that became a soft green. Iris leaf pulp from this machine has also helped me create a series of container "nests."

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Small linoleum block print on the artist's handmade paper

This print is based on a photo I took of a chickadee one day. They are such spunky birds. The block was printed in black on some paper I made of rug yarn remnants from the looms of a local rug weaver, and hand-colored with red and white paint.