still out of sorts – and a little purple

So I am still struggling to get down to work. I am feeling wooly and vague and TIRED. I must get some work done, deadlines are looming but I find myself just day dreaming and staring at the materials or watching the wind rustle the leaves in the trees outside the studio.

Saturday it was too hot to even think about being in an attic, so I went outside to dye paper for one of those projects I should be working on. I did manage to dye about 100 sheets in various shades of purple, along with my arms which weren’t covered by my gloves (poor planning on my part). The paper looked amazing blowing on my laundry line.

drying on the line

Then I thought I might give paste papers a try. I had some cellulose paste and all this paper. I have never tried making my own paste papers before and even though I had instructions I wasn’t really sure I was doing it right and I really didn’t like the way they were looking so I gave up. I made a huge sticky mess. I hung up my failed attempts to dry (I just can’t throw paper away) and chalked the whole thing up to experience.

Later that evening, after a great steak on the grill and some Johnnie Walker Red Label, I figured I had better bring the paper in as it was supposed to storm, and I was surprised to find that as they dried the papers became less ugly (or maybe that was just the scotch!) I am still not happy, even for a first attempt they are dismal, but I guess I should have stuck at it a bit longer and persevered. It seems from looking at the final result that I didn’t use enough paste, anyway – if I have bought paste paper from you in the past, don’t despair – I will still be buying it from you in the future. But maybe I will sign up for the next class I see. Clearly there are some things I could not figure out from my printed directions that might be easier to learn from a person. Anyhow here are some pictures of my sad paste paper attempts.

OK – try not to laugh!

Then I spent a whole afternoon on Sunday ironing all that crinkly paper and watching Dr. Who reruns. I am hoping to get down to work on the actual project tonight after dinner, so maybe pictures tomorrow.