6th Annual Artist Retreat - Wednesday

Wednesday began with me waking early as is usual when at Pam's. Partly due to the 1 hour time difference and partly because my waking mind was immediately running and jumping, shouting what ifs and let's just do its until there was no recourse but to get out of bed.

Tiptoeing through the house, I ventured into the studio to crop Tuesday's pages.

Once organized, they were simply bound into sample book 3. 

The day found Pam  and George continuing to dance their way

through completing pieces 2

and 3

 of a tryptich.

From time to time, I took my place at the other end of the table to sew on paper. 

Most of my day was spent what if-ing. Experimenting to see how different papers took similar marks, I worked with Rives BFK (above) and craft paper (below) that a local art supply store wraps around full sheets of paper to protect them.

Using ColorBox ink pads, letterpress, sponges

and my hand, it was fun to see how such disparate papers took the ink.

Tuesday's printing experiment was repeated using a piece of pierced Rives BFK as the printing plate. The craft paper took the print much crisper than the rice paper.

I learned that while acrylic inks and paints dry quickly on Rives BFK, the ColorBox inks need much more time than my impatience allowed to thoroughly dry. Light weight craft paper prints beautifully, but watery inks will bleed through to neighboring pages when working with a single thickness.

And, even though sample book 4 was completed, there's a universe to learn about coptic binding. Either that or I just cannot follow written directions no matter how simply written...