Thursday, August 13, 2015

Sandra Brownlee at Long Ridge Farm - Day 2

This time last week, I was waking up in Brattleboro, VT and getting ready to begin Day 2 of Sandra Brownlee's Tactile Notebooks and the Written Word workshop at Long Ridge Farm, right across the border in Westmoreland, NH.


Nestled in the mountains amid trees and pastureland, Long Ridge Farm was an idyllic location for Sandra's teachings. Our classroom was as much the outside as it was inside a very open barn.


Day 2 = paper.

Beginning with Thich Nhat Hahn's If you are a poet you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper...


we made a list of paper's qualities (above left) and the techniques applicable to it (above right).


As I passed through the doorway to go outside and noticed again the texture of the mat, emboss popped into my mind. Would it be possible?


1 piece of handmade paper + water + the sun's warmth to dry it = embossed paper.  And that was only the beginning.


We lunched al fresco each day in Nancy's backyard -


all the while marvelling at the perfectness of the weather,


the easy camaraderie of those gathered,


and enjoying the thoughtful gifts shared - a burdock ball for Sandra from Velma


and wrapped hearts for us all from Sandra.

6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Debbie! I was a bit surprised that it actually worked...and now want to try it on so many things. Enjoy!

      Delete
  2. The paper came out so beautifully. Soaking up the energy of place. xox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. The paper recorded the essence of the farm and hints at the experience. Miss you!

      Delete
  3. I'm so glad you are back and able to blog about this week - I have been looking forward to it! It looks and sounds a wonderful experience again; I love how the what if mind is opened more in such generous and supportive surroundings. Your embossing is brilliant! I hope the energy continues to surround you at home and I can't wait to see/hear more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Fiona! The energy continues to surround me and the ideas that were whirling around willy nilly are beginning to coalesce. There's a series of new work that is calling, telling me it needs to be done. Hopefully I can do it justice.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...