LAW 76: Transitional Work

Mungo and i started planning the Floating Empire over a year before we seriously got down to the building of the boat. So i had some time to come to terms with the fact that i would have to change the way, certainly the scale of the work i was doing. The images of the work i am sharing today represent a pivotal change in scale and emphasis. I went from working three dimensionally; creating abstract, organic paper sculpture within the range of the human body to much smaller, on the wall pieces. To today, primarily making hand sized books.

Open Book #1

These "Open Books" represent a transition between the sculpture and the work i focus on today, which is primarily, the book as art. Art you can touch and use and hold.

detail, Open Book #1

 The 'Open Books', are of course not open. Some of them are tied or sewn in a way that you can access the words that are written. All of them are translations of my prose work. Translations into one or another magical alphabet. All of the completed text was  cut up and the order shuffled. I think it's fair to say that as books, the 'Open Books', may well never be read.  That's okay. Mystery is sometimes a magical, inspiring experience. As i was creating them i often thought of them as Rosetta Stones; ways to decipher my heart.

Opne Book #2

Reading them as an artwork, well, that's a different ball of wax altogether.

Bottom detail, Open Book #2

  

The  paper is some hand made paper i was gifted, and held on to for many years before using. The sort of translucent paper, was actually packing materials that i scavenged, stained and used. Both papers proved quite difficult to tear, for entirely different reasons

Add caption

 I've always been fascinated by the forms that i see in nature. I have used scavenged from the landscape stuff in my work for years. Yeah! More recycling.














More later,
Morgainne

LAW 75: Dreams and schemes and other artful things, mainly mini-quilts.

Don't know what it is, maybe something in the water, but man i have been dreaming like a crazy lady lately! Last night's dreams were real doozies! I did come away from that particularly unsettling set of dreams with the idea for a new book, as well as a collage. I don't think that i am willing to go into the lurid details however. Suffice to say, strange……

A little sun and the garden grows

I realized as i was going through some of the older posts that somehow i had neglected to publish images in a consolidated fashion of the fabric fantasies i have been working on. You've seen bits and pieces of the GreenMan in progress, and some of the Eye of Horus, but nothing altogether. So i thought is would share images of the three that fall between the Eye and the GreenMan.

Detail of sunface

After i finished the Eye the next project up was a simplified version of the Sun card from the Rider Waite Tarot deck. I've always kinda felt that the infant crusader on horse was an unnecessary embellishment so he disappeared right away. And of course into every sky, some clouds, so there they are. The flowers are rather self explanatory, aren't they?

garden flowers in process

I guess i still wasn't done with the sun imagery when i started working on the next piece. The design for Solar Cat, originally had two kitties, but somehow they didn't fit onto the piece of backing material i purpose cut for them. Funny how that happens. So, the lounging cat goes, leaving the sitting pussy all by himself, and very lonely looking i might add. So, he got a sun. By this time i was starting to think about how much fun it would be to 'violate' the picture plane. Moving beyond the picture plane has become a very accepted practice. I wasn't real happy with my solutions for the solar flares that extended beyond the backing fabric. Ah well, life is after all a learning process.

Rather an Indian cat and sun i think

The Great Blue Heron is a departure, as for the first time i did not use fabric that i had dyed or printed. But, i have had this particular yardage for a very long time. So, it's mine. yes indeed. Looking for simplicity in design with this one. Trying to cut down on the time and hence the expense. Since i do these all by hand they can get pretty pricey. In retrospect i wish i had couched the outline of the heron instead of using the cross stitch. Again, a learning process.

or maybe from the desert, a detail at any rate

All of these pieces are relatively small, and equipped with a pocket and rod hanger. If you are interested in any of these, or the possibility of a special custom design, please feel free to contact me.

Rather imposing aren't i?

Check out what's new at the Floating Empire

More later,
Morgainne

PS: I'm working on leaf 7!

detail of heron body

sun face detail from Solar Cat

LAW 74: Odds and Ends and a new slideshow

So as promised here is a slideshow of the series 52 Weeks. This collage project was started in late spring of 2008. After finishing a year of teaching at Carroll CC i felt the need to refresh my creative juices. Since i had just recently re-discovered Hannah Hoch(due to above mentioned teaching gig) i determined that i would create a collage a week for an entire year. Seemed doable, if a trifle excessive. Still, i reasoned with the right sort of parameters  i could make this work. I settled on a common format, size, 8.5 x 11", all done on a tan laid paper.  Orientation, wether vertical or horizontal was predicated by the image choices. Generally speaking i sat with a piece of paper, prepped with an inch matting margin all the way around, than simply started leafing through my files of imagery until i found a starting point, building on that until a narrative/image developed. I don't glue anything until i am happy with the entire composition. Sometimes a particular image would start as the focal point, only to be discarded as it no longer fit where i had first placed it.

So the weather has turned warmer again. The snow is rapidly melting. The melting will be helped along immensely by this afternoon's rain. Gorgeous sunset the other night. Definite red skys!

Looking towards the sunset

I am finally in the single digits in the leaves to go on the Green Man. As you might be able to tell, there will still be plenty of work to go after i finish the last seven. Yes, even i think i must be crazy.

Yea! Only 7 leaves to go, and than...

Last but not least, as you may be able to tell from the photo below Magellan and i have an ongoing dispute over ownership of the rocking chair in my studio.

It's the look that says it all!

Check out our companion blog, thefloatingempire.com.

More later,

Morgainne

LAW 73: In the octopus' garden

Well, It has taken me a while to get around to this post, but, this is a fabulous dinner that we had over the weekend while we were hunkered down waiting for winter storm Jonas to blow himself off.

Yes, playing with your food is good!

Octopus is without a doubt right up there as a contender for the top mollusk in the taste category. I love it grilled, as sushi and after this past weekend, i especially like it braised in it's own juices. Do you mind if i say OMG!

Never too many onions or garlic!

As you may know from other posts we live on a boat on the upper end of the Chesapeake bay. Octopus is not commonly taken for people food out of the bay. So when Mungo and i want to eat octopus we need to special order it. Luckily we have cultivated a good working relationship with the manager of the sea food department at our local, independently owned grocery store. Justin will get us anything that we as for. He has gotten us  octopus more than once.

all curled up and ready to cook

So we had this 4 pound  sweetie sitting in the freezer. We decided that our snowed in weekend would be the perfect time to feast on said mr. octopus. So, our fave way to have has octopus is grill, not likely to happen with 2 + feet of snow looking to fall over the weekend.

After serious consultation with Dr. Google i determined that braising said octopus in it's own juices would be the way to go. Well, it isn't quite just in its own juices but…..

Yes, i added no liquids, this is the result of an hour's braising

Octopus laid over a generous bed of onion and garlic, topped with about a cup of green, pitted olives, braised for about two hours. Oh man, ocean in a bowl! After determining that the octopus was fork tender i pulled it out and let it cool enough to cut up into chunks. So at this point you want to reduce the liquid to about two cups than add waxy potatoes that are cut up to the same size of the octopus, cook until the potatoes are tender, garnish with fresh herbs of your choice, parsley, cilantro and hit it up with a little fresh lemon juice. Heaven in a bowl. Cooked this way octopus has the taste and texture of spiny lobster, another of my favorites. yum yum.

Fork tender and ready to cut up, once it's cool

FYI if you are buying whole octopus for this dish, just cut off and discard the head, you are really not losing anything. Serve this is a shallow bowl with really good crust bread, and a mineral rich greek wine.

Excellant recommendation from our good friends at Midway

ready to eat!

Oh so Bon Appetite.

more later,
Morgainne

LAW 72: Another new handmade book

Over the last week i finally finished another of the handmade paper books. This one is the largest so far, measuring 6 x 9 x 3", substantially larger than the first two; they measure in the 4 x 5 x 2" range. For this one i used full size sheets of paper for my signatures. The first two utilized half sheets. so as you can imagine this last project ate up a huge chunk of my remaining paper. I actually only have enough half sheets left for one more book. I will have to wait for warmer weather to start making paper again.

Newest book, Emergent

Living in a 'tiny houseboat' very definitely limits what i can do in my studio. Making paper is one of those things that just doesn't happen onboard. It's wet, it's messy, it takes up way too much space; so i will spend part of my studio time during the warm months building up a stock of hand made paper for book making here on board during the long cold gray months of winter. Luckily there is a lot of space 'on the hard' here. Fellow slip mates find the process interesting to watch; although i inevitably get the, 'why make your own paper? it's so cheap to buy!' Well, hey, i say, i really, really like making stuff.

Front detail of Emergent, this was a funky piece of costume jewelry that fell apart

These three books are made completely of recycled materials. The only thing i buy new for them is the binding material. For the first two books of this series i used 1/8" ribbon. I have always like used ribbon as a binding material, but the flat stuff can be a real pain in the you know what to work with, as it twists and mostly refuses to lie flat. Coaxing it into flat submission takes time, and raises the frustration level in an unfortunate fashion. Sigh! For the larger book i felt that the 1/8" ribbon did not look heavy enough to support the binding.  I decided to use 1.5 mm rat tail. Since it is round i would not have the issue of 'twisting' that occurs with the flat ribbon. Alas. Of course the 1.5 mm rat tail was to fat to fit any of the binding needles i was using. This of course necessitated yet another trip to the store to get a larger eyed blunt needle with then had to be forced into the appropriate curve. Good thing that Mungo is a blacksmith.

Binding view of Emergent, see how pretty the rat tail is?

Those of you who are experienced book makers will completely understand the frustration i experienced when i tore two signatures as i was binding them. It is all to easy to apply to much force as you are binding; even when using commercially produced paper. Triple that, or more, when using paper you made yourself. It after all is a limited, precious commodity. Since this paper was composed of recycled, mostly junk mail and packaging, it was very soft to start with. I had saved back enough full sized sheets to make two new signatures. So i prepped them, and bound them into the book, went ahead and attached the back cover. Sigh. They just didn't look right. Not quite the right size. So, i reluctantly unbound the book and took them out. Double sigh! Re-attached the back cover and although the book is not a 'fat' as i planned, i think that it is still a beautiful object.

Looking into the book

So hand made paper, and papier mache covers, with a beautiful antiqued painted patina. All the objects in the cutouts come from jewelry of mine that fell apart at some point in its life. Yes, i do indeed save just about everything, After all, you never know when you will be able to use it.

All hand made, all recycled materials

Oh ya, all of these books and more are available for sale. Just check with me about pricing. I also will consider commissions.

Keep making art, stay warm.

More later,
Morgainne

LAW 71: Snow with your wind anyone?

Well we have survived day/night one of Winter storm Jonas, aka Snowmaggedon part deux. We did have to get up once last night to readjust one of our spring lines. The work boat is completely filled with snow, urk i am glad that it is not my job to bail her out. So far everything is fine here, albeit a little chilly. The docks are fairly clear of snow, courtesy of the wind, which does not feel as strong as predicated(not that i'm complaining mind you). Still, we are getting blown about a bit.

I found the way the ice is forming in the fairway interesting. It looks like large, albino lily pads.

looking out towards the hard

Another day of snow, supposed to get another 10" over the course of the day. If you are in the snow zone, stay inside, stay warm and drink heavily, in moderation.

More later,
Morginne

LAW 70: Homemade crackers anyone?

We've been eating out of the freezer for the last couple of days. Brrr! It's been very cold, and four days until i get paid(it really does suck getting paid once a month), so….. when i decided to make fish chowder for supper the other night i was only momentarily flummoxed by the lack of crackers, oyster crackers specifically. After all isn't that what Dr. Google is for? Bingo! A very simple looking recipe popped up immediately courtesy of serious eats.com. It was very simple to make, although my crackers didn't puff up the way i felt they should have. This was probably due to a not hot enough oven. If you don't know; Mungo and i cook on a kerosene Butterfly stove top for which we purchased a small box reflector oven. Ahem, can i say temperature control is always an issue? Why yes i can. But i digress.

Oh ya, don't forget to line the cookie sheet with parchment paper

With my typical disregard for scrupulously following any ingredient list i went ahead and substituted the ingredients i had on hand: whole wheat flour for all purpose white flour, salted butter for the unsalted the recipe called for. I mean, really, butter without salt? Tres boring. Ya ya, i know. So the upshot, crackers that weren't quite as puffy as i would have liked. They were also surprisingly sweet, and just a little to salty. Next time i will cut the salt to 1/2 tsp, and probably omit the sugar completely. It is only there to feed the sugar addiction that most of Americans have. It's not like its feeding a yeast.

Really, there were more than this

So, the recipe as written:
1 cup flour (your choice, but remember, whole grains are so much better for you)
1 tsp each, salt, sugar, baking powder. Mix all dry ingredients together. ADD 2 Tbls cold butter, cut up into little pieces. Work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. ADD 1/3 cup of cold water. Once more, use your fingers to mix and knead the ingredients into a smooth ball. Don't over work. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 375. Generously flour your work surface, divide your dough into workable portions. Roll out to 1/8" thickness and cut in what ever shape you wish in the 1/2" range. Bake for about 15 minutes, the bottoms will start to color. Turn off heat, open oven door part way and allow to cool in oven. The crackers will continue to crisp up during the cool down period.

Since my oven is a baby one i only baked about half of what the recipe made and refrigerated the rest. You could easily cut the recipe in half as well. Mungo and i ate up what i made, and would have eaten more, so this was a good strategy. Oh ya, the fish chowder was really yummy too.

Yummy fish chowder, Cod to be exact

More later,
Bon appetite
Moregainne