1.21.24
Awake before the sunrise to a silent monochrome world of white, black, grey. Snow marks contours of the yard, the neighbor’s roof, tree trunks and branches. The western sky is menacing, dark where night still lives. Venus and the sun in the east, hidden under thick clouds. Woolen and heavy, a coat for winter.
Last night it snowed again, coming down in fat, flying flakes, swirling and tumbling from the sky. Tiny lacework crocheted by cold air. The beauty in mathematics only visible when a snowflake is seen alone. As they fall, it is all lost. Indistinguishable as they pile upon one another.
1.28.24
Yesterday, I worked on a shadow puppet movie with the kids in the Art Reach program at PAAM. Shadow puppets in space, to be more specific. They’re making creatures and objects inspired by the James Webb telescope images. The image below is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, where stars are born.
Today it is raining. I’m waiting for the snow to return, keeping a fire in the wood stove until it does. I make some paint with the burnt embers from the stove. The repetitive sound of the mortar + pestle drowning out the rain, a meditation in circles.
CHARCOAL PAINT:
Take a hunk of charcoal from the wood stove. (I weighed out about .35oz and ended up with about 2oz of paint). Grind into a very, very fine powder with a mortar + pestle. When you think you’ve ground it down enough, keep grinding. This will help create a smoother paint in the end.
Add a spoonful each of water and gum arabic to the mortar. Use the pestle to grind into a smooth, silky liquid. Keep adding water and gum arabic until you like the consistency. Test it out on paper. If it’s not smooth enough, keep grinding. Once it’s smooth, this paint can be used with both a brush and a pen nib.
Pour into a bottle and cap with a lid. Shake before each use.
Before you clean up, use the dregs from the mortar to paint with. Rinse your pestle and tools in a jar. Cap and save this jar as rinse water when painting with the charcoal ink; it also doubles as a nice grey paint, similar to water color.
1.29.24
Lumen prints today. They are quite literally, made from stars. Silver coated paper meets sun (albeit obscured by clouds). Snow lands on the paper, melting into water that pools and collects on the prints. The plants I grew leave their mark, ethereal, just a whisper of last summer to be seen.
These prints are moments in time captured through alchemical reaction. The magic of falling photons, their last breath after a million years of a life inside the sun. This light lands, and darkens the paper where it makes contact.
These prints are so beautiful! ✨