Escape for a Moment~Cuneo Mansion

A friend met me at the Cuneo Museum for a few hours of visual over indulgence. Built in 1919 and occupied by the last Cuneo until 1990, the family donated this incredible home and all the furniture, paintings, gardens to Loyola University. Unbelievable furnishings, architecture, stain glass, paintings~ceilings painted with all the cherubs you would ever want to see, everything imported from Europe and built by craftsman and all this a short trip from the house. The furnishings were made from exotic hardwoods and all I could think about was that my blue and gold macaw would have a field day!

Garden Time for Marblin' Momma~

And here I am 3 weeks later, mud on my knees, sore joints, but almost finished with preparing the garden for the summer. I grow different species of grasses and leave them standing in the winter to provide a food source for the birds. In the spring, these same grasses provide nesting material.

This year, my best bud was out of commission for physical labor~the winter was tough for him, and he is slowly getting back to his routine. Actually he's probably down on his knees thanking the stars that he doesn't have to move plants around, dig in the soil or cut down grasses with a machetee.

I thought since I didn't have my partner working alongside I would be overwhelmed with planting all the pots with seeds, digging up every inch of soil, cutting down six foot grasses, moving certain plants~while thinking about all the other stuff I have to do.

But lo and behold, it was the best therapy I've had for a long time. I decided to move all my other emergencies to the back burner and concentrate solely on the garden. Gardening "channels" my father who was a gentle, quiet and loving influence in my life.

 

How My Hand Marbled Feathers Relate to My Japanese and Western Papermaking

I sometimes use my handmade Japanese paper as a background to showcase my hand marbled feathers. Yes, I guess it can be a bit distracting, but also visually I enjoy the fact that both together show the same sensibility.

The next pictures show my self-folding stationary. It too is double sided, one side Japanese paper and the other side is sized Western paper. This piece folds into an envelope shape so that you have to seal the little tab on the front side and don't  need a separate envelope. I am hoping this summer, not only will I have my metal type shop up and running, but I will be able to make paper, marble paper and create marbled parrot feathers.

double sided Japanese~Western stationary self folding envelope

The inside and outside is sized. The fiber I use is Kozo and 100% cotton

In the background are the note cards I make. Double sided, painted with luminescent paint colors

Folded into envelope shape, ready to be addressed

You can see how it folds

Hand Marbling, Japanese & Western Papermaking, Letterpress, and QuillnAros

Along with reclaiming my print shop, I am hoping to go back to my original love~papermaking and setting metal type. Setting type came first in my pursuit of the 2-dimensional art that to me is actually like creating sculpture. Setting metal type and using typography to illustrate a meaning sent me on the quest for a piece of paper that would be part of the interpretation. That started my papermaking adventures. From there I went on to Japanese bookbinding, creating doublesided stationary, collecting one drawer at a time of metal type (going to auctions on Printers Row when I lived in Manhattan), gearing my gardening adventures toward my papermaking, marbling feathers, marbling paper. The photos I am showing are my Japanese papermaking. This is a slight detour from my marbled feathers.

each sheet is 13-1/2" x 9" with matching envelopes. This is a combination
of Western and Japanese papermaking

my Japanese paper has incredible texture created by the Kozo fiber I use
I then incorporate the Western papermaking technique for the
other side of the stationary and I size it so that  the portion
you write on is stable for pen and ink.

In this picture you can see the double sided stationary, the matching
envelope is made out of cotton with Western papermaking technique.

 The texture of the Japanese paper is enhanced by the Western paper.
The cool thing is that it is now one sheet of paper, with the ochre side being the
side you can write on.
 

Spring Flowers~Maybe?

Just thought I would print a picture of my big guy getting ready for his honey-do list and gardening chores.

Better fill up the gas can!

The Little Hand Marbled Feathers~Oops~They are coming!

With Spring arriving soon, I had made the decision to move on to immediate "creative emergencies".
My Print Shop, my wonderful print shop is definitely an emergency for me.  I feel that if I don't have access to it this spring, it will never be. It was set up to be a working print~letterpress shop. And is still set up to be a working print shop, under 6 tons of crap!

I did learn a valuable relationship lesson from this. Don't EVER grant your territory to your partner just to be accomodating and sweet~mainly because you will need a General MacArthur to take it back.

Three years ago I found Japanese papermaking fiber that was already cooked and beaten, which was so exciting because I always cooked and beat my own and it's very hard work. I bought kozo and mitsumata thinking I would be using it that summer. When I realized I couldn't fit it in my schedule at that time, I stored it in the freezer. Well after three years, I think maybe we probably ate it by accident. This may be a comment on my cooking abilities!

To make a long story longer I started sorting the marbled feathers I have left so I could photograph edit and list. Surprise, it is all the little guys (some big guys) mostly the African Grey where I used metallics paints. They are really gorgeous, perfect for small feather projects, especially perfect for earrings and feather jewelry, and I fell in love all over again. The small feathers are the hardest to marble because they are small. Stay tuned and stop in www.QuillnAros.etsy.com often in the month coming up. I am going to package two pairs each and I have to say they are little jewels~all of them.

These are the African Grey parrot feathers and will be sold in pairs of two

A pair of white cockatoo feathers marbled with fab colors
with two matching natural cockatoo headfeathers

Two pairs of African Grey Feathers

Marbled African Grey feathers with Romeo's naturally molted feather



New Items being Listed in QuillnAros~Vintage Buttons!

I decided to list my vintage supplies in my marbled feather shop. I think they do go hand in hand. I will soon be listing all my vintage stick pins (I have tons from the 1920's on and I also have beautiful fabrics that I have collected over the years. I will give you a preview of what is going into the stop this weekend. Be sure to stop by www.QuillnAros.etsy.com/ !

The size of these are 1" to 1-1/4" and will be listed individually. Beautiful florals....

This would look gorgeous as an accent or focal piece

This is one of the most beautiful buttons I have. It is hand hewn mother-of-pearl

and is 1-1/4" x 2" !!!!!

These cockatoo feathers are becoming limited in this color scheme.

African Grey parrot feathers marbled in elegant jeweltones

Come visit.