My work table, in one of many states of completely-covered that happened this week
The new cards and journals are pretty much ready! I must have taken about 350 pictures this week, getting everything ready to go in to the next catalog, plus to have plenty to put up on the website to share with you. Everything should be ready to (finally!) share next week, and here’s a little more of a sneak peek, for now!
Bee “I love you so” card – up on Etsy soon!
An assortment of the new cards
Two of the new cards using that octopus!
A baby dragonfly perfect bound journal
Also – I’m putting lots of these pictures (and more!) up on Flickr as I go, so you may want to check in there.
The thoughts that have been occupying me the last day or two while trimming down and packing an invitation order and working on these cards: for centuries, Persian carpet makers have deliberately woven a mistake in to each carpet, believing only Allah is capable of perfection.
The second idea, simply because I found it pretty captivating this morning and thought I’d share: I listened to a Big Ideas lecture podcast this morning about color and chemistry in art history. Think about it: paint wasn’t manufactured and put in to tubes until the 19th century…that leaves a lot of centuries prior when painters were mixing and making their own materials from scratch. And, not only were they making them from scratch, but much of this was happening pre-Scientific Revolution, when the understanding and documentation of chemical properties and interactions had not yet occurred. It wasn’t as though a painter could just go pick up a tube of cadmium yellow and keep on working; they had to mix either egg or oil or another liquid base with various chemicals to achieve the color they needed. I’m not sure that’s as deep a thought as many, but it certainly makes you appreciate the accessibility and convenience in our own lives. The thing is, we want to know how all of it works (as my dad has said, we want to shake the box, to know what’s in there!) and so many of us are curious to know not only how it works, but whether we can make it ourselves. That’s probably why I’ll be cooking, canning, and freezing as much as possible this summer…just to see if I can!
Arthur Sze’s “Ten Thousand to One”, to send you in to the weekend on the right note.
love the new cards, maggie!
xoxo,
beth
the perfect bound books are perfectly fabulous!
Hi! I’ve been following your great work on Flickr. This entry on your blog really resonated with me, especially when you talk about perfection. The custom of purposely adding a mistake on every piece is very ancient and stems from the belief that perfect things attract negative energies or the wrath of the gods. It is a very interesting idea!