Mapping the Journey

There are things that I love about working with paper:  its color, for one.  Old maps have a certain richness that is just not visible with new print.  Elegantly engraved borders enclosed finely designed vignettes on the stamps.  The golden glue on their back sides almost crinkles with age.  My vintage stash of road maps and sea charts have begun to take on a yellowed hue as they await a starring role in one of my collaged paper quilts.  Maybe it is the folding and rolling, or splashes of salt water that gives them character.  Maybe it is that they have been used and cherished by the weary traveler, and not stashed away in a cedar chest for safe keeping.  These are useful things, yet vitally important as they lead the sailor home from the sea, the hunter home from the hill.

Lesser Yellowlegs:  Migration Story is not finished by my self imposed date of April 1.  I had thought that I could complete this small 12" square in time for SAQA to have the option to use it in promotional materials (deliver date of 4/1).  But when I photographed it and prepared it for shipping, I just couldn't seal the box.  The piece needed something more - something to keep the story of this migratory shore bird from being lost  in the busy background of the map.  So now I am telling the story with threads:  silk buttonhole twist, french knots, back stitch, stab stitch, floss, Laura Wasilowski hand dyed threads, and a thimble.  Stay tuned...