Easter Monday - Grading in the Garden

Bright and early Easter Monday morning, I decided that the students' papers that had been tucked away in the back of my mind needed to be graded before other distractions, like weeding and pruning, might convince me to dally. At 7:30 am, the sunshine was working hard to burn through a soft haze of fog hanging over the pasture. With laundry on the line, I asked Peter to take a few photos of me grading in the garden to prove that I DID grade papers today - although my thoughts were at the bottom of the garden where the new raised beds soon will be built.

Now that the hypertufa fountain is up and running, Springtime is officially here.  Thanks to the help of my dear friend, Nancy Hansel, the patio garden and the front garden are also cleaned and waiting for the annuals to be planted.

We heard from the farmer across the way that his cows will be returning later this week to the pasture at the edge of our garden to calf.   We can hardly wait.

Cow Chow Inspirations

My current work, often inspired by place, is a culmination of a lifetime of collecting bits of memory, a love of family, Christian faith, and a passion for the cornfields and pastures that surround our gardens and small 1930’s home. My newest work from the 2ndhandpaper collection is both conceptual and consumer based. The work incorporates ephemera collected on trips to Cornwall, England and London while visiting my husband’s family; handmade paper processed from my garden plants; and a collection of commercial boxes and bags from our pantry.

The Old Brown Cow and Other Moosings

The second conceptual book from the "Tossed and Found" show opening April 2 at Main Street Art Gallery in Edwardsville, IL was inspired by a Cattle Chow bag given to me by my mentor and close friend, Laura Strand, Professor of Textiles at SIUE. “The Old Brown Cow and Other Moosings” is a collection of famous poems about cows, along with a series of photos taken by my husband or myself of the cows that live next door during the summers.