Not only does leather come to me on the cusp of a change of season, but it comes to me in a time when I’ve been in dire need of a fresh horizon view. I’ve been leaning into the hides as one would a fence post or the shoulder of another. I’ve found myself surprised by the supple quality of the material and by the way it falls away beneath my tools as though it’s time or an object under the spell of gravity. It comes easy. It comes quick. I wrestle with the shears. My hands and back know a new and foreign fatigue.
The heights and depths of tooling come lightly beneath my hands; the beastie scent of hides and the two-faced texture between my fingertips draws new ideas and possibility in the realm of relief — forms clearly visible, highly accentuated, brought into existence blow by blow. Already, I’m crossing back over into metal and applying new ideas to my sketchbook in layers of black ink: scribbled and faded lines that tip off the edges of pages, shrinking as they creep in minuscule loops towards a table top or fall into the pit of my sketchbook spine. There’s never enough space when my pen grows greedy in the domain of record making.
As I type,
Farley barks in his sleep.
All four paws twitch and his body shudders
as he prowls the wheat fields of his dream scape
in pursuit of the winged things.
The window is open.
To let the cold in.
I hear the city and the push of wind in the redwood outside.
The Bay is glittering below us
in the distance
under night
and the constant clatter of streetlights
between here
and there.
The world hasn’t ever seemed so big.
My heart holds the memory of sagebrush.
It fans the scent in the face of my soul,
recalls the space of Idaho and
the reckoning and beckoning of that big sky.
Something has started calling me North once more.
I’m losing track of everything I had to say.
There are crescendos, here and there,
but the details I needed to tell you have been cut adrift.
I speak out loud, type with my tongue,
roll my eyes to the ceiling and then shut them light tight.
I lay on my back with the warmth of interwebular connectivity across my stomach; a sure glow beaming out in pixelated uniformity in the eveningsilence
of this room.
And still, those roaming thoughts I have been meaning to share about taking friendships to the next level, trusting others implicitly, admitting insecurities and watching things that are meant to take flight rise up on wings in the moment of their first flight.
First flight.
First flight.
Those roaming thoughts: thick as bison, pesky and fleeting,
gorgeous and new.
Roses in the cheeks of children.
Fiddleheads.
It’s late here, again.
Something scampered by, a brief moment ago, and tossed a handful of
sand in my eyes.
The grit of weariness is hard to see through and I give in.
I
tuck my head
under
my wing
and all the rest,
the good and the wonderful,
fall away.
ahhh.
your pensive words and wandering desires give me reason to want to take pencil to paper.
this break from big sky seems to have opened the spaces of your mind and heart.
it all flows down to the instruments, be they leather or paper or metal.
't'will be good to "see" you in your studio again….
but for now, enjoy the freedom before reining in.
alpine alaska is just this past few days turning green. time to escape outdoors and take part in the activities that the wintersnows bury in a sleepstate. tiny violets and starflowers bring colour and life to the scattered gardens of our property.
[it is always fascinating and causes a twinge of jealousy to watch my doggies run, chase, hunt in their sleepful states….]
xo
love your thoughts. and the dreamy pooch beside you ;).
it rained like craziness last night and into this morning. We had a really nice family get together and then came home and went to bed early listening to wind and huge drops on the windows. I'm just getting up the motivation to start another piece of the knitting project i've been fighting with…
can't wait to see what the leather experience will lead to with you. it'll be incredible, of that i'm sure.
xoxoxo
j
That's some fine writing, J.
Love your nomad truck road home.
Glad you're having such rich times!
XO
D
It seems you had a very fulfilling trip, thanks for sharing. I can't wait to see the finished leather…and whatever else you have up your sleeve!
量力而為，別勉強了，Cut your coat according to your cloth..............................................
Only smiles…I love when pets dream and twitch! Take good care!
xoxo