I only have two questions

Considering the complexity of the world in which we live, that's pretty good. One of my favorite movies is Cold Mountain. I adore Rene Zellweiger's character, Ruby, so when you read the numbers, do it like Ruby would.

Number One - Why isn't Kate Borcherding a household name?

Number Two - Why do all these good things keep happening to me?

I got back yesterday from my class at Arrowmont, Kate Borcherding's Printmaking Funhouse. There were 15 in the class, including Cheryl Prater. I have been around the craft school/retreat/workshop world for the last 5 years and I am often tempted to think there is nothing left to learn, but, thankfully, I am wrong about that. I have almost NO printmaking experience and I did not know a paper plate litho from a brown paper bag on Sunday. But thanks to my teacher, I learned a ton of fun and useful stuff that will forever impact my work. forever.

Kate B is smart, wise, thoughtful, patient, the most energetic teacher I have ever had, kind and in general an absolute doll! She ran the class the way I tend to work - at a fast, productive pace, offering lots of techniques and information and allowing us to use and choose the ones we liked. As an art maker, I discovered that she and I approach our art in the same way. We both start with a big pile of stuff, and go through it piece by piece to bring a work together. Kate is so accomplished and confident in her work that it kinda said to me that there is validity in the sorting-thru-the-pile method.

The book above is the end result of my week's work. It was NOT a book class. It was a class about printmaking and collage. I just couldn't resist challenging myself to make a fully realized livre d'artiste using all the printed papers I made. It was a near impossible task, but I did it. I always feel like I have something to prove. What and to whom - don't know. Don't need to. I could not have done it without having Kate to bounce ideas off of - she is also a book artist, so it was refreshing to have a fellow book person to talk to. I felt like we understood each other. What a gift.

I'm tired. Maybe I'll talk about the other questiont omorrow.