Boston
I’m on my way home from a 10 day tour of Boston and Western MA. The last time I was in Boston was 19 or 20 years ago when I toured the Japanese papermaking exhibition at the the Peabody Essex Museum and had the opportunity to meet Timothy Barrett for the first time, who coincidentally was featured in the NY Times Magazine last Sunday. One of Tim’s professional contributions has been research on the Nondestructive Analysis of 14th-Century to 19th-Century Papers and why some have survived in better condition than others.
Tim Barrett harvesting kozo
My first stop in Boston was a visit to The Museum School, where I spent a day with Michelle Samour’s papermaking class and showed my artists’ books to a small group in the school’s library.
Students at the Museum School
The next day I visited with Sidney & Elaine Koretsky at the Research Institute of Paper History in Brookline and got to tour their carriage house which features the exhibition, Before Paper. I also had a lovely time at lunch and in the studio with Angela Liguori of Studio Carta.
Elaine and Sidney Koretsky in their research library
The weekend was spent teaching a workshop to six lovely women at the Boston Paper Collective in Charlestown, spending time with an old friend from my days in Brooklyn, and dining out with Lee Scott MacDonald and others.
abaca paper draining over the vats at the Boston Paper Collective
The next stop was a visit and lecture at Mt Holyoke College where I had a chance to spend time with Tatiana Ginsburg and to meet and see the work of Rie Hachiyanagi.
Rie Hachiyanagi's installation in the library at Mt. Holyoke
Tatiana and I joined binder Sarah Creighton the next day for a visit to the rare book room at Smith College, where we got to see a wonderful paste paper exhbition and some of Douglass Howell’s early papers, among other delightful books utilizing handmade paper.
Douglass Howell's handmade paper stationery
My last stop was in North Adams, where I spent a day at Storey Books attending a sales meeting, teaching a short workshop to employees, and catching up with my editor; an afternoon lecturing and critiquing student work at Massachussetts College of Liberal Arts; and an evening at the opening reception for Mother Tree amidst other paper art by Michelle Wilson and Sun Young Kang.
Mother Tree at MCLA's Gallery 51
Sun Young Kang's "To Find the One Way"
Michelle Wilson's "The Ghost Trees"
Storey editor Deborah Balmuth, me and MCLA prof and hostess extraordinaire Melanie Mowinski
The fields are supposed to be covered with snow, and although I did wake to a dusting this morning, it has been an unseasonably warm winter here (which I don’t mind). Unfortunately, the weather in other parts of the country are probably going to get me home later than expected tonight, but at least I had time to write this blog entry!