Of stones and doves and other things:
Spring? Perhaps. Between the rain, bright days of sunshine. It s the time of hares, and soon Song of the Golden Hare will be back in print, and available from all good bookshops. Meanwhile Hare Accordion and Hound Accordion are SO slow to fund, and I begin to think we may have to cancel them. Which would be a great shame. Take a look at them here. With luck and a fair wind they would be ready for Christmas now, though not the June launch we had hoped. The first link goes to Hare, this one to Hound.
This month I broke one of my beautiful palettes from a 200 year old set of paints. It was my own haste and clumsiness that resulted in this. My favourite. Which is why it was so used. So old. So, rather than throw it I decided to mend, with a kintsugi kit from the Design Council. It’s not really kintsugi, as you use glue, but it was swifter, and the mend is clumsy, but for a first attempt I was so pleased, to have it back, broken, different, still functional. Now part of its story is that of use and breakage, mending. It’s a palette that I have used a great deal in the bird book. But, the thing is, I would love to learn the real art of kintsugi- something that takes time to earn and patience to do.
Meanwhile I bought a new set of inks and stone, from POJ Studio in Japan. The ink is just so amazing, and in the buying and reading of it I fell down deep into an ink rabbit hole…..The ink is just beautiful, made from pine soot, and gelatine and scent, and it is just exquisite. There is so much on their site, with links to the makers, and how the ink is made, and the paper.
Falling further today I found stories of Japanese ink stones, still made and mined and carved and crafted and polished by hand, and now I wish I had another life so that I could travel, make a pilgrimage, to the maker and offer myself as an apprentice, to see through all of the tasks from the ringing of the stone with a hammer to test the sound, to the final polishing and then first use of the stone. If you have time watch the video on here about the mining and making of the stones.
And if you are young and bored and want a different life then maybe just go, do this, so this art does not die. So much knowledge here, so much to learn, from the tune of the stone to smoothing enough but not too much. Each step of the wa there is peace to be found in the shaping, from quarry to studio.
And do you think I managed to resist buying a Rising Dragon Ink Stick made by the seventh generation maker of Sumi ink? Perfect to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.
I especially love that you grind the ink on the ‘land’, and then move it to the ‘sea’, because on 24th March I will be doing an event at Oriel Y Parc with Mererid Hopwood at Oriel Y Parc for the Festival of Land and Sea. There are, I think, only 50 places, but afterwards we will be walking around the Lost Words exibition, talking about the work, words and images and adaptations. Language in pigment, spoken and seen. You need to book ( but please only book if you are going to come as it is restricted.)
I had lunch with Eva ( who makes the bracelets) Fran, who has written an extraordinary treatment for a play/screenplay (about the empty housing in the area) and Nicola Davies who is, well, extraordinary in every way ( and whose book The Song That Sings Us should have a much wider readership- anyone fancy a read along of this with me and Nicola?) We met to talk about doing Pass on a Poem evenings. This isn’t a public event, but is something you may wish to try: Friends meet, bring a friend. Can be in a restaurant, cafe, or home. Each person brings a poem ( important to emphasise to writers, this is a poem that has inspired you, that you love, that reminds you of something, not a piece of your own work) Turns are taken to read and talk about the poem and the why of it. Eva chose a poem by Ted Kooser. In my deep ignorance I had not heard of him before. Below is a reading by me ( I am in my Mum’s incase you are wondering why everything looks so different.)
By sea, on land, I have been walking, in between working. I left a stone on the beach. I’d bought a copy of Ted Kooser’s 100 Postcards ( now I wonder, why would that title appeal to me? ) On the remnant of gold from a stone left on the beach I wrote- making the piece into a postcard to send to Ted Kooser, over an ocean on a wing and a prayer.
On the reverse I said where I had left the stone, and wondered would it be found by the tide, which was coming in, or the eye? So, I was delighted to learn that not only was it found, but it was found by a friend, Caro Flynn, who makes the beautiful ceramic bowls sold at Basalt and Dune in St Davids and Workshop Wales. I wonder if the card will find its destination, and the poet will have the curiosity to find me, so that I can tell him it now lives with a woman of great elegance, mother of another poet, Johnny Flynn, who also collaborates in music with Robert Macfarlane. I love these golden threads of connection.
And finally: Ramblings…… while our feet may ramble, our words go straight to the point. Big thank you to Rina from Unbound for contacting Ramblings. This is also about Wild Folk by myself and Tamsin and we are working on a new and special level for real book nerds at the moment. More on that soon.
Jackie, I own almost all your books and have funded on unbound your previous 2 accordions as well as others. I am sorry to say that I feel their postage cost to America is unreasonable- I have let them know more than once. That is how I feel….just saying Allison, Austin Texas
Post to USA and to many other places is just SO expensive these days. If they make it into print they will also be published in USA. Fingers crossed.
So much beauty in this post, so much to ponder. Oh, the bowls! Ted Kooser is one of my favorite poets; how lovely that you have discovered him. Yes, the endless golden threads of connection.