A Weekend Away

I am usually very reluctant to spend a weekend away from the garden at this time of year. So much is happening... so much crazy growth, so many starving aphids crazy for a meal, so many weeds crazy about the warmth and longer days. Not to mention so many seeds to plant, pot on, and get out into the ground.

So it wasn't lightly that I signed up for a book making workshop with Liz Constable from Book Arts Studios. Liz is the book artist who made the gorgeous book about this blog -- the book that made me cry when it arrived in the mail. I really wanted to tap into Liz's talent and have a go at making a book. It seemed only right that it would be a book about the garden.

It ended up being a garden journal.

It all happened at the Newman Art Center in Karori. A small group assembled on Saturday morning, and got right into cutting and ripping paper for our books. We spent most of the first day dying the paper. It was an experiment from start to finish, with all manner of happy accidents resulting in the most gorgeous book pages you could imagine. We worked with paper dyes, coffee and tea, bleach, water and irons. I was so  busy dying paper, I took very few photos, but Liz has a load of them on her Facebook page.

My father used this graph paper to draw up plans for the houses he built, and there was a roll of it in the attic when he died. I've been reluctant to use it because it's so precious to me. It made a lovely addition to my book, and by mid afternoon I was over protecting it, and tossed pieces of it in the dye pot. Really glad I did.

Sunday was assembly and binding day. We had the sewing machines and the typewriter going flat out, creating pockets, writing inscriptions, and devising all sorts of personal touches to our books. Liz sees beauty and potential everywhere she looks. In the workshop she created an encouraging and experimental environment where everyone finished not just a book, but a work of art.

I spent another weekend away just last weekend, once again reluctant to be away from the garden. But I'm pleased to report that while I was in Invercargill I found a typewriter at a garage sale -- a perfect portable for $10, so I'm about to get busy and make some more books. When I think about it, making a journal is no different from making jam or chutney or liqueur. It's about pleasure, and spending some slow time creating something beautiful that gives you joy. What else could we possibly want from our weekends?