2005: Taihen desu ne!

December 2005
Big Canoe, GA

Georgia Winter. The landscape is one of black and tan. The stark verticals of the barren hardwoods cast inky shadows on the thick layer of leaves that move about gently in the breeze. There is no green, no snow in my view of the forest at Big Canoe. Four deer move through the trees and shadows, ever alert. Yesterday, at dusk, there were nine searching among the leaves for a few kernels of corn. Squirrels scamper, titmice, chickadees, and nuthatches, and as of today, a flock of goldfinches, zoom in and out of the feeder. The creek, a few feet from the house, has begun to trickle again with recent rains that ended months of drought. I am spending peaceful days here over the holidays with long hikes in the afternoons and cozy evenings by the fireplace. Occasional excursions to see a film or shop interrupt the routine. This is the third holiday season at my mountain retreat and a happy one, indeed.

In January I was once again in Tucson staying with my cousin, Gloria, and visiting her extended family there. We saw an exciting exhibition of Navajo weavings, both historic and contemporary, consumed the best of Mexican food, shopped in Tubac and made an annual pilgrimage to Gloria’s former ranch in a magnificent valley near Patagonia where “Oklahoma” was filmed many years ago. A visit to the West always refuels my love for that American landscape and Native American culture.

The first of my trips back to Kyoto was in March over spring break. My housemate had not gotten word of my return and my rooms were in chaos. The phone was disconnected because he had not paid the bills and my favorite neighborhood restaurant was closed. Taihen desu ne! as we might say in Japanese – “This is the pits!” All was put to rights in quick order except the phone and Internet service, which took forever to reconnect! Welcomed back by my many friends there, my faith was restored. Good food, exciting exhibitions, a kabuki performance, and walks in the shrine grounds and along the river gave my spirits the lift I needed. I spent time interviewing my artist friend Jorie Johnson for an article in the Surface Design Journal and, as usual, made final plans for my summer Study Abroad Program entering its eighth year in 2006.

Spring at Big Canoe is always sheer delight with the fresh greens peeping out after the barrenness of winter. The creek was flowing with vigor and the wildflowers were out in abundance. Classes and other responsibilities at UGA kept me busy while at the same time I managed to finish the article and send it off to the editor. I was quite pleased with the result in the fall issue of the Journal.

By mid-May I was back in Kyoto greeting a full complement of 14 students in the fabric design program. It was an energetic and compatible group that enjoyed themselves and had high praise for the program. I had my solo show at GalleryGallery while the students were in Kyoto, a first at that time for me. We had an opening and two closing parties with the students there resulting in a busy time at the gallery. Japanese fiber artist, Kyoko Nitta, was showing her organza jeans with elongated pockets in the larger gallery space. We spent many hours at the gallery together greeting visitors and became good friends in the process. Jeans, being a common interest, added depth to our talks.

Traditional patched Japanese farmers vests, jackets, and pants I had acquired in flea markets the previous summer inspired the new body of work, “Levi’s Deconstructed”. Patching has a long tradition in many cultures though it is eschewed by the teens and twenty-somethings today in favor of the open rips, tears and ragged edges in their jeans. Some of my fragments were hand sewn, patched with traditional blue and white scraps garnered here and there and others with obi brocades in bright colors with metallic threads stitched down with rainbow-hued machine sewing. An example of the latter is shown on the enclosed card. My work with photo screen-printing and metal leaf has taken a rest after some twenty years, replaced by a fascination with jeans as a metaphor for the interconnected aspect of cultures today. The history of denim and jeans is an interesting one. Google it! More work with these denim icons is underway.

I returned to Georgia in July and spent a week or so at Big Canoe enjoying early morning hikes arid afternoons at the swim club dipping into the lake and reading in the shade. The end of the month I flew back to Wisconsin after a five-year hiatus. I drove through the night to visit my sister Karol and her husband John in the UP of Michigan and then on with them to see my niece Kris, husband Rick and new baby, Maya who live in the “mitt” of Lower Michigan. We had a grand celebration for Maya’s baptism, an overdue wedding party and an undeclared family reunion. It was a real pleasure to be back with the extended family again.

A few days later we headed back to the UP and I drove south to my old hometown, Fort Atkinson, WI to stay with my cousin, Mick. We see each other several times a year as her daughter and son-in-law live in Roswell north of Atlanta. We visited all my old haunts together, I ran into a few classmates, visited with an old friend of Mother’s and enjoyed many family memories. An additional reason for being there at that time was the visit of Moriyo, who was the Japanese student who home stayed with me the longest and shared a mutual devotion with my mother.

He graduated from UGA with AB and MA degrees, went on to U of Hawaii for his PhD in Okinawan linguistics and now teaches at a university in Naha, his hometown. He was presenting a paper at an international linguistics conference at UW-Madison and wanted to visit mother’s grave in Fort. Mick and I picked him up in Madison after a visit to the Union Terrace overlooking beautiful lake Mendota, imbedded deep in both of our memories from our student days there. We gave Moriyo the full hometown treatment including a visit to the reconstruction of General Atkinson’s Blackhawk War fort and a Friday night fish fry, a must in WI! The whole of the ten days was REUNION to the max and chance to reconnect with roots.

I returned to Big Canoe to enjoy the last days of freedom before the beginning of classes in mid-August (the curse of the switch to semesters some years ago). I had heard tales of the “Bears of Big Canoe” but it was not until late summer that I had my first direct experience. Early one morning a large, black bear loped across the road in front of my car and later the same weekend, while I was admiring my still-flowing stream from my bridge, I felt a movement accompanied by an unfamiliar sound. When I turned around, I saw a bear climbing up a 4 x 4 supporting the deck with the birdfeeder as her goal. Not being sure what to do I clapped a few times (in terror or delight?), she scampered down, and I rushed over to see the sow and her two cubs crossing the stream up into the woods at a leisurely pace. Three bears but no Goldilocks!

Fall semester has been a real challenge with classrooms and studios filled to overflowing. Somehow word has gotten out that fabric design js an “in” major and emails and new faces keep showing up asking for the details. I visit my former protégé and MFA graduate, San-Wook Lee, and his family in Milledgeville, 90 minutes south of Athens, on a regular basis. He went through the trauma of building a house and we were in constant contact by phone over every detail. Despite all the hassles with the builder, they are happily ensconced in their huge house with sparse furnishings.

In October I went field tripping with a few grad students to Raleigh, NC to see my Kyoto friend Kyoko Nitta who was in a group show there with her organza jeans, visited the NC State U Textile School where a former MFA has joined the staff after many years in industry, and the Design School to meet faculty and see facilities. We also saw interesting art at the North Carolina Museum and the brand new Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. It was a super excursion with new adventures at every tum. At the end of the month, I few back to Kyoto for 5 days to recharge the batteries of my soul, breathe the historic air, enjoy exhibitions and celebrate my birthday with friends who also have October birthdays. We partook of a vast Italian Feast in the center of Kyoto — a true exercise in internationalism.

November is the ideal time for the best fall color at Big Canoe and I was here every free weekend. This fall I joined the Solo Club here and have enjoyed meeting other folks living here. I have new neighbors who bought the house up the mountain from me and have enjoyed time with them as well. Thanksgiving Day was spent in Atlanta with Page, Jeanne, Lee and Jeanne’s mother. We had a delightful chat by the fire and a feast befitting the Occasion. Page spends part of each week in Orlando where he has a project underway (installing software that gets the right beverages to the right truck for daily delivery) and has been helpful in checking out the property (and essential documents) Char and I bought in Palm Coast in the 1970s. As the taxes and value have risen a lot in recent years it seems like a good time to unload the lot and find satisfaction in two houses in GA and a rental in Kyoto.

Mother’s Bohemian Christmas bread is now in the oven, and I need to finish wrapping gifts as the holiday draws near. My former student, Ben, his wife and son will be here on the 24th to celebrate Christmas, as they have done with me for many years. I will join Page, Jeanne and Lee in Atlanta for gifts and dinner on Christmas Day and then drive down to Milledgeville to celebrate Christmas with Sang-Wook and family for several days. I plan to spend some time in the studio and get ready for classes before returning to Athens after Page, Jeanne and Lee spend time with me here over New Year’s.

I send my very best wishes of holiday cheer to friends and family far and wide and hope that peace, good health and prosperity will reign in 2006, The Year of the Dog.

P.S. The bread is GREAT! I am off for a walk in the woods.