ABCD late January 2021

The new Circle of Trees at the Dove

Scots Pines with oak-gall ink background – a richly evocative print by Bron for a book about planting trees at the Dove.

We met via Thalia’s Zoom account on 30th January. We’ve all been doing different stuff, and some of us are working on contributions to a collaborative book about our female ancestors. The deadline for returning our individual pages to Bron for binding in an album is 27th March.

Pauline’s linocut representing an ancestress of whom no photo exists.

Pauline has finished a book about microbes and a book of paper weavings.

Above: Judith’s work resulting from an online course combining handmade paper making, image dipping/printing and book making with images embedded in pulp.

Judith’s watercolour experiments.

Above: Carol has joined Bristol Urban Sketchers who meet every fortnight and ‘go’ somewhere different, last weekend it was Rio di Janeiro. On zoom for about 2 hrs and sketch from photo before the show and tell. Here are Carol’s 2 sketches. First one from Guardian photo of first 2 people to get the jab in Rio.

Above: Caroline has completed the first two volumes of her Indian travel journals. I love her quick expressive pen sketches.

Above: Clare is immersed (literally) hobnobbing daily with otters and kingfishers in the Cam Brook, and (figuratively) in the lovely Rachel Hazell’s Booklove e-course. What gorgeous summery colours to brighten this deep midwinter.

Above: my Winter books, with seasonal photos from the Shetland webcams and a short poem.

November 28th, 60 degrees North, through the eye of the webcam

this painted morning
a fulmar rides the wind
cloud-dragons linger above a gilded sea

this watercolour afternoon
surf churns between slick black rocks –
punctuations in ocean’s long argument with land

this blue-washed evening
lighthouse beams sweep the sky clean
again and again and again

this translucent night
the Great Bear floats in a bowl of clouds
clouds float moonlit on the horizon

Judy is still working on her Dante calligraphy pages. It’s extraordinary how much distance can be implied in a single page!

Current and former ABCD members may remember our exhibition in Wells Museum with John Rowlands-Pritchard. John has collaborated with James Roose-Evans on a beautiful book of 52 visual meditations. Behold the Word is available here.

Our next two meetings will be on 27 February and 27 March. Meanwhile, here are some random jottings made on the day.

Late January Dove-droppings

infinite nightmare storage system
to make space in my life
for the ancestor

cola-pen calligraphy
tiny little pamphlet books
close to our hearts

sixteen precious things
somewhere below my knees
an Xray of someone’s foot

the name for swift means crossbow
with a hedge-layer
a cubit between stakes

exuberant ways of using
materials banned in the UK
intoxicated with Mrs Delaney

hunting my ancestor
walking into the mountains
to visit baby monks

a non-person in my life
a negative image
putting it through the press

blue lias on the beach
writing in the stones
to finish the microbe book

library of exile
hooked on tree-planting 
for instant joy

the women who built
a new vaccine made by moths
dropping out and coming back in

Posted (two weeks late) by Ama Bolton on the Eve of St Valentine