Life in the studio last week

Life in the studio last week was surely
strange. One part mad science, four
parts old-fashioned wash day. Let me
explain. It all began because I wanted to
make a book and all the paper I had on hand
was white. White, white, white and this book
must be like the color of leaves bleached on the
floor of the woods, like abandoned nests of
paper wasps, like the look of moonlight spread
out on cold autumn fields.

The mad science part goes like this:
Brew every tea on hand, each in its own little
jar: chamomile, licorice, English
breakfast, Irish breakfast decaf, dandelion,
alfalfa, organic peppermint. Dip strips of
white paper possibilities into each tea and
see what color develops. Hmm. Not quite right.
Dip strips of paper into one then another tea.
Better, but still lacking. What would happen if the
paper were crumpled? Oh, nice.

Now for wash day: Make big batches of the
winning teas and put them in two pans. Dip
each page in tea number one. Crumple. Dip again.
Lay out on a towel to air dry. When all papers
are rinsed, repeat the performance with tea
number two, but only one rinse. Then place
each paper between sheets of clean newsprint and
iron until flat and dry.

It was a strange week in the studio, strangely satisfying