I think the hardest thing to admit to oneself is that it is OK to start over. The 8 layer purple is a case in point. I could pursue the repair of the water damage or I could gather up a 115 or so purple flowers and begin from scratch, mortar and pestle to the blossoms, and coat a new sheet of paper. Two days ago I would have been stubborn enough to keep going with the repair, and I did work on it Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Something has changed. A new love has come into my life and its name is Arches Cover, all 10 yards (by 52 inches). It was delivered about noon yesterday. Imagine me carrying it up five flights of steps with a purloined sandwich from an unattended lunch buffet cart because that’s what I did. There must be a punishment in Hades for those who steal sandwiches thinking it is part of their eccentric artist persona. If there is it must be carrying a roll of paper and a plate of food in one hand only to reach a summit, losing both and having to go back and attempt the task all over again. I got the lunch safely up the stairs, a half of a tuna sandwich on whole wheat, half a turkey and cheese on white bread, and some potato salad. The best part was that it was free.
The new paper works extremely well with the rose petal emulsion. It is buffered alkaline so it shifts the slightly acidified emulsion from red to a cooler red, almost fuschia. The density is beautiful. It looked great after two coats but then I went too far by making it a bit streaky with a third coat.
Now I want to try this new paper with the purple. Just a small sheet to start out but it would be nice to throw another purple in the window and take out the pressed on grass poultice anthotype that has been exposing for about six days. I predict a new round of gathering purple flowers is in my near future.
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