when its hot and humid

the heat arrived last week -  blistering temperatures, the hot heat

 the humidity followed forthwith

uncomfortable doesn't begin to describe it so to soothe myself, I browsed photos taken in the depths of winter

this one, of the Klondike river boat, is a favourite

it was taken last November during a wild snowstorm that descended on the city in a moment and created havoc within a couple more

 

a few years before that I took the image below... a section of one side of the Klondike, before the latest restoration began, the boards beautifully distressed

the boats were constructed of narrow strips of wood, painted white, a simplicity in design I have always been drawn to

 a long time ago I had a thought to some day take that design sensibility, long, narrow and white, to make a book

seems some day may have arrived... 

having made up my mind to get started on it, I quickly decided on the paper I want to use (Hahnemühle Agave Watercolour paper (my favourite) and then thought about what this book might look like

long, narrow pages, white, a nod to the boards

at the moment I'm leaning toward a measurement of 3 1/2" x 9"

for imagery I decided to turn to the river for inspiration

favourite images of the water and some with the shore were printed

a rummage through some older work yielded strips of white linen that had been coated with gesso and then painted with watercolour - something interesting in that combination

 before I tackle the actual book I'm going to work on a number of sample pages, beginning with what I know and then seeing what comes of that...

for now its a place to begin

 

 

these are now glued down, the "page" pressing under weight

 

I then wondered what cutting a long narrow opening into a page might look like, with the imagery of the next page showing through

I dithered on the size of said opening and then decided to just cut one and figure it out from there

so far so good

the first trial "window" is 1" x 6 1/2"

I like it but proportions are tricky things so I might try something slightly less than 1" on the next sample - or maybe cut a few with a variety of measurements and have a play

laid on an image of shore trees against the sky, I liked what I was seeing, so much so that it is now cut and mounted behind

 

another project on a long list of "would like to do"s coming to the forefront and one I'm excited to be starting finally, after all this time

so now its ice lines stitching in the evenings when I get to sit a spell and paper and book things in the day when I need to escape the heat

summer might not be so bad after all!