The Morning After


by Kate McKulla

For those of you who were unable to get to South Bend, it’s going to be one of those ‘hate yourself in the morning’ kind of things. It was fabulous! And to think, I was going to miss it!! Please do excuse Anne as she gathers what’s left of her brain. She worked, smiled... glowed from end to end all weekend. What a powerhouse of electricity she is!

Where to start? The books - too many! How can I say this? I got into Indiana on Friday afternoon, and still did not manage to see all the beautiful treasures that were sent for display. There were hundreds of completely individual creations, each sang their makers song. Of those I did get to spend time with, Vivian Carter’s tall and multi-directional book was wonderful. Kazza’s Lord of the Rings was just as good as everyone thinks it is... that leather pouch was the softest thing I have put my hands on in, well, never mind. Teri Martin, so good! Pamela Paulsrud made these little rock books that were so real, so tactile, so fantastic! Tricia Smout! Virginia! Betty - your screen door was wonderful! Eliza’s books were delicious.

Annebinder (yes, it’s all one word, but we have a new nick for her!!! Ready, Annepersand!) created a book that was huge! A room divider if I ever saw one. Cheryl Slyter’s books were so perfect it scared me. Glen’s books were fabulous, the pages to the Waltzing Matilda media show, and a very fine book on flowerwomen-poetry. I don’t want to leave anyone out!

There was just so much to see! Oh gosh, Steven Skaggs made one awesome book that I spent fifteen minutes with... it just went on and on. The books were enough to fill the entire weekend. But no! Annepersand provided 3 other exhibitions for us to overload on. Visual Voices was set up in it’s own room, and rightly so. I hope this show makes it out to other galleries, it is just too beautiful to go back to the owners. It needs to be seen by more.

Alphamark was set up nicely, and again, so many varied applications of letters and illustrations. A great collection that as I understand does not have the funding to make it to Austria as planned. I am thinking of bringing it to New Jersey - we shall see if the north wind blows, and events fall into place to make this happen. Now, for the icing on the cake: RiverLetterDance.

On Sunday afternoon, a large crowd gathered to watch poets recite, while a Gazelle dancer with the most amazing smile and fluid movement danced to this oh so cool group of African drummers, and! Glen Epstein and Diana Hutchinson painted and calliged on a large canvas while all this was going on. I had the honour of supporting Glen and Diana by acting as their nurse - scalpel! scissors! Suction! as they danced their way across the canvas. You want to talk about stimulation. The audience was captivated, moved, and I do believe had one very good time! This performance needs to get out Tribe.

MORE need to see what collaboration can be, with a bit of tweeking and fine tuning, we are talking a huge Broadway hit! This can and will be a new arena for calligraphic expression. Performance art, like few have considered before. Stay tuned.

And now, I end with a very tired and happy spirit, ready to take on what ever comes next. It was one of the most beautiful weekends I have had in a long time. So many new friends (Jen! David! Sylvia! Rob! you beauties!!) It was grand.
With affection, Kate