We will make boxes. We will make boxes all week. And our boxes will be GLORIOUS.

Did you see all those boxes up there? That was all day ONE. I am back at the Wells Summer Institute and we are BOX MACHINES. By the end of this week we will be neck deep in glorious enclosures. I am in a GREAT mood. Here are some of the reasons why:

Reason No. 1: David Marshall
who brought dozens and dozens and dozens of sheets of marbled and paste papers and told us to go crazy. Eat your heart out:

Reason No. 2-5: Jane, Beth, Jessie and Caroleen
who are, at this very moment, intently measuring, cutting, gluing, patching, and dedicating their every move to their partition boxes.

There is a lake outside but Jane, Beth, Jessie, Caroleen, David and I don’t care.  We care not for the wind in our hair, we care not for the sun and the lush, green summer. We are box makers and we’ve got a job to do.

We must build our boxes

we must cover our boxes

we must patch our boxes

we must apply adorable buttons

and equally adorable paste downs

we must make hinged lids

and soon, very soon, we must attach our lids to our box trays. Things are getting very serious. We have no time for anything else.

In those ephemeral moments when we are not making boxes, we are discussing David’s marbled paper. Beth even wore some of her own marbling in order to keep our wardrobes consistent with our activity.

Reason No 6: Cowgirls
because real box makers make their own book cloth.

And if cowgirls aren’t enough for you, here is David applying Japanese paper to some hula girls. As you do.

Stay tuned to see how Jessie’s friendly zoo cloth comes out:

Reason No. 7: Harassing Katie Baldwin and her Mokuhanga class. Here is Katie trying to defend herself:

against the following:

  Oh, and here is some Mokuhanga stuff:

Robin Price is up next. Keep one eye, open, Robin. I heart the Wells Summer Institute! MORE TOMORROW, BOX NERDS!