Collage 634

Kutuzov, after a night of insomnia, hears the news that Napoleon has left Moscow. This news is like the dawn he has been waiting for.

"Lord my creator! Thou hast heeded our prayer..." he said in a trembling voice, clasping his hands. "Russia is saved. I thank thee, Lord!"

And he wept. -- Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 523-524, volume 2 of original text
collage, magazines, sheet music, handmade onion skin paper
made 10/5/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1026-1027

Collage 633

Locked in circuitous thoughts, longing for but disbelieving in the destruction of the French army, Kutuzov lies awake, "peering into the darkness." Tormented, he thinks up all the way sin which Napoleon could be destroyed.

The glints of light on the iron seemed to me to be lie the news Kutozov awaits, as well as the first light of morning. -- Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 521-522, volume 2 of original text
collage, magazine, tracing vellum, rice paper, tissue papers
made 10/5/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1024-1026

Collage 632

Sometimes an image just jumps out at you and begs to be used, as it was with this dog. While garish, there is something charming about this pretty girl, as she peeks out from the flowers (a gift from the Tolstoy estate trip) and pink paper, anxiously awaiting her masters and mistresses return to the daily routine of peace.- Adrienne


Adrienne Wetmore
from page 519-520, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1023-1024

Collage 631

Tolstoy describes the crucial role chance and bit parts plays in securing Russian victory at Borodino- in the person of little, irresolute, and imperceptive Dokhturov. "And many heroes have been described for us in verse and prose, but there is hardly a word about Dokhturov." Is he a historical or a fictional figure of Tolstoy's making?

Lynn Waskelis
from page 517-518, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokshonksy translation page 1021-1023

Collage 630

"as if to ward off the worsening situation, they were all especially animated and cheerful!"

Lucy Arrington
from page 515-516, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, ribbon
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1019-1021

Collage 629

At some point along the way, in the course of the 2 years that I've been working on this project, I got interested in working more closely with the text, in a more illustrative way. In this scene, Pierre and Natasha have fallen in love and are considering marriage. Princess Marya is their go-between. They are both very happy. So I used some images of 19th century houses to represent the return to domesticity after all the war traumas and upheavals. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 513-514, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1018-1019

Collage 628

One of the most memorable images in the description of the chaos that Moscow has become . A corpse smeared with soot for the fun of it.

Lucy Arrington
from page 511-512, volume 2 of original text
collage, flora from Yasnaya Polyana, ink
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1016-1018

Collage 627

Only after moistening this old page could it be crumpled without breaking into little pieces before being glued down.

Lynn Waskelis
from page 509-510, volume 2 of original text
collage, twine, ink
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1014-1016

Collage 626

In his deprivation, in the absence of all life's superfluity, Pierre realizes the meaning of true happiness.

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 507-508, volume 2 of original text
collage, twine, pebble, ink, black plastic rose
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1013-1014

Collage 625

"About a week earlier, boot-making supplies and linen cloth had been distributed to the French, and the soldiers had asked the prisoners to make boots and shirts for them. 'It's ready, it's ready, little falcon!' said Karataev, coming out with a neatly folded shirt.

. . . 'Promised and done are born brothers. I said by Friday, and so I did,' said Platon, smiling and unfolding the shirt he had made."

-pp. 1011 in P/V

Emma Rhodes

from page 505-506, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1011-1013

Collage 624

The inspiration for this whole project was Matt Kish. Here is a link to his blog A Page For Every Page of Moby Dick. He turned his blog into a book and in fact I ordered a copy which arrived today in the mail. He mailed me a few postcards with his images, and I used one of his postcards in this collage.

"A French corporal, unbuttoned in a homey way, in a nightcap, with a short pipe in his teeth..." -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 503-504, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1009-1011

Collage 623

I loved doing something this simple. I can't truthfully say I was conveying the text here, but for me this feels like a moving on of sorts in the story- the beginning of the end. - Adrienne


Adrienne Wetmore
from page 501-502, volume 2 of original text
collage, burning! matches! fire!
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1008-1009

Collage 622

In the photographed blog image of this collage there is a play between foreground and background, in front of and behind that I can't remember whether you read in the original.

Lynn Waskelis
from page 499-500, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/17/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1006-1008

Collage 621

Napoleon's troops have entered Moscow. He makes a proclamation urging the citizens to "Return with confidence to your dwellings: you will soon find ways to satisfy your needs! Craftsmen and labor-loving artisans! Go back to your handiwork." As if order could be restored with a proclamation...

Lucy Arrington
from page 497-498, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1004-1005

Collage 620

The camera's reflection of the shiny glue detracts from the moonscape and the small clock toward the bottom.

Lynn Waskelis
from page 495-496, volume 2 of original text
collage, masking tape
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1003-1005

Collage 619

Emma Rhodes
from page 493-494, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1002-1003

Collage 618

Here, the action happens at the periphery, as often do the commands, the strategies, and mistakes of those in power. -Adrienne

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 491-492, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1000-1002

Collage 617

If the Cossacks had pursued the French, paying no attention to what was behind and around them, they would have taken both Murat and everything that was there. The officers wanted that. But once the Cossacks got hold of the booty and the prisoners, they would not budge.

Lucy Arrington
from page 489-90, volume 2 of original text
collage, rubber, pebbles
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 998-1000

Collage 616

“The Quilt”

Smoke, dusk, dimness, fury, purple, black
no purpose…
bad energy… -- Chris

Christiane Carney Johnson
from pages 487-488, volume 2 of original text
collage, watercolor
made 12/10/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation pages 997-998

Collage 615

“The Caged Bird”

Kutuzov is commanding a battle he did not approve. “No one is ready!"

“No one was told!”
“No one is where they should be!” -- Chris

Christiane Carney Johnson
pages 485-486, volume 2 of original text
collage, oil pastel, watercolor, gold glitter glue
made 12/10/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation pages 995-996

Collage 614

"The Paper Soldiers”

Disjointed, selfishness, confusion -- Chris

Christiane Carney Johnson
from page 483-484, volume 2 of original text
collage, acrylic, gold glitter glue
made 12/10/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation pages 993-995

Collage 613

No one has any stomach for more fighting, but an attack has been ordered.
I have little stomach for more reading about fighting or making collages about fighting. I want to use bright colors again, but that seems so inappropriate.

Lucy Arrington
from page 481-482, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/16/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 992-993

Collage 612

I see eyes and a mouth. What do you see?

Lynn Waskelis
from page 479-480, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 990-992

Collage 611

This was my first time back in the studio after our 10 day trip in late August to Russia to visit Yasnaya Polyana. And what a fantastic trip that was! I used electric tram ticket stubs that Trish found on the floor of a metro car. I also used bits of maps that Otto send from Berlin many months ago. Bulgarian. Where did he dig that up? I recall that Picasso said that painting is like keeping a diary. I would expand that to include collage, and even more so. Much of what I use has significant meaning. Although not always. Sometimes it's also fun to use totally random elements. On an upcoming collage, Trish has actually used bits torn out of her old diaries. Stay tuned! -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 477-478, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 988-990

Collage 610

Tolstoy frequently questions the writings of historians. The outcome of the war  is determined not by any one event, a brilliant strategy, or the genius of a single man, but by a countless number of intertwining events, both planned and unknown.

My collage says nothing about the text. Just another piece in the world of extemporaneous actions... - Adrienne


Adrienne Wetmore
from page 475-476, volume 2 of original text
collage, India ink, black plastic rose button
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 987-988

Collage 609

Emma Rhodes
from page 473-474, volume 2 of original text
collage, dried flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 985-986

Collage 609

We are in Volume IV, Part One, Chapter XVI. Prince Andrei lies dying with Natasha by his side. He has an amazing dream. Death is one one side of the door and he is struggling to keep death out. Death wins.

"But in the same instant that he died, Prince Andrei remembered that he was asleep, and in the same instant that he died, he made an effort with himself and woke up."

Some of my favorite parts of this book are the death scenes. Death is the ultimate mystery. What does happen? Are we really at choice? And then what? Because Tolstoy takes it all on, there are several death scenes in this tome, although usually on the battlefield. I used the following lines in my collage:


"Yes, that was death. I died -- I woke up. Yes, that death is an awakening." The passage continues: "Clarity suddenly came to his soul, and the curtain that until then had concealed the unknown was raised before his inner gaze. He felt the release of a force that previously had been as if bound in him and that strange lightness which from then on did not leave him."

Wow! You never read passages like that in literature, but only in spiritual texts. The imagery of the curtain that separates ordinary consciousness from the inner reality is very yogic, as is the description of the life force. Tolstoy is an amazing writer.

A few years ago I was at a party and a friend told us about his near-death experience. He had a heart attack and was declared dead. He was then resuscitated, and tells a similar story. In his experience, he had to choose between two doors, one for life and one for death. The death door was more beautiful with surreal light surrounding it, yet he chose life. There was no struggle as in Prince Andrei's case. It was peaceful and beautiful and my friend made a conscious decision to choose the life door. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 471-472, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 983-985

Collage 607

This collage is a memorial to Prince Andre. He's dying. "The dread, the eternal, the unknown was now close to him and-- by that strange lightness of being he experienced--almost comprehensible and palpable."

Lucy Arrington
from page 469-470,volume 2 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, dried flora from Yasnaya Polyana, peacock feather
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 982-983

Collage 606

This was an instance of new materials eliciting new responses. None of us in the studio had ever seen pressed leaves, ferns, grasses and flowers quite as beautiful as those sent home with Lola from Yasnaya Polyana.

Lynn Waskelis
from page 467-468, volume 2 of original text
collage, oil pastel, ink, plastic rose button, dried flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 980-982

Collage 605

"'They told her that Moscow is all burned down, completely, that supposedly . . .' Natasha stopped: it was impossible to speak. He [Prince Andrei] was obviously making an effort to listen and still could not. 'Yes, they say it's burned down,' he said. 'That's a great pity,' and he began to look straight ahead, absentmindedly stroking his mustache with his fingers." -p. 980 in P/V

Emma Rhodes

from page 465-466, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, dried flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 978-980

Collage 604

Marya arrives at the Rostovs, agitated and anxious to see her dying brother. As the Rostovs fuss and fawn with the formality of greeting, Natasha ("with light, impetuous, almost merry footsteps"!), comes to her rescue.

Dark and light, the two princesses bond in grief.

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 463-464, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 977-978

Collage 603

Princess Marya has decided to go back to Moscow to find her brother, Prince Andre. It is an almost impossible trip, but "what was difficult or not difficult, possible or impossible, she did not ask and did not want to know.

Lucy Arrington
from page 461-462, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, dried leaves and grass from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/9/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 975-977

Collage 602

Oh, how I love Princess Marya. She really shines in this passage. She is undertaking a dangerous journey from her country estate to Moscow where her brother Prince Andrei lies dying.  She is so brave, and she is in love!

"Princess Marya had experienced the best happiness of her life. Her love for Rostov no longer worried or upset her. That love filled her soul, became an inalienable part of her, and she no longer fought against it. Most recently, Princess Marya had become convinced -- though she never said it definitely to herself in clear terms -- that she loved and was loved."

Finally! After all the emotional abuse doled out by her cranky father.

And another bit I like:

"As always happens during a journey, Princess Marya thought only about the journey itself, forgetting its goal." 

That's kind of like this whole project -- enjoying the journey. Which we've been on for 2 years now! -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 459-460, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 7/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 974-975

Collage 601

In the shed that Pierre entered and in which he stayed for four weeks, twenty-three soldiers, three officers, and two officials were held prisoner.

Later Pierre pictured them all as in a fog, but Platon Karataev remained forever in Pierre's soul as the strongest and dearest memory and the embodiment of everything Russian, kindly and round...the unfathomable, round, and eternal embodiment of the spirit of simplicity and truth. --pp 972-4 in P/V

Lynn Waskelis
from page 457-458, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 7/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 972-974

Collage 600

"Well, the worm gnaws the cabbage, but dies before he's done: That's what the old folk used to say." Said by a beggar who's sharing his potatoes with Pierre.
Sometimes that's how we feel about this project. It's a massive cabbage that we're gnawing away at, but it's so big... will we ever finish? Do we want to?
Lucy Arrington
from page 455-456, volume 2 of original text
collage, embroidery thread, ink
made 7/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 970-972

Collage 599

I copied out the word for "little falcon" which transliterates to "sokolik". In this poignant scene, Pierre had just witnessed the execution of many soldiers, and narrowly escaped the same fate. He is thrown into a shed where he meets Platon Karataev whose nickname is "little falcon". Platon addresses Pierre with his own nickname. Pierre is clearly traumatized and experiences flashbacks. Platon had been lying in hospital, dying of fever, when he was arrested by the French. They have an interesting interaction. Platon is a kind of spiritual teacher to Pierre, helping to process what he has just experienced. He helps bring Pierre back from the brink of madness when he shares some baked potatoes with him. He even has a small bag of salt, tied with a string. Pierre has never experienced anything so delicious. There is also this little dog in the scene who to me represents the life force. I have a dog who I adore -- she even has a Russian name, Sasha. The presence of an animal brings a certain energy and unconditional love into the mix. Platon in a sense saves Pierre -- he shows him some human warmth, understanding and kindness at Pierre's greatest hour of need.

Team Tolstoy did a collaborative collage workshop last weekend at The Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, Massachsetts. Please check out their blog entry here.  -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 453-454, volume 2 of original text
collage, embroidery thread, ink
made 7/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 969-970

Collage 598

After the executions, Pierre is separated from the other prisoners and left alone in a small, devastated and befouled church. He is haunted by what he has just experienced and seems on the verge of insanity. Then he meets Platon Karataev, a peasant soldier full of wisdom whose simple understanding of life comforts Pierre.

"(After carefully unwrapping his footcloths, Karataev) folded the knife, put it under his pillow, and, settling himself more comfortably, put his arms around his raised knees, and fixed his eyes directly on Pierre. Pierre felt something pleasant, soothing and rounded in these deft movements, in this well-arranged domain of his in the corner, even in the smell of this man, and he looked at him without taking his eyes away. 'So you've seen a lot of misery, master? Eh?' the little man suddenly said. And in the man's melodious voice there was such an expression of tenderness and simplicity that Pierre wanted to reply, but his jaw trembled, and he felt tears rising."


"Pierre did not fall asleep for a long time and lay in his place in the dark with open eyes, listening to the regular snoring of Platon, who lay beside him, and he felt that the previously destroyed world was now arising in his soul with a new beauty, on some new and unshakeable foundations." -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 451-452, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/2/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 967-969

Collage 597

A surreal scene. Here a few key sentences. The actual description in the book is much longer.

"The criminals were place in a certain order, which was on the list (Pierre was sixth), and led to the post. Several drums suddenly began to beat on both sides, and Pierre felt that with this sound it was as if part of his soul was torn away. He lost the ability to think and reason. He could only see and hear." 


"The convicts, having gone to the post, stopped and, while the sacks were brought, looked silently around them, as a wounded animal looks at the approaching hunter. One kept crossing himself, the other kept scratching his back and made a movement with his lips similiar to a smile." 


"Pierre, much as he tried to recall later, did not hear the slightest sound of the shots. He only saw how the factory worker suddenly slumped down in the ropes for some reason, how blood appeared in two places, and how the ropes became loose under weight of the sagging body, and the factory worker sat down, lowering his head and tucking his legs under unnaturally. Pierre ran to the post. No one held him back. Frightened, pale people were doing something around the factory worker. The lower jaw of one old, mustached Frenchman was trembling as he untied the ropes." 


"They all obviously knew without question that they were criminals, who had to quickly conceal the traces of their crime." -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 449-450, volume 2 of original text
collage, fire, acrylic paint
made 9/2/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 966-967

Collage 596

"Vous n'étes pas ce que vous dites," Davout said again.

You are not what you say.

Pierre and five other "criminals" are led to the edge of a pit to be shot.

"Pierre did not remember how long he walked or where. In a state of total senselessness and torpor, seeing nothing around him, he moved his legs along with the others until they all stopped, and he stopped, too."



~Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 447-448, volume 2 of original text
collage, graphite, acrylic paint
made 6/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 964-966

Collage 595

"Qui etes-vous?"

French general Davout, known for his cruelty, accuses Pierre of being a spy. Pierre has been taken prisoner and his fate is uncertain.

Odd how frightening this question can be: Who are you?

Trish Crapo
from page 445-446, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 6/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 962-964

Collage 594

"... the whole of Moscow, all that Pierre could see of it, was one charred ruin." 

It was satisfying to move from the pink palette of the previous two collages to these blacks and greys. I folded black magazine paper to distress it, drew with ink, then ran a wet brush over it to make it run, and layered opaque grey vellum to invoke the sootiness of Moscow as Pierre sees it. The manuscript page I tore into shards, imagining the many sharp pieces of shattered windows and crockery strewing the streets.

Trish Crapo
from page 443-444, volume 2 of original text
collage, graphite
made 6/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 961-962

Collage 593

Trish Crapo
from page 441-442, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/28/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 960-962

"'But what does it mean?' Natasha asked thoughtfully.
'Ah, I don't know, it's all so extraordinary!' said Sonya, clutching her head."

Continuing on the theme of the pink quilt Sonya imagines she saw covering Prince Andrei in her vision, I went pinker!

Pink is not a color I usually am drawn to, except at Valentine's day, so it was interesting to work with it. I used marbleized papers given to me by my mother years ago, music scores, sewing paper patterns, rice papers, marker and silver foil.

Collage 592

Trish Crapo
from page 439-440, volume 2 of original text
collage, graphite, watercolor
made 6/28/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 958-960

In a monastery hostel, the Rostovs encounter Prince Andrei, lying in bed, wounded. With a start, Sonya remembers that at Christmas, she had had a vision of Prince Andrei lying on a bed, covered with a pink quilt, his eyes closed. Though, at that time, she had told everyone that he was covered with something red, both she and Natasha now remember the vision to fit what they are currently seeing, a bit of déja vu created by their shifting memories.

"'Da, da, precisely pink,' said Natasha, who also now seemed to remember the mention of 'pink,' and in this she saw the chief extraordinariness and mysteriousness of the prediction."

Collage 591

Nikokai and his poverty-stricken, orphaned cousin Sonia have been "promised" since they were children. She loves him passionately; he feels trapped by this obligation. The once-rich and proud noble family has fallen on hard times. In part due to Nikolai's gambling loss to ever-bad-boy Dolokhov (I love him, too), the family is practically impoverished. Marrying a wealthy woman would solve their financial woes. And he has fallen in love with Princess Marya who he rescues from her country estate when surrounded by enemy French soldiers. In this scene, he receives a letter from Sonia, releasing him from his promise to her. She writes him a letter from a monastery.

I used an old photograph of a cemetery on this piece as well as text from a liturgy that says "a vow". Then hand-wrote in Russian:

Sonia's letter to Nikolai, which was the realization of his prayer, had been written from the Trinity Monastery.

He is now free and clear to pursue Princess Marya. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 437-438, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 956-957

Collage 590

I made an emergency call to Christiane in Atlanta this morning. I could not remember which line from the text I used on this collage! That clearly speaks to how poor my Russian still is. The only word I knew for sure was "face".

That pale, fine, sorrowful face, that luminous gaze, those quite, graceful movements, and above all that deep and tender sorrow which showed in all her features, stirred him and called for his sympathy.

Nikolai is falling in love with Princess Marya. Whenever I think of her -- my favorite character -- I recall how Tolstoy always refers to her "luminous" eyes, gaze. When she was first introduced, I thought she was thoroughly abused by her brutish father. She never struck back at him. I wanted her to! She is the most "spiritual" of all the characters. I would love to see her eyes, to meet that gaze. I am happy that she if falling in love and will marry and have children. I only wish it wasn't to Nikolai! He is bad-tempered and arrogant. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 435-436, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 954-956

Collage 589

Trish Crapo
from page 433-434, volume 2 of original text
collage, graphite, rice and sewing pattern papers
made 6/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 953-954

"On receiving the news of the battle of Borodino and the abandoning of Moscow, Rostov did not experience despair, anger or vengefulness, and any similar feeling, but for him everything in Voronoezh suddenly became dull and vexing, everything was somehow shameful and awkward. All the conversations he heard seemed artificial to him; he did not know how to judge it all, and he felt that only in the regiment would everything become clear to him again."

I found it interesting to think that Rostov had trouble understanding the world when he was not with his regiment. The rules of war have become the defining structure for him and everyday life feels fake and confusing. I tried to convey this confusion in my collage.  ~Trish

Collage 588

Princess Marya is in love. She had been anticipating the arrival of Count Rostov, and the world changes for her when she sees him: "If Princess Marya had been able to reflect at that moment, she would have been more astonished than Mlle Bourienne at the change that had taken place in her. From the moment she saw that dear beloved face, some new force of life had taken hold of her and made her speak and act apart from her own will."

Lucy Arrington
from page 431-432, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page  951-953

Collage 587

Princess Marya has just met Nikolai and love is in the air.

At the end of Volume IV, Part One, Chapter V, Nikolai is at a party and talking with the governor's wife who is encouraging him to marry Princess Marya. At the bottom of this collage I used the phrase "Il y Maniere et maniere" which means "there are ways and ways". She is playing matchmaker.

A few paragraphs in Chapter VI:

"But in the depths of her soul there was a harmony with herself, coming from the consciousness that she had suppressed in herself the personal dreams and hopes that had begun to arise in her with the appearance of Rostov."

Princess Marya is in love! -- Lola


Lola Baltzell
from page 429-430, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 950-951

Collage 586

Trish Crapo
from page 427-428, volume 2 of original text
collage, thread, foil, ribbon, chocolate bar foil, ink
made 6/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 948-950

Rostov, pledged to marry his cousin Sophie since they were young, has been having stirrings of feelings for another. These are roused again at the governor's soiree where, "At the mention of Princess Marya, Rostov experienced a feeling of bashfulness, even fear, incomprehensible to himself."

I love the mysterious quality of old photographs, whether they are people I know or don't know. Here, the woman is clearly the object of someone's affection, as Marya is. The black ribbon and thread refer to a later passage in which Rostov visits Marya at home and Mlle Bourienne, Marya's friend, notices how how beautiful Marya looks as she rises to take his hand. Mlle Bourienne thinks, "Either black is quite becoming to her, or she has really grown quite pretty, and I haven't noticed it. And, above all—that tact and grace!"   ~Trish

Collage 585

On these pages we have one of the last of the society evenings. Nikolai is in high form, flirting: "Nikolai, with a smile that never left his face, slightly curved in an armchair, sat bending closely over the blonde, paying her mythological compliments."

Lucy Arrington
from page 425-426, volume 2 of original text
collage, copper leaf, acrylic paint, ink
made 6/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 946-948