Lucy Arrington
Lucy Arrington
Here I was following Lucy's lead . . . using diluted ink, a large ink brush, and a new material that I brought to the studio called pan pastels--a pastel powder in a little dish that you apply with a make-up sponge. So much fun! 
What happened with this collage? We were giddy in the studio that day. For some reason I decided to cover the whole piece with black acrylic paint -- then panicked, and ran for the sink to wash off as much as possible. Black anything is my go-to for when I don't know what to do -- acrylic paint, ink, whatever.
Lucy Arrington
I believe that this was our first friday reunited as a team post holiday season. December was a blur of show planning so this day was the first time in awhile that we were going at a normal pace. As Lola mentioned below, everyone was absolutely wild! I think it was a relief to be in the studio again without having the anticipation of the opening reception. 
Without the marshalship, he did not have to have such large receptions, and life in Otradnoe took a quieter course than in former years, but still, the huge house and wing were full of people, and, as before, more than twenty sat down at table. These were all people who had been accustomed to the house, almost members of the family, or such as, it seemed, had necessarily to live in the count's house. These were the musician Dimmler and his wife, the dancing master Iogel and his family, the old maiden lady Belov, who lived in the house, and many others as well: Petya's teachers, the girls' former governess, and simply people who for some reason found it better or more advantageous to live in the count's house than in their own.
We were wild in the studio when I made this one. Messy, messy, messy. We were passing materials back and forth, in a frenzy. I used some materials that Christiane Carney Johnson mailed to us including pages from a Bible in Russian and some revolutionary images. One of the things I have loved about this project is learning to loosen up. Maybe I've taken it too far? --Lola
Lucy Arrington
Emma Rhodes
From behind the screens came women's laughter and whispering. Natasha, Nikolai and Petya took their coats off and sat down on the sofa. Petya leaned on his arm and immediately fell asleep; Natasha and Nikolai sat silently. Their faces were burning; they were very hungry and very merry.
This has always been one of my favorite sections of War and Peace. Natasha emerges as young adult who the reader begins to care about. Tolstoy’s rich descriptions of country life, the hunt, the dogs, how the gentry and the peasants interact, and Natasha’s ease in this environment help define her character in ways that will stick with the reader through the rest of the novel."
When we had our exhibition last year, one magazine writer referred to War and Peace as "bleak." Evidently this writer had not read the book and was perhaps characterizing the likelihood that he or she would ever wade into Tolstoy's grand classic. War and Peace may be a lot of things, but it is not bleak. It ends with a great deal of hope: the war is over and Natasha and her brother Nikolai are growing older and raising their children. The book ends IN PEACE. The suffering and loss that WAR brought are in the past and life continues. -- Otto
This page sums up the whole book for me -- friend vs. foe. Here we find Nickolay lost in the zen of the hunt -- this time with a wolf then a fox. He completely loses himself in the adrenaline of hunting his enemy. We recall the same Nickolay lost in that same adrenaline charging at the French soldiers on horseback. Suddenly Nickolay encounters trespassers hunting on his property. He ends up befriending the enemy hunter, who is actually his new neighbor, Ilyagin. Just like at war against the French soldiers, Nickolay realizes that these hunters on his land are not his enemies, but upstanding men just like him.
We are now in Volume II, Part Four, Chapter V/VI.This is one of the famous scenes, Nicolai hunting the wolf. There lots of details -- you feel as though you are there, the brown horse breathing heavily, the glint of the unsheathed dagger held by Danilo. I am sure that my old Russian studies teacher at Grinnell College, John Mohan, would have had a lot to say about the symbolism of this passage.
Thanks to the delay, the old dog, his matted fur hanging from his haunches, headed off the wolf, and was now within five paces of him. The wolf, as if sensing the danger, gave Karai a sidelong glance, tucked his tail still further between his legs, and increased his pace. But here-- Nikolai only saw that something happened with Karai-- he was instantly on top of the wolf and rolled head over heels with him into a ditch in front of them. p. 501
"Hope alternated with despair." -p. 499 in Pevear/Volokhonsky
The Rostovs go hunting, and it is serious business for Nikolai. I was thinking about what it might be like, riding on horseback through the misty air. -- Adrienne
As over a plush carpet, the horses walked over the field, splashing in puddles now and then as they crossed the roads. The misty sky went on imperceptibly and evenly descending to earth; the air was still, warm, soundless. Now and then came the whistle of a hunter, the snort of a horse, the crack of a whip, or the squeal of a hound strayed from its place.
If you look at many of the pieces we made this day, you will see that we used a lot of the same material. That day Lucy Arrington found some wonderful books in the "free" pile on the landing of the studio building. We often get enthused about a particular bit of ephemera and use it throughout the session. I am referring to the gray and white paper that surrounds the red figure and the purple and black along the top. -- Lola
"It was already turning winter, morning frosts gripped the earth moistened by autumn rains. . ." -p. 493 in Pevear/Volokhonsky
Looking at this collage a few weeks after doing it, I am surprised how frightening it looks. The shadowy spires in the background along with the skeletal trees and overall palette look more suited to a Gothic novel!
After the raptures of the meeting and after that strange feeling of dissatisfaction compared with what one expected ("it's all the same, why was I hurrying so!), Nikolai began to live his way into his old world of home. 
"Biblical tradition says that absence of work -- idleness -- was the condition of the first man's blessedness before his fall. The love of idleness remained the same in fallen man, but the curse still weighs on man, and only only because we must win our bread in the sweat of our face, but because our moral qualities are such that we are unable to be idle and at peace. A secret voice tells us that we should feel guilty for being idle. If man could find a condition in which, while idle, he felt that he was being useful and was fulfilling his duty, he would have found one side of primordial blessedness. And this state of obligatory and irreproachable idleness is enjoyed by an entire class -- the military. In this obligatory and irreproachable idleness consists and will consist the chief attraction of military service."
Lucy Arrington
In the middle of summer, Princess Marya received an unexpected letter from Prince Andrei in Switzerland, with a strange and unexpected piece of news. Prince Andrei announced his engagement to Miss Rostov. His whole letter breathed a loving rapture for his fiancée and a tender friendship and trust for his sister. 