Collage 359

Volume II, Part Five, Chapter XV. Sonia has become suspicious about Natasha's secret relationship (all of 3 days) with Anatole. Sonia reads a letter that Anatole sent to Natasha, and confronts her. Natasha maintains that she loves him and doesn't care about anything else. She discounts Sonia's concerns and says that Sonia can't possibly understand the kind of love she feels for Anatole.

People often ask if I read Russian. The answer is "no". Even though I spent 3 years in college studying the language. So long ago! However, I can identify simple sentences. Part of the text I used for this collage is Natasha saying, "I love him". This is such a wonderful project, because we all relate to it in so many different aspects. It has re-kindled my love of Russian language.

My maternal grandfather was Russian, although I never heard him speak it. I think I was also intrigued as a college student by the beauty of the Cyrillic letters. It took weeks of practice to be able to write them well. And the grammar -- it is complicated! And then the literature -- it doesn't get any better! So this project has connected me in so many different ways -- to my family history as well as my passionate youth . -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 725-726 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/28/11
page 577-578 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 358

Another texture piece from the same day. I clearly was not sticking with the color palette of the team on this occasion . . . oops!! One of my favorite recent materials is the greyish paper used here. Lucy did some lovely ink-wash experiments on paper and then brought them in to be repurposed in our collages. My drawing professor says that one of the exciting things about collage is that you can recycle your sketches, experiments, rejected work, etc and give it new life! --Emma

Emma Rhodes

from page 723-724 of original text
collage
made 1/28/11
page 575-577 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 357

Morning came with its cares and bustle. Everybody got up, began to move, to talk, again the dressmakers came, again Marya Dmitrievna came out, and tea was served. Natasha looked at them all uneasily, with wide-open eyes, as if she wanted to catch every glance directed at her, and tried to seem the same as she always was. -- p. 574 in P/V

Lynn Waskelis
from page 721-722 of original text
collage, oil crayon, pigment
made 1/28/11
page 572-574 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 356

While making this piece I had the urge to come off the page like Otto in one of his earlier pieces. (Collage 137) I was also inspired by Lola's niece who crumpled up pieces of sewing patterns and left them in their 3-dimensional form on the page. There will be lots more of this coming soon! --Emma

Emma Rhodes
from page 719-720 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/28/11
page 572-574 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 355

We are in Volume II, Part Five, Chapter XII and XIII. Natasha has fallen in love with Anatole at the opera, and has been invited to a soiree at Helene's the next evening. Helene is encouraging this love affair. You wonder -- why? Knowing (presumably) that her brother is secretly married, knowing that Natasha is engaged and also knowing that Natasha has fallen in love with Anatole -- why encourage it? Is she really so evil? One of the guests at the soiree is Mlle George, an actress, who recites some verses "in which the talk was of her criminal love for her son". The footnote says that she was obviously reciting from the tragedy Phedre by Jean Racine.

I used a lot of religious texts here and beautiful blues and greens, contrasted with a very dark, intense flower to capture Natasha's two intense, opposing sides. As a woman, I cringe when I recall my own vulnerability as a teenager and how easily a young girl can be influenced.

Criminal love, I guess! -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 717-718 of original tex
collage, India ink
made 1/28/11
page 571-573 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 354

Maybe Lynn was praying for Natasha's soul -- don't do it! Don't fall for that snake Anatole! She used a bit of the map of Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise, that fantastic old cemetery in Paris. This man will be the death of Natasha! -- Lola

Lynn Waskelis
from page 715-716 of original text
collage, oil crayon, ink
made 1/28/11
page 569-571 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 353

Ah yes, the virginal Natasha - all hot and overcome by the attentions of the the Countess Bezuhov's scoundrel brother, Anatole! Tolstoy's descriptions of a young woman's sexual awakening are so nuanced and detailed - so authentic.
How did he know?! -- Val

Valerie Spain
from page 713-714 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, oil crayon
made 1/28/11
page 568-569 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 352

Can you see the influence that the previous piece had on this one? or visa-versa? And the next one, Val's, shares a similar sensibility. That's why I love working with Team Tolstoy. We've had an ongoing artistic dialogue going on now for about a year. March 2010 is when we really committed to this project. It is amazing what we have accomplished. I am in love with this project and each and every one of my team mates and contributors. And our photographer (who happens to be my husband).

I have been sick for the last week. The silver lining is that I've had a lot of time to read! So I'm making great progress reading the book. Only 350 more pages to go! I want to finish the book, I want to finish the project. But ambivalently! The whole process has been one of the best experiences of my entire life.

We are in Volume II, Part Five, Chapters X and XI. It is clear that Anatole Kuragin is bad news -- but we are told that he had gotten married two years before. It was a shot-gun marriage, forced by the father of a modest Polish landowner. No one knows about her other than a few close friends, Dolokhov being one of them. He's the one that tied the bear to the policeman's back at the beginning of the story. We are also told that Anatole's father had sent him away from Petersburg after running up $20,000 in debt and expenses. Natasha has no idea what is in store for her.

A week or so ago I emailed Yasnaya Polyana, the Leo Tolstoy Museum Estate in Russia to let them know about our project. I just got an email back, and they like it! We are hoping to develop a relationship with them, and to possibly show The War and Peace Project there one day. How's that for big dreams? -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 711-712 of original text
collage
made 1/28/11
page 566-568 Pevear/Vololhonsky translation

Collage 351

Oh, oh. We are in Volume II, Part Five, Chapter X. Natasha is at the opera with Helene who introduces her to her bad boy brother Anatole. In the past there have been strong hints of a sexual relationship between this brother and sister act.

I love this piece of Lynn's. It reminds me of Christmas candy from the 1960's of my Midwestern childhood. Licorice, lozenges and taffy. And Natasha is a tasty treat to Anatole who has nothing but bad intentions. He wants to lick her up good. -- Lola

Lynn Waskelis
from page 709-710 of original text
collage, wax, ink, oil crayon
made 1/28/11
page 565-566 of Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 350

I met Valerie for the first time at a juried show at Cambridge Art Association several years ago. I liked one of her pieces so much that I was photographing it, wanting to study what she had done. She walked up to me as I was doing so and we began to talk. We went out after the show with another gallery member and have been friends ever since. We also practice meditation at the same center (I joined after we initially met) AND she worked for a few years at the same hospital where I currently work (I helped her get the job). So we have more than just a few connections. I am a huge fan of hers!

She is on a 3-week writing assignment right now in Uganda and Kenya so it may take her a few days to post a comment about her piece.

Safe journeys, Val! -- Lo

Oh dear! I don't remember what part of the text I was illustrating - I think it was a passage about vapid, voluptuous and immoral Countess Hélène. I was a little reticent to depict her in all her splendid corruptness - though Tolstoy had no such inhibitions. I did slip some boobs in there - and as for all the other images and marks - who knows what I was thinking! I was entranced by the language of W&P - one of my favorite novels. Looking forward to more rounds of TT when I return.

And Lo is a dear friend and fellow creative. I'm on of *her *biggest fans! -- Val

Valerie Spain
from page 707-708 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/28/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation pages 563-565

Collage 349

Lucy A brought in some small stamp pads that I used here to create the white texture in the background. The black texture was created with ink and a paper towel. I was definitely interested in texture while working on this piece!

Emma Rhodes
from page 705-706 of original text
collage, ink, stamp pad
made 1/4/11
page 561-563 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 348

Lucy Arrington
from page 703-704 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11
page 560-561 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

At the opera, Anatole begins his seduction of Natasha in earnest.

I always like to be aware of what's happening on the page as I make the collage, but often the making takes over, and the actual text behind it retreats. Probably not a bad thing. The project would get boring if every collage was some kind of illustration. On the other hand, wouldn't it be fun if you could "read" W&P just by looking at the collages.

Collage 347

One of the great things about collage is how you can apply layer after layer of stuff. I often wish it were possible to peal back the layers and see every step of the collage as it transforms from beginning to end. A piece like this one, with much of the white paper still visible, offers a glimpse of what the beginning looks like for many of these collages.

Emma Rhodes

from page 701-702 of original text
collage, ink, stamp pad, wax
made 1/14/11
page 558-560 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 346

One of the "rules" of Team Tolstoy is that we are not allowed to throw out a collage once it is done -- and each one must be completed in the same session. If that were not the case, this one would definitely have been recycled. But rules are rules, so here you go. This is a mess!

We are now in a pivotal scene, Volume II, Part Five, Chapter VII - VIII. Natasha is yearning to see her fiance Prince Andrei. She is attending an opera and is about to meet Anatole Kuragin, Helene's bad-boy brother. She is about to meet her ruin. "For a long time she had not experienced that feeling, both pleasant and unpleasant, of hundreds of eyes looking at her bare arms and neck, which suddenly seized her now, calling up a whole swarm of memories, desires, and emotions corresponding to that feeling."

Lola Baltzell
from page 699-700 of original text
collage, acrylic paint
made 1/14/11
page 557-559 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 345

Sometimes I wonder about the luxury of making art.

I can't stop thinking about the fallout from the earthquake in Japan- the devastation from the tsunami, and the nuclear disaster with its potential to become an even larger catastrophic event. How do people have the will to keep going after tragedy? -- Adrienne

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 697-698 of original text
collage, ink, acrylic paint
made 1/14/11
Page 557-558 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 344

The count set out on this visit in a cheerless mood: deep in his heart he was frightened. Their last meeting, during the recruitment, when the count, in response to his invitation to dinner, had listened to a scathing reprimand for failing to provide men, had remained in Count Ilya Andreich's memory. Natasha, wearing her best dress, was, on the contrary, in a most cheerful mood. "It can't be that they won't come to love me," she thought, "everyone has always loved me. And I'm so ready to do everything they want for them, so ready to love him, because he's his father and her, because she's his sister, there's no reason why they shouldn't love me!"

Lynn Waskelis
from page 693-694 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11
page 552-553 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 343

Last Friday the team took a break from the studio and did a workshop for 2 art classes at Cambridge Rindge and Latin. We decided to use the poetry of Emily Dickinson to be the students' muse. It was a cool experience- the kids were open and inquisitive, and we had a blast watching what they were making individually and collectively.

Coincidentally, in a second hand bookshop, preparing for our school visit, Lucy A met Masako - a visiting Emily Dickinson expert- and brought her along with us! Now back in Japan, Masako is like an honorary member of the team, and we've been keeping our fingers crossed as her country's current tragedy unfolds. -- Adrienne

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 692-693 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11
page 552-553 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 342

This is a p.s. to collage 331. I think it is one of Natasha's letters to Andrei! -- Adrienne

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 690-691 original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11
page 550-552 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 341

"There is something so enchanting in the smile of melancholy. . . It is a ray of light in the darkness, a nuance between sorrow and despair, which shows consolation possible." -Translation from French. p. 550 in Pevear/Volokhonsky

Emma Rhodes
page 689-690 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/4/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 549-550

Collage 340

Yesterday I was invited by a friend, Marian .Kelner, so be interviewed on her radio show. Here is the description from their website:

Speciocracy: Where All Beings Have A Voice. Speciocracy is a radio show on WMCB, the community radio station broadcasting at 107.9 FM out of Greenfield, MA. This show provides a forum for the concerns of community members and of those who are never heard: the animals who share this planet with us. Animal concerns are interwoven with human concerns to the benefit of all.

I told her about our project, and since she interviews artists and writers -- she thought that the War and Peace Project would be a good fit. If I can figure out how to edit the interview -- leaving out other content which we got into -- I will upload it onto this blog. It was such a pleasure to talk to her about what we're doing.

We are now in Volume II, Part V, between chapters IV and V. Princess Marya is grilling Pierre about Natasha's character in chapter IV. Pierre is clearly in love with Natasha and doesn't want to criticize her, although he does tell Princess Marya she is "enchanting" but "she doesn't deign to be intelligent". Ouch! And in the next chapter, Boris is bride shopping and trying to decide between Julie, the wealthy heiress or Princess Marya who rebuffs his attempts to woo her.

This next line really caught my attention. A brutal time to be a woman!

"A man who, ten years before, would have been afraid of going every day to a house where there was a seventeen-year-old girl, so as not to compromise her and bind himself, now boldly came to her every day and treated her not as a prospective bride, but as an acquaintance who had no sex." Julie is now 27 and although even richer due to the death of her brother, less intimidating to prospective husbands. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 687-688 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11
page 547-549 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 339

Lucy Arrington
from page 685-686 of original text

collage, acrylic paint, ink
made 1/14/11
page 547-549 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Poor Princess Marya...

Collage 338

I would love to have a bit more control over my materials, but whenever I get into the studio, I lose all control and just start playing with things. Maybe before this project is over, I will have found a way to shape my compositions with more intention.

Lucy Arrington
from page 683-684 of original text
collage, ink, acrylic paint
made 1/14/11
page 544-546 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 337

In this scene (Volume II, Part Five, Chapter III) we see how seamlessly Tolstoy ties together the story line with history. Once again we are witnessing the verbal abuse of Prince Nikolai Andreich towards his daughter Princess Marya. I always find these passages unbearable. He is such a bully and she seems to have little choice other than to bear it as best she can. He insults her constantly. He says to her, "if only some fool would marry her". This is just before a small dinner party they are hosting which includes an eligible bachelor or two.

At the dinner they discuss how in 1810 Napoleon has abolished the independence of the Hanseatic towns of Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck in northern Germany because they did not support his continental blockade. He also seized the lands of the duke of Oldenburg which was the final straw and caused the beginning of this war.

It is just amazing how he pulls together all these separate strands into one organic whole. And not only that, but there are many long passages of Tolstoy's reflections on timeless topics such as love, religion, spirituality. Sometimes I wonder -- are we really ripping up this book? Are we doing anything worthwhile to make this sacrifice? -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 681-682 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11
page 543-544 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 336

Lucy Arrington
from page 680-681 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11
page 541-542 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Princess Marya. Now there's a character. She just can't help herself. Her inability to find any real human connection is painful to read about, at the same time, there's an almost comic excess. She is offended so easily, is so irritable. Is she just full of self-loathing & that spills over to everyone around her, or does she really feel that she is the ultimate martyr, simply because she must put up with "normal" people. What does she want??

Collage 335

Oh pitiable Princess Marya, woe is you!

La pauvre!

Lynn Waskelis
from page 677-678 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11

pp. 539-541 in Pevear/Volokhonsky

Collage 334

I love Otto's idea of using his last collage for his phone wallpaper. I might do the same with this one which I find so life-affirming.

We are now in Volume II, Part Five, Chapters I and II. Pierre continues to struggle along. One of his solaces is reading. I totally get that. If I hadn't been a reader as a kid, I surely would have gone mad. One of the elements I used here is a sonnet as well as dictionary entries.

I have started to read the book again. I put it down for a few months. My goal is to keep ahead of where we are in the series. So if we finish the series in the fall, I hope to have finished reading the book by then, too.

"He frequented every possible society, drank heavily, bought paintings, built, but above all, he read.

He read, he read everything that came to hand, so that, on coming home, while the footmen were still undressing him, he would take up a book and read -- and from reading he would pass into sleep, and from sleep to chatter in drawing rooms and the club, from chatter to carousing and women, from carousing back to chatter, reading, and wine."

Poor Pierre. When I read about his struggles, how I wish he could find a spiritual teacher. Or a therapist. He really, really tries but is so completely lost that it is painful at times to watch him. So this beautiful hummingbird is my symbol of hope that he will find his way. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 675-676 of original text
collage
made 1/14/11
page 538-539 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 333

Moscow, by contrast, is authentic. "For him [Pierre] Moscow was comfortable, warm, habitual, and dirty, like an old dressing gown." Moscow doesn't pretend to be something it isn't. It may be worn out and fusty, but it authentic and happy to be what it is. And Pierre is much happier. "... here he was - the rich husband of an unfaithful wife, a retired gentleman-in-waiting, who liked to eat, drink, and, unbuttoning himself, to denounce the government a little, a member of the Moscow English Club, and a universally beloved member of Moscow society."

This collage is obviously rather derivative, but to my knowledge M never pasted old pages of War and Peace into his paintings. I like it enough to use it as wallpaper on my cellphone. -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 673-674 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, ink
made 2/8/11
page 536-538 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 332

Pierre returns to Moscow. Polar opposites figure prominently throughout this novel, starting with the title - War and Peace. Another pair is Petersburg and Moscow. Petersburg is hypocrisy, darkness, falseness, influence, fakery. Pierre is miserable there: "Only the skeleton of life remained: his house with his brilliant wife, who now enjoyed the favors of an important person; acquaintance with all Petersburg; and service with its dull formalities. And that former life suddenly presented itself to Pierre with unexpected vileness. He ceased writing in his diary, avoided the company of the brothers, began going to the club again, began drinking heavily again, became close again with bachelor companies, and began leading such a life that Elena Vassilievna felt it necessary to reprimand him sternly. Pierre felt that she was right and, to avoid compromising his wife, left for Moscow." -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 671-672 of original text
collage,acrylic paint
made 2/8/11
page 534-536 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Colage 331

Now our characters are living through the sacrifices of love, both romantic and filial - the pain of absence, physical and emotional. Nikolai discovers that his mother's love is not unconditional, Sonya endures cruelty from her beloved countess, and Natasha loathes love as expressed in letters and longs for Andrei's company as he experiences the world and she is left alone.

The poem used here is Emily Dickinson's That I Did Always Love. Coincidentally, we are going to be working on collage with some students in Cambridge tomorrow, and will be using Dickinson as our muse! -- Adrienne

Adriene Wetmore
from page 669-670 of original text
collage, ink, acrylic paint
made 1/14/11
page 532-534 Pevear/Volokhonsky translation

Collage 330

Lucy Arrington
from page 667-668 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/14/11

I feel this collage is less successful than some other recent ones. I've been trying for more structure, or better composition, and just not seeing it happen. I do like using the torn bits of watercolor wash. I think, however, I need to learn when to stop.

Collage 329

Emma Rhodes
from page 665-666 of original text
collage, ink
made 1/7/11