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