Collage 665

This was pieced together with some amazing layers of old flier and poster paper the Team brought back from a jaunt to New York.  Aged and weathered like an old birch tree, the souvenir was a favored item in the studio that day.

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 585-586, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 10/21/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1078-1080

Collage 664

Natasha is overwhelmed with grief and remorse about her relationship with Prince Andrei.

"Besides a general feeling of alienation from all people, Natasha experienced at that time a particular feeling of alienation from the persons of her own family."

I used some text from a child's reader, describing everyday breakfast items. Natasha feels so removed from everyday reality. The black and white floral wallpaper suggests the room where she spends her time alone, lost in thought. There is also some imagery of many human figures. She is in her own world, unable to connect. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 583-584, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 10/21/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1076-1078

Collage 663

We are in Volume IV, Part Four, Chapter I. I used a bit of text that translates in English as "they did not dare to look life in the face". This is referring to Natasha and Princess Marya as they mourn the death of Prince Andrei. Throughout this project, I have been drawn towards religious imagery. Here is a mixture of Hindu and Russian orthodox imagery.  -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 581-582, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 10/21/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1075-1076

Collage 662

Prince Andrei has died, and Princess Marya and Natasha are grieving. We are at the beginning of Volume IV, Part Four, Chapter I. I often use religious imagery, but it seems particularly relevant here.

"When a man sees a dying animal, horror comes over him; that which he himself is, his essence, is obviously being annihilated before his eyes -- is ceasing to be. But when the dying one is a person, and a beloved person, then, besides a sense of horror at the annihilation of life, there is a feeling of severance and a spiritual wound which, like a physical wound, sometimes kills and sometimes heals, but always hurts and fears of any external, irritating touch." -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 579-580, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 10/21/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1073-1075

Collage 661

I believe the red here is a nod to an earlier contribution (collage #532, by Howard McCalebb from Berlin) which had been posted not too long before this was made. It's wild to be influenced in the studio by someone I haven't even met! When I weary of the project (another 5x7 collage based on WP!), I am often struck again by how unique and interesting it is.

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 577-578, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 10/21/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1071-1072

Collage 660

About suffering they were never wrong,

The Old Masters; how well, they understood

Its human position; how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along...

-W. H. Auden from "Musee des Beaux Arts"

Lynn Waskelis
from page 575-576, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 10/21/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation 1070-1071

Collage 659

"The actions of the Russian and French armies during the reverse campaign from Moscow to the Nieman resemble a game of blindman's buff, when two players are blindfolded and one occasionally rings a little bell to let the catcher know where he is. At first the one to be caught rings without fearing the enemy, but, when things go badly for him, he runs away from his enemy, trying to move inaudibly, and often, thinking to escape, goes straight into his arms." -pp. 1068 in P/V

Emma Rhodes
from page 573-574, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 10/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1068-1070

Collage 658

Tolstoy's description of the collapse of Napoleon's army brings to mind the famous map by the French engineer Charles Joseph Minard (1781 - 1870), which graphically depicts where the 422,000 French soldiers who entered Russia in the summer of 1812 were reduced to 10,000 that finally left the country in the winter of 1813.

To see the map, click here. -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 571-572, volume 2 of original text
collage, acrylic paint
made 12/1-3/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1066-1068

Collage 657

For more than a thousand pages, the reader has followed Pierre's ups and down. In his physical condition, Pierre is at the bottom, an unwanted prisoner encumbering a desperate and defeated company of French soldiers who are in full retreat, and have just shot Pierre's friend, Platon Karataev. Pierre appears to be in shock and on the verge of hallucinations, yet he is also in some kind of joyous delirium, quite at ease and prepared for whatever comes next. -- Otto

Otto Mayr
page 569-570, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 11/26/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1065-1066

Collage 656

This is one of my favorite passages.

"Life is everything. Life is God. Everything shifts and moves, and this movement is God. And while there is life, there is delight in the self-awareness of the divinity. To love life is to love God. The hardest and the most blissful thing is to love this life in one's suffering, in the guiltlessness of suffering."

Pierre is in an altered state and hears these words spoken. This book is peppered throughout with mystical passages. And of course there is also Princess Marya, my favorite character with her luminous eyes and deep spiritual devotion. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 567-568, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1063-1065

Collage 655

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 565-566, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1061-1062

Collage 564

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 563-564, volume 2 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1060-1061

Collage 653

"From the conversation of the Germans, Pierre heard that more guards had been placed on this train than the prisoners, and that one of their comrades, a German soldier, had been shot on orders from the marshal himself, because a silver spoon belonging to the marshal had been found among the soldiers' possessions."

Pierre's life experiences run the full range -- from bastard son to uber-wealthy nobleman, to prisoner of war, and finally to happy family man.

We got the news this week that we will have a show at The New School in New York City! Team Tolstoy will be offering 2 workshops on Monday February 13 to demonstrate the power of collaborative collage-making. That evening at 6pm there will be an opening reception. If you live in the NYC area, please mark your calendars! We will post details on our Facebook page regarding workshop times and how to sign up. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 561-562, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1058-1060

Collage 652

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 559-560, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1056-1058

Collage 651

I have a studio in the same building as Team Tolstoy, and have been watching this project develop since it's inception over 2 years ago. I wandered down to visit Lola and Adrienne in mid-October while they were working away one Friday, and they invited me to make a collage. This is the second piece I have contributed. Although I have not read War and Peace recently, it is still accessible to me as an artist. Tolstoy uses such rich imagery. I responded to the image  of humming bees that were like music, so I wove the sheet music through the page. There was mention of soldiers marching, that image is also included, and the symbol of the angel as cloistral music. -- Joanie

Joan Ryan
from page 557-558, volume 2
collage
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1055-1056

Collage 650

This is how Petya is described:

"he was in a magic kingdom, in which there was nothing resembling reality..." -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 555-556, volume 2 of original text
collage, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokonsky translation page 1053-1055

Collage 649

Dolokhov and Petya Rostov are dressed in French uniforms, infiltrating a French encampment to gather information on the number of enemy troops and their whereabouts. Petya is both thrilled and apprehensive as he and Dolokhov approach the shadowy men at the fire. In his zeal to pass as a Frenchman, Dolokhov jokes about the Russian prisoners, 'Nasty business dragging these corpses behind you. Better to shoot the scum!' And bursts into such strange laughter that Petya fears the French will see through the deceit at once. -- Trish

Trish Crapofrom page 553-554, volume 2 of original text
collage, rice paper, graphite
made 10/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translatin page 1051-1053

Collage 648

War and Peace spoilers ahead!

These cruel pages describe the last days of Petya Rostov's young life. He is an officer of the hussars and a foolish child filled with dreams of heroism. He treats military life and the war as if they were part of a great game, but fails to understand that he plays it for the highest stakes. Dolokhov and he put on French uniforms and visit an enemy camp - a dangerous undertaking that foreshadows Petya's fall the next morning. -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 551-552, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 11/25/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1049-1051

Collage 647

This piece relates to the last collage I made. Soldiers guarding prisoners. This is from World War I. The uniforms and politics may change, but it's still war. I remember reading somewhere that for every year of peace, there are nineteen years of war.  -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 549-550, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1048-1049

Collage 646

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 547-548, volume 2 of original text
collage, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 10/14/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1044-1046

Collage 645

In this scene, Petya, the youngest Rostov who has just recently joined the military, is in camp with Denisov and trying to fit in with the other soldiers. He has just heard how Tikhon killed a French soldier, and he feels uneasy. He is so young, and so reckless, wanting to prove himself.

Sitting with the officers at the table and tearing at a greasy hunk of fragrant mutton with one hand, which dripped with fat, Petya was in a rapturous childlike state of tender love for all people, and consequently of certainty that other people had the same love for him.

I used another illustration from the original text where Pierre witnesses the execution of other Russians who were accused of fire-setting. He escaped that fate for reasons unknown to him or to the reader. Unfortunately Petya has another fate. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 545-546, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1044-1045

Collage 644

When the laughter that came over him at Tikhon's words and smile passed and Petya realized for a moment that this Tikhon had killed a man, he felt uneasy. He glanced at the captive drummer boy and something stabbed his heart. But this uneasiness lasted only a moment. He felt a need to raise his head higher, to encourage himself, and to question the esaul about the next day's undertaking, assuming a significant air, so as not to be unworthy of the company he was in.

Lynn Waskelis
from page 543-544, volume 2 of original text
collage, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1043-1044

Collage 643

We are in Volume IV, Part Three, Chapter V.

The 1976 Soviet Russia version of the source book we use has some wonderful illustrations, one of which I used on the lower left. I prefer to use originals rather than copies. So they are precious!

This scene describes how Tikhon Shcherbaty joins Denisov's military group. He became "one of the most necessary men in the party", eventually showing his worth and being promoted from a muzhik to a Cossack.

Tikhon, who at first did the dirty work of making campfires, carrying water, skinning horses, and so on, soon showed great zeal and ability for partisan warfare... Tikhon did not like riding and always went on foot, never lagging behind the cavalry. His weapons were a muskatoon, which he strapped on mainly for amusement, a pike, and an ax, which he used as a wolf does its teeth, with equal ease picking fleas out of its fur or biting through thick bones."


This makes me think about how difficult it must be for military people to return to civilian life. A totally different "skill set". Tikhon was valued for his skill at pulling dead horses out of water and skinning them. How often would he be called on to do that in non-military life?

Team Tolstoy met in the studio on Friday. We have just 20 more collages to make! We should be done in a few more sessions. And in the next week or so we should have our plans made for our show(s) in Russia this summer. -- Lola


Lola Baltzell
from page 541-542, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1041-1043

Collage 642

Lucy Arrington
from page 539-540, volume 2 of original text
collage, flora from Yasnaya Polyana, cellophane
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1039-1041

Collage 641

This officer, a very young boy with a broad, red-cheeked face and quick, merry eyes, galloped up to Denisov 
and handed him a wet envelope.

Poor Petya. - Adrienne



Adrienne Wetmore
from page 537-538, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1038-1039

Collage 640

Certain things I remember exactly as they were. They are merely discolored a bit by time, like coins in the pocket of a forgotten suit...The myriad past, it enters us and disappears. Except that within it, somewhere, like diamonds, exist the fragments that refuse to be consumed. Sifting through, if one dares, and collecting them, one discovers the true design.

(re)quoted from James Salter's "A Sport and a Pastime"

I wonder about the possibility of discovering a "true design." But yes to the diamond fragments that refuse to be consumed! What would those be for Natasha? For Princess Marya?

Lynn Waskelis
from page 535-536, volume 2 of original text
collage, flora from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1037-1038

Collage 639

They [the partisans] gathered up the dry leaves that fell by themselves from the withered tree of the French army, and occasionally shook the tree. 

Poetic, fragile. - Adrienne


Adrienne Wetmore
from page 533-534, volume 2 of original text
collage, flora from Yasnaya Polyana, "Little Treasures" by Glenn Ridless
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1035-1036

Collage 638

This passage is from Volume IV, Part III, Chapter II. Tolstoy is talking about his philosophy of war. I cut out a single sentence from the text that reads

Partisan warfare (always successful, as history demonstrates) is directly opposed to this rule.

I am no history buff but it got me to think about some of the wars I am somewhat familiar with -- such as Vietnam (clearly the US lost that one and the "partisans" were able to resist the invaders) or in very current times, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the case of Afghanistan, there is a long, long history of resisting outside forces. Partisans, indeed. And it makes me think of how one defines "rebels" vs. "freedom fighters". Sometimes I wonder how I personally would respond if the US was invaded -- I hope I, too, would become a partisan. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 531-532, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhnsky translation page 1033-1034

Collage 637

"The period in the campaign of 1812 from the battle of Borodino to the expulsion of the French proved that a battle won is not only not the cause of a conquest, but is not even an invariable sign of conquest; it proved that the force that decides the destiny of nations lies not in conquerors, not even in armies and battles, but in something else."

Lucy Arrington
from page 529-530, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 9/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1031-1033

Collage 636

Part III of Volume IV begins with a discussion of the history of war and the ways in which the war between Russia and France deviates from what Tolstoy calls the "rules" of war. I used the iron structures from magazine images and expanded them with paint to create new open shapes, which I filled with  gold paint and children's crayons. -- Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 527-528, volume 2 of original text
collage, magazines, rice paper, acrylic paint, wax crayon
made 10/8/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1029-1031

Collage 635

"The yearnings manifest in a separate man are always magnified in a crowd."

Tolstoy is describing the French troops "going back down the old Smolensk road" toward home. The final goal of home was too distant, so everyone's desire to reach Smolensk was "increased in great proportion to the crowd". They "yearned for Smolensk as for the Promised Land". -- Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 525-526, volume 2 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, ink, vellum paper
made 10/8/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 1027-1029