Habit of Twilight

Apr 8

Spines of books (left) Cases for books (right) from our class in Taos: Mary Altenberg, Sharon Civitello, Romy Colonius, Barbara Courtney, Lynne Foote, Jacqueline Muller, Happy Price, Sharon Sellet, Leslie Stoupas, Hollis Sutherland & J J Tellatin.

Without watches or phones in the classroom we entered the twilight time before clocks, the kind of twilight that accompanies the muse, the kind we can wrap around us indoors and leave the world to take care of itself for awhile. The reference to twilight comes from that in-between liminal feeling in the landscape at dusk, the gloaming hour when the other animals begin stirring, when, in all the stories, the elves and fairies begin their dance. But what is a habit of twilight?

A habit is defined as a settled tendency or practice, an acquired mode of behavior. What a thought, to acquire twilight as a habit…and then I realized that a habit is also something you wear; a long, loose garment worn by a person of a religious order or congregation. The idea of wearing a habit of twilight has taken hold as something I reach for; a cloak of twilight. I love seeing what happens when this atmosphere is in the classroom. As always, I can only give you a glimpse — here are a few of the book pages:

The leaves were only just beginning to burst forth in Taos— Happy painted this tree using a calligraphic “ruling pen”. © Happy Price

I brought some of the pattern paper for collage (here is a demo from the video in my post last month).

Collage with the pattern paper, ink & watercolor: © Barbara Courtney (left) © Romy Colonius (right)

Below are a few more book pages:

Book Pages using walnut ink, collage, watercolor, gouache and fine point pen | © Lynne Foote

Book pages using watercolor, gouache and collage: © J J Tellatin (left) © Mary Altenberg (right)

Book Covers (left to right): © Jacqueline Muller, © Leslie Stoupas (front and back), © Sharon Civitello

Line practice: © Hollis Sutherland (left) © Lynne Foote (right)

Below are some of the cases we made for the books:

*Book cases with gouache, watercolor & stitching:*‍ ‍**Top row**: J J Tellatin, Lynne Foote, Mary Altenberg, Sharon Civitello & Sharon Sellet
**Bottom row:** Jacqueline Muller, Hollis Sutherland, Happy Price, Romy Colonius & Leslie Stoupas

I cannot speak for my students, but just having returned from a couple weeks in Taos, my reflection is that the kind of twilight we cultivated in our classroom is less about what we make then how it refills and fuels an empty vessel. I came home full of inspiration and have begun a couple dozen new paintings. There is always hope in fresh beginnings!

What are your thoughts on how to develop a habit of twilight? I’d love to hear from you.

I will be teaching one more class concerning The Habit of Twilight. There are a few spaces open for Madeline Island.

I am delighted to introduce this month’s featured artist, Roz Barhaugh. See more of her work here.