Miriam Sagan is recently returned from an artist residency at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska! We’ve done a small suminagashi/book arts/poetry project to commemorate her time there, using poetry and sumi she created at the residency. To see all of the suminagashi, visit our Tumblr Project, Sumi-A-Day. This book will be on display at the offices of the National Park, along with the accompanying broadside. For more of the work we do together under our artist collective, check out Maternal Mitochondria!
Tag: suminagashi
Walk Abouts
Suminagashi in the Park was covered in the Reporter! Check it out here.
Suminagashi at Zephyr
The show at Zephyr is now over, but I’ve had a few inquiries about unsold pieces, so here they are! Send me an e-mail at ws.isabel@yahoo.com if you are interested in any of these. They are all 22″x30″, unframed, $100. I can ship if you are not in NM.
Today is our soft opening!
Come by the Railyard Park to hang out with us at 3!

Suminagashi in the Park
Suminagashi in the Park will be up at the Railyard Park this Saturday! Come say hi. Here is a copy of the letter we sent to the participants–
Thanks to all the workshop participants who created suminagashi and poetry in the Railyard.
The pieces will be hanging in the park—informal opening Sat Sept 8, 3-5 pm.
We will be sitting outside the community classroom to say hi and direct you. We have woven together your words to make a long communal poem. You might not be able to identify your exact words or suminagashi but you are indeed part of the spirit of this mosaic. It is all of us together.
To find the installation:
At the community classroom face south, (your back to Paseo de Peralta). Walk towards the rainbow compass sculpture. Look for a group of evergreens. Discover our art and poetry!
It will be up for a month, so come by at your convenience. Bring your friends and enjoy a stroll!
We’ll be in touch if anything changes.
Miriam Sagan
Isabel Winson-Sagan

Water Sound
Thank you to everyone who came out for the “Water Sound” show! We had a good time with some good eats and lots of sumi!
Workshop at Zephyr
Gearing up for the workshop at Zephyr, starts at 5! Hope you to see some of you there. The address is Zephyr Community Art Studio, 1520 Center Dr, # 2. It’s a little hard to find but Google directions are accurate. Come make some art with us!
All Sumi, All the Time
Thank you so much to everyone who came out for the workshop today! We had a wonderful time. If you’d like to be added to our e-mail list so you don’t miss future events, let me know. And if you missed the workshop today, there will be another one on Tuesday, August 14th at 5pm at Zephyr Community Art Studio, which will be part of an opening for the show “Water Sound: Suminagashi at Zephyr.” E-mail me at ws.isabel@yahoo.com if you are thinking about attending!
Suminagashi in the Park
The workshop is TODAY! So if you signed up, we’ll see you at 1pm! The address is the Railyard Community Room, 701 Callejon (behind SITE). Unfortunately we are full at this time, and may not be able to accommodate walk-ins.
Water Sound: Free Workshop And Art Opening
There will be a FREE workshop on August 14th at Zephyr Community Art Studio to accompany the art opening for “Water Sound: Suminagashi at Zephyr” (the workshop is reservation only, art reception is open to the public). Come at 5 for the workshop, stay for the reception, and at 7pm catch a live show! Youth and Canvas (ATX) will be playing. To reserve your spot in the workshop, e-mail ws.isabel@yahoo.com. Or if you want to check out the show, the art will be up until the first week of September.
The address is 1520 Center Dr, # 2
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507. If you have any accessibility issues, please let us know so we can work to accommodate you.
Suminagashi is traditional Japanese marbling. The effect is beautiful, but it is also a meditative practice to quiet and focus the mind. It is composed by allowing a basin of water to still, and then adding ink to the water. The ink can be traditional black calligraphy ink, or more modern colored ones, including acrylic. The pattern is composed by adding drops of ink within each other. As they expand, they create the traditional fractal look of mountains and rivers, or coastlines. The pattern can then by manipulated by blowing on it, using a brush, or even a hair to gently move it. It is said that a master of suminagashi has only two percent control of the outcome.
古池
蛙飛び込む
水の音
Ah! The ancient pond
As a frog takes the plunge
Sound of the water
-Basho
*this is an all ages event. Infants are welcome but only older children will actually be able to participate.