Great Minds

I just wanted to give a shout-out to my little sister's Pinterest page (this photo of Julie Andrews might just be the prettiest thing I've ever seen). Isadora has such good taste it makes me wanna jump for joy! Also check out her blog, PhilosophyLife, when you get a sec. You'll get addicted.

Fiftieth Post!

A perfect celebration of my 50th post on this blog...

A working studio! All that's left to unpack is what's going on the bookshelf that David is making for me: books (of course), old sketchbooks, fabric remnants, and book-making supplies. I really love how much natural light this room gets: 360 degrees of windows! And that floor lamp belonged to my parents; its former life was in a doctor's office, ages ago. Still works like a charm.

I hung all my yardage on a cheap garment rack (ingenious, no?), and there's my prized loom in the background. It embarrassingly still has warp on it from a project I did six years ago. But it will be put to good use soon-- Ann has a rug project in mind using recycled fabric strips. I get to teach her how to weave! If I can remember...

An army of thread at my command!

I scored this old library card catalog from an antique store whilst in the Outer Banks a couple of years ago. Atop this perfect home for all my knitting and crochet needles are relics from my childhood. That globe-shaped pin cushion belonged to my Grandma Cherry.

And voila! Against many odds (and with no help whatsoever from me), David expertly installed this wonderful heater. Isn't she a beauty? It'll be our savior this winter when we undoubtedly get snowed in. Snow days = craft/music days!

Progress

My studio corner is coming together. Yesterday was nightmarish, though, as I had to open up boxes containing more stinkbugs in volume than art supplies. It was seriously like an X Files episode. And it got worse when the vacuum cleaner bag actually got full with them, and the vacuum lost its suction power and stinkbugs upon stinkbugs started falling back out of the vacuum hose. Poor David, for I had many a curse-induced meltdown in his presence.

Things did take a turn for the better. David is kindly installing a heater in the wall, and this is him showing his excitement over cutting the hole in exactly the right spot for the wiring.

Meanwhile, I was letting the chickens wander about today while David and I were working. At one point I noticed Little Guy wasn't with the rest of her flock. This isn't that uncommon, as she has a little more of an individual spirit than the rest (which could be to her detriment), and I often have to usher her along to find the others. Today, however, I looked all over for her, and finally asked David if he had seen her. "I think I saw her in the garage..." And there I found her, laying an egg in the newspaper bin. See her little bantam egg?

The Many Pleasures of a Rug, In Eight Frames

A slide show for your entertainment...
(just please ignore the forty-seven thousand pairs of shoes scattered about)

Fin.

A Studio After All

I finally made progress yesterday setting up my studio! Or studiette, I should say. Drew and I will share the huge expanse above our garage, but a drum set, multiple guitar amps, and a couple keyboards and full-stacks (as Drew calls them, although I'm not sure exactly what they do) take up considerably more room than a sewing table, loom, and some sketchbooks. But I'm not complaining one bit! I'm taking the southwest corner that gets the most light, and even if I spread my equipment out, we'll still both have plenty of room. I'll be keeping all my screenprinting supplies in the workshop where it's perfectly alright to get a bit messy. I don't see myself sewing at the same time the band's practicing, anyway. It kind of feels like an earthquake is passing through with Caleb's precise use of the double bass drum. I'll post photos soon, after Drew's mom and I get the loom up there.

This was my breakfast this morning: two sunny-side up eggs (fresh from the backyard, of course) over a bed of arugula dressed with olive oil and ume plum vinegar. Scrumdiddlyumptous! Maybe I should open up a B & B. I like being a host, and I'd just have customers do chores outside for payment...

Savannah in Sepia and Jeweltones

I recently got home from a much-needed trip down to Savannah. Drew's on tour with his band, Circle Takes The Square, so I met him at his show in Greensboro, NC, after which we continued on to Savannah for his next show and to see my family. But of course, an hour and a half into my drive, I realized as I was attempting to buy some food, that I left my wallet at work. Living on the edge (as I am wont to do), I got to Greensboro on the 3/4 of a tank of gas I started out with, coasting in with my empty light on. Not only that, but I also got pulled over when two cops were checking everyone for their driver's licenses! Seriously, what are the odds? But he let me go with a warning. I wonder how many warnings one can get before one actually starts getting things put on a driving record? I seem to have lucked out a number of times...

Drew leading fellow bandmates and new friends over the customary post-show "pole hopping" sequence.

Matt the Merch Man!

Rocking out.

Yup- my husband!

Autographing their broken drum head for the wall of fame at the club.

Pepe the Peacock made several appearances on my parents' porch.

Isadora and the love of her life, Rip.

Girls' night in with Thai food leftovers, ginger cookies, and Hallmark Channel's trifecta of The Good Witch 1, 2, & 3. That's right.

The Caves Inspire

There are some funny signs out there in the world. I used to keep a journal with sketches of road signs I'd see on trips. These gems were spotted in a recent trip to Luray Caverns:

This guy looks like he's having way too much fun for a man without a neck.

I'm not sure why there's an illustration of God's hand reaching down to South America for this one.


The following photos are great inspiration for future bracelet ideas...

Intriguing organic shapes.

I love the shapes the negative space creates between the mirror images.

Interesting positive and negative space all around this one!

Little Things

I don't get to sit in my new chair enough to call it my favorite chair yet. It seems it's already been claimed by two furballs.

From a recent trip to visit my sister owl:

Rappahannock Central

Yes! I recently completed a good sized order for the brand new Rappahannock Central. This restored 30,000 square foot apple packing house is now the home to a gallery, studios for working artists, a local foods co-op, and Café Indigo. And yes, it's as big as it sounds. Lucille and her husband have completely transformed this venue (which was an antique mall for a long time), and they have a whole second story they're not even using yet! The building is in a beautiful location in the mountains of Rappahannock County, Virginia. I think it's time our area got something like this.

Here are some close-ups of the new designs I did for Rapp. Central:

On another note, my husband Drew and I are going on our honeymoon this summer!!! We're going to Panama where our friend Justin will be down doing research on poison dart frogs. He's going to show us around the cloud forests and crystal beaches of Bocas del Toro. Justin also happens to know some cacao farmers, so we'll be able to visit the plants themselves that we work so closely with making our chocolate. Hopefully we'll make the right connection and find a direct source for our cacao beans!

In the meantime, though, I am awaiting the arrival of my renewed passport in the mail. Did you know that now they all come with an embedded microchip that supposedly makes going through customs easier? I have a feeling the government might have an alternate agenda for these devices, though... Anyway, I chose to renew mine myself instead of going into the post office (they don't let you smile for their photos-- says a little something about the postal service, dontchya think?). This involved taking about 50 self portraits before one was worthy enough to i.d. me for the next ten years to come. After quickly deleting the obvious mugshot contenders, as well as the occasional accidental photo of a scary old hag looking into the camera's eye with simultaneous looks of utter horror and confusion, the winner is...