Ever since graduation from art school in 2005, I’ve slowly come to realize that drawing is a discipline and the artist eye and hand needs exercise regularly. A few weeks ago I really noticed that my art muscle was really getting flabby compared to my art school days so I’ve made a point to dig out an old sketchbook and sketch something, anything, a couple times per week.
Last summer the two 100 foot drip irrigation lines that a neighbor so graciously offered us were greatly appreciated especially with the drought. So much so we decide to expand and make two additional 100 foot lines for the all the tomatoes, peppers (bell and jalapenos), and two fruit trees.
We stuck with the original idea but instead of using PVC we decided to go with galvanized steel pipe considering how the brutal sun really wreaks PVC in short order here in Texas.
The threaded ends were easy to assemble which is another plus! Inserting the emitters into the tubing was the most time consuming part. I put them 16 inches apart.
So exciting how well it works and how much hand watering it will save me now that there’s not much rain falling. Thinking another couple lines are in order for the melons, squash, and cucumbers!
Last year during our first full year living in rural Blanco County we had 1 purple martin family brave the drought and have a brood. This year there are two nests of 6 eggs each. Looking forward to watching them hatch and grow!
We’re still waiting to hear about our boy and when we can go. Hopefully it’s soon. I’ve been keeping busy in the garden, mostly weeding and doing a little planting. Not much rain the last 3 or so weeks, but praying we don’t have a drought again this year. Just have okra left to plant and sweet potato slips if I can get any to grow. The sweet potatoes appear to just be molding…
E’s quilt is slow-going but enjoyable. While quilting, I’ve started watching various kid shows and movies on Netflix previewing things to check appropriateness. Cute show that I came across the other day was Shaun the Sheep. Not great for helping learn English with no dialogue but funny.
Anyway, just two blocks finished and some sashing. I am concerned about the blue water soluble markers but only use them on the ultra light spots where the white chalk doesn’t show. Never heard of anyone having trouble with the blue reappearing but still.
It’s hard to see the quilting in the photograph but below are my templates I resized from various sources. Nice contrast to the star blocks, you agree?
One of my favorite materials to work on when doing calligraphy and illumination is vellum. It’s so smooth and forgiving, more so than paper. It’s easy to gently scrape away mistakes and re-letter or paint.
When you search for information about vellum on the internet it is a little hard to find much about how to frame animal skin vellum (aka parchment). I learned from Harvest last year that the last family owned parchment preparer left in the US is Pergamena. They offer many types and so far I’ve only tried their calfskin vellum which is amazing.
Anyway, I did some calling and emailing for information about framing a couple months ago because I wanted to make a piece for the San Antonio Calligraphers’ Guild show on vellum. I found out that Kurt Youngblood Framing in SA was a good place to go and asked them lots of questions before I started the piece. They told me that essentially it’s best to make a pocket for the vellum anchoring the corner with corners that look like photo corners. They told me I should have at least half and inch margin all the way around. The vellum would be sandwiched between two layers of matboard without using an adhesive just the corners to keep it in place. The pocket would allow the vellum to move a little as temperature and humidity changed. Also having two matboard layers between the piece and the vellum makes sure that any raised gold doesn’t touch the glass and adhere.
This is my finished piece framed by Kurt Youngblood and ready to hang at the exhibit. They did such a nice job and quickly too (a week!).
