All Knotted Up

A quick post before I'm off to work & then a much needed and art retreat with two friends.

About twice a year my little art cohort gets together a friends cottage on a sweet little lake near by. No cooking, no husbands, no spiffing ourselves up for the world. We always pack way too much to play with, but that's OK. We all have different mediums we focus on but the time away & sharing is so enriching. I am one lucky gal to have these opportunities.

Here is my ATC for this month. I love celtic knots!

 They are time consuming, meditative. The back ground is walnut ink on Arches Text Wove. Hand made walnut ink I boiled from shells. Found out totally by accident that when dried in the sun it gets darker & darker. I'm all out so will need to make more this summer.


and here is the finished dresser for the new space in our lower level. Love the strong yellow we picked for the drawers. Lots of coats, but worth it. I have a new appreciation for 2nd hand furniture.

Have a great week end all! I know I will.

Calligraphy in Winter Wonderland

Well, it's a winter wonderland outside! Finally getting to cross country ski.

 But I digress. Just a happy girl to be outside playing in the snow, breathing & taking selfies.

A few examples of recent items playing with "Modern Calligraphy".  Still trying out different nibs and inks. Gouache is the smoothest and infinite color possibilities. Water color is fun if you are going for translucency.

 Here is the favorite nib to date, very flexible if that's what you need.
A Brause "Blue Pumpkin" or steno nib.
 As with most things practice practice practice is needed.  Note to self.

Home Improvement

Happy new year everyone!  I am not in the habit of making new year resolutions as I try to switch things up as needed all the time. Having said that I am pledging to make better use of my blog and post more often, goal twice a week.  So I urge you to sign up for updates with the promise that you won't be inundated with emails. I have also started some new boards on Pinterest, the one with my art has a link to the blog which I hope will create more traffic. Another ploy to make sure I crate & post more.

The past 9 months have been full of remodeling for us and I now have a gorgeous new (improved, not new really) space.

Carpet gave way to Vinyl flooring, A half wall was constructed which gave lots of room for cubbies and a new flat file which I LOVE!

All this now gives me no excuse for getting into this marvelous new space more frequently.

Did lots of second hand pieces as well. The most fun was two of these lamps. Before & After (&during) below.

Playing with glaze & color to antique the metal parts was fun!

That's enough for today. I'll get some pics of calligraphy & book stuff in the next post. I welcome any comments you may have including suggestions on anything I talk about.