weekend in the workroom

This was an exciting and successful experiment! Our plucky heroine spent most of the weekend hosting open studio time, as my pal Z wanted to work on some new enamels inspired by some of her lovely photographs, and I had needful time to spend on family projects, so would be in the studio anyway. (I am wanting to get back to regularly offering both open studio time and structured workshops again)

Z was hoping for a better purple painting enamel than mixing Thompson's red and blue together, so I decided to try grinding down "regular" enamel with the tiny mortar and pestle... While the DIY painting enamel I created is not as finely ground as purchased enamel, it is quite useable, and didn't take an excessive amount of time or effort. Regular enamel was ground in the mortar, in water, without rinsing, because I wanted to retain the smaller bits.  What this means is that I am not limited to the narrow range of colors that Thompson sells for painting!

Painting enamel is usually ground to about 300 mesh. I tell my students that regular 80 mesh enamel is like beach sand and painting enamel is like talcum powder. Using painting enamel it is possible to get incredibly fine details impossible in other methods. Here is an example of a piece I did, the size is about 1 1/2" x 3/4", so the kanji are about 3 or 4 mm tall.

Next time I am going to try some of the cooler toned blue enamels... (the Thompsons blue painting enamel is a very warm almost turquoise blue... not great for mixing cooler colors) The other thing about painting enamel is that unlike regular 80 mesh enamel is that you can mix colors together to get other colors... this is because the granule size is so small. (if you mix black and white 80 mesh together you get black and white speckled, mix painting enamels and you get grey)


This closer view of the 3/8" diameter sample disc shows two different variations on the purple painting enamel, the darker is just the basic "grape purple" ground finely, and the lilac color is that enamel mixed with a small amount of red, and a slightly larger amount of "mixing white", for a warmer lighter purple...

Being able to mix painting enamels means that it is possible to get subtle variations of color. There are only a few colors of painting enamel that Thompson sells, though I think it is possible to order regular colors specially ground to 300 mesh. Finding out that I can simply use a small dedicated mortar and pestle to do the same thing quickly and easily opens up a world of possibility for me, to use the enamels I already have in new ways!

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August SMART goals

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	charter #14	rayon dress facing	Tundra flooring
2	charter #15	popover neckline filled	floor padding
3	Tullia painted banner	brush rest refurbished	bag to Goodwill
4	embroidered yoke	stamps refurbished	bag to Goodwill
5	granulated star enamel	-	bag to Goodwill
6	DIY painting enamel	-	bag to Goodwill
7	-	-	bag to Goodwill
8	-	-	bag to Goodwill
9	-	-	paper recycling
10	-	-	wood scraps
11	-	-	shelf unit
12	-	-	yard waste bin
13	-	-	-
14	-	-	-

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Friday fragments

Terror, confusion, and sadness... all before breakfast! Well, maybe our plucky heroine exaggerates a little bit, but still I prefer to not have adrenaline as an appetizer...

Working backwards, the sadness is that whatever has gone south in my left achilles tendon earlier this week is not improving, so getting some medical attention has become was necessary. This may preclude will prevent my going to September Crown, alas, as even a small amount of walking in the house is causing pain. I have been applying ice, and topical NSAID, and doing good self care... Visit to local clinic yesterday yielded a tentative diagnosis of retrocalcaneal bursitis on the back heel. Was referred to PT and able to be seen this morning. PT had useful suggestions as to probable cause (relating to body compensating for prior injury last year) and an exercise protocol to add, but also let me know that limiting walking for the next month or more is necessary (though careful bike rides are okay, so at least I can still acquire groceries!) and that it will not be a quick recovery.

The confusion is not in me, but in my backyard apple tree. The tree has two different sorts of apples, and one side is much more productive than the other. The side with only about five apples this year has also decided that late August is the time to start blossoming again. Silly tree!

The terror arrived when I brought the empty chicken water dispenser into the house to refill it. When I unscrewed the top in the kitchen sink, and rinsed it with water, a live drenched yellowjacket ended up in the sink as well! Our plucky heroine managed to not panic, and cleverly trapped it underneath the overturned water jar, slid a flexible cutting board between the sink and the edge of the jar, and was able to remove said deadly insect from the house. Kudos for my quick thinking! (I have been refilling chicken waterers for years, and this was a first. If you don't let them get entirely empty, there is no way for insects to get inside the waterer if there is any water in it at all)

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In the process of decluttering, our plucky heroine found a few small metal stamps that had been forgotten and over time had developed a rusty surface... since simple wire brushing, or use of a green scrubby was insufficient to clean up the tiny bas relief surfaces, I turned to this online hint (using vinegar and salt). The soaking in that solution, which didn't require hours since the rust levels were not that extreme, really took care of the problem. I then tried it on another random crusty hardware oddment, which also cleaned up nicely, and will be turned into a "brush rest" to use when I am using the tiny paintbrushes for charters, illumination, and limoges enameling.

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Baronial paint night was last night - my intention is to host a once a month scribal arts evening here every month on the last Thursday evening. This was the second one, two more folks showed up, and this time we moved into the workroom, instead of the living room, for the sake of the better lighting. The LED shoplight is really proving to have been a worthwhile addition to Acorn Cottage!

I started painting charter #16, which appears to be inspired by some of my favorite 14thC Mamluk images. I love how it is possible, here on the website that shows the original 14thC illuminations, to zoom in to see the actual brushstrokes some artisan made centuries ago!

I decided to modify the blank border around the central medallion to resemble the period illumination. Have not yet finished applying the first layers of color, but will really enjoy elaborating on this design. Rather than finish the painting all in one go, I shall use it as a reward for completing other less fun tasks over the next week, which will still have it ready to be couriered to September Crown next weekend...

charter painting begun by me, original charter design by Tomyris,
Award scroll for the Order of the Sable Gauntlet
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August SMART goals

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	charter #14	rayon dress facing	Tundra flooring
2	charter #15	popover neckline filled	floor padding
3	Tullia painted banner	brush rest refurbished	bag to Goodwill
4	embroidered yoke	stamps refurbished	bag to Goodwill
5	-	-	bag to Goodwill
6	-	-	bag to Goodwill
7	-	-	bag to Goodwill
8	-	-	bag to Goodwill
9	-	-	paper recycling
10	-	-	wood scraps
11	-	-	shelf unit
12	-	-	yard waste bin
13	-	-	-
14	-	-	-

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a modest proposal, successfully accomplished

As our plucky heroine begins to refurbish her scant wardrobe contents, sometimes an almost useful garment needs just a little attention to become wearable...

I made the black/cream rayon batik popover dress last July, but miscalculated a bit on the neckline, which ended up being just a tad too low cut in the front - whenever I put anything in the pockets, the least little extra weight pulled the front down enough that it caused more décolletée than is really appropriate! Thought that rather than continue being annoyed, better would be an clever option to fill in the lower edge of the neckline.

Found some similar black/white ikat scraps, that seemed like they would do; I'd rather have had some more of the black/cream rayon batik, but done is better than perfect. If more of the rayon batik turns up at some point, I can always switch it out... but this gives me a wearable dress right now, and preserves my modesty while out and about in the world.

and, in further good news, making use of the now accessible workroom table, I have cut out an additional four popover dresses, which are all neatly in project bags hanging from the back of the sewing room door, waiting their turn to be stitched up. By the time I complete this stichery intensive, I should have reached my goal of eight wearable summer dresses, and will be able to return to only needing to replace them as they eventually wear out.

This is my longterm goal for my entire wardrobe, to have enough clothing for warm and cool seasons so I can go a week between laundry, and to not have everyday clothing that never leaves the closet. I am getting closer to my goal every year, and gradually revising what works and what does not work. Later, in early autumn, I will be replenishing my stock of "everyday dresses" which I wear when the temperatures are not beastly hot, i.e., most of the year, either alone or layered with knit tops under and/or pinafores over. They are the other garment that wears out quickly; popovers and everyday dresses rarely last three years before becoming too worn to wear or repair; such is the downside of a limited number of garments. Still, that gives me a chance to add variety over time, as opposed to in my closet!

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August SMART goals

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	charter #14	rayon dress facing	Tundra flooring
2	charter #15	popover neckline filled	floor padding
3	Tullia painted banner	-	bag to Goodwill
4	embroidered yoke	-	bag to Goodwill
5	-	-	bag to Goodwill
6	-	-	bag to Goodwill
7	-	-	bag to Goodwill
8	-	-	bag to Goodwill
9	-	-	paper recycling
10	-	-	wood scraps
11	-	-	shelf unit
12	-	-	-
13	-	-	-
14	-	-	-

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wishful Wednesday - Finetec metallic paints

Our plucky heroine has really been enjoying painting SCA charters this year, have begun to design some charter illuminations, learn some historic calligraphy, and am considering possibly creating some original scrolls and medieval inspired artwork.

The process is so different than my enameling work that in truth "a change is as good as a rest"*, and I find that it is, for me, a form of meditation in action. Probably the fact that I am doing it for my own pleasure has a lot to do with that, as opposed to my metalwork and enameling, which, while pleasurable, also is my vocation, and hence needs to be pleasing to my patrons. (I find building regalia to be satisfying but highly stressful, since I always worry that it is "not good enough", one would think that after all these years, and with the almost always delighted recipients, that my worries would have faded)

Left is a glimpse of the border design from charter #15. I added quite a bit of internal detailing to the basic outline, and spent some time looking at medieval Persian miniatures for inspiration. Each reign chooses styles and options for the charter designs to be awarded during their time on the thrones... The unusual turquoise background color was my first decision, and all the additional colors and patterns were a result of balancing that out. It was a real challenge, and very different from my usual choices, very much a pleasant feeling to stretch in that way.

I really felt that the scrollwork needed the internal detailing to look well, and eventually found this contemporary site showing some really close images of traditional Persian painting techniques. I don't know much about Esra, but in this blog post she shares a great deal of information and photos of preparing the paper, grinding the pigments, and creating the artwork... It is a fascinating process!

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There is not much use in wishing that the several overloaded plum tree branches did not break. Apparently the old shed, recently removed from the backyard, did more than gradually deteriorate, but was also supporting the plum branches when they were close to harvest. This is a sad thing, that will require some additional tree pruning in the next few days...

What I am adding to my wishlist is some Finetec metallic paint. It would be quite nice to be able to add some gold details to future painted artwork, as was sometimes done in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (without the expense of using actual gold) These paints are quite highly recommended, and at the very least, adding a pan of "Arabic Gold" to my kit would be easy... I will need to visit Dick Blick and see if the Finetec pans are the same size as compatible with the pans in my Pelikan gouache paintbox.


* When looking up this homily, I was amused to find a venerable and almost unknown bit of doggerel from 1857 (author unknown) intended to popularize the phrase...

Tuesday tidbits... a 6PAC+ sewing plan

so here's the story from our plucky heroine...

Her closet has been looking more and more empty, while the shelves of fabric stash, with no new denizens , are looking more abundant in comparison. An upcoming family gathering will be a good reason to add some new clothes to her current overly limited wardrobe. It will likely still be quite warm, so a mixture of mostly breezy summer dresses, with one or two layering pieces, should prove both easy to pack and easy to wear. Adding in a dash of unexpected color will help distract from the weight gained over the last several years - it's about being a survivor, not about being a fashion icon, and the people who love her best see her most truly, so why not give them something new to look at...

My 6PAC plan: An assortment of new, basic, printed rayon popover dresses. (One dark indigo/brown swirl batik, one faux-shibori double border print,* and one multicolor "bohemian" stripe.)  I have one more popover cut our waiting to be stitched, from a dress length of celery green floral rayon (what was I thinking?) that (with an eventual quick dip in the indigo vat) will turn to a nice subtle teal/turquoise. One black jacquard rayon popover, for more "dressy wear" This is already cut out and ready to sew, in a combination of floral and geometric textured jacquard fabrics, and with an elaborated yoke with embroidery, black sequin trimmings and narrow dark blue micro pleated trim.

These dresses are comparatively fast and easy to sew, all straight seams and all pattern pieces triangles and rectangles, a wardrobe staple to live in when the weather is warm. I initially developed this pattern by combining my knowledge of ancient garment construction with this contemporary Japanese pattern Nani Iro dress diagram

(Also, one cotton everyday dress in medium blue batik stripe; this dress is already cut out and ready to sew. One jacquard cotton denim medium blue pinafore, with the edges bound in multicolor ikat; this is cut out and ready to sew.)

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* another view of the faux shibori rayon... showing half the width... there is a mirrored border on the other selvedge. After much thought, and experimentation in the mirror, have decided to have the light colored squares run up the side front next to the narrow center panel, with the sides shading off into the stripey section, and use the central "plaid" area to cut the assorted gores.

Am considering the possiblity of maybe block printing the narrow center panel to add yet another pattern to this popover dress.

media Monday

in which our plucky heroine is very grateful for the local swimming pool, which saved our sanity this weekend (was 102 F on Saturday afternoon here, in the shade on my front porch)...

and in the interest of a bit of visual cooling and beauty, here is a lovely piece of environmental artwork:

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We did it! My Blue Cedar House pals came down this weekend. It was not a good weekend for yardwork (see note above on temperature), so aside from a modicum of weeding and backyard weedwhacking early in the mornings, we put our attention into some serious workroom decluttering...

The primary area of the central worktable is cleared, and the surrounding areas have plenty of clear floor space. We took six grocery sacks to Goodwill, three to recycling and one into the trash. A bunch of the lumber was shifted outside for future garden bed building. Now I can once again host teaching weekends here, and creative activity evenings! It is amazing what a huge difference it makes having a bit of company while doing the sort and discard!

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There is now room to set up a narrow standing workbench underneath the shelves (where currently a few remaining boxes of yet unsorted random papers are stacked). You can see the file cabinet in the lefthand photo, and the pile of papers above it, and next to it... those I decided were a different task that the initial "clear the space for useability..." goal

Indeed, the other thing that feels like a real accomplishment this weekend, in addition to the initial major declutter and space clearing, was to then be able to see the smaller "chunks" of task that also need done, without panicking. I made a list, in my new notebook, of the sub-sections that still need attention in this room: my personal workbench, the soldering bench, the filing cabinet, the pantry, the tool zone, and the laundry zone.

In addition, I noted various smaller tasks that need done in there. There are two shelves that need wall anchors, as does the kiln shelf system. The standing workbench needs moved indoors from where it currently lives outside the back door. I need to sort the piles of papers and deal with the contents of the filing cabinet; it occurred to me that I can use it to both hold files and as a sort of stationary supply center, with paper and pads in the upper drawer for easy access, and actual files in the lower drawer, since I don't need to look at them often. This would have all the blank paper of various sorts corralled in one spot.

Overall, the ongoing efforts over weeks/months/years seems to be bearing fruit. In the past, my efforts to declutter primarily consisted of moving clutter from one part of the house to another. This time, the only thing moved to other parts of the house were objects that had actual spots where they lived in other rooms, and it felt fairly easy to simply let go of still useful but unneeded materials. I even sorted through an entire box of "mementos"; keeping the ones that actually had pleasant memories attached, and letting everything else return to the thing-stream!

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August SMART goals

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	charter #14	rayon dress facing	Tundra flooring
2	charter #15	-	floor padding
3	Tullia painted banner	-	bag to Goodwill
4	embroidered yoke	-	bag to Goodwill
5	-	-	bag to Goodwill
6	-	-	bag to Goodwill
7	-	-	bag to Goodwill
8	-	-	bag to Goodwill
9	-	-	paper recycling
10	-	-	wood scraps
11	-	-	shelf unit
12	-	-	-
13	-	-	-
14	-	-	-

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Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine is concerned...

When out in the yard feeding the hens this morning, three plums I picked at random from the feral plum trees (to have with breakfast) are well ripe already. Checking my records from previous years, this has them about a month and a half earlier than usual, since they are usually ready in late September or sometime in October. The apples on the tree are also getting close to ripe; the last windfall was almost sweet. This amount of change is worriesome.

I suppose it is near time to clear and defrost the freezer, and think about making preserves. In years past, plum sauce time was a pleasant fall chore. Last night at midnight it was 81 F outside, and 80 F in the living room, here at Acorn Cottage. This weekend we are forecast triple digits, and recommended to avoid outdoor chores. I am cogitating on how best to rig a shade curtain in front of my west facing porch...

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It has been a rough few weeks, but here is something lighthearted: this is what it looks like, when you start learning Gothic calligraphy, and then go to purchase some bulk Dr Bronner's soap...

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August SMART goals

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	charter #14	rayon dress facing	Tundra flooring
2	charter #15	-	floor padding
3	Tullia painted banner	-	bag to Goodwill
4	embroidered yoke	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	-	-	-
7	-	-	-
8	-	-	-
9	-	-	-
10	-	-	-
11	-	-	-

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