Carved Calligraphy

A practice page of Neuland style calligraphy. Love this style, though have never been formally taught this one - so, I'm a bit unsure and shaky about it. I like the way the tops and bottoms of the letters touch each other. I believe it's German in origin.

This was a difficult experiment... I actually did it a long time ago and printed it a few weeks ago. (gotta wait for the ink to completely dry before painting it.) The quote came from an old class list at 'Haystack' art center in Oregon... I can't remember who wrote it but it was honoring a great calligrapher who had passed on. I wrote out the calligraphy, traced and carved it in wood. It will probably be the last time I do it. Unless it's engraved in a hard wood like Cherry, the Shina wood just splinters when trying to carve fine details. Very frustrating! I think it turned out kind of nice...

I got a wild hair yesterday and decided to make something with the air-dry clay. Of course this person is not finished and maybe not even 'a keeper' but I'm going to experiment on him! I plan on painting him and trying out different media and finishing 'varnishes' (in other words - to seal it somehow.) It was so much fun doodling around with the clay. I think I have 'art ADD' lately... not sure why. But, I need to re-gain focus to complete the Christmas stuff on my list. It may have been a bad idea to buy that clay because it's got me laying awake thinking about what I could do with it!

Linen Quilt

Click on the photos for a closer look at the sashiko... I used a white chalk pencil to draw my designs and just stitched ... so much fun to watch it come alive.

Quilt experiment... I've always wanted to make a quilt with free-form applique and sashiko. So, here is the beginning of something exciting! I bought a heap of linen a few days ago since it was on sale and I need it to print on and later make summer purses with the results. .. but then, I got a 'wild hair' and decided to make a quilt with some of the fabric instead!