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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