July from Mary - Digression: castles

 

Mary still has some of those Garden of Love stamps. I wish they would reissue them. Her drawing is lovely with the stamp. I wonder what stamp was reissued at the big stamp convention. It seems like we voted last year. Maybe I can find out. <pause>

https://www.stampsforever.com/vote

Mr. Rogers - and there is a nice 2:36 minute video at that link.

***

If you read Morning Brew you might have seen the link to a listing of a castle in each of the 50 states in case you enjoy visiting castles. Some states have more than one castle. I have been to the one in Minnesota. It's in Duluth and if you are ever up that way, it's worth a visit.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/castles-in-every-state/?utm_campaign=mb&utm_source=morning_brew&utm_medium=newsletter

I clicked on the one for Montana and wish I had known about it a few years ago when I passed through White Sulfur Springs and had no idea they had a castle. [That trip that seemed like it was just a few years ago was in 1993]

Then there is Iowa - yikes - it's a whole town, Ida Grove, with a bunch of kooky buildings with castle-esque features.  I won't even provide a link. There is a much better castle within walking distance of my house. I'll link to that. Technically, it is a manor house - but that's close enough to a castle. It was built by a family who had done very well in the cosmetics industry. My father-in-law had some wonderful childhood  stories about playing in the house with the boys who grew up there.

https://salisburyhouse.org

I couldn't find many photos at the website. There are more if you Google images - Salisbury House Des Moines.

July from Janet - digression: house projects

 

This is pure Janet. She's good at vine-y swirls or swirly vines. I like how hard it is to find a J in the the swirl of vines. There are several options. I wonder if it would work to design a big swirl that was just a layered swirl and use it for any first letter of any first name. Maybe nobody would notice that it was an abstraction. Or maybe I should just layer all the letters. I'd only need to do the letters on the exchange list. A-G-I-J-K-L-M-N-P-S-T are the usual names.

***

I am not writing this because I think it is interesting. I am writing it to explain why my blog posts go through phases of being less than inspired. At least you don't have to listen to me talk about how I broke my hip or have cancer or had a stroke or any of the twenty-two things on my list of things my contemporaries are facing these days.

Instead of me falling apart, my son bought a house that is 104 years old and several things are falling apart. While he is at work, I manage all the coming and going of workmen. I'm there for all the estimating and inspecting. I take my laptop and work on the blog while people are pounding.

We started with adding a bathroom, new HVAC and new siding. Then the dominos started to fall. Rusted out sewer line, a sagging roof pushing one wall out of alinement, roof repair causing cracks in the plaster that are 6-inches wide and run the length of the entire room and halfway down the wall, dangerous knob and tube wiring and significant foundation issues. It's all fixable - but, it takes energy for me to keep track of all the workmen who are coming and going - and getting things done in the right order. 

In many ways, it's better to just deal with everything all at once with an old house. August was super busy - Sept will be quiet so I can go back to attacking weeds. Maybe my Sept envelopes will be gorgeous - fall is such a pretty time of year.

July from Juliana - Musing about teaching - part 2

 

I wonder where Juliana finds her fonts? I wonder if she knows immediately that she has spotted one that I will love? I love this one. Maybe she designed it herself? I wonder if she reads the blog and will respond. I wonder if she used straight edges and templates. I wonder if I could figure out how to do this. The part that makes it so cool is the *clumping* at the intersections. Clumping isn't the right word. What's the right word? It's more like bleeding. But it only bleeds on one side.

***

I never planned on teaching. I had many teachers that I loved and a few that were not to my liking. I ended up teaching because the museum in my back yard needed a substitute teacher and then the calligraphy teacher *retired* from teaching to home school her kids. I had spent about 3 years taking all the classes that she taught and she had studied with all the rock stars in calligraphy so she was a really good instructor. 

I knew that I was nowhere near her (Cheryl Adams) skill level but I also knew that I brought some skills to the table that were a little different than her offerings. It turned out to be a wonderful era for me and as many teachers say, you learn as much from your students as they learn from you. I feel like I have already written all of this - and maybe I have - but you're going to have to suffer through it. The alternative would be listening to me talk about this:

Or this:

July from Irene --- Musing about teaching, part 1

 

Irene's wedge brush flowers and wavy vines are so pretty. My broken record comment is coming up - about how I hope to spend some time with my wedge brushes. I should just try those vines. They seem very beginner friendly.

***

There was a break in post writing after I posted tip No. 8 and surely I have more than eight tips. Before I get into more tips I'm going to muse about how complicated it is to offer tips. I already mentioned how people can be disinterested in suggestions. Sometimes they are even offended. As I have said, that's the hardest part of teaching.

People show up for a class. They also bring their entire lifespan of experiences with making things and finding out what people think of their work. They might even be so self-critical that they can't see the parts of their work that is *working.* With kids, it's not appropriate to critique. They don't need a critical eye. The critical eye will evolve all on its own as the kid can see that what they had imagined is not what appears on the paper. 

It's very hit or miss with helping those older kids whose critical eye is evolving to understand the steps one takes to actually draw a likeness. So many kids as well as adults have horror stories about *terrible* art teachers who said mean things and *ruined* the experience for them. 

Then there are the people who really enjoyed collecting The Rules from the types of instructors who handed out The Rules that had been handed to them at some point. And most people are familiar with Breaking the Rules and all the sub-sets of how to break rules and here's where I decide that it might be impossible to teach art..... and yet.....

From Grace - who's to say which is better

 

Grace is skilled at both pointed nib calligraphy as well as broad edge. This is italic. It's one of the standards that a lot of people think is easy because it looks like the kind of printing that we learned in elementary school with serifs. How hard can that be. 

Don't get me started. It's one of those raging debates and I'm too old to get into it. On top of that, if I posted the work of Sheila Waters next to someone who bought a calligraphy marker and followed a rudimentary exemplar - some people would think they were *the same.* The subtle nuances are not visible to some people. To other people, they are glaring. 

I'm trying to think of something to compare it to - maybe in the world of food - we could think of something to compare - but it would be hard. I may prefer a home made chocolate chip cookie to Chips Ahoy. But, if a person grew up with only Chips Ahoy and that was their favorite cookie - they might prefer it to home made. 

The only thing I can think of where we might get close to 100% agreement would be a fish that you caught. cooked  and ate right on the shore. I can't picture anyone saying that a frozen filet or even something that had been on ice for a day or two, never frozen, was better than a shore lunch. Now I'm hungry for a shore lunch. I wonder if there are any in Chicago.

<pause> Bingo. There is a place 2.7 miles from where my grandkids live. I could walk. I'll have to find out where they source their fish. 

Mia to Lisa - Liz's tips - No. 8 - Steal and Conceal (part 2)

 

Mia's design incorporates the watery feel of the stamp. I like the way she outlined the lower case lettering. 

A couple horizontal lines across an envelope is a good starting point. I've been thinking that *2 horizontal lines* would be a good idea to toss out if I decided to do that thing where I toss out an optional idea for the exchange. I'm writing this on Aug 26 so I have a few days to decide if I'm going to do that. 

***

The phrase *steal and conceal* has been around for a while. Do not Google it as I just did because there were all kinds of things that have nothing to do with art. I hope I don't get myself in trouble for using the phrase. I first heard it from Peter Thornton, one of my very favorite calligraphy instructors. His classes always included some thoughts on where we get our ideas. We get them from everywhere.

The world is full of ideas. We can find them in nature, in ancient books, on the grocery shelves. on calendars, in cookbooks, on fabric, on stamps - the list is endless. If we love a Mary Engelbreit design, we can use her work as inspiration. She has a lot of checkerboards in her designs. She doesn't own checkerboards. If you follow her on IG sometimes she'll post something that inspired her. If you click on the people that she follows you'll see all kinds of work that is in a similar vein - whimsical, cottage-y, bright, cheerful, etc. 

There are two ways to go with steal and conceal - you can try for a very exact copy - or you can look at something to get the general drift and then do your own version from memory. Doing something from memory will probably be enough to conceal your source. Or, you can choose ways to specifically alter what your inspiration piece looks like. If it's bold and colorful with hard edges, you can switch to pastels and softer edges.

When I am stealing an idea, I usually go for fast and sloppy as my way to conceal where the idea came from. Then when I see that it is too sloppy I might go back and tighten it up - without looking at the original - and I might end up with something I like that is two steps removed from the original.

Do I need to reinforce the part where we only steal ideas for fun and we never sell our stolen designs?

Liz and Jean to Lisa - Liz's tips - No. 7 - steal and conceal (part one)

 

Liz sent this postcard to Lisa - and Lisa liked it a lot - she liked all of her mail. Nicky and I had some exchanged emailing about postcards and I was pretty sure I was going to try doing some postcards but it hasn't happened yet..... then a postcard arrived - from Nicky and it's really nice. Stay tuned.

This is the envelope from me with my penmanship that Lisa did not recognize. I feel like I already ran this one - but I couldn't find it when I scrolled back. I still have a few of those stamps - soooo.... maybe I can figure out a better way to make the letters look like candles.

***

Making an exact copy, to the best of your ability, is a completely legitimate way to study and learn. It's work. When I was first learning calligraphy I did a lot of tracing. Some of the very best calligraphy  teachers agreed that tracing has its place.  Ideally, you will get to the point where your eye can guide your hand in the precise direction to replicate the style of lettering - but if you can't get the feel of the style you are working on - trace until you get the feel - and the muscle memory. Then switch back to just using your eyes - and hand/eye coordination.

It would be fine to trace anything. Obviously you wouldn't do it on something that you planned to sell as your original artwork - but you are free to trace and replicate anything that you feel like making. There are people out there who are putting their designs out for free - for people who need ideas.

I don't have time right now to find them. Maybe some of you will leave comments with your favorite places to get ideas. Also - snap photos of things you see when you are out and about that look like ideas that would work on an envelope.

It is my understanding that if an artist is allowed to make a replica of an original work of art in a museum, they may not make it the same size as the original. At one time, I heard that it needed to be a 75% reduction but I have no idea if that was or still is true. If anyone wants to do some research and submit the information I will put it in a future post. 

Contributions from readers is encouraged. It might even be rewarded. I could send people one of those old-school gold stars. Remember back in the 1900s when we bought into the concept of earning sticky stars. What a scam. 

Irene to Lisa - Liz's tips - No. 6 - pondering the elements

There will be some August exchange envelopes addressed to my friend Lisa who lives in Des Moines. I put her name on the lists and gave people the option to send to either of us. Some people sent to both of us which was very nice of them. I've done this for a few other people and it's always fun to watch people open their mail. Lisa is especially delighted with mail. It just amazed her that people who didn't know her would send her some mail. I guess she wasn't connecting with the concept that it's an exchange - they sent something because they were going to get something.

At the bottom of her stack of mail (that she was opening while we were together) was the one I sent. For the return address on the back, I put her address - so there was nothing that indicated it was from me. She did not recognize my penmanship and was surprised to find it was from me. I'll post it tomorrow.

The inside of the card has a cool pop-up arrangement of flowers. I shot a video of it - but I can't get it uploaded - so here is a link to instructions. I've made one of these and it was lots of fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgUDgScs2to

 ***

Tip no. 6: Look at the elements and ask questions to figure out what needs to be improved is a great tip but when you are doing this on your own you might not know what's wrong. This is where it's helpful to take a class or watch YouTube videos or email me with a question. It's also fun to find a local buddy who shares your interest in making things. For many years I would ask my mom to look at projects I was working on and she had no background in art. Her *un(art)educated* eye was still an eye that had been seeing things for many years - and deciding for herself what she liked and didn't like. She could make comments about things that looked a little off to her. I think I generally accepted her opinion as valid and did something. For me, a difficult part of teaching was when I gave feedback and students would instantly defend what they had done - taking my advice to consider something as an insult. 

There are no set rules about how to make the colors work together or what kind of spacing is going to look best. It's all very subjective. I can look at things and tell you what I'd do - but that might not be right for you. Liz likes to pack a lot of stuff onto her envelopes and she loves bright colors. I've had fun channeling Liz's aesthetic - but it's not something that just rolls off the tips of my markers. 

I do better when I flip through Pinterest and look for examples of exuberant designs for idea. That wall on my optical shop is a good example of something that looks Liz-ish that would give me some good ideas for an envelope.

That brings us to steal and conceal.

Aug from Jean - Liz's tips - No. 5 - Observing (and questioning) your elements

 

I wish I had time to reshoot the envelope - it's a muddy photo - the colors are much nicer - and look more like the paste paper card on the inside. I like that diagonal line between the names. 

The design on the card is a nice example of how all you need are lines. I'm guessing Jean did a large sheet of paste paper and then cut it down. That's a fun way to create abstract designs to use on a large quantity of items - rather than one at a time. 

***

Now that you know the elements of art - you can ask questions about each of them if you are looking at your envelope and it is not pleasing your eye.

The color might be off. You might need an accent color. You might have too many colors and need to layer some of them to tone them down. You might need to add black and/or white.

The way you arranged the lines and shapes might have created some awkward spaces that are troubling you.

The values might be out of whack. You might need to add black and/or white. I know I just said that - but it's one of your most valuable tools in fixing things that are missing something.

Form will not be an issue since there's nothing 3D on your envelope. 

Texture might be something to consider. I can think of many times when a line or shape looked a little blah and it just needed some oomph. Colored pencils are my go-to method for giving the focal point a little pizazz. 

I'm going to mention Space again. Quite often - learning to look at the space between everything is not the easiest thing to learn but if you start to understand the concept - it's a game changer. Does anyone want me to delve into Space further?

Aug from Maggie - Sept exchange sign-up - Liz's tips - No. 4 - The 7 elements of art

This one is from Maggie. MrWilson commented on it when he brought in the mail. He does not have the vocabulary to communicate what he was trying to say. I wish I had a recording of the unusual choice of words - because he was being very careful to tiptoe around the topic for which he has no vocabulary. Can anyone guess what it is? Skill level. Yes, Maggie takes classes and spends a lot of time on her calligraphy. We don't know exactly how much time - but - over the years, it has added up. She has done the work.

Ironically - Maggie enclosed a note saying she had already sent this design to me - and even knew when. Yikes. What kind of record keeping is going on in Westchester? Me thinks (or is it methinks) the lady does not have piles of random disorganized stuff like the rest of up. In case you can't tell, I've just downed the noon coffee and I'm getting silly.

***

Liz's tips - No. 4 - The seven basic elements in any piece of art. (Some lists have more than seven)

Line (including dots) - is self explanatory. 

Shape and form are the words when enclosed space. 

A shape is 2D and a form is 3D. We mostly have shapes on our envelopes. 3D items are not advised. However, a 2D shape can give the impression that it is 3D.

Color - yup - we all know about color. 

Value is lightness or darkness.

Texture can be implied or literal. 

Space - my favorite element - most of the time it's the space between the elements. You have your lines and shapes and you plop them on the envelope - but you can adjust the size of each as well as the placement. When you start moving shapes around or making the lines bolder - you influence the space between the shapes and lines. That space is technically emptiness - but it has as much impact as the the shapes and line. 

It's time to sign up for the September exchange.

Today through Sept 4th is the window to sign-up. Lists are sent on the 5th.

If you participated in the August exchange - just shoot me an email that says: SIGN ME UP - you do not need to retype your address and info.

Send your sign-up to:    PTEnvelopes-at-aol-dot-com

Let me know if it is your [Birthday] month or if you are willing to be on [2 Lists].

If you were not on an August list - or if you only sign up occasionally - or are a new exchanger - please send your information in the following format:

Jane Doe

123 Oak Street

Ames, IA 50010

janedoe@aol.com

[Birthday]  [2 Lists]  -- if those items apply

If you are new to the exchange - there are helpful details at this link:

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/p/rules-of-exchangement.html

August from Janet - Liz's tips - No. 3 - Romping in the park

 

Janet is doing a great job of combining a big splashy design and name with a very scanner friendly address. I like the way the USPS code at the bottom is acting as the base for the vase. I haven't decided if I am going to toss out an idea for all of us to consider for August. I like this. But, if I toss it out - Janet won't want to do it - since she just did it. And then - it looks like Liz likes to do something different on each envelope. I've spent 16 years not tossing out ideas - maybe I should just stick with that... decisions, decisions.....

***

Are there really people for whom making art is all fun and games and it is not work? Probably. Although I can't think of anyone who just churns out a lot of art and every single piece is exactly what they had hoped for. It seems like most people look at the work and evaluate if it is what they had hoped to create. Most people tend to have a range between loving some pieces and finding others to be so-so and still others get tossed.

It seems like very young kids lean towards liking everything they produce. Making art is a joyful experience. As they get older they start looking at the art with more discernment about what they had hoped it would look like. Let's ponder the very popular Picasso quote: 

• "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."   

This is what I found on Wikipedia and I DO NOT agree with the *meaning* offered by Wikipedia.

All children are artists. The problem is how to stay an artist when the child grows up.

What it means: When you grow up, you lose the creativity you had when you were a child.

This is Jean's view: People don't lose their creativity - that is absurd. A young child delights in the process. Making art provides a joyful experience. As they outgrow that innocent love of everything they make and develop a critical eye for whether the things they are drawing are good renderings - they either work at learning how to draw - or they give up - and say, "I can't draw." Later on, they might decide to study art and learn how to draw - and they may succeed - or they may decide it's too hard.

Making art is like everything else - you have to want to do it. A few people are born with the ability to draw, but they are way out on the tip of a bell curve - or a spectrum, as we are now calling them.

This tip needs some editing. Let's go back to that other path where we were talking about dots, lines, shapes - and the other elements.

Liz to Irene - Liz's tips - No. 2 - work

 

Here is another one from Liz that she sent during our exchange that inspired this series. I wonder if the USPS scanner could read this. I think I'm going to try some ideas for scannable addresses that still allows for this much artwork on the envelope. The colors go well with the stamp.

***

We've decided on the path of talking about work. Everyone has heard the expression "a work of art." It's my opinion that making art is work. You have to think about what you are doing. You can choose to not think about it. You can take a pencil or marker and "mindlessly" or "without-thought" maneuver the pencil around on the paper without thinking - or without thinking as well as with your eyes closed.

Google *drawing without thinking* and there are all kinds of websites and YouTube videos. It would be great fun to take a side trip, but I don't have time. Feel free to explore and send us a full report from the field.

Most people remember an art class in high school (if they took art) where everyone drew a shoe without looking at their paper. It's a fun exercise - where you just focus on the shoe and let your hand follow instructions from your brain and then after you have drawn the outline and some details - you look at it - and it usually resembles a shoe - but it's not a very accurate rendering.

If you want to learn how to actually render something with accuracy, it's not really hard. There are several systems for learning how to draw accurately. A few people are gifted with the spontaneous  ability to draw what they see without ever working at it or taking classes. Some of those people are autistic. Some aren't. But most of us have to put in the work at learning how to draw.

If you think it's too hard and you don't even want to try, I won't argue with you. If I had you in my class, I'm pretty sure I could change your mind. We'll stick a pin in this and maybe come back to it.

I learned how to draw accurate outlines but I was never interested in shading so that is a huge gap in my body of knowledge. "Shading" is not in my tool box - unless you want to count those drop shadows on lettering. 

Have I convinced you that art is work? Or do you think for some people it's just a romp in the park? Let's talk about those people tomorrow.

July from Liz - Liz's tips - No. 1 (elements & work)

 

This is Liz's July envelope. I just discovered that I've been posting August - and I never posted the incoming July envelopes. So, we will be disorganized for a while. Maybe forever.

I like this exuberant design from Liz. It goes nicely with the stamp. It's unusual to run back to back envelopes from someone other than me. I think the lettering on yesterday's envelope has a little more finesse than this lettering - although this lettering is fine. Something I mention from time to time is when you are doing caps and lower case, the caps do not need to be twice as tall. They only need to be slightly taller - 25% taller is more than enough.

Making double tall caps is a holdover from first grade when we had that lined paper. There are some fancy styles in the pointed pen world where the caps are 3-times as tall as the l.c. - or even taller - but that's a whole different world.

***

I'm going to number the tips that were inspired by my correspondence with Liz and call them Liz's tips so that I can find all of them if I ever want to refer back to them - or maybe add to them. Wouldn't it be fun if I had all my tips in one place. 

Tip No. 1

Dots. Yes, we've covered dots previously but it seems like a good place to start. There is a line that I've written about previously: a line is a dot that went for a walk. If you Google that sentence you will find many hits and lots to read about Paul Klee and what he meant when he made the comment. There are also shapes - another element in a work of art. A shape is formed when a line encloses a space.

We have now created a fork in the road. We can keep talking about dots, lines, shapes, elements --or-- we can take the other path and talk about *work of art.*

How many different things can we learn in one day? For some of you, this is is very old knowledge. For others it might seem new, but it's not really new. Both are concepts that you are familiar with - but you might not have given them much thought. Like gravity. You know what it is - but do you ever think about it? 

Does creating an envelope seem like work or is it all fun and games?

Liz to Mia - dots on a mural

 

Liz emailed this image of her envelope to Mia in early August to get my opinion on whether or not it was going to have a good chance of making it to Montreal. Because the grandkids were in town, I was not checking my email so by the time I got back to Liz she had already put it in a less decorated envelope and sent it on its way. I let Liz know how much I liked the envelope. Then we had a little back and forth conversation about art and style and the professional level work by some of the people on the exchange.

Liz said that she thought her work was "a long way from technically correct." I instantly thought of about five things to say about that. Starting tomorrow I will start a series of comments and suggestions for people who are not professionals or who have never taken a class. 

Apologies to the people who took classes with me - it will be stuff you've heard. Feel free to leave comments about how my tips and tricks were easy and fun and life enhancing. I suppose that sounds like an overstatement - but I do think that people who are drawn to mark making and mail reap some rewards for the time they spend on their artwork.

The add on today is so good. It's the mural on the side of the building where I purchase my glasses. I'd like to know how much they paid the artist. 

Check out all the dots - then go back and look at how much Liz's dots add to her design.

Aug from Jeanette - Princess Leia

Jeannette's envelope is inspired by Carrie Fisher's book Postcards from the Edge. I read the book a long time ago and will be looking to see if it's available in an audiobook. I listen to every new autobiographical or memoir audiobook that I can get through my library. I even try the ones that are by people I have no interest in or who seem like the antithesis of everything I prefer and I generally find that they all have interesting stories. I've thought about writing my own book, Living in Duh Moines. Des Moines is often used as an example of a place that is probably boring. I would want my book to be very boring and routine on the surface - but then there would be a twist. I'm not sure what the twist is. Maybe someday I will think of one. 

Postcards from the Edge was semi-autobiographical. Carrie also wrote a memoir that I enjoyed. Wishful Drinking.

This is the blurb at the library website. 

The bestselling author of Postcards from the Edge comes clean (well, sort of) in her first-ever memoir, adapted from her one-woman Broadway hit show. Fisher reveals what it was really like to grow up a product of "Hollywood in-breeding," come of age on the set of a little movie called Star Wars, and become a cultural icon and bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen. Intimate, hilarious, and sobering, Wishful Drinking... 

Someday I'll post the photo of myself in my Princess Leia costume. <pause>

I had a vague notion that I had posted the photo - so did a search - and voila - I ran the photo with a blurb back in 2017. It doesn't show the two side buns very well. I had enough hair at the time to make them without adding any fake hair or filler.

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2017/11/bonus-post-princess-leia.html#comment-form

Aug from Sue - dog park

Sue has been working on insects/butterflies/moths. I do not know if they are based on actual creatures or if they are fantasy critters. Either way, they are lovely and on my list of *try this.*

As mentioned over the past couple days, I am way behind on scheduling posts. It's 7 pm and I rarely (if ever) write posts at this time of day. Maybe it's a good time to switch things up. Maybe not. Maybe everyone is overwhelmed with the end of summer. 

The highlight of my grandson Ben's visit to Iowa was going to a very large dog park. Ben wants a dog and I have a friend who goes to the dog park with her dogs and was willing to meet us there so Ben could play with some dogs. It's a huge place with day care for dogs as well as overnight boarding. It has a bar/restaurant and a large indoor space with huge garage-type doors that open up so it's semi-outdoors and the dogs can roam in the smaller fenced section while the people can stay in a shadier space. Then there is a 3 acre grassy area with playground features.

I was impressed with how much fun it was for the dogs. Here's a link to their website - with some drone footage. Maybe every town has one of these - and I'm just learning about them.

https://pawsandpintsdsm.com/your-best-friends-bar-dog-park/

 

August for Mia, Maggie and Lynne - last of the outgoing August envelopes

Two judge stamps and one of those statues one might see in a big city. I guess they are bronze. Does bronze turn green? Copper turns green. So many questions. So little time. It is still Friday the 21st as I write this and I am having a minor panic at how far behind I am on scheduling the posts.

I would have been perfectly happy with these if only I had made the names larger. Dang.

The following was written on Sunday, Aug 16th. 

These are the last of the Rolly envelopes - for now - I might have to do some more. I'll try to find something else because we all like variety. 

So, it's the end of the August envelopes. I'm writing this as my grandson and daughter pack the car to return to Chicago. After they leave I can find the July envelopes that arrived. I should have posted them first - but I was too busy getting ready for the houseguests. It was a successful trip. My granddaughter needed to fly back to Chicago a couple days early so we tried the *unaccompanied minor* option. She's 12 and was not nervous at all. It went very well and her 10 year old brother says he is up for the two of them flying in to Iowa next year. We started this annual trip thing when they were 2.5 and 4.5. I was 66. Fond memories.

2026 

2018

I hired a photographer to take photos of the grandkids on their first summer trip to Iowa without parents. I had it printed on that vinyl that just clings to the wall to avoid paying a fortune for a huge frame. I think it's around 5 feet tall. The kids thought it would be fun to re-enact the photo since I know exactly where that tree is --- but we forgot to do that. I hope I remember to do it next year. 

 

From Renee and August to Mary and Judi - fancy plates and spoons

This was from Renee in June or July and I don't think it's been posted. The flowers look like colored pencil. The paper has just enough texture to be perfect with colored pencil. She used just enough white to make the flowers pop as well as enough dark to give depth.

Below are more Rolly Crump envelopes - which you are probably getting tired of - sorry. Mary's is on regular paper and Judi's is on vellum and has texture rather than being filled in. The bold parts should have been bolder.

Here is a shout out to Mia who sent the *lovely* dandelion themed mailing. It's a handpainted de Gournay porcelain plates (starting at $597 for one). I'd like to see a closeup of those flowers around the edge. <pause> I just zoomed in on the image and the little flowers are UH-DOOR-UH-BULL.

I should take a picture of the one fancy item in my house. It's a sterling silver spoon that came from my mother-in-law. I have no idea how I ended up with it but it is a perfect spoon for desserts. My granddaughter likes key lime pie and I bought her some Oui brand yogurt that was key lime flavored. That's the yogurt that comes in a little glass jar. I gave her the special spoon and she enjoyed the experience so I will bequeath the silver spoon to her. 

August to Irene - House Rules - Iowa vs Chicago - food and beverage

 

There have been so many times that I wrote "the photo does not do this one justice." For the first time there is a photo that improved the envelope. I used paint markers on vellum and it was OK. That vertical stack of hearts is clunky - as well as the three under the stamp - but the other border is OK. At first I was happy to be done with the Barbie stamps - now I am tempted to get another sheet of them.

First story from the 8th annual grandkid trip to Iowa. At 10 and 12, the kids are well acquainted with The House Rules. The Chicago House Rules are very strict on food and beverages. The Iowa House Rules are pretty loose. It is shocking to my daughter that she grew up in a house that kept 12 packs of soda pop on hand. When we stopped at a store - Ben saw A&W Root Beer and asked if we could buy just one bottle. Of course we could. 

Later I asked him if he would like to paint. I have a couple big canvases and a lot of leftover craft paint. Most of it is 20+ years old and I always thought it would be fun to use it up with the grandkids but until now, they have not been interested. I was wildly excited. We set things up in the garage and it was hot - so I told him to just take his shirt off. Then I recorded a short video and sent it to his parents. I neglected to see the bottle of root beer in the background. His dad spotted it - and responded "Ben looks very boho - shirtless and a (root) beer.

The dad assured me that it's OK to drink soda pop in Iowa. I'm not sure we'll mention the other discoveries - like Blue Bunny makes a soft serve ice cream. It was gone before we had a chance to try a DIY root beer float.

I thought it would be fun to add a photo of a shirtless Pablo Picasso - and there are so many. In fact, someone has taken the time to make a blog post with as many as they could find - so you may choose your favorite. It gave me flashbacks to when I lived in a house with boys - and they were not very interested in wearing shirts.

 https://ridiculouslyinteresting.com/2012/05/01/a-lot-of-pictures-of-pablo-picasso-without-his-shirt-on/

August to Sharen - stories from the visit - preface

 

Yes, more Rolly Crump lettering. This one was pretty far along in the series as I started to add my own doo-dads. The proportion of the name is very pleasing. It's a bit of a stretch to say that the zigzags on the lettering coordinate with RBG's lace collar - because the lettering itself is contrary to RGB. Or is it? Judges are so reserved that we rarely get to find out what they are like as people. Who's the zaniest judge? I can think of that one guy who was maybe Italian and I think he died unexpectedly. Seems like he would say things from time to time that were not as reserved as what we usually hear from judges. I could Google and find his name in one click but I'm more interested in filling up blog posts since I only have 7 scheduled. [I am doing a quick edit on the 21st before this pops up and I think the judge's name was Anthony Scalise - but that might not be the right spelling and I'm not going to look it up.]

That's right. I am writing this on Aug 14th. This is close to the end of the nine day visit with the grandkids in Iowa. They are heading into 5th and 7th grade so they are much easier than little kids. I'm debating about telling stories. Plumbing and roof leaking? Dog stories? Or kimchi-gate? 

Accidentally leaving a bottle of A&W root beer in the background when I sent a photo to the parents who do not allow such things might be worth a story. The kids are old enough to weigh in on which unreasonable rules they have at their house and whether or not the rules my daughter sets are things that came from me. 

August to Teri - Laboratorio Paravicini

The pink could have been muddy over the blue. I would have liked a little better color coordination on her last name. Maybe black would have been better. The idea of little silver robots was a good idea. Where I missed the boat was making then so small. Remember one of our best design tools - scale? Make something really big. It's not my finest border but it has potential.

Our add on today is swoon-worthy plates from Italy. Our five remaining plates that are perfect for sandwiches and have had 49 years of daily use are getting too crazed for me. I can handle a certain amount of patina on a plate but they are starting to bother me. Sooooo - in searching for replacement plates, I found this place in Italy - all hand painted and way out of my price range. But, there are tons of good ideas for envelopes.

https://www.paravicini.it/pages/ready-made

LINK to Instagram -- if you prefer Instagram. They have videos on Instagram which are swoonier than just still shots.

 

August to Liz - artists in their studios videos

 

This is one of the last envelopes I did using the Rolly font. I did black on white and then white on black. Then I decided to try some color. Forgetting my own solid advice about having a stamp in mind prior to choosing colors, I just pulled out purple. Big mistake. I currently do not have any stamps with purple. There is a tiny bit on this stamp. It would have been so much better if the *LIZ* had been in that light blue. It would have been better to have some much larger stars running off the edge of the envelope. It would have been better to reflect the verticality of the stamp somewhere.

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I've watched several of these videos and thoroughly enjoyed them. Many are interviews with artists living in lofts in NYC. Most of them (or maybe all of them) are older people. They are unique however there is a common thread through most of the interviews when they share their perspective on how gratifying it has been to live life as an artist. It seems as though one doesn't choose to be an artist - the art chooses the person.

This is the most recent one - 8 minutes. LINK to Ben Schonzeit

LINK to the filmmakers main list   with lots more. Some videos are not about artists - there's one about the guy who releases the confetti on Times Square, some tapestry restoration, painting ballet shoes and the last flower factory in America. 

 

I Googled Ben's name to see more of his work since I had not heard of him - some spectacular photorealism of flowers and food as well as some more abstract work.

Aug to Jessica and Jeanette - Mimi

These two were returned to me. They had stickers with bar codes and I had used a return address label on the back. I didn't follow my own advice and put the sticker on the short edge of the envelope so that the orientation was vertical so that the scanner wouldn't pick it up. Let this be a warning to all of us that we really have to work at making our envelopes scanner friendly.

The style of lettering is the one from Rolly. I used two different types of white gel pen. I like the detail provided by the finer pen on Jessica's. But I prefer the whiter white on Jeannette's. 

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It is so much fun when my pen pals send me things like this. It's from Mimi who has an impressive career in the special collection world. It is a 15th century book and the rubricator is complaining about their fingers being tired. Now that I look closely - that looks like a book that is typeset. And the first typeset books were from the 15th century - 1455 is the date most often associated with the Gutenberg bible.

I wonder if they only printed in black, leaving space for the red - and then all the red had to be done by hand. Note to self...ask Mimi if that's how it worked.

Aug from Patty - guinea fowl wallpaper

Patty researched and found one of the Barbie fonts which looks great on that hot pink. I almost wish I had another sheet of Barbie stamps. Patty used the Posca paint markers and mentioned that they can be too juicy and then dry up faster than one would expect. In my experience, the type of paper can influence the behavior of the markers. Art supplies require a lot of trial and error. Then, in a perfect world, you keep a log of successes and failures so that you can refer back to what worked and what didn't. Sometimes an ornery pen or marker can be a failure on everything you try - and then you finally find something that works well ---- but then it doesn't last long because there were so many test runs that used up the ink or paint. 

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Here is a long video with Juan Pablo Molyneux showing the restoration of his mansion in Paris. He's a charming person and the mansion is quite lovely. I have no idea if anyone is interested. I included it because there is one room where he had the entire wall space covered with the feathers from guinea fowl. I have fond memories of tending to a flock of guinea fowl while visiting my grandmother and uncles on a ranch in Montana. I loved the polka dot feathers. And we all know how much I love dots - and how I rely on them to solve design problems.

Link to 1 hour video go to 55:32 minutes for the feather room.