Postcard a day 1

This is a thing I’ve decided to do. Not really every day, but rather on the days when I’m too busy, too tired, too distracted or too something else to haul out the serious painting gear and have a go at that. Or any other creative thing for that matter. Such as this week which seems to insist on being slept away mostly, I’m a complete zombie. Lovely weather and all, I’d much rather break in my bicycle! But there’s no forcing it, I’d not be safe in traffic.

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I have no idea how many people are running a something-like-this-along, most likely 100’s. But I just set the challenge for myself to feel like I wasn’t missing out on picture creation while I do other things, as well as taking the pressure off making a “real” big painting in case any of that nonsense happens. I may do a search on the topic one of these days, but I’ll be more likely to just sit and browse pretty pictures for hours or days instead of making stuff, so for now I won’t.

I’m also not going to post every day or even regularly, just when I feel like it. This is meant to be a treat for myself, not a competition or an exercise. And sometimes other matters are more pressing or I’m simply having so much fun doing other stuff that I forget. 😉

If you want to -along you’re more than welcome to, and we can do the linky thing and all that, but I refuse to make any rules or schedules, just so you know! Just post your cards and comments – or we can swap!

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I started out with a piece of watercolour paper that I dipped in my woad vat while testing if it was exhausted or what. It was indeed a wee bit tired (not that I know if a fresh vat would have made more of the paper, I’ll have to test that later), so the next day I dribbled some of the plant watercolours on it, tore it into 4 pieces and had a go with a glue stick because I hated what I’d done with the dribbles. I’m sooo rusty at this collage thing. And I know I should probably stick to one topic rather than trying on all the things I’m rusty at, but it seems I can’t help it. Ok, I haven’t really tried very hard not to, so I don’t know if I could.

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I also considered to just copy cat a lot of stuff to keep the flow until I get into it properly, I don’t like to but I hear it’s great for cranking your skills. At the moment, the exercise is primarily about accepting that I make poor choices and that my cards are sometimes useless in the decorative sense. Maybe I’ll have an “ugliest card” competition at the end of the year where you can vote for all the monsters. 😉

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This tiny format is a HUGE challenge for me as well. I want to cram all sorts of things on there, which is impossible. And why postcard and not just “a tiny image a day”? Well, I like to pretend I’m making something useful I think. And I know I’ve framed pretty postcards and put them on the wall, so really, it’s just a name.

Maybe I’ll put old stamps on the back and write pretend messages to and from imaginary people….

Then there’s an entirely different matter. I appear to have developed a slight hand tremor. I can feel it if I try to draw or knit with small needles for instance. Why I have no idea, it doesn’t run in the family that I’m aware. So I guess I should not count on any type of precision work in drawing etc. but have to develop a style where it doesn’t matter. I hope this is it, though, I’d hate to give up making things with my hands. I’ll have to pay attention to how tired I am when it happens. It’s certainly not very good for calligraphy or fine scissor work either! 🙁

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Some old pieces of tissue paper with ink. I thought they might be more interesting with some doodles on all that white space, but can I?

Et postkort om dagendanish

…har jeg tænkt mig at lave som projekt.

Jeg har overhovedet ikke kigget ret meget eller for nylig pÃ¥ de 100-vis af lignende websider man kan finde derude, for sÃ¥ fÃ¥r jeg aldrig løsrevet mig fra at bare sidde og kigge og beundre. Men jeg tænkte jeg kunne bruge det som en slags livline, sÃ¥ jeg føler at jeg trods alt laver noget billedagtigt i de perioder hvor der ikke rigtig er plads til det. Som denne uge der insisterer pÃ¥ at være zombie-sæson, i det gode vejr, hvor jeg hellere ville ud at lufte min cykel lidt. Men jeg ville ikke være trafiksikker, der er ikke noget at gøre…

Ikke noget med at vise dem hver dag eller regelmæssigt, bare når jeg gider. Hvis nogen har lyst til at dele lignende projekter er det super, men der er ingen regler!

Jeg begyndte med et stykke papir som jeg havde dyppet i vaidgryden da den var ved at løbe tør for farve. SÃ¥ driblede jeg lidt andre farver pÃ¥, det blev grimt, sÃ¥ limstiften kom frem…

Det er meget meget længe siden jeg har lavet collager kan jeg godt mærke, og jeg tror aldrig jeg har arbejdet så småt, så det er udfordring på mange planer. Måske jeg går i gang med at kopiere nogen yndlingskunstnere, det siges at være en god måde at forbedre sig på, og så sker der da lidt når min egen fantasi ikke ruller som jeg vil det. Nu må vi se.

Jeg farvede ogsÃ¥ lidt papir i cochenillegryden, og jeg tror jeg hiver mine bladtryk fra sidste Ã¥r frem ogsÃ¥ og klipper lidt i dem – eller laver nye.

MÃ¥ske sætter jeg gamle frimærker bagpÃ¥ og skriver fiktive beskeder til og fra ukendte og indbildte personer…

Til gengæld har jeg på det seneste opdaget, at jeg ryster en smule på hænderne. Det er ikke noget der ligger til familien, så jeg kender ikke årsagen, men jeg kan ikke tegne særlig nøjagtigt, og jeg kan mærke det hvis jeg strikker på tynde pinde. Ret irriterende, jeg håber ikke det udvikler sig yderligere, og så må jeg jo bare finde en tegnestil hvor det ikke ses.

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Elderberry juice

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8 liters should be enough to see me through the winter storms, served hot with a twist of lemon, honey and fresh ginger! Thanks to this wonderful contraption that my mother gifted me a few years ago. Instead of boiling and straining, you steam the berries. Just add water in the bottom container, 3 kg of berries + 1 kg of sugar in the top, and the juice collects in the middle.

Next week I’ll be back on my usual subject matters, I promise. Spinning wheel is going to get dusted for instance.

danishLidt hyldebærkoncentrat takket være den dejlige “saft-Maja” jeg har fÃ¥et af min mor. SÃ¥ kan jeg klare vinteren med varme drikke tilsat citron, honning og frisk ingefær, nams!

Næste uge lover jeg at holde mig mere til de sædvanlige emner. 😉 Lidt spinderi bliver det nok til!

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The last day

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September is for some the last summer month, but if you look at nature it’s autumn. The air is different, night temperatures drop if not also in daytime, grain harvest is usually done unless it rains too much, berries ripen and flowers wither or make an effort at a second round, not quite as showy as the first.

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The kale has survived the onslaught of tiny critters I think, my weld is looking miserable and the batch I cooked up yesterday did not give very much colour compared to the small samples I did earlier. So yes, you can drag your feet too long. I haven’t gotten round to my blues either, but the temps are supposed to stay mellow, so I’m still hoping.

I’m thinking whether I want to make myself a hat this year and which fiber to use.

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My back is getting back to normal after last weekend’s ordeal, just a bit of tension in my neck, still. Now of course it’s time to haul in the firewood before it gets wet again…. We get a pile delivered every feb-march, stack it to dry outside and then keep it in the shed over winter. (mind you, if we stay in this house I believe the foundation size for said shed, the original farmhouse from the 1840’s, would make a quite ok studio size for me and not too far to go to work in)

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I’ve been making fresh yarn sample cards for hanging in the open but not sun for xx months, perhaps a year? And getting the solar samples paired with non-faded yarn, numbered and all sorts of organized, it took me DAYS, and I’m so proud of myself for persevering. Just have to crochet little squares to go in the wash for sampling detergent effects and then I’ll put it all in a binder. 3 years of natural dye experiments.

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Next year I’ll do just a few new plant experiments if I can remember which ones have come to mind over the last few months, otherwise I’ll focus on getting as many shades as I can from just a few, lightfast plants and not bother with the fugitive ones.

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The rest of my week has been spent nursing the small brown pony who came down with an abscess in his hind hoof. Treatment for such is hot soapy baths to draw the infection out and clean the wound once it’s popped open. He was quite cooperative about standing with his foot in a bucket as long as treats were forthcoming.

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Some fade, others just keel over…

Den sidste sommerdagdanish

Selvom september kan give nogen fine, lune dage, så er det alligevel for mig den første efterårsmåned. Luften er anderledes, det føles anderledes indeni, jeg begynder at længes efter at lave vintermad, overveje garnvalg til den hue jeg vil strikke, blomsterne er enten visnet ned eller giver det en sidste krampetrækning med 2. generation lidt mindre farvebomber.

Jeg er endelig nået til at høste min farvevau(-reseda), men desværre er det vist lidt sent, den gryde jeg satte over i går har godt nok ikke meget farve i sig i forhold til tidligere på sæsonen, ja blot for en måned siden. De lover heldigvis lunt vejr, så jeg håber stadig lidt på at jeg kan nå at gøre noget ved mine blå planter, vaid og japansk indigo.

Jeg har brugt ugen pÃ¥ at være rigtig disciplineret og lavet garnkort til min mappe med farveeksempler, solblegede sammen med originale, nummerering af alle fed gennem 3 Ã¥r osv. Hver plante fÃ¥r sin egen side i et ringbind med noter og halløj! Jeg er ellers ikke til den slags administrativt arbejde, sÃ¥ jeg er meget stolt af mig selv. 😉

Min ryg er ved at være i orden efter halmweekenden, blot lidt nakkespændinger tilbage. Nu er vi sÃ¥ kommet til brændestablen, som skal i skuret inden det begynder at øse ned i ugevis, sÃ¥ det trækker fugt til sig igen. Det foregÃ¥r med trillebør 50 m frem og tilbage gennem en smal port, ikke noget med at bare læsse det i traileren og dumpe det foran døren! Brændeskuret er det oprindelige bondehus fra 1840’erne og ved at falde fra hinanden. Jeg gÃ¥r og tænker pÃ¥, hvis vi bliver boende her, at fundamentet vel egentlig har en ok størrelse til et lille atelier….

Og ellers har jeg bare gået og ordnet varme fodbade til den lille brune bisse, som ragede en hovbyld til sig på det ene bagben. Heldigvis var han yderst medgørlig, bare der blev puttet noget i den anden ende samtidig.

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How often?

grubleThe number of plant dyeing posts in my draft list is exploding at the moment, so I’ve run into a “problem” with frequency.

Even if I do 3 posts a week, I’m still 2 weeks ahead and that leaves no slots open for other stuff I’d like to talk about. I know that many people do a post a day, but do all the people read all the posts?

I also want to keep my current library structure of one plant:one post to keep it all easier to look up later, for myself as well. So making one huge post a week with 3-5 plants won’t work either. And what about the gardening, that’s right now as well! (of course there is always the option to not actually blog everything you do)

For myself, there is no problem in seasonal blogging, changing the main subject matter in cycles. But I realize that some people only come here for the spinning or the dyeing and they’ll most likely go away if I only write about philosophical matters or painting for 2 months. That would be sad. I do want to keep all of you here, a blog without interaction is useless.

That means I want your input, I really do. Seasonal subjects OR seasonal post explosions with intermittent dead zones? I expect at least 50 different replies. pift

Incidentally this post was written with my left hand, sitting sideways to the keyboard, because Arthur is having his midday nap on me.

And yes, I do have a teeny post for tomorrow with no plants in it whatsoever.


On a different note, can somebody enlighten me what the current trend of photographing your own feet is about? Often with flowers, in focus and out of. Because I just don’t get it. Mind you, I don’t really have a lot of cute shoes, so maybe that’s why. I do have red gum boots. Perhaps I should do a theme involving those? Or would that just be kinky….

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Hvor ofte skal man blogge?danish

-  svaret er naturligvis, så ofte man lyster, men:

Plantefarvningssæsonen er på sit højeste, og dermed bliver kladdelisten over blogindlæg meget lang. Selv hvis jeg kun skriver om det ene emne er jeg to uger forud, og så er der lissom slet ikke plads til at skrive om alt muligt andet! (kæmpe katastrofe, ja?)

Jeg ved godt at mange skriver hver dag, men bliver det også læst? Blog uden kommunikation er jo kedeligt tidspilde.

Mange kommer her kun for plantefarvning eller spinding eller måske et tredje emne, og jeg tænker at de måske finder andre græsgange mens jeg knævrer om de emner de ikke gider. Så jeg prøver at blande bare en lille smule, for at få nogen samtaler i gang og holde dem.

Selv har jeg ikke problemer med sæsonprægede emner, men hvis alle garnfolkene forsvinder når jeg så skriver om maleri eller hverdagens tanker om min nye cykel, så er det jo lidt trist. Samtidig ønsker jeg at holde planen med 1 plante = 1 indlæg, så der bliver en nem struktur at finde rundt i for plantefarvere og mig selv.

SÃ¥ nu vil jeg have input – her har danskerne chancen for at sige noget for en gangs skyld og fÃ¥ noget indflydelse. Skal det være periodevis masseblogning hvor det hele bliver skudt af pÃ¥ en gang med efterfølgende dødvande, eller emner der skifter med Ã¥rstiden? Gisp, og hvad med haveindlæg, dem er jeg knap nok begyndt pÃ¥, men de ligger jo ogsÃ¥ lige NU.

Jeg kunne ogsÃ¥ lave 3 blogge, men sÃ¥ ender de pludselig med at ligge halvdøde og glemte hen hele tiden. Hesteblog, fotoblog, dansk blog, haveblog, tanker og teser…. Jeg er ikke rigtig “jeg har lige lavet mig en avocadomad med purløg og tomat som jeg vil nyde i min skyggefulde pavillon”-typen, sÃ¥ det behøver ikke ligefrem sin egen blog.

SÃ¥ hvad vil I ha’?! Dem der siger noget vinder. (mÃ¥ske) Jeg har en mistanke om at danske bloggere kun kan finde ud af af bruge Blogspot, men I mÃ¥ rigtig gerne fortælle mig, at jeg tager helt fejl. pardon

Og nu vil jeg så forsøge at spise den avocadomad og huske servietten til når det hele falder fra hinanden. Avocado på rugbrød indtages nemmest som guacamole, men det havde mit blodsukker ikke lige tid til at vente på. Og hjemmelavet hyldedrik og sol, så bliver det ikke mere idyllisk.