Grandfather's Envelopes

I have a thing for envelopes. I've made quite a bit of artwork with them, and despite the fact that I now work with them in a more conventional commercial printing day-to-day way, they still provoke me.

I think it may be something to do with anticipation and surprise. How do you feel when you get a letter in the mail? How does the paper feel in your hand? Can you imagine the penstrokes seeping into the paper, the rhythm of the hand that was writing? How do you open it, and what is inside? Secret, private, protected contents, traveling in their paper case; the ensuing interaction between the sender and the recipient taking place at one remove...


Oh my, handmade Japanese envelopes... {swoon}. Perfection of craft for its own sake... {I can hardly breathe}

image: michael p silva

This is Grandfather's Envelopes, which I stumbled across on Zuihitsu a few months ago. If I'm lucky, eventually I'll track down a copy for myself, In the meantime, just contemplating it keeps my mind all aflutter.

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tea towels and bearnaise

I love sauce. You could say I'm a sauce addict and I'd have to agree. I've been known to decide on new recipes to try based on a sauce I want to use (I'm looking in your general direction, Donald Link's Jalapeno Remoulade!)

That being said, I was thrilled to see one of my tea towels in Frank McMains' photograph accompanying his recipe for Painless Bearnaise.

photo: Frank McMains

Head over to Country Roads to check out the recipe!

Thanks Frank!

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hello stranger!

Wow - it's been a busy few months, and I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. Since my last post in October, I've moved, I was without internet for a while, my studio has looked like a hurricane swept through it, and everything's been all out of sorts. I'm thrilled that I'm finally getting my feet back on the ground, and my creative energy is returning. (I was a little worried for a while there).

I'm still working out some technical things, like trying to figure out where I might have put the memory cards for my camera, and how exactly to get the images from the cards onto this new-to-me computer, but in time I'm sure I'll get it all worked out.

I've really been missing blogging though - and I have to say I was a bit surprised about that. I'm sure many of you can relate - sometimes the blog can seem like a bit of a chore, especially in the beginning. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed connecting with other artists and how much of a community I'd built for myself until I went without it for a while.


So, I'm thrilled to be back in action, and I can't wait to see what everyone's been working on these past few months. I can't wait to show you what I've been working on too! Thanks to everyone who's been visiting - knowing that you were stopping by really gave me a sense of excitement about coming back.

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