Antiquaria

 

Photo by Kelly James

While I have been away from the blog...

Time has seemed to fly by.  Not only am I still working on calligraphy envelopes, commissions, etc, I am launching a new venture with the talented Emma James.  Many of you would recognize our collaboration on her wedding invite last spring, that was featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Our new baby (business) Antiquaria, is shaping up quickly and beautifully.  I am not sure if you could put together two more visually perfectionistic people...but it is working.  We have a temporary site up here and our blog has a couple of posts and we are working on many more.  Of course I will keep you guys updated with developments as soon as I have news.  I encourage any of you that are interested in vintage dishes, linens and home decor to subscribe to the Antiquaria blog to stay up to date.  We will be previewing our favorites in our Catch of the Day section, which will give our readers first dibs on the new merchandise.

Our first photo shoot with Kelly James proved to be successful and rewarding so I am very much looking forward to another one tomorrow where we will be shooting a couple of table scapes and bar ware (my favorite)!

I Know...

I know, I have been seriously MIA.  I am trying to think of the reason for this absence and I just can't seem to pinpoint it.  I think I can attribute it to an onslaught of work and deadlines combined with a lack of inspiration.

Glimpses into what my life has looked since I saw you last...

A quilt top finally got its backing fabric (the Roman Capital ivory) and binding (the black batik).  It now awaits assembly.  I just hope to have it before it starts getting chilly here (which it seems it never will).

D and I went putt putt golfing at Peter Pan...

It was pretty humid and sticky, but we had a awesome time anyway!

Some inspiration shots taken while house sitting...

Possibly for future paintings?

I've got some big things in the works....along with plenty of gorgeous wedding envelopes to address.  I will keep you posted!  Hope you have a splendid Monday!

Boston Part One

So I had mentioned Boston.  This was the view from the front door of the dorm that I stayed in at Stonehill College.  It was just gorgeous.  Brisk and green.  Such a stark contrast to Austin.

And this is my new friend Adam Heller.  He is one of the artists behind Samaritan Carvers located in Rhode Island.  He is so talented and passionate.  Because of him I came home with a new goal (one of many), to learn to carve stone.  

He was traditionally trained and apprenticed but is now stepping out and creating modern carved pieces. Just beautiful stuff.

This is my absolute favorite picture from my Boston trip.  One that I would like to watercolor or draw or paint...just so that I can experience it further.  

It depicts Ewan Clayton's (my amazing teacher) hat along with some reed pens and a smattering of other goodies that were on the table.  It is a wonderful memory for me and one that will not soon lose.

And this is where the moon piece that I previously posted started.  Staring at this gorgeous and haunting moon.

Hope that you have all had a great week.

In This Night

In this night

I look at the moon

so bright, so clear

so uncomplicated

In this night

I look at myself

so new, unclear

so complicated

Will I ever let peacefulness reside

within me

so bright, so clear

so uncomplicated

There is darkness

and sometimes

no moon at all

but he will come out

when I least expect

In this night

the moon looked down

upon my weary head

so bright, so clear

so uncomplicated

Wishing me

Goodnight

This is a piece that I began conceptualizing when I went to the Odyssey calligraphy conference in Boston at the end of July.  I had won a scholarship to attend and I had the most amazing experience.  The people I met and the beautiful setting at Stonehill College was the perfect platform to be truly inspired.  This piece is the most precious and personal thing that I have ever done, because it is for myself.  It explores anxiety, insecurity and self awareness.  It was lettered with Sumi ink on handmade paper using a hand cut quill.  I have to say, it was an extremely difficult piece to letter (because of the texture of the paper) so I needed to rub the surface with pumice.  I think it ended up adding a dreamy quality to the piece.

It was difficult to come back home.  Back to work, to envelopes, to the heat.  August has been a terribly hot and draining month so far.  I will try to post more calligraphy work soon.

Flan

So somewhere in my crazy mind, I got the idea that D's grandmother made flan.  Turns out...not so much!  It was just a topic that had come up recently quite often between me and numerous people so I decided it was time to try it for myself.

D had always mentioned Cajeta (Mexican goats milk caramel) when talking about flan, so I knew that this would definitely need to be a component.  Luckily, I came across this recipe for Cajeta.

It was easy but was a pretty involved time commitment, taking over an hour to make.
Definitely worth it.

So I made the Cajeta in advance (knowing that flan wasn't the quickest desert) and placed in in the refrigerator over night.

The next day was flan day!  I had made steak fajitas for dinner and tried my best to save room.  The flan came together more easily then I would have ever imagined.  I suppose I can credit some of this to all my practice in custard making that I have gotten this year.  I used this amazing Cajeta Flan recipe.  It worked perfectly.

Enjoying Summer

Hello again.

I am just coming up for air trying to balance work and all that summer has to offer.  Truth be told, work is winning at the moment...but I try not to let it stifle all of my fun!

This past week the heat in Austin has really set in (we have been fortunate so far with all the rain we have had) and temperatures have been sweltering.  All that I crave when the heat is on are nice vegetables and salads.  So this arranged salad (above) I made to satisfy my craving.  The wonderful part about it is that it is so dang easy. 

Really all you have to do is roast whichever vegetables you find, either at the local market or the grocery store in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes (or charred to your liking-I like them pretty charred).  While they are roasting, you make a dressing:

1 part sherry vinegar

3 parts olive oil (extra virgin is probably best)

a tablespoon of Dijon mustard (or homemade if you are a food dork like me)

the juice from 1/2 of a lemon (whole if its not very juicy)

1 tablespoon finely minced shallot

Salt and pepper to taste ( do a pinch each)

It really couldn't be easier....and it is so much cheaper than buying it from the grocery store...and it tastes better.  Believe me.

The only other thing that I added, the cherry on top (a very crucial cherry I might add) is Pure Luck goat cheese.  Holy Wow this stuff is good.  And it really brought the dish together.

Now for my favorite part of the meal...you know, being a dessert addict:

Homemade peach ice cream that I made and froze after getting all those peaches (remember?).  This was an amazing way to use up a lot of them and is one of my favorite things ever (you all know that ice cream is my favorite food, right?).  Besides the ice cream, I ended up making peach cobbler, peach bread pudding (kinda tasted like french toast, yum), lots of peach salsa, and the ice cream.  We also had our share of fresh peaches and even froze a few.

I would definitely recommend peach picking but make sure that you first have a game plan for how to use them.  Those suckers really ripened up fast...way faster than I thought that they would!

Well adios for today, I hope you have a blissful Thursday!

Calligraphy and Music

The Cinematic Orchestra

Holy Moly this is amazing digital calligraphy work!