Just drawing yellow things in my landscape sketchbook. I’m being a bit lazy and not scanning or color correcting the images… these are just iPhone shots!
Another made up landscape plan
In this one I was actually imagining this in my front yard in the bed by the driveway. In reality, the front yard planted with natives but this was one of my earlier imaginings.
I get obsessed with certain color combos. This one I’m looking at silver foliage and peach flowers.
Landscape Sketchbook - Vignettes
I like to do little landscape vignettes. Not a whole landscape design but just a bed or a small area. It’s fun to use these informal, made-up sketches to explore color and texture and layering of plants.
Here is one with lots of maroon, red, orange, and yellow plants.
Another one with some red and adding in some boulders and gravel, IDK, I find drawing these fun and soothing!
Landscape Sketchbook - Blobs of Color
I was just playing around with color in this sketch. I really love seeing a landscape where there is super bright color introduced. So far I have not really had a chance to get a client to do this. I have certainly suggested it and tried! I really have! I just love a bright contrast and pop of color!
Landscape Sketchbook - Plan View
I came to landscape design through drafting and design, not through plants or gardening. When I first started landscape design classes I seriously did not know a single plant. LOL. One of the first classes I took was planting design for some reason. It was kinda hard since I knew absolutely zero about plants. :D
But I looooved hand drafting so much. It’s one of those activities where I can really get into a flow state. I like CAD drafting as well but it is not nearly as soothing.
I like to doodle these plan view symbols. Would it be weird to get some of these tattooed on myself?! No, no it would not be weird.
colorful plan view plant symbols
colorful plan view plant symbols
My Current Mental Landscape
My bubble diagram of my mental landscape. I think I was in a bit of a depressive episode when I drew this one. I should redraw this now and then to see how things change. Because, if nothing else, we know that landscapes change over time.
What would yours look like?
Sketchbook
watercolor painting in a sketchbook of a Clanculus margaritarius
Chicken Math
Our second to last chicken died in February of this year and, with just one chicken left, I decided that we would get a new batch of chickens. My timeline was dependent on Concord Feed and their schedule of chickens. I was hoping to get some specific breeds. I ended up just getting the ones they had available and I am very glad I did because the week after I picked ours up there was a global pandemic declared and people went nuts buying up all the chickens. It was all about sourdough starter and buying ‘pandemic chickens’ in those first few weeks. I mean, also it was about people being scared, dying, losing their jobs and a host of other horrible things.
We ended up getting six chickens, 2 cream legbars, and four cochins (black, blue, buff, speckled). Our older hen is an Easter Egger and she mostly hates us.
Even now I feel the inexplicable pull of chicken math. I really want to add some chocolate eggers or a Lavender Orpington… there are so many adorable chickens out there.
Meme showing a still of Boromir from The Lord of the Rings with the caption, “One does not simply get a few chickens”.
Baby chickens are just the cutest things! Check out these nerds as babies:
So the week after got these the SIP order was put in place. My sister and I organized a pet fashion show for the kids in our lives. It was a great success. I submitted several chicks wearing muffin papers.
Photo of a sketchbook page open to a watercolor and ink drawing of a ticket (front and back) saying ‘Pet Fashion Show March 2020”
Picture of a gray and white chick butt wearing a muffin paper as a skirt.
Lami Safari Fountain Pens
I’m really enjoying sketching with my Lamy Safari pens. I’m most worried about upkeep for them, though. They need to be cleaned regularly and I am not great at that kind of thing. Right now I amusing Noodler’s Ink Black with the special refillable cartridges. Why do they come with non-water resistant blue ink? No one wants that!
Landscape Sketchbook - Containers
Turquoise pots are just lovely aren’t they? I bought this one at Pottery and Beyond in Emeryville.
Map Dress and Landscape Brooches
I'm close to being done with this dress. I have been prototyping the brooches. First in tissue paper and then with wool felt and embroidery.
Map of Paris Dress
I found this old gold velvet map fabric online. It's got a bit of stretch to it and has a nice heavy substantial weight to it. I decided to use a pattern from The Party Dress Book: How to Sew the Best Dress in the Room
I added pockets, too. <-- possibly a mistake. Also, it was possibly a mistake to use this heavy fabric for what is supposed to be a flirty party dress. Anyhoo... I'm working on some fitting. The lower part of the torso needs to be lengthened and the bodice strap is making me twitchy.I had all sorts of ideas for incorporating some sort of Ardiuno into this dress. Upon further consideration I realize this would be distracting and TOO MUCH. I will be adding some embroidery to it, however.The Arduino powered dress will come later and needs more thought.
Forest Dress
I finally finished the Forest Dress. I started sewing this dress about 5 years ago when my son was a baby. The fabric is Timeless Treasures vintage lawn that I found in a thrift shop, or maybe I bought it at the Oakland White Elephant Sale. The black trim is an old black sheet that I repurposed into various things. The dress lining (skirt and front bodice only) is a really pretty black on black striped lawn.
I've not been slacking in the sewing dept. for 5 years. This just got wadded up and put in a box and I forgot about it. It's more a testament to ADHD. I love to start things and once I have the basic idea out there I get bored of it. Details! Annoying, annoying details!When I started getting obsessed with combining sewing and thinking about landscape design I remembered it and pulled it out. Since it was already started I figured I could finish it up real quick. Of course, that didn't happen. I started 2 other dresses in the middle of it (again?!) and THEN... horror of horrors, I accidentally locked my cat in my studio and um... let's just say that my cat destroyed the pattern pieces.I (mostly) used McCall's M4769 for this dress and since I have made other dresses with this pattern I was able to reverse engineer the missing pieces.I can tell I started this dress right when I got my serger. I serged the skirt seems with elastic thread I was using to sew myself some bathing suits at the same time. ahahaha. WHY?! Probably I did this because threading elastic nylon thread into a serger is a huge pain.
Fabrics: vintage lawn - brown blue and black forest scene, old black sheet, trim: striped lining: black striped lawnNotions: vintage pearly shank buttonsPattern: partially McCall's M4769, partially my own slopers, partial some reverse engineered/jiggered piecesTime to sew: oh, about 5 years. :DTheme: Vintage forests.