Farm Dinners

betsy

Last year, totally serendipitously, I found a new part time job at a third-generation family farmette here in Pittsburgh. I was hired to do 8-10 hours a week of bookkeeping and invoicing, etc. While that is part of the job the bigger part has become much more than that. Farmer Tara has welcomed me as her partner-in-crime to help brood chickens, take care of the beehives, host special events (our first wedding is in October!) and produce the Summer Farm Dinner Series.

The Farm Dinners are one of the coolest things I've ever been part of. This season we have seventeen dinners in the series. Tara worked this past winter to secure chefs from around Pittsburgh to participate by planning menus based primarily on produce from the farm. The chefs also source meats and cheese and other items as locally as possible. We even ask that as much of the alcohol is locally produced and we're lucky to have vodka, rum and whiskey made right here. And the beer! So many great brewers doing their thing locally.

[Side note: We just started working with Hitchhiker Brewing Co right here in my little town. There are plans in the works for them to create a special Churchview Brew with ingredients from the farm. Standby for details on that.]

One of my favorite roles in these dinners is creating the look and feel of the farm. Getting to go "yard-sale-ing" (with my dudes) for vintage dishes and linens is a great way to spend a Saturday morning. We have amassed a nice collection to set the table and various other spots around the farm but I'm always on the hunt. The farm itself is ripe with old wooden boxes, farm tools and antlers to use to create the feeling I'm going for. The flowers for every dinner are pulled from the fields, herb garden, edges of the surrounding woods and Tara's mom's amazing garden. As such the arrangements change along with the season just as the menus do. It's really cool to watch the summer unfold and slowly turn to fall and bear witness to it in such an intimate, close to the earth, way.

I'm wildly thankful to be a part of what goes on at Churchview Farm.  Check us out when you get a minute.

For the love of honeybees

beeyard

betsy

I spent half of a day last week on a mission to go buy a few thousand bees from a honey farm in Hickory, PA. I love traveling anywhere I've never been before  - even if it's just a simple back roads trip to a honey farm (and maybe especially if it is so). I found the farm on Craigslist and headed out two days later to pick up a 5 Frame Nuc to add to our apiary at Churchview Farm where I work part-time.

The honey farm is a typical roadside house, shed and perma-tent thing that sells honey, herbs, plants, etc. A little underwhelming at first. Then I noticed the cow in the front yard with the dogs. A single cow, sunbathing by the front porch while the cute dogs did their own thing. My new life goal is to have a cow-in-residence. Then I notice the bee yard down over the hill by the pond and the garage filled with woodenware and wax foundation and every other bit of beekeeping equipment you could ever want to lay eyes on. Then I meet the grandpa hanging out in the shop. Then I meet the wicked charming 3-year old who named me "captain". I was in total love with the whole place.

The owner (who told me the story of his family losing the farm in the depression and how he bought it back over a decade ago) had me hop in his little farm cart (which I also need STAT) and we roamed all around - sometimes picking up his daughter and her pet silkie chicken, sometimes driving the boy, always carrying a lit smoker to calm the bees when we got to the bee yard. After Mark selected my nuc and loaded it on the cart we went to see his honey house and he gave me some quick lessons in organic mite treatments and I was ready to go. He thanked me for making the trip to which I responded, "I never want to leave". Regardless - with 5-10K bees in the back of your car it's best to hit the road and get the ladies set up in their new home pretty quickly. Less than two hours later they were settled in next to Delia I and Delia II at the Farm. It was a simple, exciting adventure that I hope to do over soon when I'm ready to have bees at home again. Here is Betsy tucked in next to the Delias. Welcome home, gals.

Patchwork Tin USA

This piece will be in my pop up shop at Lure Paper Goods on June 20, 2014.

Join me for a pop-up shop in Florida!

Our Fair Country (and a big announcement)

I'm heading to NYC for the National Stationery Show. When I return I will be throwing myself fully into making Worker Bird a real, real thing. I am excited and inspired to take this leap. There will be more of these maps and all 50 states and much more coming this year. Onward.

Spring Announcement

I am so thrilled to announce that Bourbon & Boots will be selling the Southern States from my Our Fair States series. I am shipping the pieces to them today and will announce shortly when they're live on their site.

Great big ol' USA - process

My husband inspired me to do something big with the tin art I've been making so I used the Our Fair States idea and went 48 times bigger - I made a map of the contiguous states. It's about 26" wide and 20" tall on two pieces of wormy chestnut. I started by printing out a map of the states. Then I traced and cut out each state separately. I then cut each state out of my stock of biscuit tins. I got lucky with some (NC and VA for example) and others were chosen simply for color or pattern. I began assembling at Washington state, moved down and across, down to FL and upwards to New England, tacking and cutting and placing as I went. After every state was tacked well into place I filled up a barrel of wine and set myself up for hours of tacking in hundreds of tiny nails (I use 19 gauge, 1/2" nails for anyone that's interested). When that was done I had a hot soak in epsom salts and slept like a baby. And dreamt of putting nails into metal. ("What could that MEAN?") I will have the piece on display TOMORROW at Handmade Arcade along with a batch of new tin pieces for the holidays. I will have some new 2C prints and my wooden panel pieces, as well. AND tasty Peppermint Bark to give away with purchases. If you brave the wintry weather that is predicted please stop by my booth and say hey. Onward.

Tin signs for all!

I'm so excited to be making these signs and I feel like people are starting to notice them more (at least I HOPE that's what is going on!). I'm about to start a new commission for the largest one yet. It's for a Tenth Anniversary gift. The buyer reminded me that tin is the traditional gift for 10 years. I love that this is how she's choosing to honor that tradition. I will post a picture here once her big day has passed. I just delivered the piece below to the most wonderful home I think I've ever been in. If you didn't see the previous post about it they were featured here. I love making these and I love the kind feedback I'm getting about them. Feeling happy and hopeful. Onward.

Summer for real and everything is growing

P1000893

 It's the season of CSAs and farmers markets and fresh everything wonderful. I started a new job with Churchview Farm here in Pittsburgh and I love every minute I spend there. It's not just that the women who own it are awesome and driven and hard-working; it's not just that there are chickens roaming and dust-bathing and crowing and scratching everywhere; it's not just that bees are flying in and out of their hives - it's all of things rolled into perfect hours under the sun. When I'm not there I find myself daydreaming about our own farm sometime in the future. There's something special about having your surroundings sustain you in ways physical and emotional. I'm thankful for the things that are shifting in my life and in my heart. I'm thankful for my family who I share these days with. Grow some vegetables. And eat them. Enjoy your summer.

The birds have already feathered their nests

Have you? It's definitely spring here in Western PA (I saw some House Sparrows doing-the-do this morning so I know it's true) and we're all coming out of hibernation and greeting the new season. A few Spring Cleaning items: last weekend was Craftin' Outlaws in lovely Columbus, OH. Thanks to Megan and everyone for putting on another great show. I will be at the Mt Lebanon Earth Day event this Saturday to celebrate. Stop by my booth to say hi and feed some mealworms to my hens. It goes from 11-3 at Main Park. I will be adding some new pieces from my tin series to my etsy shop later today. This one is already there: Lastly - I designed and printed a 5x7 piece featuring a Great Horned Owl. I am going to be selling the print and a portion of the proceeds from each sale will go to Wildbird Recovery Center. Details to come in the next post. Onward. 

A good day for a show

Spending the day here in beautiful Columbus, Ohio, at Craftin' Outlaws.

Big doings around the Foxbury Farm

Just in time for Spring everything is new around here now. The biggest of the big doings is that my wonderful husband took the leap into working and living the way he (WE) wants to. Yesterday was his first official day as the Big Boss Man at Yellow Couch Studio. This means so much to us - more time together and more time as a family, flexibility with our time and our days, space and time to explore new ideas and projects. It's all so wonderful. I am so proud of him and excited to see what our future brings. I'll have a couple of full days a week to work myself which will be the first time since 2006 that I've been able to dedicate big, fat blocks of time to my pursuits. (Watch out, pursuits!) I'm starting my new work life by putting a bunch of new work up in my Etsy Shop. ONWARD. 

Amazing, beautiful.

These.Wow. Thank you, Shivani, for featuring these and turning me onto this amazing artist.

Christmas Bird Count 2012

Yesterday I took part in the Annual Christmas Bird Count. After Friday's horrible events I especially needed and wanted a respite from my thoughts. Roaming the woods and solely focusing on one thing - flitting birds - was just what I needed. I joined Jim and Pam and tromped through four parks in our little town and this is what we saw, in no particular order:Carolina ChickadeeTufted TitmouseCardinalRobinCrowWhite-breasted nuthatchSong SparrowWhite-throated sparrowNorthern MockingbirdRuby-crowned KingletGreat Horned Owl (heard)Carolina WrenHouse FinchGoldfinchCooper's HawkMourning DoveRed-tailed hawkDowny woodpeckerHairy woodpeckerYellow-bellied sapsuckerBlue jayRed-bellied woodpeckerParks roamed: Bird Park, Twin Hills, Robb Hollow, Connor Conservation Area

Any other name

I love to name things - Christmas trees, cars, plants, animals - but not anything of my own.I am taking a leap this Fall. I am going to start - FOR REAL - making and trying to get an audience for all sorts of art and craft-related things that float around in my head but never see the light of day.So I need a name. What should I call this venture? I welcome any ideas and thoughts and suggestions. The name I'm mulling over is "Beehive Crafted." I love bees and their unwavering industriousness. Someone opined that this is a forgettable name (JERK) and someone else said it might be "too cutesy" (DOUBLE JERK) for the things I make. So...back to square one? Or not.The first step in my giant leap was to apply to vend my wares at Handmade Arcade. I've done this show in years' past at the L2 Design Collective table and I love every second of it. It draws a huge, selective crowd with great taste and to be accepted to exhibit is a pretty big deal. Fingers crossed.I'll be posting more in the coming weeks about the products I'll be making. Of course I will feature my Love Letter to Pittsburgh series of prints on wood (along with bees, chickens, etc). But there will be other new things in the works. Standby.And do let me know if you come up with anything magical.

**UPDATE: My dear, sweet, best big brother pointed out that by calling people JERK and DOUBLE JERK for giving feedback might dissuade others from offering their thoughts. He's so right. He's always right about everything.

Love letter to Pittsburgh

I have started my second love letter to Pittsburgh. (The first love letter was a project for Wendell August Forge and I'll certainly shout from the rooftops when it's complete.)It is no secret that I am in love with this place. I love most everything about it and I think it's absolutely gorgeous and, more importantly, filled with some of the nicest people I've ever met.So I've had this idea flitting around in my head ever since I was lucky enough to have an exhibit at Wildcard (awesome shop if you haven't been there - and if you have, you know of what I speak!) and since I'm an ace procrastinator it's taken me this long to get on it. But I did get on it. Today. And I think I'll even have a few pieces done in time for Handmade Arcade this weekend. Stop by the L2 Design Collective table and say hello, will you?     

Little Suburban Farm Life

The chicks should be arriving next week and we're so excited to see the wee things. Fingers crossed that they arrive safely. We're busy prepping for their arrival and also planning the large outdoor "Chicken CUBE" that we're building. We have pretty much decided to build a fully enclosed space and then site the coop - and all other hen-related things - inside the cube.First we have to relocate the castle: Then try to build something a lot like this:Then put this little guy into the "CUBE" (and finish staining the deck and rebuild the retaining wall and stack the firewood and and and)This past weekend we took a quick trip to Chadds Ford, PA and spent a few hours roaming around Terrain at Styer's in absolute awe of it all. I know where I want to be buried. Hope the fine folks at Terrain won't mind. Every square inch was inspiring. Maybe we will face one side of the CUBE in funnels? More on Terrain later. Headed to the incredible Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. 

New items added to etsy store!

I have Fall Fever and a few commissions (which, I believe I have mentioned before, I LOVE) and so I've been busy printing. I have managed to finish a few new "box" pieces and I just put them in my Etsy Shop. Thanks for looking!

New collage in time for Spring

We've been snowed in around here and I have used a bit of the time to get back up to my studio and make some new pieces. I have one done and one in the works.I have heard people say that collage "isn't really art" - I think I don't care what they say. I love it and always have.

Illustration Friday! - "Worn"

Worn.I love this week's topic. I am drawn to old things that show their history. You can't fake age as gorgeous as the frayed edges of this book cover.Check out all of the other submissions here.