Ol Blue Eye

Studio Sale & Installation

Here are some photos from our recent studio sale at The Bridge. It was a super fun time and we are so grateful for our friends in the Charlottesville community for coming out! We also had a special guest stray dog show up who will be up for adoption at the Charlottesville SPCA starting next Wednesday! He has one blue eye! Thanks everybody and happy fall.

xo,

A&J

Harvest Time Already

School starts on the 25th and my new job orientation starts this week. I guess summer is over?! Not really... considering how much we go to the beach on weekends in September so Jeremy can throw himself into some hurricane waves and enjoy the off-season goodness. That being said, yesterday we saw some leaves turning, TURNING! in Charlottesville. Bummer. I started to freak out, it was only 70 yesterday, the leaves are turning, I swear I could smell fall. Don't get me wrong, I love fall. Even in Wisconsin fall was probably my favorite season. But we are in Virginia! Its still August. Anyhow, it IS the wonderful time of the late summer where our garden in VA Beach is very productive and I am posting some pictures of the literal 'fruits' of our labor (yes, i am a dork). So now, all two of you who may read this, go out and enjoy the summer while it is still rocking.
xo,Allyson

Summer Vortex!

Hi everybody! I am sorry postings have been so scarce these days! This summer has certainly been crazy. Between moving out of our house in Harrisonburg (!!!), into my new office, out of our storage, and into our new house (I'll let you add that up) we feel as though we have been moving for weeks! (oh, wait, we have. oh shit.) Bruises and soreness aside, Jeremy and I both feel relieved and happy to be in our new place in Charlottesville. It really feels like a homecoming. Our new place has a huge HUGE garden plot and is a small house in a good way vs. our last place with the very small garden and the way too huge house. In terms of energy conservation, this place is much more our style... all electric utilities and just enough space for two people. Nice!

So in the midst of all of this moving stuff we have been away from computers, and don't tell my blog this, but it has been so nice. I guess when school starts we will both be glued to this thing so its really important to get out and enjoy an unplugged and truly 'wireless' life until then! In other super progressive and futuristic technology news, Jeremy and I put our cell phone in the glove box of the car (for emergencies) and got a land line. Uh huh. Call us... maybe we will answer and maybe not... We are totally living in the future. I am stoked.

This summer we have been doing a lot of planning, thinking, and talking about our garden and about becoming more self-sufficient. we had put a lot of serious thought into buying a house but after looking and talking some more, we came to the conclusion that we should save our pennies and build our own house - the way we want it. This may take a while... We were very inspired by the idea of making something truly sustainable and by the new wave of people who are trying to live off the grid without being total hermits.

Along with this realization came a new found annoyance with the fact that eco-friendly and "green" have become such empty buzzwords. This was made very clear to me while watching t.v. at Mom's house... We saw a show called "Red, Hot, and Green". Holy crap. Okay. To their credit, they did use FSC certified lumber in their construction. But they did not talk about paint (chemicals, pollution, safer, healthier alternatives) or really do anything else in the episode that we watched that could be considered, eco-friendly , "green" (except for some actual green colored paint), sustainable, ecologically responsible, or aesthetically pleasing. Maybe I am too sensitive, or being too critical, but its upsetting because these ideas are very meaningful to a lot of people. I also have to fairly point out that it is a double edged sword because I DO like that people are talking & thinking about ecologically friendly options in their homes & lives more because it is so trendy. The bottom line for me is that being responsible and taking care of the earth is something we NEED to do. It is not fashionable...its practical, it is survival. Nobody is a perfect activist (least of all myself) but I really love to see genuine effort, not just buzz. Anyhow, it has made both Jeremy and I continue to consider ways that we can recycle, consume less, and make things ourselves with safe and responsible materials.

Well, that is enough for today, I will try to be better about posting! We will be in Richmond this Saturday for the Handmake craft fair outside of Quirk Gallery, so if you are around come and say hi. We will also be having a studio sale in August - but more details on that later!

Hope everyone is well!!!

xo,
Allyson

p.s. One more thing, we have also had a lot of fun finding free food lately. If you are in VA, or probably the east coast in general, this is a great time to pick blueberries and raspberries! We picked a whole quart of blueberries in the national forest the other day and there were a million more there. Very nice indeed.

Oak Galls!

This weekend Jeremy and I visited his Mom's house at the beach. We visit there a lot and even had a garden there last year which was producing food until late September. I couldn't eat a tomato all winter because ours were so good, nothing could measure up! On Saturday we decided to plant another garden there, just for fun. We planted tomato, watermelon, cantaloupe, and squash. So now whether we are at home or visiting their house we have something to tend to! We only spent $10 total! Basically we just bought the plants at the nursery up the road. We went out into the woods to collect bamboo for the tomato supports, and we collected pine straw from underneath one of the trees for mulching the space next to the garden. A very large wolf spider jumped on me and I shrieked like a little girl. It was fun. Gardening always makes me feel really good.

While in the yard we found an oak gall. Oak galls, like walnuts, have been used in ink recipes for centuries. They typically produce a blue-blackish ink. This ink can be highly corrosive, eating through paper (which looks really lacy and amazing but is an conservator's nightmare) and metal nibs. Jeremy and I made some of this ink in graduate school, and it was beautiful. Unlike walnuts (which you pretty much just boil the heck out of and strain), galls need to be soaked for a few days and they need some sort of iron oxide to further the color. We used rusty scraps of metal to get ours going. Walnut ink is definitely more accessible & easier to make. But its really interesting to research old inks and understand how they were made. Many of these old inks have unique recipes that sound a lot like making beer or moonshine where the ink would sit for months and 'brew' until it was the proper color. So... go look outside, you might have an oak tree or a walnut tree in your backyard - free art supplies waiting to be made! I know we need to make a new batch of our own walnut ink soon!

xo,
Allyson

p.s. If you are wondering how Galls are made:

Galls are irregular plant growths which are stimulated by the reaction between plant hormones and powerful growth regulating chemicals produced by some insects or mites. Galls may occur on leaves, bark, flowers, buds, acorns, or roots. Leaf and twig galls are most noticeable. The inhabitant gains its nutrients from the inner gall tissue. Galls also provide some protection from natural enemies and insecticide sprays. Important details of the life cycles of many gall-makers are not known so specific recommendations to time control measures most effectively are not available.

Gall makers must attack at a particular time in the year to be successful. Otherwise, they may not be able to stimulate the plant to produce the tissue which forms the gall. Generally, initiation of leaf galls occurs around "bud break" or as new leaves begin to unfold in the spring. (from the University of Kentucky Entomology website)

Who's Your New Professor?

Please congratulate Allyson when you get the chance... she is now an Assistant Professor of Art at James Madison University. This is a big deal. She is now on a tenure track and has some job security, health insurance, an office, and a real computer! It is a really great job and she got this job in a really tough economy and in a very competitive field. Give her the thumbs up and tell her to take a bow.
Love, Jeremy

ORGANIC MOBILE GARDEN

Today seems to be the first day of spring. We were psyched out in April with a stint of 80 degree days. The past 3 days have been in the 40's/50's during the day and 30's/40's in the evening. It has felt more like the tail end of winter, and it has definitely been a tricky time to start a garden. We have wanted to start an organic garden like last summer but with our current living situation we will be moving at the beginning of July. On Monday we built some small wooden boxes to house our new mobile/moveable garden. Today we painted the boxes with Zero VOC wall paint and planted our new organic garden. We are growing Tomatoes (Mr. Stripey, Cherokee Purple, Black Prince), Broccoli, Cabbage, Squash, and Zucchini. Right now we only have 2 tomato plants, 4 broccoli stalks, 4 cabbage heads started and in boxes. We plan on building one more box tomorrow with recycled wooden palettes for the squash and zucchini. We are trying to make this garden pay off. Currently we have invested $20 in lumber, $10 on plants (purchase from local growers), and $15 on dirt. I hope this garden will be productive enough to cover our expenses. The time is pleasure for us as we are bored out of our minds in Harrisonburg. This town is pretty boring if you are not a mennonite or a person who enjoys the smell of dog food and likes shopping at walmart (or shopping at all). The town goes through somewhat of a transformation after school gets out... about 14000 people leave the city, traffic gets better... but it is so beat. We are trying to find a cure for our boredom and stay positive as long as we are in H-burg proper. We are looking forward to finding a place to live in Charlottesville (or surrounding areas) and lay down some roots (ours and our garden's). It will be extra nice next year because although we will be commuting a little ways to JMU, we will feel like we are in a community at work and where we live (instead of just at work).