How A Scruffy Magpie Saved A Family.

Our story is deeply painful to share, but it is also beautiful and true. Just know that when I tell you about the tears, the anger and the longing, I am also talking about love. We have laughed till we cried and we have wept ourselves to sleep, for that is the nature of love. Love hurts. Love heals. Photograph: Cameron Bloom.

Our story is deeply painful to share, but it is also beautiful and true. Just know that when I tell you about the tears, the anger and the longing, I am also talking about love. We have laughed till we cried and we have wept ourselves to sleep, for that is the nature of love. Love hurts. Love heals.
Photograph: Cameron Bloom.

Here’s a story to warm your heart and start your day on a lovely note, or end your evening that way. Thanks to Lofty for sending this our way.

Penguin Bloom is the story of an Australian family who rescued a ‘a tiny, scruffy, injured’ magpie chick they called Penguin. In caring for the newest member of their family, the Blooms – including mother Sam, who was herself coming to terms with paralysis after an accident – found that Penguin helped them to heal emotionally. Their story went viral on Instagram and has now been turned into a book, royalties from which will go to Spinal Cure Australia and Wings For Life in the UK.

You can read and see all the images at The Guardian.

Slide into Fall.

Scored to a lilting piano soundtrack, the beauty of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park is the perfect soothing balm to a sweaty summer. In a breathtaking 4K video, Evan Schneider captures expansive views of the Rocky Mountains sprinkled with shots of stunning vistas, luminous golden treetops, and falling leaves. Viewers are transported to the peaceful enclave of flawless nature, accompanied by a handful of friends and a handheld camera.

Schneider places you behind the driver’s seat as a car curves around enormous mountains, and situates his lens to fall in line with a hiker’s steps. That feeling of autumnal chill, along with the head-high of reaching a mountain’s summit, is all here. It’s a terrific way to soak up the feels of fall without making the commitment to travel—or even lacing up those old hiking boots.

Via The Creators Project.

The Artful Science of Mending.

Mending tears with Japanese paper. Photos courtesy of Alvarez Fine Arts Services unless otherwise noted.

Mending tears with Japanese paper. Photos courtesy of Alvarez Fine Arts Services unless otherwise noted.

While conservators in a museum setting work towards exhibitions that are scheduled years in advance, private practitioners often have to work at a much faster clip, while still upholding the required methodological and ethical standards. “More and more, our schedule is governed by auction dates and major art fairs around the world,” notes Jason Marquis, the studio manager at Alvarez Fine Arts Services, a New York-based private paper conservation studio founded by Antonio Alvarez and Scott Krawitz in 1984. With Art Basel less than two months away, the Alvarez team, which includes four full-time conservators, is gearing up for a busy season.

On the plus side, those intensive turnaround times—along with a diverse client base—make for a rich variety of projects. In addition to taking on work for smaller museums that do not have an in-house paper conservation staff, the Alvarez studio primarily does business with auction houses, art dealers, and collectors, who are looking to treat artworks before they are exhibited or sold. Meanwhile, some projects are brought to them because of their personal, rather than cultural, importance—like letters and diplomas. “But we don’t think about value when things come through here,” explains Marquis. “We treat everything as though it’s priceless, whether it’s a sentimental drawing from someone’s grandmother, or a million-dollar work.”

Antique fishing lure boxes. Photo by the author.

Antique fishing lure boxes. Photo by the author.

“According to the collector,” says Skura, “the boxes are worth even more than the objects.” And while the client was hoping to have the labels removed, cleaned, then put back on, Skura is instead recommending a less aggressive approach that will leave the labels as is, and extract the dirt with dry sponges. “What is technically possible isn’t always ethically sound,” says Marquis—a magic phrase he often has to use with clients. “It’s like going to the doctor and asking for a treatment, and the doctor has to explain why it’s not such a good idea,” adds Skura.

I collect old medicines, and have many amazingly beautiful boxes full of various herbs, and yes, the boxes are so very important. The artwork, the information, there’s so much richness and history there. I had never even thought about having these restored. The full article is excellent, and there’s more to see at The Creators Project.

Reuniting Turtle Island: The 2016 Journeys.

Bibi Mildred Karaira Gandia thanks her 8-year-old great niece and PDJ runner Gabby, with a necklace during the ceremony. Amy Morris.

Bibi Mildred Karaira Gandia thanks her 8-year-old great niece and PDJ runner Gabby, with a necklace during the ceremony. Amy Morris.

Every four years since 1992, indigenous communities have been spiritually reuniting the Western hemisphere by participating in The Peace and Dignity Journeys. This massive undertaking is a chain of spiritual runs that cross the continents and connect the regions of North, Central, South America and the Caribbean. The endeavor is an effort to fulfill the ancient reunion prophecy of the Eagle and Condor.

As explained in the short film Shift of the Ages, the Eagle represents the Northern hemisphere, a masculine energy, and the Condor represents the Southern hemisphere, a feminine energy. The harmony between indigenous cultures across both continents, the union of North and South, was shattered by the arrival of Europeans, who brought genocide and a decimation of the traditional ways.

Peace and Dignity runner from Kingston Jamaica, Kalaan Robert Nibonrix (Taino), formally greeting elder Chumsey Harjo (Muscogee Creek Nation) during the closing ceremony of the Eastern Red Tail Hawk route July 23, 2016. (Amy Morris)

Peace and Dignity runner from Kingston Jamaica, Kalaan Robert Nibonrix (Taino), formally greeting elder Chumsey Harjo (Muscogee Creek Nation) during the closing ceremony of the Eastern Red Tail Hawk route July 23, 2016. (Amy Morris)

One interpretation of the prophecy from the Peruvian shaman Lauro Hinostroza states that for 500 years, beginning around the 16th century, the Eagle would dominate. This timeframe coincides with the onset of colonization and the profound shift in the way indigenous cultures functioned between the continents and among their own communities.

The prediction says that at the end of the 500 year cycle, an opportunity would come forth for Eagle and Condor to unite again and begin to restore balance to the world.

[Read more…]

Phase one, complete.

The painting is done. I’ll have to do heat setting after the last three horses are dry, then in a couple days, the big test, washing it. After that, it’s all yours, Giliell, assuming it makes it out of the wash okay.  Sorry about the gate lines, it’s really windy out, so I had to clip it down on the gate.

p1

© C. Ford.

Test Notes.

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A few notes. The Jacquard Dye-na-flow colours are wonderfully vivid, and light, the consistency of ink, which also means you need to rule them out unless you are after a massive bleed effect, or willing to spend money on a fabric masking product, which of course Jacquard makes, and spend all the time masking your designs, painting, then removing the mask. I don’t have time. In spite of the thinness, the Dye-na-flow dries fairly stiff. Mixing it with textile medium retards the bleed, but it also dilutes the colour coverage.

The Liquitex soft body paint is fabulous. You don’t actually need anything else, as it’s permanent on fabric, and when dry, not nearly as stiff as regular or heavy body acrylics, but the spread and flow are enhanced by a healthy amount of textile medium, and it does soften it up a bit when dry.

The Jacquard airbrush colour is vivid, thin, and beautiful, but also bleeds and it is serious stiff when dry. This mixes better with textile medium, but it’s not ideal. Both the Dye-na-flow and airbrush colours are great when adding to an acrylic paint and textile medium mix. This deepens the colour, and acts as a thinning agent.

Oh, and fingers are best for blending.