Virtual Brush Box

Art of the outside world. IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts: Virtual Exhibitions.

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Bag from upcycled baling twine
October 2026

Monica Newman Moore is one of those folks who I will listen to or take a class from whenever the opportunity presents itself. Talking with Moore at this year’s Moundville Native American Festival inspired me to dig out my twining loom – bought from Moore – finish what was on there & see what I could do with baling twine. It is after all both plentiful and colorful.

The pattern & color variations are from her demo this year.

Technical Notes

Verdict – Method

Success. Enjoy. Should do more.

My hands ached. Not surprising, given my tendency to tighten & hold. But my wrist didn’t hurt, despite this being a new move. [From Cursewords! to Soft Progress]

Verdict – Form

I have questions.

I dislike the tube method of bag production. The security of the contents relies on my ability to sew the bottom. I think I would prefer to weave the front, bottom, and sides, then fold the bag, then sew the sides.

I could use this loom create to flat, narrow panels the width of the loom, much as I did for completing the flap.

Verdict – Material

Not suitable for this application.

Baling twine is stiff, unravels, and is hard to finish off. The final product does not fold easily. The knots either have to be dealt with, or be considered part of the decor. For the truly organized, you could cut the baling twine off the bale at the knot. Not likely to happen.

In an ideal world, the warp & weft would be different colors. I swapped them once or twice. Nothing that was hard to sort out, but two colors would be less confusing.

For the right use, this could be a nice fabric. The result is sturdy yet flexible, and more colorful than I anticipated. Mats would be a piece of cake, but to what purpose? Perhaps suitable for some sort of openwork basket?

Links

YouTube: Virtual Moundville Native American Festival – Twining (Monica Newman Moore)

UWA: Monica Newman Moore brings Black Belt history to life

Onwards!
Katherine

🪨🪨🪨

It was almost time for another rock trip.

When the people came to the edge of the mountains just after the rainy season, she would take two or three of the strongest men or women and go up into the mountains to gather rocks for the rest of the year.

Small ones for decoration and as rattles for musical instruments. Mid-size ones for tools and work surfaces. Big ones for anchoring tents in the wind. Every few years, she would arrange for a large rock to be carried back by two people. It was a lot of person power to devote to one rock. These would be the ones left at the stopping points to be used the next time the people passed that way.

She knew them all. The tiny. The large. The pretty ones. The plain ones. Which rocks would last. Which would shatter along the appropriate fault lines to make smaller, more useful rocks.

She had all that knowledge in her head. What she didn’t have was an apprentice to transmit that knowledge to.

It was easy enough to get people to go once, particularly young folks who were willing to look at it as an adventure. It was good for them to see the mountains and the rivers. To live briefly in other environments. It helped them understand what the desert demanded of the people, and what it gave to them.

It was difficult to get folks to go a second time. It was a rough trip. Lots of walking, lots of carrying, all of the people were used to that. But this was walking up and down hills on hard terrain. That was tough on feet and legs unused to those conditions. She was not in any better shape for the march, but the rocks drew her, as they did not draw the others.

The hardest part of the trip was that every pound carried for food or clothing or shelter meant fewer rocks carried back. It was a lean trip. Again, she didn’t mind if it meant more rocks. Not everyone felt the same.

She found rocks fascinating. She knew the capacity and purposes for each type. The rest of the people were happy to use the rocks and let her get on with keeping track of them.

She had hopes for the new girl. Although a bit young to be coming out on a rock gathering trip, she’d been hanging around asking questions. Maybe seeing where the rocks came from would inspire a lifelong interest. She hoped so. She really needed to get started training an apprentice.

🪨🪨🪨

Afterword

Rocks of the outside world. “Alabama’s mineral diversity relates to the rock types found in the state.” Encyclopedia of Alabama: Minerals of Alabama.

Rocks from the revetment of the Black Warrior River
October 2026

Although the rocks in this photo are being used for a structural purpose, the idea of contained rocks gave me the idea of rocks being valuable.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. “This vital river basin is home to over a million people and is entirely contained within Alabama, America’s leading state for freshwater biodiversity.” Black Warrior Riverkeeper: About.

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Black Warrior River
Downstream
Moundville Archeological Park
October 2026

Black Warrior River, upstream

Tow boat and barges head downriver. “The Black Warrior is a busy commercial and industrial waterway.” Black Warrior Riverkeeper: Black Warrior River Watershed Facts

Inadvertent Impressionist image.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. “The former stallion has been part of the barn for two years now, ponying horses to the track for morning workouts and serving as the stable’s mascot.” Twin Spires: After the Racetrack: Zivo and Cherie DeVaux, Kelly 2022 & 2023. According to a recent Insta post, Zivo is still working as a pony horse, @americansbestracing and @reredevaux, 16 October 2026. You may be able to open it without an account or signing in.

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Shadow Cart
Driving lesson with Boogie
Stepping Stone Farm
16 October 2026

If hands are important in riding, they must be ultra important in driving, right? It’s your main aid by a wide margin. Maybe a lack of friendly contact was a reason Rocky had ignored me last time? [Change Partners]

I resolved to work on this.

Me: Presents extended dissertation on my theory of hand usage.
Couch Courtney: Elbows.
Me. Elbows? Elbows?! That’s a whole new body part to keep track of!

Of course she was right.

Soft hands come from a take & give with the elbows. Even more so with driving, perhaps. There is just too much rein for subtle finger movements to get from me all the way up to the horse.

Halfway through the lesson, Boogie said, ‘Okay, let’s hit it.’ We started sailing around the ring in fine style, dirt flying in my face. That has remained a driving metric since my wonderful classes with Alvin, lo these many years ago. “If dirt wasn’t hitting me in the face, we weren’t going fast enough.” [Team Awesome]

Boogie decided to motivate because he decided I knew what I was doing? He had confidence in the driver? Horses are herd animals. They have to know they can rely on other members of the herd. If that is basic to their nature, it has to color how they relate to their world. I would think.

As for the other body parts on the checklist, I ended up using my upper body as well. Moving your elbows freely means having a strong, steady upper body. [Goldy Sparkles]

Couch Courtney said it improved my overall look as well.

I also tried, once again, to use my weight once or twice. At least that is harmless, if uneffective. [After Afterthoughts]

At one point in my lesson, I thought to self, I can do this. I can drive well. I recognized the feeling. I recognized that I have driven well in the past. The problem is that I don’t know why it happens, so I can’t be consistent.

Does everything I do have to have a theory? Yes. Next question.

Text to Coach Deana after driving lesson. “TIL. Good hands in riding translate to good hands in driving. Imagine that.” [Meeting The Goldy Standard]

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. Washington is this week. They were kind enough to put their venue history in one place. Note, the US Air Arena used to be the Capital Centre. Of the three big indoor shows, the National Horse Show has the lead for most peripatetic. Penn National abides at Harrisburg. [Goldy Sparkles, intro]

1958-1974. National Guard Armory, Washington, DC,
1975-1999. US Air Arena, Landover, MD (Capital Centre when I rode there.)
2000-2019. Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
2020-2021. Tryon International Equestrian Center, Mill Spring NC
2022 -> The Show Place Arena, Upper Marlboro MD
WIHS: About

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Goldy
Walking up to the front ring
Rosewood Stables
14 October 2026

General. Hot. It was hot. I was hot. Goldy was hot. This colored everything. He was also wearing a belly band to protect a ding on his side. That meant extra leg in order to be heard through the stretchy fabric. This also effected everything. [New Equipment photo]

Trot. Carrying on from last week, I worked hard – really hard – to keep my weight centered to the right. Lo and behold, Goldy was lovely. Straight, round, all the adjectives. Would have been perfect if he hadn’t been going the speed of a western jog. [Goldy Sparkles]

At the same time, I worked on keeping my heels deep and my shoulders up and square. Coach Deana even complimented me on my rein length. That may be a first. Usually she – and every other instructor – is telling me to shorten my reins.

Get everything else right and the hands take care of themselves? Maybe?

Canter. Still working on keeping a soft, speaking contact without having Goldy interpret it as a request to slow down. It may have been a lost cause on that particular day.

Jump. Workmanlike. No big errors. No brilliant moves. But – and this is good – we were workmanlike over sliiiightly bigger fences. Verticals. Low verticals, even ridiculously low verticals, but not crossrails!

Reminder to self. Goldy is practical. He does not work from vibes. I was digging up his official name and found this from an earlier post. “I was committed, but I had not conveyed that to the horse … Warmbloods do not operate on vibes. Goldy was not interested in my energy. He wanted my eyes up and my leg on. Thoroughbreds speak vibes. As do Saddlebreds. As, not coincidentally, do I.” [The Ride]

I must a) convince him that I am ready and able and serious, & b) do so by riding correctly. Waving my pompons does not help.

In other news.

Goldy is not looking at the rider in the ring, as I first thought. He is staring at the small collection of mugs at the base of one of the fence posts, indicated with black circle.

He just about refused to walk past them.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Waiting on a part for our washing machine. Went to laundromat. First load was $12. When did that happen? You might ask why we didn’t take our clothes elsewhere. Laundromat had an attendant who carried the baskets in (!), pointed out which machines to use (!!), added the detergent (!!!), and helped me buy the mandatory card to operate the machines (!!!!). By the time I found out the price, it was too late. Next time, I’m using the horse trough.

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{Backstory. Each morning, people & horses go on team walk: one-mile, unmounted, & off-lead. Route is back and forth five times along one side of the pasture.}

Short Version

Status quo ante.

Long Version

The previous week Milton had worked up to three laps by Monday. [Milton’s Not So Interesting Laps]

Tuesday 13, Four laps. As before, Other Barn Minion took both horses back to barn to end the walk.

Wednesday 14. Five laps. Walking with a nice, free, swingy walk.

Thursday 15 & onwards. We resume regular programming.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The Dartmouth: Rep. Ro Khanna rallies against ‘culture of elite impunity’ at Dartmouth, Olds, October 13, 2026. The Dartmouth: DSG and SPCSA call for Dartmouth to rename the Black Family Visual Arts Center, WeaverBell, April 8, 2026. Sure. I’m all for addressing problematic building names. Also problematic statues, problematic flags, and so on. I feel that I ought to have a stronger opinion in this case, but the building didn’t exist when I was there.

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Short Version

All better!

Long Version

Monday the 5th, Milton had an unspecified injury in his right hindquarter. Over the week, we watched the fluid progress down his leg. Continued to have no pain, no heat. [Milton’s Interesting Leg]

Monday 12. Below hock. On cannon & pastern (some). Overall a bit less mass?

Tuesday 13. Leg felt okay. Still slightly swollen in comparison to other leg. In pastern & fetlock. He walked okay but was flexing is strangely, as one would expect with all that padding wrapped around the joint

Wednesday 14. All better. Leg down. Walking well.

Cause. At the time, we suspected shenanigans. We still do. Now we wonder if there was a bit more. He was muddy when he came in. I had wondered if he got up awkwardly from a nap. Other Barn Minion says that thinking about it in retrospect, Milton was muddier than usual. Now with think there were were shenanigans. He slipped. He went splat. Sorry Milton. Glad I didn’t see it.

Whatever the cause, he appears – cross fingers – to be over it with a minimum of fuss and disruption.

Onwards!
Katherine