Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. PetaPixel: Beauty Retouching from the Early 1900s: A Portrait of Actress Joan Crawford That’s ‘Photoshopped’, Zhang 2014

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Line Art …

… from photo. [Recurring Guest Gallery]

Variations

And so on.

Technical Details

Line art by photographer; bordered & resized by me. Color variations by me.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. “Shelby County, which the local Republican Party calls the reddest county in America.” NPR: A former plantation becomes a space for healing, art and reparative history, Scott, June 19, 2025. This is where I live.

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Out of Whole Cloth: Marking History & Making Home, 1865 – 1910
“This exhibit tells the story of three groups of newly emancipated people and their struggles to make a place for themselves on the Wallace Plantation in Harpersville, Alabama.”
The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation
Photos taken June 2025

Historic daily life included caring for horses and mules. Amazing how a horseshoe, a pitchfork, and a hay hook resemble their modern counterparts.

Entry

Horseshoe

Horseshoe Sign

Pitchfork

Pitchfork Sign

Hay Hook

Hay Hook Sign

Exterior of the house, taken from the porch of the Artist Residency and Visitor Support Cottage.

Photos of exhibit items posted with permission.

Previous Posts

[The Nose Knows] sculpture photo

[Wallace Center En Plein Air Workshop, In Which I Try Painting Outdoors and Decide Not To Quit My Day Job]

[Going Retro, Guest Photos] tree photo

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The Hollywood Reporter: Soapy “Verticals” Helping to Keep Hollywood Employed in L.A. As Film and TV Projects Leave, Kilkenny, June 12, 2025. I began following Katie because she is the daughter of a friend. I continue to do so because she writes about interesting stuff. Verticals? Hollywood decline? I had no idea.

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Attitude warning: low-grade grumpies ahead.

Photo reposted from 2019. [Getting Our Hunter On]

The Hunter Place was at a show, therefore no second lesson over the weekend. [In Which I Ride A Horse, For A Change]

A big thing in this area is hunter flat classes. Just the flat class, skip the jumping classes. Personally, I don’t see the point. The only reason to ride hunt seat is to jump. Otherwise, you might as well ride in a more comfortable saddle.

Anyway.

Talking with the hunter folks got me to thinking. I could do a flat class. I’ve taken my horse places. He’s gotten around at a walk, trot, & canter. He’s a lovely mover. I wouldn’t look like a complete heathen idiot in a flat class.

Alas no.

On second thought, Rodney has gone places and done things. Alone. The times when a trip worked out has been when he was the only horse in the ring, i.e. a dressage test or a clinic.

The times we’ve been in the ring with a crowd, he’s blown a fuse. The only time we did okay was a two-horse class when we both stayed carefully on opposite sides of the ring. As soon as a third person joined us, hoppy, hoppy, hop. The one time he was in the ring with a herd of horses, I ended up retiring. [Thoroughbred Theatrics, Day Two, Group]

No second-chance career in flat classes for us.

Sorry, got delusional there for a moment. Sigh.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. I was this many years old when I learned. There are multiple reasons to welcome allies at a pride event. They could be allies. Or ally could be a cover for folks who are not out, who don’t feel ready to come out, or for whom it is not safe to be out.

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Cookie Meister (husband) was unavailable for walks, so Cookie Monster (Milton) and I went out together. Walking two horses is unwieldy. Taking Rodney means that Milton helps. Rodney does not appreciate Milton’s idea of help. [Version 2.0]

I was expected Rodney to chill in the barn. Instead, he chose to participate each day, to some extent.

Day 1. Rodney came out of barn with us, did 1 & 1/2 laps then veered off to graze.

Day 2. Rodney did all five laps with us, at liberty. Hanging out in the cookie corner is not sufficient. If you don’t do the laps, you don’t get the cookies.

Day 3. Rodney sat out the first four laps. Came out for last lap. Wasn’t interested? Didn’t notice? Took him that long to realize he wasn’t getting cookies? Dunno, he didn’t say.

While Milton & I were alone on day three, I gave him option to walk on his own. ‘Nah. Too much work. You take point.’ So, we were walking back & forth on lead. With no changes in the circuit, and no person to doubled check the count, I immediately had trouble keeping track. Brain in chill mode is not compatible with counting. I went back to using an audio book (Murderbot #2) to mark alternate laps. [Lap Counting With Sound]

In other news. Have moved back to our standard five laps/one mile. Foot okay with it.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. NASA Landsat Image Gallery: One of the Largest Batteries in the World.

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Seen on the path during morning walk. Raccoon?

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. CBC: This flannel shirt? It’s sculptural beadwork. Why it’s called an act of resistance connecting past and present, Nico Williams says one of his favourite parts of the work is trickery involved, Ensing 2024. Artists website, Nico Williams. Hat tip to A.

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B

Process Notes

The interior designs are only limited by your imagination. Anyone who has ever cut out a paper snowflake knows how to do this. The tricky bit is getting five points from a four-sided piece of paper.

Discovery path. Paper Cutting, Heyenga (Chronicle 2011), ebook on Libby > Internet search on kirigami > Omiyage Blogs: DIY: Sakura Kirigami.

Directions. Jessica Jones Design: Snowflake Based on a Five-point Star. PDF. If this doesn’t work, Omiyage Blogs: DIY: Sakura Kirigami, link after the first set of images. Or link from here, How About Orange: How to make 5-pointed paper snowflakes. Idea for inner star from TikTok, @kimigami: My fav Origami 5 pointed star. I did not make the star in the video. I saw the opening shot as a search result and thought, ‘Inner star, cool.’

I’ve now folded several and have the directions memorized. Yet, I must admit that I don’t grok how it works. Yes, I get the idea, but a deep intuitive understanding of how the folds relate to the final product? Not so much. That would require a level of spacial awareness than I do not possess.

Note. The cutting area is HALF of the star point. If you cut wrong, you get 10-point star.

Update. Quilt post mentioned below, LtU&E: The Equus Quilt.

Onwards!
Katherine