Hubert Delattre, Suliane Brahi, and Laurent Capelluto
Watching & Knitting I’ve been alternately binging and savoring this dark gem of a TV series. Black Spot often reminds me of Twin Peaks with its strange and mysterious town folk, but it’s the shot of Celtic mysticism that elevates this nordic noir drama above all the other “missing girl in the woods” dramas.
French with English subtitles, so keep the knitting simple. Available on Netflix
And if you like your humor dark too… The Flight Attendant made up for the 2h 35m I will never gain back after being swayed to subscribe to HBO Max to watch WW84 on Christmas night. Watch The Flight Attendant on HBO Max
TheSqueals on the Bus I’m so glad for the replay of this episode of This American Life. It was just what I needed.
Recipe and image from Smitten Kitchen
Eggs in Purgatory This egg recipe is so on the menu this weekend!
Print is Not Even Close to Dead UK printer and type designer Tom Boulton wants everyone to print and has designed the F-Press, an affordable, lightweight, and portable press created with a 3D printer… talk about full circle! He has surpassed his crowdfunding goal and will be making and shipping F-Presses later this year.
I think I need one.
Let’s Keep in Touch!
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Margie Crisp is an artist and writer. Her love of birds, rivers, and conservation our evident in her work which includes painting, printmaking and books about Texas Rivers.
She earned a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin. She and her husband, artist William B. Montgomery, live in Elgin.
Cardinal with Turquoise Watercolor
1. Why did you move to Elgin?
Bill and I moved to Elgin in 1992. We were in Austin living and working in a duplex and we both needed more studio space. We naturally gravitated towards Bastrop County since I had family out here (my sister Frances Sharp has Youngs’ Prairie Dairy, a Grade A raw goat milk dairy) and Bill is from east Texas and I’m from Louisiana. We were driving back from Arizona and made a list of everything we wanted: 15+ acres, big trees, ponds, barn, bathtub big enough for two, house that didn’t need remodeling, screen porch, and a big black dog. We were driving near my sister’s house a couple weeks later and saw a for sale sign. I called and the realtor read off a list that included nearly everything on our list. The first time we visited the house, a big black dog came running up to greet us—T-dog belonged to the tenants and ended up staying with us when we bought the house. So we got everything we’d dreamed of (except a screen porch).
Punk Kingfisher (Belted) Mixed media on panel
2. What compels you to spend time creating?
Mental health. Really, if I don’t create—whether it is painting, drawing, cooking, or writing—I get a little wacko and depressed. It keeps me sane. It isn’t always easy, I believe that creativity comes from a place of honesty and self-awareness. If I’m working on something that brings up grief or a sense of loss, I have to balance it with work that brings joy and hope.
Indigo Bunting and Beauty Berry Egg Tempera with 24k gold leaf on panel
3. Tell me three things you’ve learned in the past five years.
Three things? Okay, I’ve learned that most of us have more in common than we realize and if we can reach those common issues, the rest can fall away. The second thing I’ve learned is that farmers and ranchers hold the future of conservation. The lands and ecosystems we need to conserve to save migratory birds, pollinators, and other creatures is privately owned. If we don’t find a way to collaborate and find common ground, we will all lose out.
And if this pandemic has taught me one thing, it is that my friends are the most important thing in the world. Even more so than chocolate.
Oh, and John James Audubon loved to eat birds (every kind of bird from sparrows to whooping cranes), bragged about shooting birds, and was, in addition to being a fantastic artist and naturalist, kind of a jerk.
Edge of the World Hand colored linocut
4. What are you currently making, reading, watching, or listening to?
I’m reading a series by a Texas author Miles Arceneaux who is actually three guys writing together. The mysteries all take place on the Texas coast and are entirely enjoyable escapism. For serious stuff I spend my days reading reports, studies, and historical information about migratory birds for a book I’m working on. While I’m writing I listen to a lot of Baroque chamber music. When I’m making art, my go-to is modern bluegrass and folk music.
Aransas I & II Hand colored Linocut
5. Cake or Pie?
Cake or pie? Do I have to choose? Can I have a little slice of both? Please?
I have a small but growing collection of vintage souvenir postcard folders. Some have never been used, but I actually prefer the ones that have been addressed and stamped. It’s somehow sweeter to know they were sent to a loved one.
At first it was the kitschy Americana that originally drew me to them. But it’s the overly saturated coloring that makes each of these feel special, like tiny paintings.
Warning: Print Geek Alert
Color photography was not as advanced as printing techniques for the first half of the twentieth century. Black and white photographs required coloring in the printing process. New colorants, more like dyes than inks, were being experimented with in the late 1920’s. Their watery quality meant they absorbed into the paper too quickly and were slow to dry… making images blurry,
Printer Curt Teich & Co in Chicago, discovered that embossing the paper with a linen texture before printing created more surface area, and new heat set inks meant faster drying times. This meant that the dyes were set on the linen surface quickly before they had a chance to absorb into the paper. This is what gives these such vibrant colors.
Teich developed a technique called Art-Colortone. This a five-color printing process on a linen-finish stock from a black and white photo. In addition to printing with the usual CYMK colors, a lighter cyan was sometimes used to give the images extra punch. Just look at those skies!
The photograph-based cards also employed handwork by artists who brought them into production. Perhaps it’s this touch of the human hand that makes them feel like tiny paintings to me.
Bean & Noodle 