Curlycues Muse: Spring a ling, ling!

Bela, posing in the front yard for a pic...

Well, lots has gone on since I last posted.... It's the middle of April and I don't know where the time has gone. I know I was busy in March and I guess that is why I never felt like I had the time to just sit and write in my blog. Every weekend was full with either calligraphy stuff, weddings or music engagements which took me away from the computer and although I am always thinking of things to share and how to phrase things, it's hard to actually sit down and compose something.

A piece I did prior
to the workshop to
show the lettering
style we'd be learning

a part of my work

This past weekend, is one which I have been waiting for since about 2007. We booked Michael Kecseg since then and finally his workshop took place here in Austin with 24 participants. He teaches a multitude of things, but he was teaching my favorite hand... the Contemporary Pointed Pen! He developed it somewhere around 1995 and it has been a hit since. He decided that it was something which was needed in his repertoire and started tweaking the angles and shapes of the traditional Copperplate hand to arrive at a variety of different looks which seem to be a lot less traditional and more relaxed and casual. The are very hard to emulate when you try to ink them...pen to paper. The letters look so carefree and whimsical, as if they will just dance right off the paper, but when you are making each stroke, you realize that each letter is as contrived as any traditional hand there is. I think the newbies in the class found out that Calligraphy is really DRAWING in this workshop! As much as one would like to think that it's just memorized strokes, it is really quite an art in which one has to study and practice strokes so they might, someday, just dance off the page with spirit and life. I've been doing it a long time and still feel like I need the practice to make them come alive.

Mike Kecseg workshop ... April 14-15 2012

Wanda and Paul Calvino... Trish and Kevin...

We attended a friend's wedding in Houston the weekend of March 18th. Kevin decided to make it a long weekend and took the Friday off before. We booked a room in the Houston, Doubletree Hilton, in the Galleria area which seemed to be as central as one could get for what we were doing that weekend. It couldn't have been more perfect when after I had booked the room I was looking for a specialty salon which did "Curly Girl Haircuts" called Ouidad and it was within spittin' distance from the hotel. I was able to get my hair cut while there on Friday afternoon and even have time to meet our other friends from Houston for a bite to eat at Chuy's that evening.

Air Cargo at Rice Grass March 2012

The last weekend in March, Kev and I stayed at a bed and breakfast down in Fischer, Texas.... near Canyon Lake.... on the way to San Antonio from Austin. It was a great little festival, Rice Grass, where Kevin's band, Air Cargo, was booked on Saturday. They put on an excellent show and I think were tighter here than I've ever heard their harmonies. They played to a jam-packed, house full and each song ended with a thundering of applause as well as gratitude for most of the breaks the guys were doing on the mandolin, guitar and EVEN banjo! It's always nice to have an appreciative audience. This, could have been, the largest group they have played to yet and the surroundings were just beautiful.

Air Cargo in Fischer, Texas.. RICE GRASS

The stage was in an old "barn" that was converted into a nice, acoustically sound event center, which I can see would be perfect for weddings. The campground was across the way, within walking distance, and the bed and breakfast was only about a quarter mile away... Friday night we arrived and they had an Alaskan band playing acoustically in the campground, under a tent, with several other, local bands and then "Bear Foot", from AK, also played the main stage on Saturday. We had seen them years before and liked them, but this time around, they were even more polished and 'likeable". I also really enjoyed the set of "Milk Drive". They are from Austin and have a great sound. I hope to catch their set again sometime when they are playing in Austin again.

It was a great weekend, weather-wise, to be outside... although every one's allergies seemed to be active and I was suffering a wee bit with my asthma. I wish I had taken more photos, but I guess, when you are "in the moment", getting your camera out isn't something that comes to mind. It was a great, all-around weekend and it was nice reconnecting with my man. We should do that more often. The B&B was perfect, although a little more "country" than I prefer. We didn't have a shower in our room, which was no biggie, but next time we stay there, I will ask for a room which is a little more modern. I felt like I was back in the 1800's. Jan and Dennis did a great job as hosting us for the weekend, though, at the Fischer Haus.

We left the puppies in the hands of a fully-capable, dog care specialist. Auntie Jane has spent lots of time getting to know our girls in the past when she used to sit regularly before she got a full time job. She spent two weeks here with them when we went on our cruise to Italy a few years back. I'm sure the dogs thought they were "doomed", though, when they saw her arrive. They sure miss us when we are gone, but I know they are spoiled rotten by all of the caretakers we get while we are away. Here are some latest photos of our adorable babies and the back yard is really coming to life in full form!

This weekend is the 25th Annual Old Settler's Music Festival in Dripping Springs which we will be attending tomorrow.. the 21st and then next weekend is the Buda Weiner Races. Not sure if will take our pups there, but we were thinking about going. I think our breeder and Vessie's Godmother will be there.. it would be nice to see them again!