Painting is on my mind. It’s pretty much all I can think about which is a wonder that this post even got written because I was too busy trying to will my ugly (and may I add bumpy-shudder) walls a new bright white without me having to actually break out a roller.  Another thing on my mind, is being green. It could be because Seattle is one of the greenest cities in the nation, losing top slot to our neighbor Portland. It’s the law here to be green, no seriously you need to recycle or go to prison or get publicly flogged or some such. In our (green) building we also compost and recycle heat from the roof, not that we need heat right now as it will be over 70 degrees all week, but I digress.

I have been spending a little too much time researching green/eco paint options, but I have learned that they aren’t all created equal. Even beloved Benjamin Moore’s eco line isn’t as eco as it could be–It’s no milk paint. Milk paint?  Made from milk (but you figured that one out, right?) It’s the only paint I have found that is completely natural, safe, and no VOC’s.  It also seems a lot more complicated than just rolling up to Home Depot and having them shake a couple gallons for you. It comes in a powder form that you mix with water to achieve consistency. In the past I have only seen it used on smaller projects such as furniture but lately several entries into the interior painting category have appeared and I am duly intrigued. It is a pricey paint, but we moved into a green building, in a green city (did I mention that?) and one of the caveats of all this green living is a smaller footprint/blueprint for our new living space. Much smaller. So I think the investment wouldn’t be too bad if I went this route. Have any of you tried this for your walls? Do you have another eco paint that you have tried that you liked? I honestly thought we were pretty eco-friendly before we moved here but it seems we were just silly novices; this city takes it to a whole new level and I am buying what they are selling, I think it’s pretty flippin’ fantastic.

MILK PAINT FOR WALLS RESOURCES:

Safepaint by the Old Fashioned Milkpaint Co.

Unearthed Paints

The Real Milk Paint Co.

MILK PAINT FOR FURNITURE RESOURCES:

The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co.

Miss Mustard Seed Milk paint

P.S. A non-milk paint that is also zero VOC is made by Bioshield.

P.P.S. Any of you ever try renting or buying a sprayer for painting interior walls?  I am thinking with the bumpy walls I may get uneven coverage with a roller and get white walls with horrid “yellow” specs.  Thoughts?

I am so excited to come back with this series with such a talent.  Today, I am interviewing the lovely Julianna Swaney of ‘Oh, My Cavalier’, an artist who’s career I have been following for many years. In fact, Julianna is the only artist on Etsy that I have ever bought a print from, not that there aren’t other incredible artists but I can never make up my mind, but when I saw Julianna’s work I bought it not even knowing where I would put it-her work just moves me. I started to really pay extra attention when I noticed that she started to add more and more lettering to her work and then I saw she was commissioned by another favorite artist to do the lettering for her book. It made my heart swell to see that she was garnering more well deserved exposure. Many of you may know Julianna’s work, but if you don’t I hope she becomes one of your favorites too.

//JULIANNA SWANEY INTERVIEW//

Where are you located?

Portland, Oregon

How did you get started in lettering?

I’ve incorporated some handwritten text into my artwork for a long time. It wasn’t until a few years ago though I started getting requests from people who liked the writing they saw used in my drawings and wanted to commission me to do lettering for them. Now a big chunk of the work I do is hand lettering. I’m all self taught, and I definitely still feel like I have a lot to learn, but I love it!

What are some of your favorite supplies (inks, brushes, nibs, paper)?

For most lettering I really prefer the simple Micron pen with a 01 or 005 tip. They dry quickly and never seem to bleed. I sometimes wonder if I should try different pens in case I’m missing out on something better, but when I do that they always disappoint me and I go back to the Micron! If I’m doing calligraphy my favorite nib is the Speedball Hunt Globe No. 513 with a Sumi ink. For paper use a smooth bristol since it keeps things nice and crisp. I don’t need to use anything fancy since I’m usually just scanning the lettering into the computer.

Can you name some of your inspirations?

I’m definitely not the first person to do this but I love to look back at older sources for inspiration, especially to advertisements and ephemera from the 19^th century. I personally have a collection of  antique trade cards from the late 1800’s that use wonderful and interesting type, and then of course I’m always searching out images of similar things on the web. One of my favorite websites sites for finding amazing type is the Duke University Library’s historic sheet music collection.

Can you go a little into your process of how you work on a project?

I’m someone who has to see something on paper before I can tell if it’s going to look good or even work, so I usually do tons and tons of sketches, ranging from rough to pretty finished. If I’m working with a client they never see half of the work I do!  I pick out the best ones and we go over them together and narrow in on what they want, sometimes combining sketches, before making a final draft in pencil. Then I go over that in ink and scan it into the computer for final touch ups. If I’m incorporating some watercolor I do that separately on watercolor paper and combine them digitally.

Any recommendations of books or classes for lettering enthusiasts to further their studies?

Well, I think what’s been most helpful for me is looking though collections of typography and just practicing hand drawing different styles using those as guides. A good one is Vintage Type & Graphics by Steven Heller and Louise Fili.

Do you have some favorite projects you would like me to mention?

Yes! The one that really got me started lettering for other people was the book Menagerie by Sharon Montrose, I did all the text for the book. Also I’m pretty proud of two recent branding projects:  What Delilah Did, a cross stitch designer in the UK and Ben & Colleen Wedding Photographers.

Any advice on what not to do?

Many tears have been shed because I impatiently went at some recently inked text with an eraser. It should be obvious, but I constantly have to remind myself: make absolutely sure all your ink is dry before trying to erase any pencil lines.

Name one random talent you have that people may not know?

Okay, this is very random but I have knack for finding four leaf clovers.

P.S. Julianna also has a charming blog with a lot of her behind the scenes like this post on her calligraphy practice!

I know this may seem random, but I love potentially introducing you to new things and I have been trying to figure out where this would fit in the scheme of things on this here blog. Since, I just had a grueling 2 weeks of moving, in my dream world I would currently be planning a much needed vacation and having moving fairies unpack everything and put it in the exact place my heart desires. Unfortunately, I am only in the position to dream, which is fine as I am very good at it, you too?  And, yes, I know moving fairies are hard to come by. One, of my life goals is to be to able to participate in an Earthwatch Institute Expedition, I find it extremely silly that I haven’t already done so since I have been receiving their catalog for about 30 years (it’s now paperless!) and that seems like an awful long time to pull the trigger on something so highly desired. If you are the kind of vacationer that prefers lying on the beach, toes in sand with a Pina Colada in your hand then an expedition for a vacation would probably not be the best choice for you.  If you are like me and have insatiable curiosity and when you visit a new place want to learn as much as possible about it then I think you will be in heaven. What exactly is this Earthwatch that I am talking about?  From their fact sheet I found this:

“Earthwatch inspires connections between people and the environment. Our mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment”.

In layman’s terms, you pay to be part of specific scientific expeditions around the globe.  Yes, you pay to work, but it’s for a good cause and it’s a once in a lifetime experience.  We still haven’t taken out honeymoon yet and I have mentioned that I want to do this to my husband, in which he has replied, “No, thank you.”  I find it hard to not be able to find an expedition that is not as thrilling as any other exotic locale you’d visit but you’d have more to do than eat, sleep and got to tourists traps. Did I mention it’s an amazing cause?  Your fee helps support the research of the individual expeditions you choose to participate in.  You could work with Dolphins in Greece, Darwin’s Finches in the Galapagos, go on an archeological dig on the Roman coast of Italy, Conserve Koala’s in Australia do I need to go on? Doesn’t this all sound amazing? Think of the stories you could tell, it would be worth it just for that, you would be like a modern day Hemingway (without the violence or booze), or an urban Jane Goddall. If you have a sense of adventure, a natural curiosity for life and love the idea of doing something important I highly recommend you check Earthwatch out.  If you have gone on an expedition or plan to I would love to hear all about it so I can at least live vicariously! If you are as excited as I am about this and want to dream with me, what expedition do you think you would want to participate in?  The koala expedition looks pretty amazing, but they once offered a dolphin expedition in the Canary islands that has always appealed to me (even though with my motion sickness any sea expedition would be torture).

I am not ‘officially’ back, this is both a figment of your imagination and mine.  I am just popping in because I am almost back and that should qualify for something, right? Quick little update, as most of you know we arrived in Seattle last week, after a grueling week of looking for a place I finally resigned (more like threw up a white flag of surrender) and took the place that had the most of what we wanted (sans my coveted claw foot bathtub).  I was so tired + car sick I just couldn’t drive around one more day. We have unpacked, had internet installed (hooray!) and next to tackle is the daunting task of setting up the studio.  There will be lot’s to do in the new place as it is currently painted a horrid yellow, actually I am not sure if it qualifies as yellow but it’s in the same family, but it’s the crazy cousin of yellow that no one in polite society likes to talk about. My husband promised me if we chose this place that he would help me paint it bright white, which I think you need in a place like Seattle (or Sweden) so you can get lot’s of beautiful light reflected surfaces. The weather hasn’t been bad at all, even when it’s overcast it is still bright outside. The weather reminds me a lot of Paris and London which are both a little chilly even towards summer (at least for someone like me that was raised in Southern California and am used to 100+ days starting in April/May). I do think that a very nice trench coat should be in my future as it looks like I will be needing to wear one often. I have seen locals in flip flops but that’s just insanity, it’s been way too cold for that and if I was their Mom I would make them turn around and put on some more weather appropriate gear; instead, I will just mentally ‘tsk, tsk’ them in my head.

I can’t wait to get back into a routine, which may sound boring to most, but sounds like nirvana to me.  I love me a good routine, you? I am hoping to get back to work by the end of the week and get up some actual good posts instead of my blathering that has constituted this blog for the past couple of weeks. I do have some incredible lettering interviews lined up, I am even shocked that these superstars have agreed to share with us their fine knowledge, I hope you enjoy them too!

trench by burberry

We have arrived safely, if not soundly on the West Coast and I can not be happier. I have been dealing with severe car sickness which has been no fun for either myself or my husband.  I have always been prone to it and sometimes it hits me like a ton of bricks and others I am just mildly agitated. The same severity hit me as a kid when we drove to the Grand Canyon from California and I mentally made a note not to travel long distances by car ever again, granted I did wait over 30 years before I attempted the long distance driving and the trip to the East Coast was not as bad, but this trip, oh dear. Did I have all the usual remedies?  Indeed. I even had four different types of ginger carriers (gum, hard candy, ale and chews), sea bands, breathing, techniques, you name it.  I am just one of those lucky ones that is predisposed to it. Suffice to say that I should not be your first choice to take on your road trip, I would not be a good Thelma to your Louise. Speaking of, I mentioned to my husband after what seemed like 72 hours straight in the car that he was no fun to travel with, which he replied, “We are not traveling, we are moving”. Whatever.

I feel a bit detached with not having constant internet access for over a week. I suppose this is what it must feel like to go through withdrawals, cold sweats and the feeling that you want to crawl out of your skin. It’s not very zen of me but I seriously do not think I can survive prolonged periods of time without an internet fix. I tried to stay connected via that magical device called the Iphone but when we were at our hotels internet was spotty and in Montana it was out completely. What did I do? Did I start a deep conversation with my husband or read a book? Nope, I fell asleep. It was the only sane thing to do.

We are looking this week for a place to call home and in turn to set-up high speed internet. This week is also the National Stationery Show and I have been following many of the attendee’s via Instagram and I am duly envious, it looks like a great time has been had by all. I shall return tomorrow for more extended blathering.

P.S. Thank you all for the well wishes on the move, I have truly appreciated them.