bunny scrimshaw

I imagine this must be true with any job, but sometimes the "funnest" projects are the ones you do just because you want to do them.  :-)  This is a little thank-you present I did to surprise a friend who did me a big favor recently.  The subject matter is a long story which would take way too much 'splainin' so let's just say the recipient is quite pleased!  And thus, so am I!

This was originally a round cross-section of tusk.  It cracked through the middle, so I broke it in half and polished up this nice half-circle.  Stupidly I forgot to photograph the side view (duh) but it's about 3/8 of an inch thick.  The markings you see around the rounded edge are "Schreger Lines."  This is the cross-grain of the ivory tusk, I did not create that pattern.

"Bunny"

multicolor scrimshaw on pre-ban elephant ivory

entire piece is 1.25 inches along the bottom, rabbit is 5/8 inch from nose to tail

by Katherine Plumer, © 2013

not for sale, private collection

Pictured below is an extreme closeup.  The area shown is about 3/8 of an inch wide.  Like what you see?  I do custom work.  :-)

chicken romance, and recent shenanigans

Two shows in two weekends is a lot of work.  And while I'll REALLY miss my friends when show season is over, like I said in an earlier post I've got that "aaack I need to stop traveling and get stuff done" feeling.  The weekend of the 9th I was in Ferndale, CA, for a poultry show.  I'd never been to Ferndale before, the show used to be in Eureka, and it was a pleasant change to a quiet little dairy-cow town.  The weekend was so much fun I'm pretty sure that it must have violated some sort of rules.  Good friends, good times.  :-)

And the birds are doing well this year.  To my amazement, I got Best RCCL with one of the BBRed cockerels at that show.

And everyone sang Happy Birthday to me at the banquet.  Awww!  :-)  That may have been my best 29th birthday yet.  ;-)

Indy got a new lady friend when he was in Ferndale.  This is Stella, she's a Thai Asil like him (well, he may be a mix, who knows).  I don't plan on raising these beasts, they are difficult to house, but the two of them are pretty much joined at the hip now and I do plan on selling eggs.

This last weekend was another poultry show down in Fresno, and another omg-so-much-fun couple of days.  One of my BBRed cockerels took Best of Breed, beating out some nice Black pullets.  Yeah!  I took Indy to the show too, because they have a very large and well-respected Game Fowl show there.  He won his weight class, squee!  And yes I'm immature enough to think the plaque is HILARIOUS!  Insert jokes here...  ;-)  I'm sure he's proud.

Here's Jen and I with our boys (I'm in the plaid shirt):

So there is just one more show that I will be attending this season, and that's at the very end of March in Red Bluff, which is only about 45 minutes away.  I am hoping we can get the breeding pens done within the next few weeks so I can bring up the rest of the birds and start setting eggs.  I'm going to give myself a 6-week window in which to hatch eggs... whatever I get is what I get.  But I want to be done by June, and as you know... time flies.

Happy Valentine's Day!

a portrait of Buddy

Sometimes I just have to create something for someone.  Maybe someone did me a favor that I didn't know how to repay at the time, or maybe it's just a spur of a moment for-the-heck-of-it gift.  And sometimes these are the most enjoyable things to work on.  But it means keeping things tightly under wraps, in this digital day and age when I'm connected to almost everyone I know, lest the secret get out.  I'm working on another "I need to do this for someone" project right now, which I won't show you until it is in the hands of the recipient (about another week and a half).

Buddy the pit bull passed away a couple of weeks ago, and I had to draw him for a good friend of mine.  :-)

"Buddy" (Pit Bull)

graphite and charcoal on velour paper

copyright © 2013 Katherine Plumer

8 by 8 inches

introducing Indigo

Oh boy... Okay, let me start at the beginning.  About a week and a half ago, just minutes after my arrival in Reno, a text and phone call came from a friend of mine down in Wilton, my former next-door-neighbor.  There was a rooster on her doorstep, and what on earth should she do about that.  And not just any little rooster, a big ole game rooster.  I suggested she either turn the hose on him and run him off, or wait and see if he'd leave on his own.  Goodness knows where he came from, he just kinda fell out of the sky.  I don't know anyone in that area who raises those particular birds.

So, by the time I got back from Reno, the rooster hadn't left, and she didn't want him hanging around.  I agreed to catch him, take him to an upcoming show, and sell him.

He greeted me by attacking my leg.  Oh great.

I brought him up to Oak Run with me to figure out what to do.  And in the last week I've gotten to know this very interesting bird.  He has pretty well endeared himself to me.  He's not the slightest bit aggressive, he's very calm and curious.  I think that first day when I, a total stranger, walked right up to him and made a grab at him, he freaked out.  This makes even more sense when you factor in that he's partially blind (iris-lens adhesion in his left eye).  So, given that I think he's rather cool, and that he's half blind, I can't sell him.  I'm just a pushover when it comes to animals (well, to an extent anyway)...

So I'm keeping him.  His name is Indigo.  "Indy" for short.  He's an Aseel, about six pounds, solid as a rock, a big meatball.  No doubt he came from a pretty rough life... a fighting bird, no doubt.  He's got some scars, and his blindness is likely the result of head trauma.  I can't send him back to that life.

I have to make a pen for him, which is the thing I'm least thrilled about because the show/breeding bird pens are still not done, and the last thing I need is to be spending time and money and this big brute instead of on them.  But there ya have it.  I'm scrounging scrap material and should be able to assemble something that doesn't break the bank, though it might not be too pretty.  At the moment he spends the day in the aviary that Olin normally gets to use (Olin stayed in Wilton this month, I'm gone too much and he doesn't like to be alone), and he's stuck in a crate at night because the aviary isn't very predator-proof.

Anyway, he's pretty cool!  I'll be taking him to a couple upcoming shows and putting him in the game fowl class.  I figure his presence somehow compensates for my peafowl having run off and left me, or at least that's some justification for keeping him.  But no more animals!  My whole goal here is to keep my animal flock as manageable as possible.  I don't have the time (or interest, for that matter) to be taking care of critters all day, and as much as I am on the road for one thing or another I don't want to leave any extra work for anyone else.  I'm sticking with one horse, a cat that goes where I go, and chickens that ought to be ridiculously low-maintenance once the coop is all done. :-)

Note, at the time of writing this, three of the pics are failing to load.  I'm utterly at a loss as to why that is, seems to be something wrong with my domain, so maybe by the time you read this all nine photos will be there.

meanwhile, back at the ranch

I missed some cow drama while I was away in Reno.  It resulted in some fence drama.  Gotta love cows...

Skunk-Cow had a little Moon Pie:

Torch (the one you have seen me refer to as "stalker") had a little Flame:

And there's Chilly (the oldest, born on that COLD morning) trying to get Moon Pie to play:

Reno recap, and a couple other things

Wow.  :-)

In January of 2008, I took a bus to Reno and caught the last few hours of a engraving show.  I walked in knowing two people.  I left with a lot of new friends.  I found myself reflecting on that a lot this last weekend, what a warm and welcoming group of people that is, because I talked to so many new people who noticed the very same thing.  At the time I'd been doing scrimshaw for six months.  I had a few samples, but I was an absolute newbie.  But I was hooked.

It would be several years before I could actually exhibit, due to some restrictive rules about what sort of engraving qualified for the show.  But I kept going every year, because I love the people and they do some amazing work and it inspires me.  Last year I was finally able to exhibit.  So this year was my sixth year there, second time exhibiting.  And "wow" pretty well sums it up.  I had SUCH a good weekend, I really hate to get back to normal life now.  ;-)

It all boiled down to two things this year as I got ready for the show:

1) OMG I finally get to see the Greatest Generation Project all finished, in person, and OMG I finally get to meet the man who owns it and can shake his hand!

2) Holy cow I have to give a presentation.  I had a lot of "what was I thinking getting into this!?" thoughts in the last week as I worked til the wee hours of the morning getting everything ready!

Well...

Dang it was good to finally see everything!  I got so many wonderful kind comments from so many people who I admire so much.  It's hard to explain how that makes me feel.  SO GOOD, so honored.  And sorta like you could just knock me over with a feather, because sometimes I still feel like that same newbie who walked in there six years ago.

Mike Dubber, who did all the engraving on the Greatest Generation Colt 1911 and the bowie knife, won Engravers Choice, Best Engraved Handgun, and Best Metal on Metal Inlay.  I am SO proud and honored to be a part of that.

And the presentation, well, let's just say it was awesome.  I'm feeling a little rock-star-ish at the moment.  ;-)  I was nervous ALL weekend, especially that morning, especially during the presentation before mine (when I found myself taking my pulse and noting that 93 bpm was a little excessive for sitting totally still), but as soon as I got up to the podium that all went away and it went REALLY well.  I couldn't believe how many questions people asked me!

I've still got this grin on my face and am remembering all the good times, good friends, good laughs, music, late nights, and fun travel (no bus!  carpooled this year!) from the last week.  Next year the show is moving to Las Vegas, a week or so earlier in January.  I look forward to the change of venue, I think that will be a very good thing for publicity and bringing in more traffic.  It gets pretty empty and quiet in Reno, and while it's nice to be able to leave the table and schmooze with friends, it would be better to have more business!  I've never been to Vegas, but of course I'll be going!

I didn't take many pictures this year.  I don't like to leave my table more than necessary, I get wrapped up in my own stuff, and also I know that other friends are going around taking much better photos than I would be taking.  For example, you can see Rod's photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/rodcameron2/FEGAReno2013#  Go check it out!  Lots more pics of my stuff in there too.

This was my table, which pretty much looked like last year's table.

The coolest stuff I did was over on Mike's table, which was right next to mine.

All of us in the same place at the same time, finally!  :-)  Mike Dubber on the left, who did the incredible engraving.  Dennis Swager in the middle, who made this whole thing possible and owns these beautiful pieces, and me on the right.

So yeah, back to reality now.  I do have a bunch of things in the works I'm super excited about.  I'll be buried in paperwork for the next few days (sales taxes, yuck!).  February is a busy month with lots of travel, and I'll tell ya more about that as it comes along!

Oh!  And "Thankful," the big graphite drawing of the Percheron, won Third Place at the Red Bluff Bull Sale western art show over the weekend (I was not able to attend.)  And I REALLY missed all my friends down at the poultry show in Stockton.  I wish I could have been there, but I wouldn't trade my weekend for anything!

living out of a suitcase

That's what it feels like lately, like I'm living out of a suitcase.  I only half unpack, because no sooner do I start to settle in then I'm off somewhere again.  I do love to travel, but it's stressing me out a bit and I'm not keeping up with things I need to keep up with.  Note to self, be better at scheduling every minute of the day, and sticking to it...

Last weekend was a poultry show down in Hollister, CA.  It was sure nice to see everyone, there were some good friends who I hadn't seen for nearly a year, and I really had an enjoyable weekend.  My birds didn't do much damage.  One of the males got Reserve of Breed.  I've only been showing the Black Breasted Reds this year.  I love all the comments I'm getting about them when I show a big group of them, that means a lot to me.  Can you believe I've been working on that color for 21 years now?  That makes me feel old!  I've got the breeding pens pretty well planned out as far as how many of what I'll keep.  Oh yeah, sale birds are posted!  Head over to Random Rosecombs if you want to buy birds!  Hopefully we can finish up the chicken coop in time to start hatching birds in March, although I'm not sure at this point where all my brooders are going to squeeze in...  :-)  Most of the birds are here now.  There are still a few more roosters at Mom's house that I need to bring up as soon as the rest of the pens are done, and some elderly hens who told me they'd really like to just live out their retirement down there in that nice big aviary...

There was some bitter cold weather up here recently.  The cows are starting to have their babies, the first one was "Panda" who had a little girl a few days ago on one of those brutally cold mornings.  There will be a lot more babies over the next couple months!  These free-range cows still seem like such a strange feature to me.  My family used to show cows when I was a kid, and show cows get pretty pampered.  Babies were weighed and ear-tagged immediately, most of the cows were halter-broken, they got their hooves trimmed.  These range cattle live a very different life.  Not a bad life, they seem pretty content wandering around!

The last few days have been nice and sunny in the afternoon.  I'm up to my eyeballs prepping for an art show, otherwise I'd go riding.  But the "work harder" resolution beats the "go riding" resolution, I'm afraid.  Hopefully after the show I'll feel like I can spend a little more time out there.

I'll have five pieces entered in the Red Bluff Bull Sale Art Show next Wednesday through Saturday at the fairgrounds in Red Bluff.  Do stop by and take a look if you're there.  I won't be there though.

I won't be in Stockton either for the ABA National poultry show.  Believe me I'm catching lots of flack for that!

I will be in Reno at the Engraving Arts and Firearms Exhibition at the Nugget, January 25-27.  I am also giving a seminar entitled "scrimshaw basics" on Monday the 28th.  I have been staring at the computer screen til my eyeballs pop out the last few days working on my presentation, which hopefully will, as they say, "kick ass."  Cross your fingers...  ;-)

Okay, it's almost midnight.  The fixative fumes and glass cleaning spray fumes have killed enough brain cells.  My pointy-eared orange roommate went to bed, so I think I'll call it a night.

right, so, blogging, yeah

Okay, nine days between posts probably isn't ideal.  ;-)

Things feel very "whirlwindy" lately.  I went down to Wilton a couple days before Christmas and stayed til a couple days after New Years.  And in the middle of that I went to San Diego for a few days.  It was really great to see family and friends.  Kind of extra great, since I live up here in boonieville now and don't see people as often.  But it made for a whirlwind couple of holidays!

I'm really trying to keep my nose to the grindstone and my eyeballs to the microscope, I have a LOT to get done right now.  I'll be exhibiting at the Firearms Engravers Guild of America show in Reno at the end of this month, and also giving a presentation about scrimshaw while I am there.  No pressure or anything.  (OMG!)  Still working on that, and a couple new things.  I'm SUPER EXCITED to finally see, in person, the completed Greatest Generation Project, and I'm SUPER EXCITED that it was published on the cover of the last Engraver magazine.  Yay!  :-D

There are also quite a lot of poultry shows coming up in the next two months.  I moved a bunch more birds up here earlier this month.  Still six more pens to go, but I now have almost all the birds here and can start to think about what to sell and what to keep.  I do anticipate listing birds for sale on the website and facebook page next week, though I still need to take photos of everything.

I'm thinking that if I make the blog a wider format, I may be able to blog "on the fly" a little better via the blogger phone app.  I do post more stuff on Facebook than I do here.  It's easier, it requires less steps, I don't have to be at the computer using the slow internet to do it.  We'll see.  Updating the website is more important, and I think I figured out a way to do that pretty painlessly.

It's been pretty cold up here this winter.  There are more cows now, the guy who leases the land for grazing cows brought over a bunch more of them last month, and they should all start calving very soon.  That'll be exciting!  You know, because they're not mine and I don't have to do anything with them!  I see deer all the time.  Haven't seen that white Red Tailed Hawk for months, maybe it just passed through and moved on.  Too bad, that was a cool bird.

Well, my pointy-eared orange roommate says it's time to go to bed, and I think he's got the right idea.  I'll leave you with a pretty sunset pic from yesterday though!

New Year's Resolutions

In no particular order:

1) Ride my horse.  Ride my horse every day that I can.  I live in a gorgeous place, and it's really silly of me to think I can only go riding if someone else is going riding too.  So yeah, more riding. Gotta get that horse in shape for the spring roundups!

2) Get back into the habit of walking up and down the hill, at least a few days a week.

3) Answer all my emails.  I've had a long-standing love-hate relationship with email.  It's been more hate than love for a long time, I need to change that.

4) Meet more people.  I have two friends (I live on their property) and three acquaintances in the county where I live.  Not cool, that needs to change, I need at least a teeny tiny social life that isn't 200 miles away.

5) Work harder.  And smarter.

6) Update my dang website!

7) Blog more.