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ByrdCall Studio
 Welcome! 
 
The past month has been more on the peaceful side.  Not that I am really caught up on anything, but I'm taking it a little easier and not panicking about what I'm not getting done.  In fact I might be more productive in this mode.  Try it yourself and see.
 
Last month, I expressed that I hoped to hit the 500 subscriber mark by July 2014.  Well, we did it.  It this moment, 522 of my friends/family/fans are reading this which makes me very happy.  Always feel free to share my newsletter--it is the highest compliment you can give me.
 
In this issue:
  • Common Ground on the Hill adventures 
  • Rya rug-Makers Sharing their Creations! 
  • Studio Sweat Shop in Action!
  • Follow-up to "The Odds of a Tattoo" story...
  • Answer to A real life Math Question for left brainers
  • No, I have not forgotten the Monet Rya
  • July 13-- CBS Sunday Morning 9 AM Maine Woods Discovery

 
 

Refilling the Bucket 
at Common Ground on the Hill   
Pat checks the dye baths while Cherokee paddle-stamped pottery is being fired in the nearby coals...the same fire we cooked over.
Of course I mean that figuratively.  It is really easy for an artist to drain of artistic energy.
 
Stopping everything and refilling with new experiences is critical to staying fresh. Almost every summer, I attend this multicultural traditional arts camp here in Westminster, MD to connect with kindred spirits and to stimulate my interest in new art forms and techniques.
Fellow felter adds dry felting to her "nuno" felt piece which she is going to hang by an antler.
 
 
This year I took an all-morning class in natural dyes with Pat Brodowski,  an afternoon class in felting with Navajo Churo sheep wool from Roy Kady, and Cooking over the fire with hearth gourmets.
Roy Kady made Navajo fry bread over the fire at lunch for us on Friday.
 
And this is a typical hearth scene at supper time:  sourdough bread in the Dutch ovens, sausages and steaks cooking over the coals, while ears of fresh corn simmer in the kettle.  
To learn more about Common Ground on the Hill, Click here.

 
 

Last month, I asked for your Rya Photos.
Here are some of the projects received.  
This rya was designed and made by Kay Ahearn in New Zealand.  The yarn she used on the sheep is the actual wool from that breed of sheep called the Spaelsau from Norway.  I am now selling spaelsau wool!
 
This has been really fun for me.  You can probably imagine me shipping off plain backing and skeins of yarn each day and wondering what on earth the rug maker is doing with it.
 
With your permission to post your photos, I'd love to do that in this newsletter every now and then.  
 
To see several awesome rugs with amazing stories to match, click here to go to my blogpost.
You really do want to take a moment to see these rugs!  Feel free to leave your comments for these fiberartists on my blogpost.  Enjoy!

 
 

A Morning of Friends helping me in Byrdcall Studio.   
It isn't easy for me to ask for assistance.  For some reason, it's always been a problem of mine.  But the amount of logistical work needed to get my "new" rya business up and running (while trying to write a book on the subject) has been daunting.  So I asked, and they responded.  On June 23rd, three friends, Jennie DeArmey, JoAnn Zaleski, and Karen Soisson joined me in the studio to blitz making yarn sample cards.  Others responded, too, so we'll keep throwing out work dates every month or so, and see who can make it.  Many thanks, friends.  Click here to see more pictures of my helpers at work

 
 

Follow-up to tattoo story of last month.   
At Art in the Park June 7, people were in my booth talking about the tattoo story.  I was marveling about two young men who got my bee image tattooed on their arms, when a woman who "just happened" to be in the booth interjected that there were, in fact, three young men who got this tattoo, and her son was one of them!  
 
Click here if you missed that incredible story. 

 
 

Mathematicians among Us:
By the way, this backing
sold yesterday.
Last month, I asked a question about how to determine how much yarn a round rya backing requires if we know how much yarn a square backing the same width would require.  I received four answers and all were exactly the same:  approx. 52 skeins.
 
Hats off the the math whizzes in our midst:  Ken Girardini (Metal Artist), Joel Goodman (Astronomer/dentist), Joe Neville (Engineering major), Mary Decker (Math Major/Artist), Denise Hall from Snohomish, WA, and Yvonne's nephew (smart kid)!  Smart people with retention.  Thank you all
 
Answer in a nutshell:  
Area of square rug = 6.5 x 6.5 feet = 42.25 square feet
We know that a square rya that size would required 66 skeins.
66 skeins divided by 42.25 is 1.56 skeins per square foot
6.5 round has radius of 3.25 feet. Area of circle = pi times radius squared.  Therefore, 3.25 x 3.25 x 3.141 = 33.18 square feet
At 1.56 skeins per square foot, 1.56 x 33.18 = 51.75 skeins of yarn or let's just say 52 skeins.

 
 

No, I have not forgotten Monet!
 
I know I told you I would be documenting in this newsletter  the progress on my designing of Monet's Bridge for a rya rug maker in New Jersey.  But life has been crazy!  I really will be doing it this coming month, I promise!  Thanks, again for your patience, Bill.

 
 

CBS News Sunday Morning
 
On, July 13, 9 AM Sunday Morning will be broadcasting the story they covered documenting the Maine Woods Discovery I told you about in the June Newsletter.  Byrdcall Studio was an art-contributing sponsor of the Thoreau-Wabanki 150th Anniversary Tour.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here to see the story.  Or watch Sunday Morning for a better view.

 
 

And THANK you for reading all the way to the end!
 
As always, I love receiving your comments.  Let me know what you'd like to see more or less of.  
Enjoy the summer...I know I am.
 
Cheers! 
 Melinda

Melinda Byrd

Byrdcall Studio
Woodbine, MD

410-549-4889


Save the Dates!

Hot August Blues
(Now Hot August Music Fest)
Sat., Aug. 16, 2014
Oregon Ridge Park, Cockeysville, MD


Mistletoe Mart
Thursday - Sat. 
Nov. 6, 7, 8
Westminster, MD


Carroll County Artists' Studio Tour
December 6-7
10-5:00


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