3.15.13 Drawing Room

Fern 790 xxx
illustrations by sasha prood
Last year I had the great pleasure of working with a supremely talented illustrator, Sasha Prood (represented by my dear friend Stephanie Pesakoff at Illustration Division), who created a custom alphabet and set of numbers for Glutton for Life. When I had the blog redesigned last spring, we included the new alphabet in the "About" section under Glutton A-Z, but that's a bit of a secret so I thought I'd share a few of the illustrations here. I'm featuring the ones most reminiscent of spring, now that the days are getting longer and the earth is waking up. I'm considering screening some of these beautiful drawings on linen kitchen towels and/or burlap tote bags, so do let me know which ones you like best. At the bottom is the full collection, including numbers. Note there are two Ts (so there would be no redundancy in spelling out "glutton") and two Us, because some people were confused by the stack of bowls.
Ramp 790 xxx
on ramp
The next couple of months will bring foraging opportunities starting with ramps, morels, dandelion, stinging nettles and Japanese knotweed; in the garden, rhubarb, angelica and hopefully the wild garlic we transplanted last year will be the first to rear their heads.
Hummingbird 790 xxx
winged victory
The red-winged blackbirds are back, squawking melodiously and ready to take up their posts in the swamps and marshes. The blue jays, mourning doves, chickadees and cardinals who were our winter tenants will have to make way for their fair-weather friends, including the mercurial hummingbirds who can't resist our red honeysuckle.
Earthworm 790 xxx
crawl space
Soon we'll be wrist-deep in the earth, enriching our raised beds with compost as we prepare for another growing season. Our earthworm buddies will be right there with us, aerating the soil into a chocolatey loam. G and I are having a pow-wow this weekend to decide what to plant where. Our staples are lettuces, spinach, zucchini, kale, cucumbers, collards and potatoes. I also plant all my medicinal and cooking herbs—parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, chamomile, valerian, stevia, etc. Lovage and mint come back year after year and a few lavender plants usually make it through the winter.
Hyssop 790 xxx
perennial favorite
The anise hyssop is another one we count on every year. The bees love it even more than we do! Speaking of which, I got G a bee hive for Christmas, so that will be a new project for us this season. We are thinking about keeping the hive on our roof so the bears cannot get to it.
All illos 790 xxx
the whole shebang
I love each of these, but please tell me your favorites. Here is a key, in case you can't decipher one:

A = cattails
B = earthworm
C = hummingbird
D = scallop
E = sausages
F = hyssop
G = chile
H = dried beans
I = basil
J = fern
K = ramp
L = pole beans
M = binoculars
N = turkey feathers
O = wood slice
P = pork chop
Q = turtle
R = apricot
S = vines
T = mushroom, dragonfly
U = horseshoe, bowls
V = fennel
W = spider
X = chamomile
Y = leek
Z = luggage tag
Zero = pinecone
1 = asparagus
2 = squirrel
3 = snake
4 = ants
5 = seeds
6 = kohlrabi
7 = verbena
8 = camera
9 = seed pod

Have a beautiful weekend! xo
 
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12 Comments

J, G, 0 (zero), 7 but I have a hard time not adding so many more... Have always LOVED these drawings.
Lisa on March 15, 2013 at 2:33 pm —
They are all stunning drawings and work so well TOGETHER in any and all combinations or alone. PERFECT for screen prints! As singular images I am drawn to the O (wood slice) and J... How about GFL? darn good together, promo!
Jan on March 15, 2013 at 5:21 pm —
Hmmm...yes...
laura on March 15, 2013 at 5:34 pm —
Impossible to choose. They are really, really wonderful. I love the whimsy. But I guess D, J, Q and 2 catch my eye a little more.
TheWimpyVegetarian on March 15, 2013 at 8:04 pm —
Would be a cool gift to be able to order monogrammed kitchen towels for oneself or a nice gift.
Robert on March 15, 2013 at 8:44 pm —
What a great idea, though that would mean producing them all, which seems slightly prohibitive, but you never know...
laura on March 15, 2013 at 10:37 pm —
I love the anise hyssop and the number 9, for no particular reason about the number, I think it's unique.
Vivian on March 16, 2013 at 12:09 pm —
thank you for the fantastic post, such a lovely alphabet all together but my faves are J, zero and 9 xo
stephanie on March 17, 2013 at 12:22 am —
I'm thinking made to order Think about it.
Robert on March 18, 2013 at 11:23 pm —
Might have to learn to silkscreen them myself...!
laura on March 19, 2013 at 2:55 pm —
These are beautiful illustrations. My favorites are 2 and 8. Thanks so much for sharing!
Christine Chang Hanway on April 4, 2013 at 7:43 am —
Thanks for stopping by, Christine!
laura on April 8, 2013 at 11:30 am —