The Outspoken Artist

Accepting Reality

2010-03-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

I met with a new accountant this morning. It was time to get a real CPA to discuss the future of my business as well as dealing with the outfall of inheritance, selling off the family property and all the other complicated details that came with the passing of Edwin and Agnes last year.

The reality is that artists are going out of business in droves. NAIA has seen it's membership decline accordingly. As their volunteer treasurer, no one knows all of this better than I do. I also took the NAIA books to this same guy so there was nothing left off the table in terms of honesty about the art fair industry and the sales declines that have doomed this industry.

So after months of mental debate with myself and and worrying about keeping a corporation alive that cannot make a profit, I am at total peace with a huge decision. I am closing up Hurricane Art Metal, Inc. That legal entity needs to go away forever and my new CPA will help me make this happen. I think I might have cried over this if I had known way back when that it would end up like this, but now I just feel relief. I am never going to give up my art - it's a life, not a business. I will be starting the process immediately to begin anew with another business form and new business name but HAM, Inc. is gone. RIP.

Who Dat?

2010-02-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Our barn cat Lean has worked his way under the hen house.

The Center of the Universe

2010-02-15T13:35:00.001-08:00

Now We're Scared

2010-02-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

The snow dams on the roof of the shop are slipping off. The power feed to the building has become encased in the ice and is threatening to get ripped off the side of the building. We've call the power company for emergency service and wait...

Why R U So Slow?

2010-01-31T14:16:00.000-08:00

Turtle of the Day.

I was thinking deep thoughts in the middle of the night and gave thanks for the property I own and the many turtles I have found over the years. This one was especially beautiful. I also found an albino box turtle one year. I only saw it once so I expect it didn't live long.

I AM EXCITED!!

2010-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

The Dixie Chicks are back - without Natalie Maines. Ok, I am not excited Natalie is setting this one out, but I'll take anything Martie and Em dish out. Cannot wait!!

www.courtyardhounds.com

River of Mud

2009-12-26T13:38:00.001-08:00

The aftermath of two feet of snow is mud. Lots of mud - everywhere.

Memories of Summer

2009-12-10T05:22:00.000-08:00

The short dark days are getting to me now but I know in just over a week, the pendulum will swing and we will begin our planetary migration back to summer solstice. Here's a picture to remind you of the sweet smells of summer. I am unreasonably fond of morning glories. Most people consider them weeds, but I plant the seeds around my porch so the vines will creep up and spread their beautiful colors all along the posts and rails. Fortunately my efforts have made them regular enough that this purple variety has become self seeding. Now if I could get the beautiful white moon flowers with their heavenly scent to do the same thing....

Finished!!

2009-12-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

Weekends and holidays often turn into work days in my life and that was the case over the Thanksgiving weekend. Due to illness, our family postponed the big meal until Saturday so I went over to my Dad's and did most of the preliminary wood working on the Torii Mailbox Sculpture. By Friday I was able to sand, stain and drill out the joining holes. Sunday was warm and gorgeous so it was the perfect day to finish up this project before the owners came home from their holiday trip. I am quite fulfilled with the end result and really would like to find some other customers around this area looking for a similar job.

I'm Coming Home

2009-11-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

Coming HomeFINAL - KB-1 from Sugarland Music on Vimeo.

This past July, Sugarland recorded a Christmas cd. The video shows the behind the scenes action to choreograph a new holiday tune for that effort. With an intense blues and gospel feel, this song is a triumph. Watch through to the end to get the entire performance as it was recorded live.

Expanding the Materials

2009-11-06T11:42:00.001-08:00

When I moved from the world of working for non-profits to actually being one - the artist type - I also chose to leave behind a 15+ year career and love of architecture, drafting, carpentry and general construction. I am mostly self taught in those areas, but still managed to develop a career running a 16 person construction company with multi-million dollar budgets. The pinnacle of that effort was the design and construction of my own home. From the cinder blocks up, it was all my baby. Every system in the house - plumbing, wiring, window selections, chimney design - was all my creation. After 4 years of intense work on that project while working full time for the community, I was so burned out I walked away from the whole thing.

Now, after another 15 years, I am finally taking on an art project that will allow me to go back to the roots. I have designed a sculpture mailbox stand that resembles a Japanese Torii gate. It will have glass elements which are more contemporary than those ancient structures, but somehow it all does come together. Once we have the final site meeting early next week, I'll be buying some lumber and getting the old tools out. Glass and wood. Who would have thought it?

Making Waves

2009-11-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

All this work on art fair change leaves me exhausted.

Art Fair Posters

2009-09-26T18:38:00.001-07:00

The NAIA conference in Peoria, IL has concluded with a most incredible brainstorming session among the directors. The energy of having all these pros in the same room talking about what works for them and what they want to change was amazing. I was so proud to have the director from my local art fair show up at the conference. She is new to the show and will have to make a lot of changes to bring that shows' quality up, but she sure hit on a hot topic when she brought up show poster competitions. These guys are passionate about their posters and were very eager to share tips with a newby. The Winter Park, FL show also brought along a scrap book with 25 years worth of poster images. Very cool to see the evolution of that show in their posters.

I had the good fortune of having lunch on Thursday with Hyacinth Manning who created the Peoria show poster. The show is raffling the original art as a fund raiser after Hyacinth donated it to the Art Guild. What a wonderful woman. I love her poppies and wish her much luck in her sales this weekend. Good people are everywhere.

What's Old in New

2009-09-13T16:43:00.001-07:00

We think it's vintage 1964, but the newly moved and re-felted pool table feels like a million bucks. Thanks Edwin and Agnes!!

News of the Weird

2009-09-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those days when the truly weird karma of the universe has all settled down on Charlottesville. Weirdo karma was alive and well when we returned the dogs I have been house sitting. The lawn boy was there and when I explained to him I had seen a large yellow jacket nest in the front yard Friday night, he freaked. So now, the front lawn is only mowed on one half. I bet Olga will love that when she gets back.

Stopping by the Food Lion on the way home was loads of fun. Today is also bumper sticker day, evidently. It's quite illuminating to see the sometimes contradictory messages plastered over the cars. Evidently real men love Jesus even if they are gay. Who would ever have thought that, given the truly hateful reception most religious people give gay men. The best part though is that Jesus evidently wants marijuana legalized because that will save our economy. I say yay for that - give all the right wingnuts some pot and maybe they will have less time to imagine the vast conspiracy behind the President wanting to keep kids in school and reading. Oh wait a minute - I forget - pot makes some people paranoid. Maybe those wingnuts are already stoners. That would explain a lot.

The guy at the check out counter seemed to think the mainstream media is in favor of the democrats getting re-elected next time. Thus they print the stories of Republican self destruction with glee. I cannot see that newspapers who can barely balance their books are really involved with something that nefarious. Maybe I am just a dumbass stoner.

And to make everything better on this day of no labor, I picked up the local coo-coo newspaper to enjoy over a couple of deadly hotdogs. These folks are sure the world is ending in 2012 and the alien crop circles in England are the immutable proof of that. If you don't believe crop circles are a form of alien language, you could head on down to Richmond next weekend for the Mayan fire ceremony with Eldor Don Carlos Barrios and the crystal skull named MAX. I know many Mayians kept skulls named MAX in their villages. It was the trendy thing to do back then. When you weren't busy killing virgins and drinking their blood you could have a chat with MAX and get the secrets to the universe. Of course MAX is the whole reason their society is alive and thriving today.

And lastly speaking of universal secrets - did you know that the H1N1 virus was developed by the government? Seems they have devised a nano techonological device to control our brains. When you get the flu vaccine you will immediately be under THEIR control and will no longer be a free and independent thinker. hmmm.......... Flu or mind control? Pick one if you can. I think I'll just get back in the kitchen and finish the batch of pepperoni rolls I'm baking and see if there is a sign from Jesus in the flour I spilled on the floor. Someone fire up a bowl - we're having a great time here in Gods' country.

Blank Slate

2009-09-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

What a dream to have a client give you an open ended commission. I made some custom towel bars for these folks last year and now they want to have a combination of custom mailbox and sculptural stand. The box itself will require some research to find out about the postal regulations. The initial proposal is to echo the style of the house which is ultra-contemporary with cedar siding and a copper roof. I know Sharon likes bright shiny stuff from seeing their immense collection of art so however I decide to incorporate the copper work into this commission, I'll keep the bright finish with no patinas and a lacquer finish to maintain the glow. So much to think about.....

Crunch and Delmar

2009-09-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

If trouble was a smell, you'd have to stay about 300 feet away from Crunch Thebeaux. It was scary just being near him. Some folks just have that shit-kicking aura right from childhood and after all the nasty things Crunch had done to the neighborhood kids, he really didn't have any friends except Delmar. Of course it all started with the frog stomping thing, which is what got him his nickname. As is usual with cruel people, Crunch definitely moved up to bigger targets.

In some ways, it really wasn't his fault. Redbones can either be good looking or really bad off. Crunch had the worst of those kinda genes and was just plain freaky looking. His hair wasn't any kind of normal color and it was big and wild looking. He also had those really pale eyes that aren't really blue or green or brown. To top it off, he looked like someone had thrown an old fence paint brush at him. He was spotted up good all over. Nobody had ever seen anything like Crunch and besides his behavior, he was just unforgettable.

Something weird happened in high school and nobody would ever talk about why Crunch got tossed out forever. There was some whispering about the Fishback girl who went away around that same time but nobody could imagine a pretty girl being the least bit interested in somebody like Crunch. Specially one like her.

After that, him and Delmar started hanging around together. Mostly I expect 'cause Delmar had a truck and Delmar's daddy had a still. We knew they was stealing hooch and given the stories about them down at the creek shooting up jars and cans, most people kinda assumed they was about half lit most of the time. The shotgun in the truck window made the situation even more scary. I reckon about 80% of the road signs in the county was shot up - mostly by the two of them.

I didn't know that about myself.......

2009-09-03T10:08:00.001-07:00

The Tragic Tale of Whipley Dean

2009-08-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

Whipley Dean was not really retarded. Everyone said that about him but it wasn't true. He was just unlucky and moved very slow. Some folks are like that. Especially down in the woods in the summer when the skeeters can carry away a possum by it's tail.

About 2 weeks ago, Whipley was up at the Brown Bag Diner just hanging in the parking lot. There was always someone to talk to or to mooch a hot dog from. Whipley could spend five hours at a time sitting over on the side curb and nobody thought much of it. Every now and then one of the regulars would give him a beer and that only made him even more slow. Five hours could drag into night and the truck lights came and went with Whipley still sitting on the curb.

When Ducky Dean would start worrying about Whipley and why he wasn't home for supper, she'd flap her way on down the road in those nasty flip flops just hollerin' and cussin'. She'd throw a bitch fit about people giving him free beer. Those old boys knew to get in their trucks and move out at the first flap of those shoes coming down the hill past the old Creasy place. It just wasn't worth listenin' to her crap even if she didn't wear a bra most of the time.

Ducky'd flap right up to Whipley just fussing and hollering about dinner and he'd slowly get up and follow her back up the hill. We could hear her ruckus echoing down the gravel road. Whipley just silently followed.

Some days it was like that and then some days you never even saw Whipley. We didn't know if he had rode down to the saw mill with Petey Boy or if Ducky had him tied up with her at the house.

On that particular day, Whipley had showed up just past noon. He was moving at his normal pace. And lord god it was hot. The flies were skimming across the asphalt in crazy spirals. They probably were about half brain dead from the glare and humidity. Whipley took up at his usual place over on the side curb in the only spot of shade. You had to wonder why he even bothered to come down the hill since it was still way too early to mooch a beer. Whipley and slow just went together, I guess. That meant waiting was just regular life.

*to be continued

Tractor Stories

2009-08-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

We ran into my younger sister and her son Christopher in the Food Lion produce aisle yesterday. There was a major thunderstorm going on at the time so there was little reason to hurry through the shopping chores. We took advantage of the situation and talked about Chris' buzz cut which he claimed was by his own hand. I'm not sure if he was proud or embarrassed at how short it was. He's got the same gene as my mom and I - under 25 and the grey hairs are already showing. I guess he'll make peace with it one way or another.

Things took a decidedly humorous turn when Chris reminded me of the time the chicken bit him when he was a kid. It wasn't a real bite - chickens peck - but this was apparently a very big impression about the dangerous chicken world for a little kid. I just had to laugh and told Joilyn about the really dangerous time out at our place when I let brother Billy ride the garden tractor. I alway treated Billy and Chris like real boys and gave them games and toys like guns and drums and boxes with locks. Stuff boys love. I decided Billy was old enough to learn the tractor at about ten only to watch in horror as he zoomed across our hilly orchard. His little butt was barely heavy enough to stay in the seat on those bumps and I was certain the child would get jettisoned off and land in a pile up against a tree. Needless to say I waved him back in and made it a short ride.

Joilyn stared at me in horror while we told this story. Evidently the boys never revealed the secret tractor ride or it's hair raising aspect. Her surprise didn't last long, though as she remembered the OTHER story about Billy and a tractor. Joilyn and Bob lived in a neighborhood for several years that had huge huge bare lawns. All new houses with acres of grass and no trees. Bob is like this - he went out and bought the biggest home size John Deere he could find and plunked down $10,000 for a lawn tractor. They brought it home and of course the boys were excited to have this new chore which I am sure Bob, in all his wisdom, knew would free him up for more golf time. Billy got on the brand new mega beast lawn tractor and immediately
drove it into their new back deck. The damage to the tractor and deck was well over $1,000.

As things go with sisters, we were in the middle of the grapes and tomatoes laughing our butts off over the tractor incidents. The other shoppers were staring. That seems to happen any time I get in public with my sisters. We just have a lot more fun than normal people do. Life is good.

The Wild Ones

2009-08-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

We cannot get close to them or even think about touching them, but Kiki and Lean now own the black shed. When we captured Kiki and her kitten, Little Smokey, and got her spayed, we didn't realize Lean was out there in the woods and that they were siblings. Once Kiki got released back to the woods, Lean showed up and it was extremely clear that the two of them were from the same litter and are very bonded. He may have even been Little Smokey's dad. Who knows. They show up every night just after 5 and wait for a cup of crunchies. The next task will be to catch Lean and get him neutered. They may not live real long out there in the woods, but we're doing little things to try and reduce the feral cat colony and to improve the situation for these two.

Look Again?

2009-08-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

Frank Talk

2009-08-19T07:27:00.001-07:00

"Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it," - Barney Frank

WOW - just where my head is now.

What Else You Did Afterwards

2009-08-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

The other people who were not involved... it was not fair to them for you to put them in the middle. I hope they forgive you.

Candle Sconces

2009-08-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

October 2006

design copyright: Hurricane Art Metal, Inc. - a Virginia Corporation

photo credit: Amber LeeAnn Wixtrom

no use of this picture without the express permission of the blog author

Homemade Salsa !!

2009-08-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

I feel like Martha Stewart. The good stuff is in jars and ready to eat. For the first time, I have made my own canned salsa and boy did it turn out great. With plenty of bell peppers, sweet peppers and jalapenos, these guys have flavor galore. I also had special onions that came from my friend in Georgia. I only have one of those left to put in the next batch, but I sure am appreciative of that gift. Who knew onions could bring so much happiness :) Thanks, K!!

Midnight Mouse and the Buffet

2009-08-16T10:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was recycling day. We have bins for paper, glass, metal and plastic. They were filled to overflowing as I have been very busy finishing up a furniture order and working on NAIA projects. I had simply put this job off for a week longer than I should have. The result - midnight mouse had moved in behind the bins and set up housekeeping. The adjacent bird seed bin was too tempting and the 5 lazy cats I feed could care less to do their job and protect the fort. I think a ban on cat crunchies is forthcoming.

Lazy Summer Days

2009-08-15T12:54:00.001-07:00

Cats have it good.

Margarita Lunch

2009-08-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

So today I did a totally "me" thing and went for my quarterly margarita lunch with baby sis. Put the two of us together like that and it takes hours to talk all the way through the news, the what ifs, the crying and hormone stories, and the gardening joys. We did good today - it took only 3 hours and fortunately the Mexican guys don't care if we linger over our plates since the place wasn't full.

All of this brings me home with too many ideas. Kim and I do that to each other. It's the time for pure ideas, uninfluenced by the non-artist details of ordinary life. We create pictures, dreams and mayhem when we're together. Of course my favorite moment was when I was giving a live demonstration of the woman in the LA airport who I saw unloading her electronic gear and money from her very lively, large and lovely bazooms. That woman was packing some stuff and the TSA people made her unload it all. Both of us were hysterical with laughter over the image and the servers were staring - too much fun.

So I am back. Totally off course from the fun and the undone jobs are everywhere. I could care less for working. I guess a little time in the garden can keep me from going back to the real world and I can claim it's really work. ha!

Riding the Ferry

2009-08-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

One of my biggest thrills is riding a ferry. This is a picture of the historic Hatton Ferry which is the last operating pole ferry in the United States. It crosses the James River from the tiny village of Hatton to Buckingham County on the other side.

Pole ferries are human powered just as the name implies. A man with a long pole pushes the ferry across the river. It's guided by a steel cable which keeps the vessel from drifting off course and floating down river.

Due to the recession, the Virginia Department of Transportation was poised to remove funding for the ferry which is a popular tourist attraction on weekends in the summer. The Albemarle County government and a local citizen driven initiative have raised sufficient funds to keep the ferry going through this fall. Tomorrow we will go down there and take a step back through history. I have to admit a bit of shame over the fact that I've never ridden this ferry despite living here for over 30 years. Time to make that right and enjoy the simple life.

The Days of Squash

2009-08-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

All gardeners know the squash drill. You put those seeds in the ground in June with great expectations of eating the first few baby squash and by the end of it all, you are dreading those baseball bats that grow on a zucchini vine in the six minutes you weren't looking.

This year I've been able to find a peaceful relationship with my squash. Early on, the decision was made to grate up all the zukes and make Z-bread. The recipe we inherited from Agnes is fool proof and the results will make you eat a whole loaf in one day. I've been sharing with my dad for over a month and it's clear the treat suits his sweet tooth. The freezer is nearly full of loaves that have been sliced and sealed in vacuum bags. We will eat this delight all winter long.

The other change I made was to try growing patty pans - also known as scallop squash - instead of yellow crook necks. They grow slower, have fewer seeds and the cute little flying saucers hidden under the leaves are simply more fun. I like looking at them and their moon color seems so cool and inviting under the green umbrellas.

Last night I made squash fritters from the patty pans. I used egg, rye bread ends and some de-hydrated red pepper along with parmesan and garlic. The result was taste orgasm. In fact, we are so impressed with this idea, it seems a repeat is likely tonight. Try patty pans next year in your garden. You will not be let down.

Resurrections

2009-08-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Peace, Love and Resurrection Lilies!! Boy is August a beautiful month here in Virginia. The fall fogs are coming early. It was hanging in the tree tops at 5:30 this morning. A harbinger of cool days coming to be sure. I am so busy planning all the fall activities that I forget to take the time to watch these simple pleasures. A long afternoon down by the pond is called for.

Will the Real L.A. Please Stand Up?

2009-07-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Click on Any Image to Enlarge

Power lines, traffic and hordes of people.
A twenty year dream fulfilled. The Gamble House Tour.
A Scarce Commodity : Trees and peaceful shade
Floracita and Chris are united at the Marina Pool
Defying the Dirt: Fishing at the Redondo Beach Pier
Scary, scary oil rigs in the middle of the city.

Captain Kid makes me laugh. Ahoy Mates!!

City of Angels

2009-07-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

Bye Bye Ya'll. See ya next week.

Road Kill Buzzards

2009-07-20T08:01:00.001-07:00

I don't even feel like being polite about this. I simply cannot stand people who only show up when the shit hits the fan. They thrive on controversy and other people's misery. I just have zero tolerance for that behavior. End of rant.

Zucchini Tears

2009-07-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

All of the hard work back in April and May is starting to pay off. We are now harvesting a variety of fresh veggies from the garden.

Tiny patti-pan squash are hiding in the leaves. They look like the torch on the statue of Liberty when they still have their flower heads on.

Fresh cabbage has already shown up in two varieties of slaw salad as well as a stir fry with lo mein noodles.

The kale is a little past prime but the beautiful green, red and bluish leaves are too pretty to tear down quite yet.

The real clinker showed up in the kitchen last night. I knew there was a zucchini that was starting to get large. I should have picked it a day earlier since they have a tendency to turn into baseball bats in a day. When we brought it into the house the immediate thought was zucchini bread. That's the only proper ending for a nice big zuke.

After searching the recipe box with 30 years worth of memories, the tiny little piece of paper with Agnes' recipe surfaced. Like every recipe I have from her, it's written in her impossibly tiny little script. When the cancer got in her brain, one of the most notable changes initially was in her hand writing. It had been so perfect and small and then all of the sudden signatures and sentences started swooping uphill to the right like birds taking flight. We didn't know if she could see the difference and no one was about to say a thing.

It only took that one little piece of paper and those tiny little letters to remember an old kitchen in a rented farm house......... the many years of working on this house..... and all the picnics in the back yard with the now gone dogs. Too many memories and so many tears in a zucchini bread recipe.

2009-07-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

photo @ Olga Morgan

Many thanks to Olga who showed up at the gallery opening last Friday with a wonderful big bouquet of a dozen roses. Nothing like that to make you feel like a star!! We also had a couple of the local tv news folks there as well as other friends, fans and new acquaintances.

The picture is a close up of the detail in the Weathered Heart sculpture. I love the distressed copper and am inspired to make a group of much larger copper pieces. The soft nature of that metal has captured my attention recently. Too bad I have to go beat on a bent steel part that sheared off the bush-hog over the weekend. That will burst your bubble.

The Storytellers

2009-07-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

Can there be any higher calling in life than being a storyteller - a raconteur?? I hope to be that some day.

Now Hanging......

2009-07-09T08:36:00.001-07:00

First Fridays Gallery Walk tomorrow night in Downtown Charlottesville. Come view the nearly two dozen pieces of metal wall sculpture I have installed at the Spring Street Boutique in the downtown mall. Opening with libations from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Be there!!

YeeHaaWW!!!

2009-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

These girls just crack me up. Their album dropped this past week and I believe it's going in the Amazon shopping cart along with some sunscreen for my tin roof tan........

Those Darlins "Snaggletooth Mama" from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.

Major Party Coming On!!!

2009-07-06T13:23:00.001-07:00

OMG - tomorrow is the day!! The piece of sh$t dishwasher that has been leaky and abandoned for two years is finally going away from here. We went to Sears on Friday and ordered a new top of the line beauty with a STAINLESS STEEL liner. It's the freaking Starship Enterprise dishwasher. The subcontrator just called and confirmed the installation appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I feel a serious cooking binge coming on since I won't have to wash everything by hand.

** YAY YAY YAY **

SNARK ALERT 911

2009-06-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

Subject: Inside word from Sanford

It was a slight miscommunication between Sanford and his staff. He told them he'd be "spiking some Argentina tail," and they thought he'd said, "hiking the Appalachian trail." It was an honest mistake. I think they handled it well...family values and all.

Remembrances

2009-06-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

When I entered the world of wholesale with my garden art designs, the goal was getting galleries, boutiques and small shops to carry my lines in sufficient quantity that I could hire a few employees and have a successful business. This required that I partner with many store owners all over the country. By necessity we had to support one another and be faithful about filling our mutual obligations. Theirs - to pay me on time and to re-order regularly. Mine - to provide high quality product at the time the order was required. A sure fire way to destroy the relationship was to send poorly made artwork or to be late with orders.

Along the way I met Nancy and Alan Saturn who together owned the American Artisan Gallery in Nashville. More than just store owners, they were an art world force - collectors, supportors and the hosts of the American Artisan Festival in downtown Nashville. Held in Centennial Park now for 39 years, the festival was an art fair venue to be considered among the best in my opinion. I always had better sales, made good friends and felt as welcomed at that show as any other on my schedule.

Nancy and Alan always did well by doing good. As a cancer survivor, Nancy championed the local Gilda's Club chapter and portions of the show proceeds went to support the advocacy group. I have made donations to their annual art auction and can proudly say that one of my pieces was "adopted" by Steve Cropper, songwriter, during one of their auctions.

Three years ago, I went to Nashville and got some disturbing news. Alan had been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma - a type of blood cancer. He was getting chemo and was very lethargic. Normally an energetic and engaging person, he was really not himself. By the next summer he had bounced back and was eagerly directing the volunteer crews and keeping the show humming.

Last Thursday afternoon when I arrived at Centennnial Park to set up my booth, the volunteers greeted me with a half sheet of paper. An obituary. Alan had passed away only days before the show. I was speechless - thunderstruck - and immediatly tearful. How could this be fair? I also immediately thought of Nancy. How strong must this woman be to carry on and do the show despite the death of her husband of 45 years? I will never get the answers to that question, but I can tell you that a whole lot of prayers and good karma go out to her. Alan will be missed and Nancy needs the good will of all the artists who benefitted from their largesse over the years. Say a prayer for a good man. Rest in peace Alan Saturn.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tennessean/obituary-print.aspx?n=alan-saturn&pid=128286854

Watch Out!!

2009-06-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'm feelin' a little crazy........

It's the Weekend!!

2009-06-12T06:50:00.001-07:00

Time for something really good. I bought the peppers yesterday and I'm ready to go!!

The Facebook Confessions

2009-06-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

"The world has become a computer, an electronic brain, exactly as an infantile piece of science fiction. And as our senses have gone outside us, Big Brother goes inside." Marshall McCluhan

I killed someone last week and I used Facebook to do it. The victim has no idea she is dead. Just as surely as with the shot of a gun or the plunge of a knife, she is removed from my life. The incessant tweety posts that annoyed me on personal, political, and religious levels are now out of my life. POOF - hit the "X" and someone is no longer your "FRIEND" and no longer in your world. The absoluteable most wonderful aspect of this - - - - I am going to get off SCOTT FREE. I will never have to face my victim's family......

Over the course of a decade, the internet and it's online reality that absorbs the terminally bored in cube farms, the elderly and disaffected, and the lonely, needy souls, has now infected nearly every aspect of society. I have watched as early chat room and forum communcation platforms morphed into Myspace, LiveJournal, DeviantArt, Facebook, Linkdin, and now the most insidious horrible platform yet - Twitter. Humans who used to engage in lively conversations in real time and face to face now TWEET. Those insipid little 140 word texts that show up everywhere. Texts that have caused huge train wrecks in several cities. Texts that interrupt a nice restaurant dinner. Texts that allow the user to never meet eyes with the person they are talking to.

Texts and TWEETs are the MURDER of society and all of our well established social conventions. I cannot help but be annoyed that Newsweek is proclaiming that Twitter is changing the universe. It's nothing short of nuclear bomb in human communications according to their assesment. Well, excuse me, but I have a life to live and it exists outside of a laptop and a tiny little phone screen. I think I'll just step outside and go live it. Besides, murder is usually messy business and the surgical precision of my crime has me more than a little disturbed. Something is horribly wrong with this picture.

Almost Free

2009-06-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogosphere Friends!!! I got sucked into the amazing tortured furniture making vortex over a week ago. It has been hell, but the job is almost complete. On that happy note, I bring you a photo from my travels in Texas this spring. This group of happy gents was giving up a free concert on the sidewalks in Fort Worth during the Main Street Art Festival. Music makes my world go around. Smile!!!

The Glory of Waves

2009-05-29T11:41:00.001-07:00

@Clark Little

There is so much controversy and antagonism in the art fair world regarding photographers. So many artists and crafts people who spend laborious hours creating a painting or sculpture believe the photographic art form is less than worthy of a place at the table when it comes to exhibiting their booths of multiples. The push of a button creates a new piece to be sold at $20 or more and creates quit the disgust from potters, woodworkers, etc.

Lest we forget - there are some photographers who pursue their art with a personal mission that imbues the work with an emotional impact not seen in the "doors of Europe" pictures. One such genius is Clark Little. Even a brief visit to his website is a mini vacation. Take some time. Watch the slideshow on his home page. It's worth the visit. And if you really feel the passion - order something from him. Support an artist.

http://www.clarklittlephotography.com/

What to do........

2009-05-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

What do you do when one of your enduring fantasies turns out to be a bust?

I had some cherished tickets for the Heart concert at the Charlottesville Pavilion last night. This is a season where my concerts will be very very limited. I just don't have the cash and I have been trying so aggressively to revive my art show presence, that I don't have time to travel and take in the normal number of concerts I've been able to do the last few years. No Sugarland, no Dixie Chicks. Things are poopy concert wise.

As many years as I can remember, Ann Wilson was one of my vocal legends. She has pipes that bring down the house and that is an essential criteria for fandom for me. With all the ups and downs that band endured, I have never before been able to see them live. They have definitely fallen back to only playing smaller venues which is fine with me. I don't like arena performances because the audience is really unable to fully participate in the event the way they can in a small hall.

After a great dinner out with margaritas, we headed to the show. There were lots of local folks we know who all gathered to drink some beer in the grass at the rear of the venue. We were catching up on jobs, travels and such. It was a pretty big party for me as I very rarely will drink any alcohol anywhere other than home because of the DUI thing. Finally it was time to go to our reserved seats and we wound our way through the throngs down to the front of the venue. Row 10 is just close enough to be able to see everything, but not so close as to have total sound distortion. As we crawled over several others to get to our middle of the row seats horror set in. My seat was right next to a monstrously obese person who took up at least a seat and a half on either side of their purchased seat. I am no small person but this was unreal. I had to either sit sideways in my seat or stand.

Heart finally took the stage after much applause and hollering. Immediately strike 2 hits me. The sound is so off at that location that I can barely hear Ann over the loud guitars. Who ever did sound check totally messed things up. Then strike 3 hits. I am so spoiled to my concert favorites - Jennifer Nettles and the Chicks - that I simply couldn't get past Ann's performance or total lack thereof. All she did was stand there. There were no emotions, no body language to convey the excitement or meaning of the song. I can barely hear her and she is BORING. Between the buffalo next to me and the bad sound, that was that. Two songs in and we left our seats.

The only thing to do was drink more beer. We went to the back of the Pavilion, got four more drink tickets and stood up in the grass next to a bunch of very drugged up chicks all doing some extremely sexual moves on each other and on one very disinterested dude. That part of the whole thing was quite entertaining. Who could begin to tell what they consuming from that little red bag, but those people were not feeling any pain. Drugs at concerts are not what they used to be when the smell of reefer and beer was mostly all you expected.

I woke up with a headache this morning. I am very unhappy about the big person who basically stole my seat, but otherwise I had a ball and it was a great diversion from mud and art fairs.

It Happens

2009-05-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

This is seriously where my head has been the last two days. Just when I thought the art fair pendulum was going to swing back in my direction, the Stockley Gardens show got hit by major bad weather. The load out took four hours in driving rain. The mud was 6 inches deep in places. When I got home yesterday morning, I was facing a whole days work to unload and clean up the wet, muddy debris. My van smells like a stinky dog. Only Sugarland can help you put that kind of thing behind you with the appropriate take on life --- psssshhhh - It Happens.

A New Life

2009-05-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

Little Smokey has now moved to his foster home for rehab and loving so he will be adoptable in another month when he grows up. Mama Kiki and Dawgcat were trapped that same night. I took them to the SPCA and they were entered into the neuter and release program. When they recover from surgery and testing for FLV and feline aids, they will return here to live their lives out behind the hen house. I'll go ahead and trap and spay all the other wildlings and maybe we can finally put a stop to the increasing numbers of feral cats in this colony. It seems a far better solution that having them all euthanized. Besides, the chickens have gotten kind of used to them lurking about and egg production is consistent even though the little weird eggs show up every now and then.

Trapped!!

2009-05-12T12:16:00.001-07:00

It only took a bit of effort once I had the time and the mind to do it.... Little Smokey is now in custody. He is one scared little cat. For the time being a prisoner in the downstairs bathroom. He has gotten underneath an old sheet and all you can see is one ear. Just as well because the banshee howling and spitting were incredible when I scooped him up from a pile of chick weed where he ran out of steam from my efforts to catch him. Amazingly I didn't even get scratched. Probably because the ittle guy is only about 4 or 5 weeks old. The next step is to trap Mama cat in the live trap overnight and then remove both of them to the shelter.

Quote of the Day

2009-05-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

"I cannot believe that Susan Boyle went undiscovered for 47 years but that crazy Celine Dion has been wailing away for decades making millions. I just don’t get the appeal. Where is the justice? Sort of the way it’s just not fair that we lost Ann Richards but George W. Bush is allowed to live." - Helen Philpott

I never did get the CD thing...... and gawd the whole world misses Ann Richards. The only Texas politician with a grain of sense. Sessecion anyone? Ann would have put that stupid swine flu nonsense in the right category - National Enquirer News for the mentally limited.

Kitten Update

2009-05-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

Well the news is good and bad. Good is that the kitten has been located. Momma cat has moved it into the hole underneath the chicken house. The bad news is the baby has a name - Little Smokey. This does not bode well for trapping and removal from our property and I really do not want more pets.

Foxes and Kittens

2009-05-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

The rains have been non-stop for nearly a week. Finally the sun came out this morning. When it stays so dark and wet for days, animals that are normally nocturnal start coming out of the woods in their quest for food.

Over a month ago, I could hear an animal calling from down at the pond after sunset. It certainly seemed like a type of strange bird from the location and the constant noise over about a ten minute period. Last week while walking Meek, Boo saw a red fox running on the path down there. The fox had something in it's mouth - probably a baby stolen from another animals' nest. My guess was rabbit baby. After the siting we decided to look the fox up on the internet and lo and behold the calling we had previously thought was a bird was the fox. You can hear their barking call in this video. The first noise was the birdlike call. If I had heard those other noises later in the video, I certainly would have thought something was being killed.

The animal sightings didn't stop with the fox. On Tuesday we discovered the feral cats had a litter of kittens in our large burn pile. Momma cat and one baby were seen hiding in a brushy opening. The baby was seen again the next morning but Mamma must have been out hunting. I thought it was curious that I was only seeing one baby, but feral cats have a rough life and maybe the litter was just small. Then yesterday I was working out in the rain and suddenly realized I was hearing the fox calling and it sounded like it was at the burn pile. I went running thinking the fox would steal the baby kitten for lunch. By the time I got down there, no fox, no kitten. I haven't seen the kitten since then and suspect Mother Nature has worked her dirty trick to keep the wild animal population level down. No wonder we never saw more than one kitten. They had probably made tasty snacks for Mr. Fox.

Giving Thanks

2009-05-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

When you or a family member goes into the hospital, there are so many uncertains. You don't know the quality of the care your will receive. This aspect applies from the surgeons down the to nursing staff. Any one person you come in contact with could contributing to making the experience horrible on numerous levels.

We are so blessed to have a small, but world class hospital in Charlottesville. Martha Jefferson Hospital is the only place I would want to end up if I needed to be admitted. I had my first colonoscopy there. I have taken my father there for heart procedures, kidney stones and back surgery. My sister had her babies there and my nephew was laid up in there with a broken leg after his big german shephard dog sat on him when he was a tyke.

This week I was in there waiting while Boo had cardiac ablation. It is so wonderful that each and every person we came in contact with was a true gem of service. Thanks to Dr. Zakhaib and staff this was a most amazing experience. Although any heart procedure is scary - you don't have people cutting into your femoral and carotid arteries without it being scary - this whole thing was amazingly simple to endure and survive with minimal pain and outstanding results. Here's a big toast to no more arrhythmia!!! Martha Jefferson you are the best.

Art Fair Weirdness

2009-04-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

When you take up the lifestyle of travel to art fairs, you learn very quickly how strange people and events can be out on the road. You run into the nicest most helpful people who will do things for you for free just because they think you are cool for making art. I have been invited to gorgeous homes of the well heeled, given food, and been treated like royalty.

There is always life at the other end of the spectrum. Many art fair organizers are non-profit organizations who host art events to raise money in an effort to do good in their community. Many times the beneficiaries are adults with disabilities. I have enable blind people to "feel" my art in Pennsylvania. Adults with mental disabilities have beamed at the beautiful colors in my glass. The candy-like coloring brings sheer joy to their eyes. I met George over the weekend who proceeded to go over every single candle holder in my booth very methodically. He asked " Did you make this one?" and then waited for the answer. Then we repeated the question and answers all the way down the wall of my booth. He was hypnotized by them, I believe.

Some things you see at fairs are very unsettling. I don't like when I get booth neighbors who have a caustic relationship. That happened this weekend. When women are verbally abused within earshot, I just get very angry and have to mentally remove myself from the space. When I came in on Sunday and saw the condition of their booth, it seemed such an example of the negativity swirling around a mean man. The back of their canopy had collapsed and the front blown open. The booth looked ransacked as I am sure that poor woman's heart must feel most of the time.

The other sight I observed is merely too disgusting to contemplate. The weather was incredibly beautiful and although the park and the fair were not scheduled to open until noon, I took advantage of my leisure time to read the Sunday paper under a tree beside my booth. I realized a very large man was motoring up the street picking up trash. You could see him coming from several blocks away. When he got to the garage across the street from the park he spent nearly 20 minutes going over the space in minute detail. You just knew this was a regular route for him. I cannot fathom what desperation will lead someone to pick up cigarette butts like this. I really do not want to wrap my mind around the recycling element my imagination cooked up. Gross. Just plain gross.

On The Road!!

2009-04-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

Nita and Dora are ready to go. We head down to the Norfolk area this weekend for the Chesapeake Fine Arts Festival. The weather forecast is awesome and hopefully the sales will be also. I have two new panels that I am quite excited about. They both have an "origins of the universe" theme with comets and stellar explosions chased into the copper parts. I love it when something new comes together so easily.

Humpin'

2009-04-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Well it is Wednesday.........

More Music Fun

2009-04-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sex on Fire

2009-04-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sex On Fire

The original, above, is by Kings of Leon.

The cover, below is by Sugarland. Despite the compelling video for the original, Jennifer has added a haunted quality to the vocals which are a triumphant interpretation of the song. I never liked covers until Sugarland went off on their glorious spree that started with Beyonce's "To the Left".

NAIA Open Board Meeting

2009-04-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of NAIA will conduct an Open Meeting that will be streamed live over the internet next Tuesday, April 14th starting at 3pm Central time. The meeting is being held in Ft Worth, Texas prior to the Main Street Art Festival set-up which begins on Wednesday. All NAIA members are invited to participate in the meeting either in person or by submitting questions to the Board through the NAIA member forum. In addition to the meeting there will be an artists reception afterwards which will be open to all artists irregardless of whether they are exhibitors at the show or NAIA members.

The physical location of the meeting is the Grace Restaurant at 777 Main St in Ft Worth. The open portion including the question and answer session is from 3 -5 PM Central time.The artists reception is 6:30 - 8 pm with light refreshments. All artists are invited to the reception,

Any interested artists may watch the live stream of the meeting. The following are instructions to view the meeting online.

1. Go to http://www.ustream.tv on April 14th at 3:00 pm Central Time
2. Click on the key in the upper right corner that says "Live"
3. On the next screen, in the search box directly below the text: "Quick Search in Live Shows", type in our "Shows' Name" which is: "NAIAartists" (quotation marks deleted) This will take you directly to our show.

NAIA wishes to thank Jay Downie of the Main Street Fort Worth Festival for his gracious donation of meeting space for these activities. He has also donated space for an information booth to be manned by NAIA staff during the show set-up on Wednesday and Thursday. Anyone who wishes to learn more about NAIA should drop by our booth with questions on those days.

Also, please feel free to email Board Chairwoman Sally J. Bright as follows:

sallyjbright@naia-artists.org

to learn more.....
NAIA Website : http://www.naia-artists.org

Wake Up Dancing!!

2009-04-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

Golly I feel good this morning! Happy Monday Everyone.

Watching Silent Movies

2009-04-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

When I was in college, I took a class on Cinematic Theory. It was one of my favorite classes but due to the stigma that it would not have helped to further any career aspirations, I did not follow up and take further movie classes. In hindsight, I am so sorry I didn't pursue this, or any of my other artistic and architectural interests in school. While I have overcome that deficiency later in life - as my true spirit was not to be denied - there is a huge regret over missed chances back then.

These days I satisfy my movie obsessions by viewing classic films and more recent Academy Award winners. Some might call me a film snob. I have little use for comedies, especially those that are based on scatalogical humor or immature male characters. For whatever reason, the female oriented films that fall in this comedy category - think "Romey and Micheles' High School Reunion" - are slightly more tolerable. My other quirk is a love of talking animals and monkey movies. Babe, anyone of the cute talking mice, or any movies where monkeys play tricks on the dumb people, leave me enraptured.

Ok, enough of the silliness. The past weekend I rented part one of the four part Alfred Hitchcock Legends Series. The dvd included a group of his earliest films - many created prior to his immigration to the US. Noteably the one I watched Tuesday night - The Manxman - is a silent classic. Silent movie actors had to rely on a completely different set of emotive skills than talking actors. At times this is to great comic effect, even while the subject matter may be serious. The exaggerated facial expressions can make the actor look like he only has one emotion so you really have to rely on the few written passages and lip reading to understand the story completely.

In The Manxman (which refers to residents of the Isle of Mann), Hitchcock was dealing with issues of love,loyalty and betrayal. This is serious stuff while mixed up with the antiquated process of a father granting the appropriately wealthy suitor his daughter's hand in marriage. Because the locale is a stark, rocky and poverty stricken country, the film's settings are by turns rooted in a quaint fishing village and upon majestic outcrops. The image at the top of this page is one of the most iconic frames from the movie. The female protagonist is crossing a hillside to meet up with her secret lover. Despite the beauty, the looming cloudhead reveals the impending doom to come.

Hitchcock is remembered most for his mastery of the suspense genre. I think all true film lovers should seek to preserve his history more for the ability to catch a scene with his camera. The unique angles and the ability to portray mood with lighting are the work of a master. To this level of craftsmanship, I aspire. Hitchcock truly was a genius at his art.

Valueing the Work of Hands

2009-03-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Fellow NAIA member, jeweler Carla Fox has teamed up with her talented kids to create a video about her creative process. This is a fabulous video which just really makes me want to see more. Her final statement about the nature of "arfulness" is terribly profound. Everyone in our country needs to get back to these types of simple concepts and then there would not be so much unrest or unhappiness over the economy, crooked investors, and drunken sports stars.

Carla's process is not so different than many things that happen in my shop. I was inspired by her designs the very first time I saw her website. Now I know the work of her soul is as good as the work of her hands. This is truly the measure of success.

For more -- www.carlamfox.com

I hate it......

2009-03-30T07:10:00.001-07:00

My wonderful house was designed to resemble the grand beachside homes on North Carolina's outer banks. There are tons of windows and a huge front porch. Alas, those windows have an evil downside and despite putting up bird avoidance stickers, this happens with alarming frequency. I thought the blue jay would pull through as it was still moving when I picked it up, but then it died in my hand. No doubt from a broken neck.

Don't Make Fun of Rednecks

2009-03-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

You know they've got the bad ass trucks to whup your northern butt.

Trading Out

2009-03-22T14:35:00.001-07:00

There have been so many reminders of what mortality is about over the last few years. It is something that has crept into my mind like a slithering serpent and will not go away. Many friends and acquaintances who are my age have mentioned this. We are all at the point where our good looks and health are diminishing, and our parents are dying. This can be very somber territory and it takes a daily effort to remember how good life is. You must plant your own garden and then relish the results.

Yesterday we moved furniture from the house in town and took things from our house that we no longer want and threw them into the auction pot. What a load of work!! Several neighbors came over also and it was quite the event. A refridgerators needed to come out of the basement and go next door. Apparently two 80 year old men really need some help with a job like that . Who woulda thunk it?

My father and I took two heavy concrete planters and loaded them on the dolly to pull up the hill from the back yard. He also took home almost all of the old garden art from my studio that had been gifted to Edwin and Agnes over the years. The circle stays complete.

After wrestling with furniture the last two days, my back is acheing and the change in the house has all the cats very curious. Ham likes sitting on the new buffet and I am enjoying the new scenery that a big overhaul like this brings. Life is good.

Working Through the Process

2009-03-20T12:11:00.001-07:00

The last two weeks in the shop have been spent getting ready for the spring shows and creating new work for the exhibit that will be at the "Spring Street" store starting in July. I have been playing with some new processes and am finally ready to put some of this work together for jury slides.

It takes days to cut glass and load the kiln. Because the glass saw is water cooled and I work in an unheated garage, the few warm days recently have been dedicated to this job. I worked on this on both weekdays and weekends just so I don't have to cut below 65*. After finally setting it all up and firing the glass, I have a huge batch of playthings. The color are so brilliant.

I have to keep multiple parts of this process going at all times. Many people ask me at a show how long it takes to create a piece. This is so hard to answer as I usually have multiple panels going at once and jump from the steel plates, to the glass, to the copper forming and back, sometimes all in one day and then other things will drag on for weeks. Whimsy is my muse, no doubt.

The newest thing I am enjoying is the fold formed leaves. These are going into an aquatic themed piece. I also have been making maple leaves which are a real challenge to cut with the avaiation snips. Next up will be some ginkos.

The photo shows the leaves after two days of sitting with a chemical patina brushed on the surface. I had a batch of the caustic mix made up for me. The patina was supposed to be blue but due to a mix-up, something different than the original specifications was added. That small difference makes the leaves looks like classic naturally aged copper at this point in the process.

The big surpise came after I soaked the leaves in a neutralizing bath of baking soda water and then gently warmed them over the gas burner. The patina completely changed with green and yellow highlights. There are warm brown backgrounds and overall, it is much more interesting. The final part is a wax coating so until I finish I am not completely sure what the final leaf will look like.

For Pat H.

2009-03-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Kindness and love grow gardens of comfort. April says thanks.

The Sun is Out!

2009-03-17T11:42:00.001-07:00

After many days of snow and rain, the sun has finally returned. Ham has been outside most of the morning parolling the perimeters. I will spend the rest of the afternoon in the shop while he takes his nap. Life is good.

The Rain Bonnet

2009-03-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

Of course he's cute in his blue bonnet!!!! Meek gets toweled off after his evening run but cannot understand why the stupid people are making goo goo noises over him. Even after he got in bed, he was suspicious that we were up to something

March of the Juggalos

2009-03-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

All the insane clowns.......

Spring Dreams

2009-03-10T14:33:00.001-07:00

I took the REDS to the vet this morning. Ham has been worrying me since before the trip to FL and it just took this long to make the time for the appointment. As I suspected, he probably has hyperthyroidism. That explains the weight loss and the fact that he's acted like a dog and gotten into the trash when we left fresh meat wrappers out overnight. Cats normally don't ever bother the trash so it was quite a hint that he just cannot feel like he's getting enough to eat.

Ms. Wilma is her age - old and somewhat cranky 16. . She seems fine otherwise, but on Dr. Peppards direction I came home and ordered a cat water fountain so she will be more inclined to drink. I know they need lots of fresh water to keep their kidneys going as they age. Evidently the fresh moving water in this type fountain seems to interest them more than a stale bucket. Fancy that.

The warm temperatures have woken up all the plants and trees in a huge rush. The daffodils started blooming yesterday and the red bud has a nice swelling on the tips. My car had yellow spits all over the windshield this morning from the alder pollen. Two days out in the shop and I have a big pile of glass to go in the tumbler and in the kiln. The signs of spring are so exciting!!!

Garden Time!!

2009-03-07T06:17:00.001-08:00

I got the acceptance postcard yesterday for the Garden Show at the State Arboretum. This marks a return to the past for me in a way. I did a lot of garden sculpture and many different garden shows when I first started making my art to sell. This particular show has been sending me application information for years and I never bothered with it, but this year I've decided to adopt the strategy of staying closer to home to minimize costs and to take advantage of unusual opportunities when they present themselves.

Come visit us at the Blandy Farm on May 8-10th. I'll have lots of unusual sculptures and glass nuggets for the kids. There will be lots of plant vendors so if you are looking for the unusual for your yard, this is the opportunity to get something really neat.

The Measuring Cup

2009-03-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

It's been well over a year since Agnes passed away. Every now and then she jumps into our lives in the most unexpected ways and she sure made herself known this past weekend.

Back in November, we decided to cook a turkey dinner at the empty house in town for our Thanksgiving meal. I took a variety of my pots and pans and a small vintage aluminum measuring cup over there to fix the meal. That cup is a keepsake for me as we had one identical to it when I was a child. Once I went out on my own, I had the good fortune of finding mine at a flea market and have held onto it since then. By my guess, it is probably 60 years old.

After our holiday meal, all the kitchen utensils got packed back into Serena - our Toyo Van - and brought home. It wasn't until days later that I realized my measuring cup was missing. I went out and searched the whole car. Looked under the seats and in all the cubby holes. No measuring cup. It must have been left in town.

Later, I checked the entire kitchen in town and could not find the missing cup. I even checked all the cabinets which had been inventoried in preparation for the estate auction. This cup was gone.

Before I went to Atlanta in January, Serena got another thorough cleaning and vacuuming. We checked again under all the seats and could not find that darn cup. I just decided it was gone forever.

Last weekend, I took my parents up to Pennsylvania so my dad could visit his sick brother. It was an emotionally stressful trip but I was very glad I followed through on the promise to help him with this venture. While I was gone, Boo cleaned out some old paperwork and shredded it. The picture above showed up amidst the piles. When I got back home, I was presented with that photo along with another stack of pictures of the pond and the baby cats. Agnes loved that pond as much as anyone. She had the patience of a saint when it came to fishing. It was so good to see those pictures and remember the happy times after the very sad and tiring trip to PA. The other bit of news I got when I was shown these pictures was a shocker. Low and behold, that damn measuring cup simply appeared in the middle of Serena's back seat while I was gone. We have no idea where it could possibly have been hidden or how it could have re-appeared. Was Agnes trying to tell us something? Who knows, but I kinda think she has a sly grin wherever she is.

Walk of Life

2009-02-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

I have a terrible love-hate thing about cover songs but this video is a riot. Hats off Shooter.

Equal Rights for All

2009-02-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

Duck In a Truck

2009-02-23T05:38:00.000-08:00

Humans and Animals. You never know what might happen.

A Lifestyle Choice

2009-02-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

Last week's road problems really stopped me dead in my tracks down in Florida. It took five days of aggravation and well over $2000 to resolve things and get back up to Virginia. When I got home, I discovered one of the cats was not doing very well. She gets terribly depressed when I am gone and had stopped drinking. This leads to inevitable kidney and bowel problems. I've nursed her over the weekend and she is much improved. Tuna broth is good but the loving is better.

The thing is, that despite all the difficulties, I just cannot foresee giving this life up. I am not doing well financially as is the case with most artists on the show circuit, but this life is not just a job. It's a total way of living your life. It's about creating art and having faith in yourself. It's about way more than the money. It's about living every moment to the fullest and finding pleasure in the odd twists of fate that will lead to the giddy moments of joy in seeing a beautiful little girl with her proud kitty face paints as well as the lows of a blown tire on the interstate.

I read a very meaningful article while I was gone in "The Sun". This is a literary magazine that was given as a gift subscription by my dad for Christmas. The author was talking about interacting with a glass. Glass - like drinking glass - and knowing that the glass is broken even though it sits intact before you. Basically he was saying that all things die. We are dead even as we live. It's only in the knowing of this inevitable result that we come to cherish the moment that exists. To live fully, you must embrace your own fatality and thus be aware of the totality of your existence.

I had a moment of recognition about that when the tire blew out on me Friday afternoon. For one brief second I was sure the van was going to hit a light pole on the side of the road, possibly causing disastrous results. But it didn't happen. I am still here and I am going to get back out on the road and go again. That is my life and it's what I need to be doing. I will see beautiful little children at other shows and I will get my work sold and I will make a new line of sculpture that I've been dreaming about. All is good.

The Cure

2009-02-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

If everything in your world is upside down, the best cure is Mother Nature. While we are on the long slow wait for the van repairs, I took a hike down at Trimble Park which is outside of Mount Dora. As you approach the park, massive orange groves stretch forever along both sides of the road. Despite the freezing weather early last week, the trees and their fruit seem to be faring well. Immigrant laborers were picking all the fruit from the trees in this section and only this line of trees on the outside edge of the orchard had any fruit left. We have scope out an abandoned plot of trees behind our hotel and when we check out tomorrow morning we'll go by there and grab a sack of fruit to take home. These are juice oranges and decidedly ugly, but have the best taste I have ever enjoyed from a fresh orange.

I am not the only one enjoying the bounty provided by Mother N. This flock of ibis was hungrily poking in the sand along the edges of the lake looking for food. We could not get too close to them and I wondered how they avoid getting caught by gators. Despite taking the advice of the park guide as to the best place for gator watching, we have yet to see one of the toothy critters. They are like the Loch Ness monster - many rumors of their existence but no proof or sightings for me.

I Am Damned

2009-02-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

After driving all the way down to Florida to beautiful Mt Dora, I am enjoying the surprise of my van crapping out and dying in the middle of the street. At least there is a clear explaination of why I am in this particular hell.

Thanks to the unknown zealot who amused the huge crowds at the art fair with his lurid preaching. Mostly people seemed to think he had a mental issue. This certianly wasn't the venue for effectively getting his point accepted as most artists are extremely liberal.

Icy Goodness

2009-01-28T09:35:00.001-08:00

(click on image for details)

Every year that we get a drought in the summer, they usually point back to below average snowfall in winter as the early indicator of problems. Now on the second day of a winter ice storm, I am going to give thanks for all the slowly falling water, even if it is in the frozen form. The bulbs, grass and trees are doing a happy dance beneath their cold shield. The pond is gorgeous, foggy and mysterious in this type of weather. Everything is good.

Sun Dogs

2009-01-23T03:09:00.000-08:00

Sun dogs are created by atmospheric condition when moisture in the upper atmosphere reflects from the sun rays and creates a halo around the sun. This is not a common sight.

Unfortunately this sight - two poor dogs inside a small fenced yard with no visual stimulus, no interaction with humans, and very little room to run is quite common. These pups in the yard next to the rental house in Atlanta made a ritual of seeking the early morning sun rays so they could warm up from the cold, icy air. My heart breaks for them.

What Am I Doing Here??

2009-01-19T16:27:00.000-08:00

I just pulled into Atlanta for the annual NAIA Board meeting and all I can say is this is a totally ill conceived experience and I feel extremely grouchy. I have a chest cold, it's cold outside and an 8 hour drive getting down here was zero fun. I should be at home with my cats, in front of the woodstove waiting to watch the inaugural on the big tv. Sometimes I really really hate hotels.

** oh great and now we are getting snow flurries. I came all the way to Georgia to get snow? This is not right.

What a Proud Moment!!

2009-01-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Our favorite singer did her family proud. Way to go Jennifer.

Adventures with Kale

2009-01-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Last night I made kale for dinner. It was the first time I've cooked this particular green and it was a real treat. I'm asking myself why I am so slow. The answer probably lies with Yogaville (www.yogaville.com).

The intentional community south of Charlottesville gets fairly high marks from some people on the weirdo- meter. I really didn't have much opinion one way or another until I met a fellow artist who lives down there. She is just one of those unforgettable characters you meet out on the road, that if you didn't share the gypsy lifestyle, you probably would never cross paths. She always amused me with stories about living in her van, scavanging for packing materials and such. I always presumed part of her life of scarcity was a result of the teaching of the ashram and never gave it much thought until a couple of winters ago. After not seeing this gal for months, she just looked gaunt. Madonna, creepy looking gaunt. We got to talking and she said the divine leader down there was preaching that folks needed to eat kale. Only kale. This makes no sense to me. No matter how healthy kale is, eating only one food is not a good thing. I was totally turned off to kale especially if it was going to make me look like that.

Fast forward three years and I saw these lush curly greens in Food Lion over the weekend and simply could not resist. The last few years my cravings for spinach and asparagus grow stronger and stronger. I just love the green spring foods and anticipated that the kale would fill the void here in the winter months. Going to my favorite cooking resource - Bert Greene - I found his recipe for Kale Fribble. After a lengthy explanation about cooking the tough greens, there is really little difference than preparing wilted spinach. You just have to boil them a lot longer to soften them up. The fribble is a crustless pie of sorts. The boiled kale was added to sauteed onions, spices, broth and swiss cheese in a skillet and then the whole mess gets popped into the oven with a crust of bread crumbs on top. After it firms up, the greens cut like a pie. There is a decidedly strong "skunky" cabbage odor while the greens boil. The whole time they were cooking I recognized that scent which has repeatedly, over the years, come floating up through the woods from one of the houses down in the bottom. Someone down there also likes kale.

Dished up with saffron risotto and leftover meatloaf, this was a meal of great satisfaction. The leftovers even caused a little controversy which normally doesn't happen around here. At least I get half for lunch today. Kale is definitely going back on the grocery list for next week.

Just 'Cause...

2009-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday Friends!

USA Handmade Toys R Good

2009-01-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

Sparkles the cat - finger puppet made in Vermont.

In response to the problems with lead tainted toys from China entering the American markets, the Consumer Products Safety Commission is set to enact a law which inadvertently threatens the livelihood of all the mom and pop American artisan business who make safe toys. This law would force the small businesses into safety testing that could cost up to $10,000 per toy and fines for a retailer of non-tested toys of up to $100,000. The testing costs are greater than many craft artists would make in sales of a specific toy over the lifetime of their creation of the toy. They simply cannot afford these fees and will never be able to compete against large manufacturers such as Matel who expect to make millions from a successful product.

Congress needs to hear from you immediately to understand that we need these small craft businesses and their products in the retail stream. Bludgeoning the small businessmen who make safe toys that often use post consumer content such as recycled sweaters and other woolen goods or recycled lumber from pallets, is not the means to ensure the safety of our kids. We need to go after the imports, not American businesses. Please read more here.......

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/how-you-can-help

Please sign the petition and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go and buy American made products for your family from American artists and craftspeople. It will support our economy and keep our money here at home.

Sunday Ham

2009-01-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

The living room underwent a major overhaul this week and for the first time since this pair of matching couches was purchased, Ham has taken up residence. I just love this cat and now that he is willing to lay around with someone on the couch, it is just a real special place. I took the unusual tactic of putting the couches back to back. One looks out the huge expanse of windows into the side field and the woods beyond. I am calling that area my sunshine library because there is full sun in that space all day long, I have loaded up my newest metal working books on the coffee table and I am ready for some serious snuggle time with the babies.

Last night the power went out and since there was nothing better to do than to lay on the couch with a comforter and Junebug the tortoiseshell baby, I took advantage of the situation and simply chilled out. The stars were blinking on the horizon and the wood stove was creaking. Not so bad for a dark Saturday night.

Cheating Father Time

2009-01-02T06:43:00.001-08:00

You know how the editorial comics always portray the new year as a baby and the outgoing year as a grizzled old man? Well I got a first hand glimpse yesterday of the means for cheating that old fart out of his scythe. We went out west of town for the Free Union New Years 5 K race. Meek and I watched as friends and family joined up with the Charlottesville Race Club for this annual event. There were runners in every age group from under 10 to people in their seventies. You never saw so many smiling faces at any event as these people when they crossed the finish line. Big congratulations to Boo - a first time runner - and cousin Judy who at nearer to 60 looks more like a 35 year old. There is something in that water!!!

Through the Door to 2009

2008-12-31T07:08:00.000-08:00

For some reason these doors keep talking to me. They are massive and heavy. Constructed from green oak boards, they dried and warped a bit over the years. The small knot in the lower right corner fell out after only a short while. It's the perfect size for a cat to go through. I probably have pictures of the original clan - Keezy, Sally and Hunk - sitting in this doorway or squeezing through the hole. The current cat family doesn't seem to care too much about this barn at all - especially with those wild beasty cats laying around in their hay nests.

This morning I was reading a blog by a woman who calls herself a professional talker. Just the thought tires me out. I can go for days without having many people around this place. The cats and Meek are enough distraction. Some people might say that being so happy with alone-ness is a problem. For me, it is grounding. I need to turn my ideas around in my own head about 50 times to make sure they are right. Sometimes the introspection leaves the original thought on the floor in tatters. Other times, that slow review makes me see a lot more details than my original reaction allowed for. For this reason, I have learned not to put my that first idea out there for the world. A little simmering is good for the outcome.

With the New Year upon me, I am trying to take a page from Jack White, the painter.
( www.jackwhiteartist.com ) He writes art coaching articles for the Art Calendar magazine and his most recent topic was survival in the midst of economic gloom. He points out that while many of us have taken hits on our 401K, we are not about to retire next week anyway. Give it some time and the balances will come back up. As he pointed out, lawyers making $150,000 a year still have their jobs. They may be holding their cash a little tighter so it's up to me, the artist, to create a piece that they cannot live without and to give them permission to purchase the piece. My friend Pat reminded me about this shopping/permission thing last month. It was a concept that I had not considered lately. I need to allow the customer to enjoy their purchase and to help them see how they cannot live without the good feelings they will get from my sculptures. My friend K demonstrated this concept recently when she emailed a picture of a sculpture she owns. She was sharing her joy in the piece when she shared the picture. Spreading joy is good for both giver and recipient.

So tying up the disparate elements of this post, my resolution for the New Year is to boldly go through the door of change. To not fear the work I need to put into talking my customers into buying my art and to embrace the joy they will get from the purchase. I cannot give up this career and people need art as much as we need to breathe. Without beauty and joy, the darkness the mass media is spreading over the world will shrivel our hearts.

Happy New Year everyone. Please go out and support an artist in your community and turn off your television. Good things are going on all around you and we will all come out the other side just fine.

Where the Wild Things Lie

2008-12-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

I have always had feral cats around the perimeters of our property but now they have moved into the black building which is a combination of hen house, potting shed and glass storage. They broke up a hay bale and made a tidy little nest right up against some copper colored glass. I am in a quandary as to dealing with this. Part of me wants to trap them and take them away and another part says trap, neuter and then return them to live out their lives in the woods. My indoor cats are not happy with the intruders and I know the neighbors down in the gully throw out kitchen scraps so they are not going to go away. It has not been terribly harsh here yet this winter so the clan seems to be thriving. Unfortunately that means more are on the way.

Let Not Mankind Bogart Love

2008-12-26T06:21:00.000-08:00

Willie's wish for peace on earth is surely tongue in cheek, but there is a certain profound truth to the last line.....

Christmas by the Headlights

2008-12-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes events in your life take on a more magical feeling if they happen at night with weird weather.

I grew up down in Tidewater where it rarely snowed in a meaningful way. We were too close to the ocean which keeps things temperate. The few snowfalls we got were major events and even a few inches closed things down. When I was in my early teens we got a big snow. A really big snow. Maybe 6 or 8 inches and the whole area stopped moving. My dad gathered my sisters and I up that night and took us out walking. It was a time I remember just like it was yesterday. Being a kid, I was highly impressed that he had us walking down the middle of the road so we could stay in what few tire tracks there were. Less snow for kids to plow through. Then he took us out of our subdivision and we walked out on the main road. This was simply thrilling. We were the only people out. The quiet and lighting only from the streetlamps gave everything an aura of mystery. I was in heaven.

This past Saturday night I had another one of those moments. We went to a family Christmas party. These folks are well to do, have a brand new home I had never been in and they layed out a very nice buffet and had unlimited beer from a refrigerated keg tap in their family room. Very nice!

The capper was that seven of us piled into the jeep and headed out to the pasture. It was just above freezing and misty rain was swirling around leaving drops that glowed like ice over everything. The black fences and the grass all glistened. As we drove down by the lake and then up through the pasture, off in the distance you could see our goal. Enormous heads and eyes glowing. Big puffs of smoke coming from their nostrils. Trey stopped the jeep and we all got out and then the giants came out of the darkness to approach us. CLYDESDALE horses!!! A whole herd of the biggest beasts I have ever been near. I was so impressed that the headlights didn't scare them. They came up and smelled our hair and hands. The one I liked the best was called Legend. He was more aloof but I just liked the way he looked. Their awesome large feet kept them from sinking into the mud and the rain rolled off their coats to no effect. This was simply the best Christmas excursion I think I have been on in twenty years. What a surprise to get so much joy from seeing a herd of horses.

Staring at the Wall

2008-12-18T08:09:00.001-08:00

This morning while I was dressing, girlfriend Red Wilma was sitting on the pillows waiting. She was just staring into space. Cats don't normally do that. They always seem more in the moment than humans are. I really could relate to her moment though.

When I joined the NAIA Board the repeated comment was that you would spend the first year just learning how things work. By the second year you are up to speed enough to really begin to contribute. Then by the third and final year of your term, your contributions really start to mean something to the organization. I really didn't grasp how this learning curve could be so steep. Does it take you three years to get good at a new job?

I am now at the end of my first year. Due to a combination of factors, I will get voted in during our January meeting as the organizations' Treasurer. This was not a seat I sought out. In fact, I am quite concerned about taking on so much responsibility in this particular area because even though I have the gift of being able to do numbers in my head better than most people, bookkeeping and record keeping are not naturally a strength. I tend to work well with chaos as inspiration in my studio. Numbers people have to be disciplined. I am not the person who has all their pieces and parts in nicely labelled boxes and bins. My tools and supplies look like a tornado just swept through. No matter how hard I try, the disorganized mess remains. I know where stuff is, but no one else would be able to wind their way through it.

Starting last week, the parts of NAIA's accounting system have been getting passed on to me. There was the backup to our books that needed to get uploaded. A long list of internet accounts with passwords. Setting up our new Merchant Services system. New bank accounts to open since there was no local branch for the bank we previously did business with. That means getting people in various parts of the country to come up with decade old documents such as the IRS letter granting us our non profit status. State Corporation paperwork. Federal Tax Identification numbers. The list of things I have not thought of is probably longer than the list of documents I already have staring at me. And going back to staring........... I think the cat and I will just look at the wall a bit longer till some of this settles in.

Santa Baby

2008-12-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

Do you think I have any room to squeeze a few more things into the shop. I have a wish list of tools and things are getting tight space wise. I want a propane forge, an anvil ( I'll make my own stand), a bead roller and some chasing tools. I think some boxes of stock are going to need to disappear. * sigh.

Laundry Time

2008-12-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

April has discovered that the down comforter makes a great new nest while we are in the middle of changing beds and doing laundry. She has guarded this spot quite well.

The house guest dogs have gone back home to their mother. It seems quiet and empty in here after keeping them for only a week. The cats are very relieved to get things back to normal and could care less those two small dogs are gone. Especially as the guest degs were inclined to grab the humans' laps before a cat knew what had happened. Spoiled house rats.

Sugarland's U-2 Moment

2008-12-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

The video for Sugarland's soaring anthem - Love - was released today. I am not generally a fan of concert videos but Shaun Silva did a good job here with the multiple camera angles that gave these two performers the appropriately prophetic look to carry this theme. Someone does need to tell Jen what the impact is of those "humping" dance moves. Just sayin'.......

Jobs - Oh My!

2008-12-09T08:11:00.001-08:00

Here's a close up shot to give you an idea of how intense the colors and textures were in the glass accent at the top of the cd rack job I just finished. I delivered these guys late last week and the client was very excited to present them to her husband. I left her with instructions to wait a day or so before loading the racks up because the paint was still soft. It's very hard to get paint to totally cure in a short time in the winter. Evidently "he" couldn't wait and the cd's were loaded up in their new home by Sunday and the sculptures positioned in front of a sliding glass door to take full advantage of the great colors. In a huge twist of fate, the lady contacted me yesterday to tell me the sad news that her job is being eliminated. Boy do I understand her pain.

I took on a temporary week long job starting on Friday. You can now call me "Dog Sitter". I know some people make really good careers at this and if I had about 5 jobs a week like this one, I believe I would even consider giving up the art fairs. It's good money, not much hassle and the customers give you no lip. How about that! The two cocker spaniels I'm sitting for now are very bright and perky, but it has been quite the experience going from my big silent dog to having these quick moving little yappers running around my ankles. They are easy though - take them outside and they do their business immediately and the electric fence keeps them where they should be. When their Ma comes back from Mexico, they will be very glad to get back to normal I am sure.