It was extremely sweet. Little Johnny, came to my studio with his mom, Suzie. They spent the first portion of the class drawing each other in the blind contour mode. I hope they found the beauty in just observing each other. Johnny did wonderfully, Suzie surely showed off her talent as artist – smooth, insightful and very skilled line quality. Very nice Suzie!
After the drawing session of the class, they chose a few favorite drawings. We then proceeded to make a few lovely screenprints out of the drawings. These are those wonderful blind contours! Enjoy them- I certainly did.
Out to play more music, since music is the amazing mojo vehicle from the gut. And so off to one of the many wonderful open mike/social havens of our delaware valley community. My chicken farmer/flute playing cohort was there, with a coors light… and her flute. And who, but the MIGHT MOJO himself – with his hair that is longer than it has EVER been in his whole life – was present for the quest. Bill played his ukulele while singing some traditional gems with a sweet passion and resolve that is so refreshing. Brenda, of Jack & Brenda, sang with the strongest of deliveries EVER!!! loved it. Claudia was beautiful and heavenly to watch. And My MIGHTY MOJO sang “GOD BLESS THE CHILD” (accompanied by Tom and John) with gusto and good solid pitch. A wonderful open mike! A satisfying chapter in the MOJO QUEST. But, still, what IS Alex doing in the Ladies room?
I always considered that driftwood chair as my throne. Being a Leo, there never seemed to be any reason why I should not have one. So, I put this chair, or rather throne, out on my loading dock -my precious loading dock that adorns my studio/shop. It seems that this throne has been the subject of far more “are you selling that” inquiries than any of my clothing has been. Not surprising, it is beautiful. It was made by a friend of my friend, Parran. I cannot remember his name, only that he made it out of driftwood and I traded it for handprinted clothing at a craft fair in Maryland.
ANYWAY…. Barry, my man, is sharing this studio with me, my studio with the loading dock. And he is displaying natural edged wood (http://www.homegrownhardwoods.com) in long planks. We are going to make chairs out of driftwood – similar of course, but could not be the same. I guess we are carrying on the tradition. We started collecting some wood this past weekend. Made me remember the joy I felt when I first moved out here. Someone nearby my home had been doing some of the same. I came upon a bunch of collected pieces of wood, balls, fish bones that were sitting on the river bank. The best thing was a skeletonized deer fetus. It sound really gross, but it was so groovy. I left it there. Yet, I don’t think anyone else really can do anything at all with it. But I am thinking they probably do not make prints from old carcasses like I do. So, by leaving the deer carcass there, I hope they realize what a great sacrifice I made. I think I am going back to get it. It a relief and a comfort to know that someone else has the “wow look at this really cool thing I found on the riverbank” disease just like I do.
Yeah.. I am going back to get it.
It was quite a trip. I feel absolutely initiated in to worldwide marketplace. The atmosphere at the show was one of trying to keep the spirits high… and making costs.. and figuring out how to stay in business. I think I will be ok. I think I can stay in business. The fair was a good thing. A bit too expensive for the times, but a necessary thing for my business. I got a bunch of new customers, and a lot of new contacts, and a lot of very valuable information to move forward with, for sure. Here’s a few shots of the booth. I postponed the TeePee display – but not permanently. It will be in the next booth, and I will return this summer. I like the atmosphere.
The 4 boards that fell unassisted to form the TEEPEE SIGN!
Ok.. so here we go again.. We are thinking about a teepee display for the Javitz center – something eye catching y’know… and once again – like the phoenix (in this blog) – a sign just happens. There is Barry eating lunch, the same day I asked him to help me build a teepee structure for my display. The wood just falls over,for no apparent reason! from a flat position on the horses and into this teepee structure… here they are . Look at them compared to the teepee structures that I found for referenece… WOW! Guess we gotta make them now!
- A TEEPEE structure to think about for a display
The Frog in the Lawn..... Maybe froggie reincarnated?
My Son was mowing the lawn – good son, yes.. and I was weed wacking.. ok it was a homeowner’s kinda day…and he found this BEAUTIFUL Frog in the lawn… I gotta say, he/she looked just like my frog shirt.. I fell in love.. but Jack, being a good nature boy, brought the frog back to the river….
It was a struggling cactus, kept falling over. It sometimes pierced curious childrens’ fingers – those children whose mothers would let them wander around the store unattended, making them cry and run into their mother’s arms. (you may read between the lines, here)
“Watch out for that nasty cactus, honey, stay close to your mom so it cannot hurt you!”…
In the summer, it lived outside my store – getting dry like all good cactus should – in the late afternoon hot summer sun. But after taking my daughter away for a short yet wonderful little vacation in upstate New York, it was gone. The cactus that my mother gave me when I reopened my store – was gone. I never even got to name it. Now it is just gone. Stolen. Absconded.
I hope it finds itself in Cactus heaven… And I think Cactus heaven would look this way:
