Back on the path

After too long with trips, shows, etc. I got back on the canal path last nite and tonight.

Not sure what the fruits above are, but I didn't eat them.

The cherries below however, were delicious and plentiful!

Father's Day

I've talked a lot about being an Uncle, but being a Dad is really cool too. The day to day Dad stuff ended years ago when my son grew up and started his own life, but Father's day is a good reminder of all those wonderful days, and of the great moments that continue in adulthood! I'll soon be adding Grandfather to Uncle, Dad, and Son in my titles list, but in the meantime, I'm very glad to be related to a bunch of really great folks!

Our latest work - so cool to create new pieces!

Another new dancer from Louise's Daughter (and son-in-law) We particularly love this group of three, but she is spectacular in any quantity!

Detroit Festival of the Arts

Wow - nice people, good music - again - and lots of cool stuff going on in addition to the art show..... but unlike some shows like this, the crowd does not ignore the artists, and they seem to like taking some home!

My video of these guys at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2036516028

Pictures above are of one of the most amazing "puppet" events I've ever seen. All I can find about them is the entry in the festival program - Close-Act Visual Theatre from The Netherlands, brings "Sau'rs" featuring gigantic pre-historic creatures that combine sound, rhythm, and humor as they move through the festival site. Can't find any web site related to their work. Only entries seem to be about their appearance at this festival.

Three "Sau'rs" and their handler look and sound really cool, and attract a huge crowd of folks who follow them like the Pied Piper! Somebody inside works very hard on stilts, manipulating the jaws, the head, neck, eyes, tail, tiny arms, etc., alternately accepting a hug from a little kid, and turning on an unsuspecting photographer with a mighty roar!

Casey at 33

Our son turned 33 today, but due to good training, he hasn't grown up yet. Here he is "bowling" with his new Wii game system!

A nice reflection on things

In our art at home series, here is one of our spirals reflected in a bathroom mirror, while a dancer graces the wall..... how much fun to prepare for the day here!

Not many booths with live music right outside the window! This is one of the shows that is easy on the back, easy on the eye, and easy on the ears! Just to give credit where due, this is the 100 American Craftsmen show in Lockport, NY last weekend.

and not many booths with a hard working nephew ready to help!

Pat and Vanna show off my first poppies of the season!

Uncle

I've told you before how much I love being an Uncle, and this weekend - Wednesday through Monday, I'm getting to do that full time. Doesn't get much better than that! Another school event - this time for my niece getting an academic achievement award. Young people at her school can actually earn an academic letter....... in my day "letters" were only for the jocks! How cool to pat kids on the back for being smart as well as for having great hoop shots!

Bike rides around town with the nephew ---- trips to the not quite local roadside ice cream stand...... side trips to places that figure in my family history while they are in school!

Pictures below........ my niece all dressed up for her award ceremony, nephew outside a mysterious underground structure he showed me --- a cistern? a root cellar, ????? ...... and the Atlanta, NY train depot from which my mother left for college, and that my great great grandfather took the traveling preachers to after services at the Ingleside, NY church.

More art at home from a happy customer!

How cool must it be to sleep here?

Cactus Flower

We're off to Northhampton, MA for a show tomorrow. Will probably miss a few days since we have a free place to stay that may not have internet access..... how will I survive? I'll take some pics to share on my return though. The cactus flower above is right in my office. Sort of a big ugly, spiny, sharp plant that just sort of sprawls across my window sill ----- growing in a pot that fell over several years ago. You don't think I'm going to try to set it straight do you? Very regularly big 3" across by about 5" long flowers appear.... sometimes several at once. Always a great day when I spot one! Started from a little piece about the size of my thumb salvaged from the floor of my lawyer's office about 20 years ago!

Carolina Duck

Several years ago, my brother Dave found a rubber duck on the path to the campsite while at Merlefest. He kept the duck, called it Carolina Duck - the americana music festival is in North Carolina - and rubber ducks became a part of family history ever since. Carolina Duck went to every Merlefest after that, and was joined by quite a few close relatives. Dave is gone now, but rubber ducks remain, along with memories! I found several "hippie ducks" at an anti-war store front, and added them to my van dash, and also thought why not take one along on on my bike rides. I definitely do not want to become one of those old guys with flags, pinwheels, and even bumper stickers on their bikes, but thought this was a nice touch. Someday I may need to move him to my future walker or wheel chair, but for yesterday at least Carolina Duck's hippie friend and I went for a 22.8 mile bike ride. Dave would have enjoyed the ride!

Riveting

A canal image I never would have imagined in advance, but here it is...... a tiny detail of one of those huge bridges built to carry trains, or cars, or whatever across the canal! The sun was just right..... looks like something on Mars? Below is a slightly bigger section of the same bridge. Click on the one above for a really cool larger version!

Another new thing from Louise's Daughter

Another "Look what we made" day. This simple automata's dancers move back and forth to whatever rhythm you move the front lever to. Looks marvelous just sitting there, and is fun to play with! About 10" x 10" x 6". To see them in person come to our up coming shows - schedule on the web site.


And in honor of Spider-man 3, and if you are keeping up with "nature in the back yard", here is a spider I met the other day!

New Dancers!

Our catalog, etc. mentions checking here to see new work before anyone else sees it, and here is one of those moments. We worked up dancer # 6 about a week ago. To see them in person come to our up coming shows - schedule on the web site.

A weekend with Wyatt!

A few weeks ago Wyatt invited me to see Spider-man 3. In our world, that is code for wonderful time together, and we proved it again this weekend! Spider-man was indeed part of the formula, but this abandoned bridge over the Erie Canal was probably the highlight! We rode our bikes along the canal path that I ride several times a week, and I got to show him things I see regularly, and tell him stories about my rides. But something made us venture off the path, over a little hill, and right to a bridge to nowhere! Notice that there is nothing but flowering bushes at the other end ...... same thing on this end. Not sure what went over this bridge. There is a railroad bridge right next to it..... tracks not in use any more, but at least they are there. The picture below indicates the future of that bridge too, but this one has no deck, nothing but the frame. Nothing but an adventure for a couple of guys out for a ride. 50 years apart in age, but both ready for the joy of discovery, the vertigo of stepping out over the water, however briefly, and the pleasure of someone to share the story with!
We also saw Spider-man 3, cooked Mother's Day bruch for Aunt Cheryl, Grandma Peg, Cousin Deanna, Cousin-in-law Linda, etc.

It all ended too soon, but but being an uncle is just about the best there is. The only thing better might be in a few weeks when I get both the neice and the nephew for a weekend! Uncle x 2??

Recycling again!

In a way yesterday's story was about recycling. That cool couch found a new home, and a ride to that home on the back of a car that was being lovingly cared for after 34 years instead of rusting away in a junk yard. This man, and his father-in-law, drove along that same street tonight, the night before the weekly trash run, and collected anything with metal in it. The truck sure looked full, but they found room on top for a gas grill abandoned after several summers of family picnics. All this stuff is off to the junk yard for recycling instead of off to the landfill. I watched amazed as this guy mananged to get just one more piece on his load, and remembered my grandfather who made some significant part of the family income collecting stuff from the "dump", and recycling it, back when there was no landfills, and no recycling!

Another wonderful story!

Went for my longest bike ride yet of the spring - 18 miles, and along with the exercise, I got a great story. Almost back home, I stopped to take some pictures of some huge logs left on the curb for the city to take away --- I doubt they will do that because they probably run about 3/4 ton each for the 3 or 4 biggest ones!

While doing that a 1974 Pontiac Granville convertible went by, but I missed the picture..... almost. As I headed on down the street toward home, the wonderful car was parked along the way, while the owner surveyed a couch that had been on the curb for about 3 days. I stopped to get the picture of the car, and talked to the owner who was very interested in the couch. Turns out that as a car buff, he knew the couch design was based on the 1956 Chevy Belair! He had called a friend to help load the couch onto the back of his car and was waiting for his arrival. The friend turned up moments later in a 1973 Cadillac Eldorado convertible! Two grand old cars, two friends, a grand old couch, and me all arriving at the same moment in time. I love it when parts of the world all converge in a moment, and I happen to be there, and happen to recognize that something special has happened!

Ferns

Another one more of those fabulous spring moments.... the beginnings of a little plot of wonderfully big ferns right ourside our back door every year!

Look! Up in the sky!

I love grapevines, and other things of the forest that form natural spirals. This one seems to have lost whatever it spiraled around, but grapevines are pretty sturdy things!

Lilac City - Rochester

Very tiny beginnings of spring - I didn't cut it off - honest -- just a file card behind!

We have a great Lilac Festival here ----- http://www.lilacfestival.com/ - May 11-20 this year. That little cluster above has a way to go in 2 1/2 weeks.

And along the canal today a Canadian friend!

Spring comes along the Erie Canal

So many things to see along the canal today..... a tiny bit of green...... how long till the berries are ripe?

This little wooly bear spent the whole winter somewhere around here, and was out to find a prime spot for a coccoon!

Paint Brush before --- above, and after --- below!

Lots more, including a pair of ducks, a garter snake, a Canada goose, and a few twists and turns, but more about that later ....... got in 11.5 miles today for a good start to my summer!

Bicycle Day

Every spring, Robert Frost's line comes to mind --- "Nature's first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold."


Nothing Gold Can Stay
Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.

Got my bike out Friday - put on 2 miles going to get some air in the tires, and Saturday got to one of my favorite spots - a bridge over the Genesee River. Very little spring green to be found yet. The lilac in the yard has tiny leaves emerging- the hedge seems to have had a hard winter - very brown, but close inspection shows very tiny buds with tiny green lines between the scales! Those daffodils are out again, but may soon have to give way to the new gas line going down our street.

Bicycles seem to be emerging from basements and garages. Like mine, they are a bit soft in the tire, and a little stiff - like their owners after a winter of sitting around? Other odd references to bicycles recently --- Bicycle Day was this past week - seems the person who discovered LSD rode his bike home after trying it for the first time in 1943 --- evidently quite an experience? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_Day#Bicycle_Day

Today's Writer's Almanac - a Garrison Keillor production that hits my e-mail box every day - includes a poem called "Bicycle Spring" by Kevin FitzPatrick. Check it out at http://www.elabs7.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=148124&mlid=499&siteid=20130&uid=15da4f022a

Subscribe if you really like a moment of uplifting each day.

Anyway, my bike still serves me well all these many years after my Dad propelled me down that cinder driveway sometime back in the 1950's. Between my Dad's good advice, and those sharp cinders I learned quickly. The lesson stuck, and even my arthritic hip that does not like a walk down the block seems to enjoy a few miles on the bike!

I think I'll add a new Label - "The old Erie Canal" because for the next few months a lot of my good moments and stories will come from the canal, the folks who ride along it with me, and my bicycle.

More Art at home from a happy customer

A happy customer combined one of our dancers with a favorite quote to decorate her bedroom!

Old Friendship renewed!

Many years ago, about 40 actually, I went to Divinity School. One of my friends from that period of my life was Bob Babbitt, the guy on the left in the above picture. I hadn't seen him in all of that 40 years, but thanks to Google, I found him last weekend .... the title for this could have been "This is April 15th, so this must be St. Paul???", but "Old friendship renewed" seemed better. Bob called back immediately, and along with his partner Gerry, fed us, showed us around town, and even helped tear down the booth at the end! Many thanks to Bob and Gerry. We'll stay in much closer touch this time!

Philadelphia

Here we are in Phildelphia! Tried a new booth arrangement with a sort of window/counter in the side wall..... corner booth. It was visually fun, and made for a great over the "window sill" conversation spot.
Here are Cheryl and Christina enjoying the new window.

Here is Don and our new friend Ed Bing Lee on the other side of the booth!

Back in February I was missing the warm weather, and the daffodils. The other day the daffodils emerged from the snow, and while a bit sad looking right now, they are definitely green, and will soon have those wonderful bright yellow flowers lining the sidewalk and brightening our days and the days of the neighbors. Thank you for the continuing process of life!

Art Critic in the booth?

Sorry for the delay in entries if anyone out there is checking regularly. We've been on the road from Atlanta to home (about 36 hours) and now we're in Marlborough, MA. ---- near Boston. Didn't sell much today because of a bit of snow, that the weather folks turned into a huge event like they love to do..... job security question I think. Job security for them, and job insecurity for us because when everyone stays home, our sales, and our ability to pay the mortgage suffer.


It did give us time to notice the visitor above, and to have time to get a pretty good picture. Had we been busy, our visitor probably would have bothered somebody, and we would have needed to move him/her sooner. Below is a pic as we first noticed him/her - in my earlier entomologist days I could have told you which. I moved the spiral to a better spot for the above pic.

Probably not the ultimate oddity???

I love odd things..... here is Cheryl standing in front of a picture of a store. The Cumberland Mall in Atlanta, GA. ---- remodeling a store. The "covering" over the work area is a picture of three stores! The t-shirt over Cheryl's left shoulder says - Detroit. That is where she is from? Also note the folks walking by in t-shirts.... it is March, and back home it is 15 degrees with lots of snow on the ground!

These kids rock!

Pretty much nothing compares to seeing kids do something really great! The only thing I can think of that would make it even better is having your nephew be part of it. Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a group of 5th through 8th graders put on the School House Rock musical at the Wayland Cohocton Middle School. They had fun doing it, they did a really good job, and they made all of the audience - their parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and neighbors - have a fun time too! That is my nephew Wyatt, in the middle with the black suit and red sash! (kind of hard to get a great shot in those lighting conditions)

My thanks to Wyatt, to all the other kids, and especially to the teachers, staff, parents, sponsors, etc. who helped those kids put on a terrific show, and make that about the best $5 I ever spent!

Creative use of materials

Another use of our spirals! And some Art Start! Liberty Montessori Preschool in Philadelphia used some of our spirals and miscellaneous Art Start parts as part of a mural for the wall! We just love knowing that our work brightens so many lives! That's Ms. Madelynn, the newest teacher. Thanks to Monica Wright for sending along this picture!

Success!

Just a quick note - Cheryl packed up the Generations show today, and by all measures it was a great success. The 1570 Gallery director - Jean Pope Boyle - was very pleased. Attendance and sales were both very good. Quite a few pieces sold, making it a financial success for them, plus in addition to their regulars, the opening was well attended, and there was a rush of folks after the appearance of the newspaper article. The article is shown below - February 23rd. All the artists seemed pleased. All were happy with the chance for their work to be seen, and those who sold work were of course even more pleased! And of course Cheryl and I are very happy that all the effort that was put in - mostly by Cheryl - was worthwhile! A big THANK YOU to Jean, to all the artists, and the all the folks who made a point of coming to see the show!