Pumpkin Soup

Not sure I every knowlingly ate something from Hungary? Paprika - Kathryn tells us she got it at a market stall that sold nothing but paprika! And I thought it was just that orange powder stuff in the McCormick tin can! If you don't recognize it, those bright red threads are paprika. And the soup the threads are floating on was delicious!

Thanksgiving - Bark, Bark, Bark

Just in case you actually read the title above, "Bark, Bark, Bark" is Maya Louise's latest favorite noise. You haven't lived until you've seen a PHD Child Psychologist sticking out her tongue, and going "bark, bark, bark, bark -------". Thanksgiving was wonderful, and if you leave me out of the equation, there wasn't even a weird old uncle to deal with! One of those put the camera on the radiator and run like crazy to beat the timer pics is below, and in case you thought Powdermilk buscuits were a figment of the imaginagion, I've added a picture of the real thing! And they really are tasty! They are actually rolls, etc, but I couldn't resist the picture!

Marlboro Mushroom

Mushroom growing under tree on the walk from our hotel to the show this weekend - detail below. --- click to enlarge.

The joy of being a toymaker

One of the joys of being a toymaker is watching kids play with them! These boy's grandmother was my freshman year Psych 101 professor, and still a friend! Their grandfather is one of my two best friends! A great many years ago I made a toy car for their dad! He immediately drew all the details of the under side of a car on the bottom - muffler, shocks, springs, axles, everything! A while later he apologized for messing up the gift I had given him. I hope I adequately made him understand how very special it made me feel that he wanted to participate in the creation I had begun, but he finished! I'm not sure I succeeded because as I remember he carefully erased it all? I wasn't at all surprised that these two - third generation - immediately began spinning their tops upside-down! Grown-ups tend to hang our artwork on the wall - usually from the proper hanger we provide - pretty much aways right side up! Kids just try to figure out what else they can do with our work! If that includes upside-down, two tops battling with each other, or moments later dancing with each other, that is just the normal course of childhood! The electronic games our kids get these days seem to only work in one way, and to direct the kids down a narrow defined path to the a very specific goal. Give me the creativity of trying it upside-down every time! The camera stopped the action, but those tops really are spinning!

More Engineering - Less Work

In an image from our show in Charlotte, NC a week or so ago, a fellow artist stands by as an electric winch in the front of the van pulls the entire contents of the booth up a couple of ramps into the van! Talk about engineering! As the leading top edge entered the door, it "flicked" the spring loaded latch. One inch less - wasted space - one quarter inch more - torn out van roof! Off to another show tomorrow, so not sure when the next post will be. Check out our new Etsy store - only a few items for sale so far, but it's a start! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5265759 Any feedback will be appreciated.

Babysitting

I'm not sure babysitting is exactly the right term when you are taking care of your own family? There was not a lot of sitting involved - she likes to move around. Maya is a baby, but even that is changing. She is definitely becoming a person - actively looking around at her world, smiling when happy, scowling with lower lip stuck out when not, and bursting into loud protest when her family doesn't act correctly and with great haste! Cheryl and I loved it, and Casey and Deanna got their first "date nite" since Maya arrived!

Spinning Top Show

One of my favorite things in the whole world is showing kids some of my spinning top collection! Today I got to do that twice for two wonderful groups of kindergarten kids! They love to see the tops spin, wonder at all the marvelous things they do, and just generally have fun. I sneak in a little bit of learning too, but they hardly notice! Click here to learn more.

That's me spinning a Japanese top balanced on top of a stick, and below, guiding a spinning top through one of the mazes we make.
A big thank you to all teachers! They do the second most important job in the world. Only being a parent ranks above those who teach the young!

Dirty Ernie's

When the sign on the highway says "Dirty Ernie's Ribs and Gifts", you pretty much are required to stop at the next exit and see what's up! Unfortunately closed for the season. My first ever handicapped picnic table.... the phrase "half a bench short of a picnic table" comes to mind, but actually a pretty good idea..... I wonder if there is a fine for using it without the proper tag hanging from your mirror?
Homer Simpson cast in iron.
And in a day where technology makes pretty recent stuff seem like an antique, I think this might be a record for the total bill to fill my tank. I've paid more per gallon, but today I was pretty much down to fumes when I found this pump....... there wasn't even a slot for the credit card, and those little white numbers spun around like crazy! Nothing digital here!
Nice to be back home!

History

Next to our hotel is a brand new school. It is located on the site of an old all black school. Times have changed, but they have celebrated history with tiles made by the kids decorating the outside wall of the school, and with tiles that include pictures of the old neighborhood, and even a picture of the old Second Ward School high school band --- no indication of what year?

Tamarack, West Virginia

If only New York State promoted our products in the way West Virginia does! Right on Interstate 77 a place called Tamarack - The best of West Virginia --- sells nothing but products made right there in the state of West Virginia..... CDs of West Virginia musicians, products made by West Virginia artists, food grown in West Virginia, you get the idea. New York State rest stops sell "I heart NY" mugs made in China! At Tamarack there is not a "MADE IN CHINA" label in the place ---- do you know how rare that is these days?

First Frost

We had our first frost last nite, but not a "killer" frost. Most of the stuff in the yard is fine. I did bring in a couple of plants that have been summering outdoors though. A couple of days ago, Cheryl pointed out that there seems to be a lot of large buds on the lilac bush, so I went out and got this picture. This really doesn't make sense since the first buds in the spring are leaf buds - green - and the emerging flowers don't look anything like this, and it is late fall, etc??? A very pretty sight though!

Mandatory Halloween

We're going to be on the road for Halloween this year, so unless somebody shows up at the hotel room door, this is it! Rochester hosts a wonderful event - Balloon Manor - to raise funds for cancer victims, and it is truly unique. Cheryl and I, along with Anne, Maeve, and Wyatt, took in the spooktacular sites. Totally wonderful balloon sculptures, spiced with more puns than the brain can keep up with...... they even entertain you while waiting in line. If you are reading this on October 28th before 6 pm, there is still time to see it! If not, put it on your Halloween list for 2008!
In the graveyard, a mirror was the best joke of all ---- that's me in the hat with camera ----- last shot I got as my battery ran out?????

A good day!

Spent a whole hour sitting on the front porch with Maya sleeping on my shoulder today. Does life get any better than that? And outside our window this morning the sun caught the fall trees on the next block, but hadn't made it to our street yet.

Painting the town!

Most every intersection has a traffic control box - usually a big metal box, sometimes covered in posters, garage sale notices, etc. but some of them in Rochester are being converted to works of art! Cathryn was working on this one as I rode by on my bike tonight! Thank you Cathryn, and all the other folks involved in improving our city!

Nature in the studio

Just a quick shot of one of the many succulent plants I grow in the wonderful big sunny windows of our studio!

Maya, Susan, and Frederick

Maya Louise was baptized yesterday. Her friends and family gathered at the same place where her father and mother were married almost 5 years ago and we celebrated her birth, and welcomed her to the community of faith. Afterward, we took a side trip to a small park in Rochester, where Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas sit and discuss the twin problems of slavery, and women's sufferage. Thanks to them, and to many others, Maya Louise will have a much different life than might have been. Maya's family is Italian, Black, Native American, and probably lots of other heritages, and she is a woman. But, she will be able to vote, able to live where she pleases, become who she wants to be, and will be loved by a vast variety of really warm, loving, fun, and supportive people who make up her family! Thank you to Maya, and to all the people who helped get her here, and give her a good life!

Thoughts from the tall blue plastic box.

Doesn't that leave you pretty much where you started? Other than helping the germs evolve - kill off the weak ones - this doesn't make a lot of sense?

Business card collectors and bow ties

When selling our work, customers have several methods of exiting our booth. Asking for a card is the most common method of trying to make us feel like they are genuine in their interest, while making them comfortable with not buying anything. We smile and give them 15 cents, knowing from past experience that the colorful cards we create to try and increase the number of future contacts will be lost, put in a drawer, thrown out, etc. Our "favorite" card collectors are the ones who just breeze by, ask for a card after only the briefest glance at our work, and are on their way. Another type are the ones who sneak a hand in behind our "desk" to take a card without even saying hello. Never just put out a pile of cards! Hundreds will disappear in the blink of an eye! And never ever be clever like I was a while back. I created several cards with different images of our work on them, and discovered people taking one of each! The folks who stop and chat a while, and ask for a card as they leave, are always welcome!

The thoughts that go through our heads as folks take cards are usually best left inside. The jokes about "be backs" are legion, but this weekend a perfect moment happend. A fellow artist was visiting our booth when a woman asked for a card with the comment.... "I'm not buying today, but may want to later". My friend's better judgement abandoned him for a moment, and he said something like "Oh..... like you will be buying later"? My instant hope that she hadn't heard him was not to be, and she informed us haughtily that ours was the only booth all day that she had asked for a card from! ;~)

And just for laughs, here is a picture of me, about 6 hours post haircut, and in a bow tie!

Out of computer range for a few days

Just to update on granddaughter Maya Louise before we leave! And for those who wonder at my fascination with snails, and aren't quite as excited about them, here is an alternative view. Looks a lot less friendly than the cans of beer I used to put out?

Snail's Eye View

Caught this snail out and about early in the day after a fresh rain - 4 feet up in the air, and looking for something? And in a thistle?