In the Name of Art

Reverend Bro's Eggs

Thought you might like to see what another part of the family does for their art fix. These are examples of my brother's psanky (oh bother, I don't know how to spell it but it's pronounced pissanky). He'll just have to look at my blog to correct me. Steve is a Lutheran pastor in S. Carolina and he does these eggs and sells them at farmer's markets. His table is called Psanky by Pastor. If you're ever around Greenville SC stop in to the farmer's market and see him. Tell him I'm plugging his business.

Rookery

Today was the first weekend for the local farmer's market in Peninsula, Ohio and on the way I stopped at the rookery to take pictures of the blue herons and their nests. It's about 5 miles from my house but I don't spend enough time here. These London plane trees are 50-60 feet high and as you can see, their foliage is delayed compared to other trees. All the better for cautious herons to survey the landscape I guess. I hope you can see the herons, the nests are certainly obvious. As I was taking the pictures there's a constant group cackling going on.

Butterflies Flutter By

Butterflies are a symbol for a person's spirit so perhaps that's why I'm so attracted to them. But they also remind me of fluttering, flying flowers so its a very special occasion when I can be in a huge room with hundreds of them doing arabesques around my head. My friend Sharon took the pictures and this was a UCC outing. Didn't have the best weather but it was warm and who could complain with the spectacular scene in the rainforest room?

60th Wedding Anniversary!

 

Tonight we celebrated Mom and Dad's 60th wedding anniversary with family at a restaurant, it was a truly extraordinary party and my old time MYF friend ( Methodist Youth Fellowship for you who don't know,whew, that was ages ago) Carolyn had her parents at the same restaurant and they celebrated their 60th also! Carolyn had her friend come over to our table to sing to my parents! We obviously needed a lighting consultant but that will have to wait for the 65th.

Should be Living Behind a Camera

No pictures? Yep. Here's a list of recent events I shouda brought a camera to:

1. The opening of the May Show for AoRC at Mocha Maiden. Some very cool things were there and I was knocked out by those brooding, spontaneous watercolors.
2. The t-shirt shop next door to the opening, I only wear art t-shirts, but the one with "Akron, where the weak are killed and eaten" with the picture of the skull went on my had-to-have list. Goodness, I'd feel like a biker-chick with that on!
3. The sculpture show at Summit ArtSpace with the tiny wax sculptures on the largish ornate bases. Oh, those little pins sticking in the wax were so charmingly creepy!
4. Joan Colbert's Open Studio, her house was so cool. If she remembers to give me a price so I can buy a print from her I'll post it here. But dang, with the tiles and the inlaid floor and the bookcases at ceiling level and the art and artifacts all around, it was a VISUAL experience!
5. The organic plant sale at Crown Point Ecological Center. I got 5 different varieties of tomato there, including a purple cherry tomato!

One of these days I'll figure out I need to live behind a camera.

Andiamo!

No entry yesterday because I was up at 5am and out the door after walking dog, feeding kitties, etc by 6:45. The high school art dept. (where I worked until last year) had their annual Columbus field trip to see the Govenours Exhibit. About a 1/2 dozen of our kid's works were in the show! But I didn't go with them, the bus dropped 10 of us off at the Columbus Museum of Art, the kids that went there were part of the AP art history class I taught last year. The painting was in the museum, its got a smallish but strong collection.
These are some of the AP kids and the facade of the museum. We had good weather and spent the entire time running from work to work, ooohing and ahing.
One of my favorite sculptors since college has been Henry Moore, and there was this huge one sitting right in front of the museum. The kids wanted to climb on it.
And (ta da!) here's 3 of the 4 instructors left in the art dept at Stow. I'm not certain they gave permission to be on my blog but they know my reputation and are fair game. From left to right; Gretchen (who now courageously teaches the AP art history), Michele and Bob. Steve is missing from the picture and he teaches photo. It was an excellent group to teach with and.....so handsome! So that was yesterday, more art coming!

Coffee in Ohio

When I drove to Port Townsend last month for Artfest I couldn't help but notice the local coffee places were REALLY unique places and some were just the tiniest! They reminded me of ice cream stands in the 50's, very independent, idiosyncratic kind of businesses that only survive because the locals have a real thirst for the product. When I got home and went to our local coffee joint I thought you folks would like to see it!

And they serve Cajun food....red beans and rice, jambalya! The guy who owns the place literally painted most of it with a 1/4 inch brush, I watched him do some of it.

They have jazz every Friday night too! If you're ever in Vacationland NE Ohio I will meet you there!

A Spring Walk with Louise

The Queen of the Universe and I take a great many walks, but the weather and the flowers have been fabulous the past couple of weeks. The Queen said, "So why don't you feature my lovliness on your blog?" and I had to agree, so here it is.....

Last of the Glass

Finally got around to getting remaining glass negatives on the scanner and the results are more conventional than the dancers I posted earlier but still nice. There's some kind of oxidation going on around the edges but the images are still very clear. I'd love to make a shadow box for these and put lights behind them.

The charming family portrait. I get carried away with images, wondering who these people were. It seems slightly scandalous to me that I could own even this part of them.

Thought at first this was a family picnic but noticed as I resized it that it's got to be a whole 1 room school house on display. What a teacher! She looks no worse for the wear though, I'll bet she shoveled coal in the winter too! I've read old teaching contracts that included that as part of the teacher's duties.

Sweet, Homeless Dog

Anybody out there in the NE Ohio area need a sweet dog, this one is available and can't get into a rescue because they're all full. She had a litter of dead puppies about 2 months ago and needs some care. The lady who brought her over for a photo-op already has 2 dogs and 2 cats but is generous enough to foster her but can't keep her. She's a face-licking, head-tilting, eager to please sweet-heart but I don't know how much longer this lady can keep her, she's already doing 6 walks a morning. She looks like American Bulldog mix but also seems pretty calm. Let me know somebody!