Backwoods Utopia

Farm living is the life for me.

2011-12-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

My sweet friend Lora and I had a nice little afternoon yesterday. I pretended we were doing a little Town and Country shoot with some of her menagerie.

I had been imagining her wearing a ballgown and holding a baby sheep or some of her crazy fancypants roosters. Was a little too mucky for the John Singer Sargent “Madame X” formal portrait (with critter). And maybe I’m not really that slick anyway. The roosters don’t exactly co-operate with the being held at this point in their career, they just strut around and hope nobody shows up with a cleaver.

Lora improvised brilliantly with a lovely vintage fur and fancy muck boots. The little grey donkey, Jack, is super sweet, and kind of like a dog. The bully ram just wants to have his head scratched or he’ll butt you and knock you over. The little sheep are so squatty that apparently if they fall over they have a hard time righting themselves, and flail around beetle-wise.

I resisted a serious urge to try a little sheep-tipping. Then we kicked off the muck boots and had some hot chocolate and a nice chat.

Parading down Main Street.

2011-12-12T15:35:00.000-08:00

Never been big for the Holiday festivities mania. Have been trying for years to get my family to stop giving each other presents for Christmas once and for all. It’s not that my heart is three sizes too small, it’s just not my best thing.

On the other hand, my mother, Miss Anne, is a crazy person about Christmas, so I invited her and my sister Natalie to come visit me over the weekend when the big Christmas in New Harmony festivities were going on.

We had several really beautiful Winter days, mostly sunny and nice. Started raining the day they left and didn’t stop for a minute for several days. We had a big old time (O.K....as big a time as can be had here in Bedford Falls). Sat around the wood-stove at night. Got buzzed one night on White Russians at the Yellow Tavern. Did a lot of touring around. Took a carriage ride.

We didn’t get up early enough to make it to Pancakes with Santa, but one of the highlights of the weekend was the big parade down Main Street later Saturday morning. I think I’ve always been out of town or something. Didn’t know what I was missing! Cute kids! Tractors! Candy throwing! Santa! Ponies! Mickey Grimm as the Little Drummer Boy! The sweetest three-legged dog ever! A firetruck with my name on it! A giant rooster! Truly a beautiful small-town thing. Probably the last time the kids from the school will march, as it looks like the New Harmony school is sadly closing at the end of the year. Super Boo.

And yet, It’s a Wonderful Life. Mary! Kids! I’m home!

Roofless roofing.

2011-12-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

Philip Johnson’s 1960 “Roofless Church ” is getting a new roof. Sort of. Part of it is getting re-roofed. The old shingles on the “Inverted Rose” structure—which houses Jacque Lipschitz’ bronze “Peace on Earth”*—were starting to show the ravages of decades of weather.

Local boys, Koester Construction, are doing a fine, artful job of redoing the wooden roof.

*“Three casts were made, and are located at Notre Dame de Liese in Assy, the abbey of St. Columba on the island of Iona in the Hebrides, and the Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana.”

Christine! Rigby!

2011-09-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was a stellar day. Tuesday, not so much. The difference was the lovely Christine Rigby, who is a force of nature. Appropriately enough, my introduction to Christine was (indirectly) through Sally Roth—a naturalist friend—who is also a force of, friend of, and writer about...nature.

The two had struck up a conversation on couchsurfing.org. Sally was looking for someone to put this young woman up as she came through New Harmony on a leg of a cross-country bike trip.

Wasn’t really in a putting-someone-up mode, so it rather slipped my mind, but the next day (or the day after, maybe) I noticed a young woman on a bike with packs, helmet, etc., riding past me on my way to the Main Café for late (usual) breakfast. We smiled and nodded to each other. Besides noticing she had a really nice smile, it didn’t click ’til she had pedaled out of sight that this was probably Sally’s rumored bike traveler. Dang.

Thought I’d ride my bike past the usual tourist sites after breakfast looking for her, and sure enough, bumped into her right out of the gate at the Roofless Church. There was such a nice overcast light and as we stood there talking I felt overwhelmingly compelled to do a portrait of her. I’m trying to be better about seizing obvious opportunites. Raced my bike back home, grabbed my camera and came back in the car—still a little out of breath.

From my camera’s data, I notice we only shot from 12:39 to 12:54, kind of on the short side of what you’d hope for a decent portrait. But we got some really nice stuff. She’s such a ham for the camera... but a nice ham, a yummy prosciutto, with melon and cheese : )

Her next couchsurfing stop was outside Newburgh, IN, about a 40 mile bike east from here. Newburgh is one of my more favorite little towns in the area, so I volunteered to drive her there, as it was almost certain to rain pretty hard later in the afternoon. First a me-guided tour of my little town. Some of my favorite stops not on the standard historic tour. Christine was a totally comfortable, funny touring companion. She’s 22, but much older, wiser, and more curious than that normally implies. I am (reservedly) more encouraged about our planet’s future.

After all the touring I could muster, we packed her stuff and headed over to Newburgh, where we had a really late middle-eastern lunch at Café Arazu, one of my favorites, before heading out to the country ’burbs where her next people were.

One of those rare good traveling moments—when not exactly traveling.

I always try to be aware of daily maintaining that travel “head”—the thing that makes you think people and things elsewhere are truly fabulous. Funny thing...people all around us every day ARE truly fabulous, we just don’t always notice on “normal” days, when we’re stressed out, bogged down in work, whatever.

I got an email from Christine earlier today and her header has an exclamation mark after her first! AND last! names. Assuming that was on purpose, but if it was a typo, it’s significant, because she’s one of those people that seems to live life full-out, leaning forward, welcoming the next surprise. Exclamation! mark!

Five hours after meeting her, it made me a little sad to drop off this fabulous stranger, who had become my new friend. Maybe I’ll see her again, maybe not. She lives in Florida. That doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we seized a really good day. Thank you Christine! Rigby! I’m happier to be alive because of you. You’re the best.

Li’l Cardinal, Pt. 2

2011-09-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

What is it is with me and fledgling cardinal encounters this year?

This morning as I was heading out on my bike, I noticed my rear tire was a little low. Ran in and grabbed the pump—back out no more than 10 seconds later, and this little fellow was perched on my front tire, seemingly out of nowhere.

I told him to wait while I grabbed a camera, which he clearly understood : )

Shot a dozen frames and he struck this handsome, heroic pose for me. Told him he could head back to whatever he was doing. He just sat there. Told him I needed my bike. He just kept sitting there. Clearly his understanding of English was not as good as I’d earlier thought.

Wasn’t sure if I should grab him and help find a roosting place, away from the stupid neighborhood cats, or if I should just leave him to his devices. His parents were nervously twittering around up in my trees by now, wondering what to do. (For any of you youngsters out there—this does not mean the birds were sending “tweets”—birds were twittering nervously for centuries before people took it up)

He finally made a few clumsy flying hops and wound up in some ivy on the side of the house, out of easy cat range. The cats in my neighborhood are so lazy, I doubt they would exert the effort to actually execute anything resembling a leap.

Maybe his parents helped him get up into a tree. Maybe a cat ate him as soon as I pedaled off. Ah, the drama of nature. Good luck, little buddy.

Molly Monthly #1

2011-09-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Nope, it’s not a new magazine.

Molly Thomas is my sweet Nashville friend, room-mate...landlord...I think I’ll call her my room-lord : )

She’s a talented lady. Writer and singer of her own songs, as well as a composing strings-meister and “side-man” on fiddle, keyboards, vocals. (Matthew Ryan, Todd Snider, etc.)

I did photography and design for her new album “Make Everything Bright.” Digital here. CD and more info here.

Just figured since Molly is a handy model, I would try to shoot something simple with her every month when I’m in Nashville. May keep it up for ages, may last three months. Whatever...it’s off to a good start. One location (our yard). One prop (a lawn chair). No hair and makeup (OK maybe a tad of help from Mr. Photoshop). Drank a cup of coffee, moved around the yard, jumped up on the rail of the deck for an added element of danger. Done.

Next.

Davey Ukulele, May 2011

2011-09-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

Davey Ukulele and the Gag Time Gang, rocking the socks off the kids at the Nashville Public Library. David Mead, Bill DeMain, David Henry and Paul Deakin. All super writers, musicians, and players in their own right, laying down smart, funny music for the kiddies.

My little buddy Holden REALLY wanted to meet the Super Number 1 Robot, and was a little disappointed to find out this bass-playing robot was actually a guy named David Henry, who had already ducked into the back to take off his super-sweaty metallic suit.

I must apologize for the limitations of my camera gear, which could not adequately capture Bill DeMain’s lightning dance moves.

Posey Co. 4H Fair, August 2011

2011-08-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

Wanted to take more pictures at the Fair, but was pretty lazy. Plenty of subject matter. Kids in mud chasing pigs. Little girls everywhere with tiaras and sashes. But sturdy farm animals were fainting left and right from the heat, and I took a bye. Maybe next year. I think I shot maybe five frames and here are three.

Mommmmm! We’re going out to ride bikes!

2011-08-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Me and Roger Clayton went out riding bikes the other day. Felt exactly like when we were kids, except there were stops for beer.

I remember so well what “riding bikes” meant when I was a kid in the still-relatively-innocent small-town Alabama 1960s. It was as close as a kid ever got to absolute freedom. No agenda. Just riding, stopping, investigating, riding, stopping, investigating, riding, etc. Until somebody’s parent was hollering and it seemed time to get home.

Creeks, woods, neighborhoods. Crawdads, rocks, tadpoles, giant storm-drain pipes, the wind in your face, doing tricks on your bike with its banana seat.

Also reminded me of a pretty horrible crime that was committed in my small Alabama town when I was in the second grade. Nobody ever told us too much. Something bad happened. There’s a lunatic on the loose. No bike riding for a while. They caught him in Florida after a week, and he’s still in jail somewhere, in his seventies now, I guess.

The whole story HERE. (Somebody’s web discussion group, I didn’t dig too deep—third topic down)

Eddie Seibold was his name. It invoked a unreasoning Manson kind of fear in kids of the time. Total Bogeyman. There was a path behind our house that cut through to our favorite playing creek, and to my buddy David’s neighborhood. On the other side of the path was a small wood, with a house just the other side of it. Just across from my elementary school. Turns out that Seibold f***ing LIVED in the house at some point! Aaaaaaaaaahhh! The whole story is fuzzy. I need to ask my mom.

Mommmmmm! We’re going out to ride bikes!

Jim Stinson and his Dad’s old dog.

2011-08-29T12:55:00.001-07:00

Lora Arneberg, May 2011

2011-08-27T22:16:00.001-07:00

Newburgh, IN.

2011-08-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Carmi, IL

2011-08-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Love this old place. Just sent this to John Baeder, trying to talk him into painting it. Always wonder what Carmi was like when it was bustling, back in oil-boom days. Drive past it on the way crossing the broder (the Indiana-Illinois border) to get “real” Mexican food at Tequilas (sounds like strip mall crap, but isn’t). Real Mexicans! Didn’t understand that ’til I went into La Hacienda in Evansville and found out what no-Mexicans-harmed-in-the-making food was like.

Li’l Cardinal

2011-08-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

This little fellow was barely fledged. Just beginning to turn red, mostly on his tail, which he kept trying out like it was something that didn’t belong to him—guess it didn’t yet. Found him on the back deck this morning at my dad’s house when I was watering some plants. Thought he was hurt or sick. Patted him on the back a little, and he didn’t move much. We had a little chat and after ten minutes or so, he finally made a little tentative flight over to a nearby windowsill, then to a rail, then off into the wild blue yonder (or probably a bush nearby).

Roger.

2011-08-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

My old buddy Roger Clayton. Obviously, from a colder time, back before the shit hit the fan with my Dad. Lots of pictures have been languishing since then, getting round to ’em. Maybe some more stuff from the Claytons soon, this was actually a “school picture” shoot for Sai last year, but Roger, and Rié, and Sai’s friend Lena got in on the act.

Isle of Printing

2011-08-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

My buddy Bryce in his new shop digs. Also one of his new shop assistants, currently on furlough from the Royal Canadian Merchant Navy. Bryce and I had a good time co-teaching the Graphic Design and Social Cause class at Watkins this Summer.

Civil War Band (What the kids are liss’nin to)

2011-05-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

This was back in September of Ought-Ten. Got lost in the shuffle. All kinds of things going on at the New Harmony Kunstfest...some actual kunst, funnel cakes, the usual street-fair jazz. I really loved these guys, though, and hung out for their whole show one fine Fall day.

Called The Red Bank Reunion Band, based in Evansville, and led by Mr. Wayne Jones. They play some fine Civil-War Era music, featuring a couple of strange, custom-made period horns that aren’t made any more. Wayne (with the tuba...sousaphone...whatever it is) clearly has a lot of passion for the music, as well as being quite an affable fellow—and a good explainer/teacher, since the music is not necessarily familiar to a lot of folks.

And what American street fair would be complete without the biggest imaginable version of the Stars and Stripes hanging from a hook and ladder truck in the center of town!

Crash On the levee, mama, water’s gonna overflow. Swamp’s gonna rise, no boat’s gonna row

2011-05-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

For the curious, some pictures I’ve been taking the last several days of the still encroaching Wabash in my little town of New Harmony. The top pic is the scene on my sidewalk for the past several days, a two inch hose constantly disgorging water from my sump pump. God bless you Dr. Sump wherever you are.

It’s not like the crazy overwhelming flooding Nashville experienced last year, it just creeps. It rained so non-stop for so many days, and the water table is so high, no more water can soak into the ground, and the pressure pushes it up into citizens’ basements through some principle of Artesian physics with which I’d rather be unfamiliar. The river is hopefully cresting tomorrow or Friday, and after that we’ll see. The second pic of lovely lake-front property, is a block and a half north of my house. There is not a lake there, I assure you. (The treeline in the far distance is the normal location of the river)

Have been doing little reconnaissance missions on my bike every afternoon. I might get a reputation as being the Bill Cunningham of New Harmony flooding, if anybody knew who Bill was. Damn sad to be missing that documentary about him at the Belcourt this week, but I gotta stay with my house til it’s safe.

Very anxious experience. Had visions of running water and destruction for several days before the house actually flooded. Last night is the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in 4-5 days. My furnace is out, but I think O.K., the hot water heater is up on a big slab and was spared.

Have become ultra-fascinated with floating debris, steps and curbs vanishing into water, and lakes where lakes aren’t. I can assure you that if Richard Meier or Philip Johnson could see how great their buildings look with the addition of a lake...they would want one immediately.

God bless all of the emergency management folks, national guard and prison folks who have sandbagged tirelessly. We owe you a lot. I know there are plenty of folks south of here on the Ohio, Mississippi, etc. that are far worse off. I feel for them.

I realise looking at these, that they seem kind of peaceful and bucolic. I’m here to tell you it’s been slightly terrifying. The uncertainty. I’m not good with uncertainty.

When Doves Cry, Pt. 2

2011-05-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

Oh, good...little eggs. It’s a promising start. You again! Can’t a girl get any privacy around here? Hey look, she’s booted that little guy out of the nest so he can learn to stand up...or maybe die!? Ahhhh! Hey, who are you? I know your voice. Are you my daddy? My mom went to find me some lunch and that’s my brother...he doesn’t say much.

When Doves Cry

2011-04-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

Thought I’d heard some random hoo-hoo-hootin’ out on my front porch lately. Found this skittish girl had set up home in the one porch window that doesn’t have a screen. Not the greatest nest-builders, doves. Some birds’ nests can withstand gales. If nature is a teensy bit flatulent, the average dove nest doesn’t stand much of a chance.

Have had about a half-dozen chances to watch these guys up-close—from egg to leaving the nest—over the years. They’re funny. Not very bold...maybe not too bright? Anthropomorphism is not an exact science.

She won’t let me get very close yet, but we’ll see.

Dale Chihuly and the Victorian Tittie-kitties.

2011-03-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

I know this is old-ish news, but I had promised my mom I would post some of the pictures from this exhibit, because we talked about her and my sister visiting Nashville while it was up and weren’t able to synchronize it.

I was house/poodle-sitting for the Claytons in Nashville, while they were in Japan, and Lexie had come for a visit from Denver. It was a pretty swelter-y afternoon and evening at Cheekwood, but I wasn’t going to miss this show. Have always had a lot of time for Dale, even though he’s widely slagged as a P.T. Barnum sort of character. Ego aside—although I’m not sure you can really separate the two—he’s single-handedly done more for the world of glass than anybody before him. What the hell, this isn’t a forum...it’s my opinion.

Nice fit for Cheekwood.

Always have loved the pair of sphinx-like sculptures at the entrance to the gardens, which I have taken to calling the Victorian Tittie-kitties.

Two of my best girlfriends.

2011-02-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

My mom, Miss Anne, and my sister Natalie. Dinner at my mom’s in Auburn earlier this month.

Alabama: A Brief History

2011-02-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

Have stopped at the Alabama welcome center (the one with the old decommissioned NASA rocket) on I-65 countless times. Just noticed this the last time through. Click to enlarge the photo, it doesn’t read very well at this size.

McKenna (Again-a)

2011-02-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from a shoot with my young friend McKenna from back in December. Thanks McK, you are a “super” model! : )

These were partly to build a little infant portfolio of images for her (and for me, natch), and partly to test my shaky skills with the backdrop and strobe, which I’ve recently picked up after too many years. Always loved the available-light-world more. Fun inside on a snowy winter day in Nashville. Kind of a surprise snow, one that I wondered if I was going to make it home through afterward.

I know the following will probably embarrass her, but...it’s MY blog:

I love shooting with her, because she’s at that funny/frightening place roundabout halfway between being a girl and being a woman. A little unsure into which camp to fall. Still retaining that funny, fearless, edgy thing that girls have before they start predictably asking if what they’re wearing makes their ass look fat, or if you can Photoshop the wrinkles under their eyes, etc. A small movement of the hip, a flip of the hair, an application of a tiny bit of make-up, and all of a sudden you see the woman emerging and the girl vanishing.

I try not to direct. She has good instincts. The last time we shot, nearly a year prior, she was running around Dragon Park in a leather jacket, a pink tutu, and no shoes in sub-freezing weather.

My Pops. 1940–2011. R.I.P.

2011-01-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

We all lost one of my oldest buddies and biggest-ever supporters on Tuesday night, after he spent most of the 21st Century fighting a cancer called Multiple Myeloma (If you feel so moved, please find out more and/or donate to research here).

My sweet old Pops, Allen Ephraim Norman. It was a terrible, hard day that finally took Allen after eleven years of up and down, but he had lots of loving family around him as he passed, and I’m glad he’s finally at peace. God bless my sweet cousin Joanne, a hospice nurse, who came in on her day off to take charge for us and take amazing care of Allen. The other nurses were great, but I was so grateful to have that watched over by someone who was not only not a stranger, but somebody who loved Allen so much.

Shot some nice pictures of him on a good day a while back. He sat patiently, even though he was tired. He was a handsome devil, even with his chemo hair-style.

I miss you, old buddy.

Alan LeQuire, Nashville, September 30, 2010

2010-12-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

Went to Fisk University back in September to document a show of Alan’s colossal heads, which resulted in one nice 360º stitched together panorama of the gallery, and not much else. But afterwards we went over to his studio and I shot some nice stuff, some of which is below.

Have been enjoying shooting people’s personal happenstance (or not) tableaux for some years now, usually in their homes. I love the things with which people surround themselves. Alan has quite a delightful cornucopia of things in his studio space. Also, if you haven’t visited, the LeQuire Gallery is chock full of work by a nice variety of artists, including Alan, Greg Decker, Somers Randolph, and others.

Lady Friends, New Harmony, October 10, 2010

2010-12-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite New Harmony lady friends, Alison, Molly and Lora. Got a portable seamless backdrop rig a while back and this was its maiden voyage one day, which I just realised was nearly 2 months ago...I’m a little behind on the editing and the posting. Only ever shot a little with a seamless in grad school, but that was...well, I’m not going to remember how long ago that was.

Nice little space and natural light on my front porch, which is about half glass (and I do mean little, no Avedon model and elephant shoots allowed!). Sadly it is a very seasonally limited...very cold right now unless I drag portable heating out there.

Shot first with Alison on her lunch break, and in less than an hour shot over 700 frames. It was one of the most amazingly fruitful shoots ever. Kind of helped me regain my mojo, which had gone A.W.O.L. Not amazing that there were so many frames—that could be done by accidentally keeping the shutter down while drunk—but that so many of them were good. I love when that happens.

Was so amped-up after Alison, that I called Molly and Lora too. Very last-minute. Fading light. No time for worry about makeup and costumery. It was a lovely picturing day. Hate to post so few images, there were so many nice ones.

Thank you, ladies.

Gillian St. Clair, Nashville, October 1, 2010

2010-11-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

In Nashville a while back and was going to meet Gillie for lunch and maybe some pictures. Almost didn’t shoot anything, because she was totally worn down from a yoga dance performance the night before. Just sat and chatted before lunch and shot a bit. Glad we did. There’s some sweet stuff here...love this girl.

You can’t see much of it here, but these were shot in her new studio Steadfast and True Yoga, Music Row, near Edgehill in Villa Place.

Lex Price, Nashville, Sept. 29, 2010

2010-10-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Shot some nice pictures with my buddy Lex Price recently in Nashville. In his backyard studio (and, obviously, in his backyard itself).

In addition to possessing one of the finest beards around, Lex is a fabulously talented, multi-instrumentalist/producer character. He’s currently about to embark on a road gig playing bass with k.d. lang. He’s also married to a very fine girl. In spite of all this he remains a sweet, humble fella.

Long live the Queen.

2010-06-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

“The Queen is dead, long live the Queen!” Often proclaimed at the passing of English Kings, and revamped, I believe, when Mary’s Throne passed to the first Elizabeth.

We lost Jane Blaffer Owen last night. Our lovely queen. A great friend to and the greatest matron of my little town. She had personally been so much of the life of New Harmony for so long. Quietly, and with great dignity and generosity of spirit. She was a force of nature.

Looking for an obituary, I found this little video from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (the first part is about somebody else, but keep watching...it’s short). Also a nice short remembrance here.

She invited us to dinner with a lovely group of people at the Red Geranium shortly after our arrival here, the invitation found on our steps with flowers as if left by good fairies.

My best and most enduring memory of Jane will always be looking out my studio window one day, to just barely catch a glimpse of her driving past in her baby blue golf cart, fashionably be-hatted, one hand (hopefully) on the wheel, and with a tremendous bunch of flowers in one hand, breathing them in as deeply and sweetly as a last breath.

We will miss you, Jane. Thanks for everything.

Harbinger of Spring.

2010-05-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

I guess spring came and went with no new robins in the nest they left in my attic window from last year. Maybe they’re late, or maybe they aren’t as territorial as lots of birds seem to be. Hope they come again, enjoyed watching the three little ones hatch, grow to flying size, and leave in approximately a week. Human parents should be so lucky.

Just as the last little nestling was taking off last year he hopped up into the laundry room window, I think to say “Goodbye.”

Gillie.

2010-05-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Just before coming back to Nashville in time to witness my old city being washed away, I was shooting in El Paso and its environs, near this “border” there’s been so much ill-informed shouting about lately. Just before THAT I did a little shoot at Yoga Source with my friend Gillie. It kind of got lost in the swirl of things. El Paso, then the flooding, then coming back to find a sweet neighbor had died while I was gone. It’s just been a little too sad lately.

Edited some stuff last couple of days. We had been talking about trying to do this for ages, so despite all efforts to feel no pressure...I felt a little pressure. Pretty unplanned, short-ish shoot. Wasn’t trying to do textbook studio-lit pose-photos for a book, but more environmental portrait/document of Gillie doing her thing. Nice natural light. Yummy subject. Very happy : )

Claudia.

2010-04-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

About to go to New Harmony’s Roofless Church and officially say goodbye to my friend Claudia Elliott, who passed peacefully from this mortal coil on Sunday, April 4th. We will miss her here, but I’m very glad she’s beyond pain.

Love you, Claudia. R.I.P.

Rocky Mountain high, Colorado. Pt 2.

2010-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Drove up into the mountains while I was out in Colorado this time. First time to see the Rockies up fairly close. Went and had lunch with some of Lexie’s relatives in Ft. Collins then drove up around Estes Park, through a beautiful canyon in the Roosevelt National Park. Stopped at an old YMCA camp that’s been around for 100+ years. Good vantage point, bad coffee. That’s where the statue of the kids was. Thought it was funny that someone had knitted the kids in the sculpture scarves.

Carrie Nunes’ “24” ring is shown in action.

The elk were just chomping on somebody’s back yard and crossing (and standing in the middle of) the road as we drove by on the way up. They were a little skittish, but clearly pretty used to co-existing with people. These were females, babies and adolescents. The one male teenager was wondering when his horns were ever going to grow in properly, and wondering where his dad disappeared to.

Nice to see there are still some great old bungalow-style places in the mountains, leftover from another age. Also a bunch of newish places, but there must be “mountain hues” sections in the local paint stores, as they mostly seemed pretty tastefully blended-in with their surroundings. An interestingly diverse and subtle palate of greens and browns. Many houses seemed very precariously placed underneath mountain overhangs, but I suppose they know what they’re doing (?)

Stopped at several of the nicer lay-by vantage points on the way back down. Difficult to fully appreciate it all when you’re wending your way up twisty roads and trying to watch for other motorists.

Estes Park proper is a funny little Gatlinburg-style town. Crafts, baked goods, belt buckles, all manner of souvenirs. And ROCKS! Lexie was a little embarrassed by how excited she was to go to the rock and fossil place, but I was a rock-dork as a kid too, and can still have fun in a place like that. She took home a lovely geode-style chunk of amethyst. The 5&10 sign and the scariest bunny ever are from E.P.

Was loving the graphic quality and texture of the twiggy dead branches against the snow and other non-growth of the season. Spring had not yet sprung in the mountains.

Really enjoyed my little rental Toyota Yaris.

Rocky Mountain high, Colorado. Pt 1.

2010-04-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

Went to visit Lexie in Denver for a week recently. After the BLIZZARD the night before I flew out (!?), the weather tamed down into normal springtime. We had a lovely time. One nice day was spent at the Denver Botanic Gardens, was excited to find they had a show of 20 large Henry Moore sculptures. Being rather hefty, they don’t tour much.

Moore was always one of my favorites. Saw a lot of his work at the Tate back in the 80s when I was in Europe after leaving Syracuse. Also saw another sizeable clutch of them later at the Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City. Might have been nicer if the Denver gardens had been out of their winter torpor, but maybe not...I quite enjoyed it kind of semi-dead. Loved the indigenous trees, the birches and the aspens, the pines.

Some recent-ish collage.

2010-03-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Meant to post some of these for people who weren’t able to attend our Cuatro Amigos en Armonía show at the end of last year. These weren’t all in the show (I forgot to photograph a couple of the pieces before I framed them), but most of them were.

Carrie.

2010-03-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

No not the prom-night horror flick with Sissy Spacek. My friend Carrie Nunes, a fabulous jewelry designer and a sweetheart. Another portrait from this last trip to Nashville.

Carrie has really inspired me with this Ring-a-Day project she’s involved in with a bunch of other jewelry designers. Making, as you might expect, a ring every damn day for all of 2010! There are days when she would admit the rings have not been up to a standard of cleverness and/or craft—and you can tell it’s been a long day—but those days are rare.

Her Flickr stream of the project is here. She’s selling the finished rings on Etsy here to benefit the Craft Emergency Relief Fund.

I had an idea of shooting face and hands with LOTS of rings on both hands, but looking purposeful, not just like those ladies that just wear too damn many rings. We didn’t shoot very long, and because of the really narrow depth-of-field I was playing with, some of them the rings weren't too focused, but I liked them anyway. Didn’t really want everything sharpy-sharp. She looks like she’s sleeping and dreaming of rings in one of them, and I’m sure some nights she does just that.

Lately, I think I’ve realized much more keenly that I’ve had a ton of projects in my life that have never come to fruition, because I’ve “creatively procrastinated,” and something has moved away, died, or otherwise rendered a project moot before I got my shit together. Other than the usual bathroom functions, tooth-brushing, eating, etc. I’ve never been very daily consistent with anything.

Trying to fiercely and consistently carpe the diem.

Cornmeal Farm.

2010-03-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

I was invited last Saturday to join two of my favorite girls, Capucine and McKenna, for a girls’ Ensworth lacrosse game, lunch, and an adventure to a place called Cornmeal Farm to pet some new baby lambs. Sweet chicks and fresh lambs : )

I know next to nothing about lacrosse. I think it’s one of the things we stole from the Native Americans before we slaughtered most of them. Like most ball-based games, it involves a ball, teams, and goals. Beyond that, I’m fairly clueless. Kind of like the confusion the first time I watched a soccer game, only more so.

Lunch I understand. We had a nice sandwich at a place called Penn Station, probably not ironically named for the rail station that was perhaps the most beautiful public building ever torn down in New York. Curious, I google it to find that, although it’s called Penn Station East Coast Subs, it was started in Cincinnati and seems most popular across the South. Go figure.

Cornmeal Farm is the home of Tami and Lep Andrews, who I met Saturday for the first time, although they are some of those people who are so welcoming and comfortable that I feel like I already knew them.

They have quite a menagerie. All manner of exotic chickens and roosters running about strutting and crowing and pecking, peacocks (including a white one, which seemed kind of rare and mythical), a white horse, a sweet donkey that we all took pictures with, cats, a sheep dog, ducks with funny haircuts (think the AFLAC duck with an obvious white toupee), baby chicks, a big tom turkey that was strutting his stuff like there was no tomorrow (despite the manifest lack of lady turkeys), and of course the sheep and their sweet little 5-day old lambs. The only animal on the place that seemed unhappy was a little raccoon who was in a safe trap waiting to be transported to a new home.

I was supposed to be shooting some more of our budding fashion work with McKenna, but sort of fell down on the job, as I was mostly having a nice time hanging out. What a relaxing lovely place. Look forward to visiting again.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mickey Grimm!

2010-02-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

My buddy Mickey set the current Guinness Book world record for
“the longest drum roll by an individual”—5 hours and 20 minutes!—
back in October of 2009. We were all very proud. The town belatedly presented him with a plaque, along with his official Guinness Book certificate, last week.

It was nice for a huge crowd of townspeople to get together in the coffee house, and TOTALLY surprise Mickey with a rousing cheer and a little party. Lucky he isn’t older, or he might have had a heart attack.

M-I-C-K-E-Y!! (drum roll, please)

Mack & Holly’s.

2010-02-18T17:59:00.000-08:00

Got out of town last weekend to Chicago, to visit my friends Mack and Holly. They were having a Valentine’s (maybe a little going-away) party. These are a few of the lovely people that were there. Beautiful drive up on Saturday with snow still sitting all over the plains.

I was the odd-man out, I think everybody else knew each other, but I felt welcomed by all.

Mack was reminding me of Kurt Cobain in his wig-hat getup. There was a photo-booth set up and it was a big hit with the kids. Wigs and other costumery. You might recognize the guy in the nose and glasses combo.

For some reason, a group of us was enjoying hot toddies (which I had always viewed as medicinal). You see Mack making them here in the manner of generations of old Southern gentlemen...with a knife. I had one or twelve of them. At one point—deep in the whiskey—I think the devil actually appeared to me, although I can’t say for sure.

“Want some whiskey in your water, sugar in your tea? What’s all these crazy questions they’re asking me?”

I think it was a combination of the hats...and the whiskey, but Tony, the dude in the fez, was starting to remind me an awful lot of the S & P duo on the back of the stove : )

Later in the evening, Tony was making nice espresso drinks and some sort of shot with espresso and peppermint schnapps. Had several of these, too. Couldn’t decide if I wanted to sleep or go out and practice my Biathlon.

Had a nice field trip with Holly and Mack on Sunday. Really good brunch and a drive up to see the Baha’i Temple up in Wilmette. Then a little tour through Graceland Cemetery, where a number of Chicagoland notables are buried. Still too snowy to walk around it, but caught some high points.

The booze is still spanking me days later. Not so young as I used to be. Old man, take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you...Goodnight, Chicago.

And somebody please let Tillie in the bathroom.

Super Andy and Wild Sam.

2010-02-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from back in the day—as the young people say, when they mean “a few months ago”—some pix from the Halloween of Ought-nine. Ran into the McLaurins at Local Taco on the way to (or maybe from) some Halloween school festivity.

Obviously the boys are Superman and Max from ”Where the Wild Things Are.” In one Andy tries to decide whether Superman should be sweet or tough, and gives his best of both looks. They were both super. Liz was wearing a witches’ hat as the “wicked beautiful” witch of the South, and Richard was cleverly disguised as a middle-aged dad in a windbreaker : )

Love these guys. Don’t see them nearly enough.

Amy Hall, y’all.

2010-01-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

Another new shoot from Nashville, with my lovely Amy Hall. She’s one of the tenderest, feistiest, most dedicated people in my life. Ever. I love her dearly.

McKenna.

2010-01-30T13:23:00.000-08:00

Had a couple of really nice photo shoots while I was in Nashville this last time. Here are a few images from one of them, with my friend Capucine’s baby-woman-child. Seems like she spent most of her tiny years in California, so it’s weird for me to see her all of sudden seem like this nearly grown-up person. She’s a sweetheart. We had fun.

Let it snow.

2010-01-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

First real snow of the season, other a few previous dustings. Noticed it had started when I went to bed about one, was a winter wonderland this morning. Nothing huge...2-3 inches. Still snowing off and on. Noticed my bird friends were getting seriously low on food, so fed those guys and headed out on a little trek.

Every time I walk past the road scene four images down, I think of the old Robert Frost road less traveled. This particular road is less traveled because it doesn't really go anywhere. Not sure what it’s for, just peters out in the direction of the river.

There were these crazy ice disk things floating down the river. Not sure how they formed. I suspect aliens. Like 3-4 foot upside-down frisbee-like dishes with water inside.

Old Paul Tillich’s head seemed sad and cold.

Snowing again hard by the time I got to the Atheneum, blowing sideways—one of my lenses was frozen over—bravely fought my way to the coffee house. Then the snow stopped and the sun came out, naturally.

Nutcrackin’

2009-12-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite girls, Sai, has recently been doing a smashing job playing the part of Clara in a lovely production of The Nutcracker.
I went to a dress rehearsal on Thursday with the proud parents (me in the part of the proud “uncle”). The four of us had a rollicking after-show party at Pizza Perfect. Her young male counterpart reminds me in this picture of something between an extra in “Oliver” and the Ziggy Stardust-era Mick Ronson. The well-developed buttocks belong to the lone male hired-gun dancer in the production—who did some very impressive girl-twirling and hoisting and solo leaping—and with that i will END (pun intended).

Cuatro amigos en armonía.

2009-11-27T12:37:00.000-08:00

Me, Lexie, Dan Brawner and Roger Clayton recently hosted a very nice weekend in New Harmony, joined by some old (and some very young) friends from Nashville and Memphis, to celebrate the opening of our group show at the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art “Cuatro Amigos en Armonía” on through December 31st, 2009.

Wonderful unseasonably warm weather made for a beautiful weekend for enjoying art and for strolling around and taking the Utopian air. Grateful to all who contributed their lovely presence and support.

(The painting Lexie’s holding toward the end was one of the first she did in Denver, and one I like a lot, but it wasn’t hung in the show. Me, Sküti von Buns, Richard Meier’s Atheneum and...of course CORN. The good things about our little Utopia on the Wabash)

Denver, CO

2009-11-27T11:58:00.000-08:00

Went to visit Lexie in Denver a while back. Been a little backlogged on the blogging due to recent busy-ness (backblogged?).

The big event was two feet or so of snow. Pretty early in the year for such foolishness. I didn’t have any winter footwear (though Lexie has some very sporty new snow boots), so the snow curtailed tourism for a few days. It was beautiful, though. Kept coming and coming for several endless days. Movies were watched...

One really unseasonably warm day (before the snow) was the perfect day for a visit to the Cherry Creek farmer’s market. Bought food. Ate food. Watched people. Talked to strangers. Watched dogs (this one pictured was named “Tinkerbull,” and was rumored by her owner to enjoy this little cart—I just thought she seemed a little embarrassed). The girl seen enjoying a yummy crepe from one of the vendors.

Saw some nice Fritz Scholder work at the Denver Art Museum. Remember loving his work when I started art school back in the late 70s, and it still holds up.

Went to this very young-adult-oriented church Lexie’s been going to and someone said when I was introduced “Oh, cool, is this your Dad?” Whatever.

Eat at Watercourse if ever in Denver. It’s a vegetarian place, but amazing and good even if you’re not slightly vegetarian. The same people also own a great bar/restaurant place called City O City. Both places are terribly cool, but not pretentiously so. Nary a shred of hippy-granola vibe.

Miss Anne!

2009-11-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

Very proud of my mom—a.k.a. “Miss Anne” to many years of kindergartners—who recently was honored as a member of the Alabama Independent School Association’s Hall of Fame.

Gimme an “A”!

The ceremony was well-attended by family as well as a really nice group of her oldest friends. Everyone looked nice and was extremely well-behaved with all those teachers around...

Pictured below, Miss Anne (showing off her medal!); my sister Natalie, Miss Anne and Tracy one of my mom’s oldest friends; Miss Anne and Bobby relaxing after the ceremony; me looking fancy in a rare tuxedo’ed moment.

Alas, poor Sküti! I knew her, Horatio; a bunny of infinite jest...

2009-11-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

Captain Sküti von Buns has moved on...

Not to be with Jesus, just gone to a better home here on earth. Living with a sweet retired couple, Laura and Paul, who are our old pet store lady’s parents. They live out in the country and breed rabbits, guinea pigs, hedgehogs, and other tiny creatures. They also have some miniature donkeys and some chickens and goats.

Somehow in explaining that I would be on the road a lot and less able to care for the Buns, Paul—a retired truck driver—mis-heard that I was a truck driver too. He said I could probably take her in “my rig” if I really wanted to keep her. We sorted that out.

Looking forward to going and visiting the Buns. I think she’ll be happy with other rabbits, might even have some teeny babies. I'll post pictures if she does.

A few pictures below from her last weeks at home (with her concrete friend Donald standing guard in the corner). She was always doing some sort of “home improvement” project or other—which usually meant gnawing on the walls. But I was frankly quite proud of her last home improvement initiative, which involved chewing a very nice escape hole in the end of one of her boxes—the boxes were left over from pipes from the wood-stove installation from last year. It actually was bigger and more perfectly round when she finished.

That’s my bunny!

Stephen Pace Gallery Opening!

2009-11-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Been traveling about a bit lately, and am just getting to posting some pictures from the grand opening of the Pace Gallery, back around October 10th. A good time was had by kids of all ages. Stephen and Pam were in rare form, both wearing very sporty hats and lovely flowers for the occasion. Rick Reed played the Scottish pipes, in full formal regalia, no less. Laura Hudgins looked stellar. Stephen is still painting like a force of nature.

Eagle!

2009-10-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Went for a walk by the river after my little Sunday french-toast and coffee ritual at the Red Geranium this morning. Had the first bald eagle sighting of the season! Scared him up out of one of the tall trees that seem to be their usual haunts. Watched a piece of his white underbelly down float slowly to the ground, as he flew across the river and gradually started climbing up, up, up on a thermal.

Also saw the new addition to the swan population on the lake at the Inn, two of them now. And the great blue heron that’s usually stalking around the lake. A fine October morning, indeed.

Poppa’s got a brand new...ukulele?!

2009-08-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Seems like I have an extraordinary number of friends playing the ukulele these days. Been talking to my friend Molly Felder about the ins and outs of ukulele ownership for a while now. Vintage vs. new, that kind of thing. She and Bill both play them with Swan Dive. David Mead, Daniel Tashian, Bill Steber, Brad Jones, Lex Price, I can't remember how many other music friends in Nashville are in the larger ukulele community.

It was a serious instrument in the earlier part of the 20th c., but then people started bringing crappy souvenir-models back from their Pacific vacations. Apparently some of those earlier crappy ones are quite valuable in collector circles these days. Who'da thunk? Now there’s that amazing Jake Shimabukuro, stunning people with what can be done with solo uke. I figure a couple of weeks of practice I should be able to do something like his version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” : )

There are also some great guys I found on youTube a while back doing a freaky-good ukulele+synthesizer version of Tubeway Army’s “Are Friends Electric?”—a song I only knew because Robyn Hitchcock did a cover version of it a few years back. Gary Numan meets the ukulele!? Marriage, or train wreck? I personally love it.

My buddy Ted Nunes and his lovely bride Carrie met me over at the Guitar Center at 100 Oaks, to help look over and play some ukes, perchance to purchase. Ted’s in a group called the Ukedelics. I was thinking about spending maybe $100 bucks or so. Got Ted to play several, check out the sound, because he can actually play the thing...I just want to learn. So natch, I fall in love with the most expensive, loveliest one they have. Budget, schmudget. And Carrie was sympathetic to my penchant for the aesthetic over the practical, being a talented jewelry designer and aesthete herself. Pix of the baby below!

She’s spalted koa wood. Has beautiful purfling (wink, wink, knowwhatimean?), actually it’s the binding around the edge of the body, which is abalone, as is the name on the head. OK, maybe it’s fake abalone, I wouldn’t know the diff, but it looks lovely. They didn’t have cases OR gig bags that worked, so I’m carrying her around in the original cardboard shipping box, like a guy off the Greyhound in Nashville. Hell, she don’t mind...the girl knows I love her. She’ll have a case as lovely as she is, one day.

Hunter Mann, the man with the van.

2009-08-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

In the tradition of nearly inexplicable crossroads-of-the-world things that occasionally happen here in New Harmony...last week my friend Caroline called and said “Hey, there’s this guy with this great art car downtown, I think he’s leaving in five minutes, you’ve got to come now!”

People were gathering like ants at a picnic to gape at Hunter’s amazing van, an item inherited from his Godfather, who had riveted brass objects of every description to it for 22 years. I think he told me it weighed in at around 10 thousand pounds! People kept coming, and kept staying. He wasn’t able to leave as quickly as hoped and ended up staying the night in town. From what I gathered, he’d been in Baltimore and other points east for a variety of events and was heading back west, going to do an NPR interview in St Louis the next day, and just stopped in N.H. after pulling over at the Harmonie State Park for a swim.

I mentioned Wild Wheels, an art car documentary I’d always liked, and it turns out that he had actually worked on the film, with Les Blank’s son Harrod (an early proponent/promoter of the art car). And they have a new one out called Automorphosis, that’s on the film festival circuit right now.

Hunter lives out somewhere near the convergence of New Mexico, Arizona, and México, where they seem to have lots of film stuff going on, and also sounded like there is an Art Car Museum in the works out there. Some pictures below. The van is something that you could look over for hours and not really discover everything....but I gave it a shot. A small good thing.

Garlic!

2009-07-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Harvested our garlic crop yesterday. Pretty involved...plant in the fall...mulch...overwinters...water...water...water...then you wait til it's about half dead-looking before digging it up...then it has to hang for 2-3 weeks to cure. There are two varieties, a hardneck rocambole called Music Pink, which had a amazing 2-3 foot bloom, but was harder to dig up...and a softneck artichoke called Inchelium Red.

Then comes the enjoying!

Ollie, ollie, oxen free.

2009-04-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Met this guy Gary at our Heritage Week festivities here in New Harmony last year. Lives somewhere near the Kentucky-Tennessee line. Used to be a museum director and now does this thing where he takes his beautiful team of four 6-year-old oxen around to these historical festivals, to show people how it used to be. He does other things, but this is the one with which I’m most familiar.

The oxen are amazing creatures. Rare to be around animals of their sort these days, unless one lives on a farm. He’s very kind to them, never takes to the whip, always praises good work. We could all learn a variety of lessons...

Gary looks a tough customer—visually reminds me more than a little of Picasso—but he’s actually a lovely, gentle man. Quiet force of nature. Not unlike his charges.

I didn’t photograph him last year. Friends Bill Steber and Pat Casey Daley were here and we had a great time talking and hanging out with Gary and the team. Wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by again when I found he was here this year (last weekend).

St. Looey.

2009-04-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

We had a nice weekend trip to St. Louis recently. Got lots of good tips from a friend who just moved to NH from St. Louis a few months ago. Good bookstores, great meals, vintage records, wonderful architecture, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, oh, and that Arch thingy...

Like Brooklyn and Terry Molloy in On the Waterfront, St. Louis “coulda been a contender”—still a lot of fabulous energy to the place. Can only imagine what it was like in its heyday.

The nicest weather day, we mostly spent toodling around the botanical gardens. I didn't want to schlep my camera around, so these were taken with the trusty Olympus Stylus digital, little “Orangey.” Had just revisited some Dale Chihuly documentaries, so it was nice to have fresh eyes on three pieces of Dale’s work that the gardens purchased from a show he had there a few years back (pictured below).

Oh, and if you’re ever looking for a great but inexpensive place in StL., we stayed at a really great little weird mock-tudor 60s hotel called the Cheshire Lodge. On the southwest corner of Forest Park. Genuine (or at least well-intended) in a way that very few new hotels are. Themed without being “themey”—not exactly Ian Schrager.

Darth Tater.

2009-02-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

Accessories for Mr. Potato Head are not what they were when I was a lad. But neither is Mr. Potato Head himself. Those bulbous modern shapes...pah! He’s come a long way from the time when he was an actual potato that you stuck ears and stuff into. This was sighted in my friend Holden’s room on our recent visit to Nashville.

Sai + Olive

2009-02-07T15:40:00.001-08:00

Evansville Living, Pt. 1

2009-02-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

A sweet young guy I just shot for Evansville Living. A painter named Clinton Bosler, who had work in the recent Mid-States Exhibition at the Evansville Museum. He’s been baking things and then painting them in his own sort of pop-art style (not to be confused with Pop-Tart style).

(Late) Holiday Miscellany.

2009-01-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

Pictured here we have Lexie’s Christmas cactus which bloomed beautifully and prolifically right on time, and has the honor of being one of our longest-lived houseplants.

Lacking a real live Christmas tree since neither of us were actually going to be here for the actual day, we festooned our then-dormant wood stove with lights and used it as “the Christmas stove.” It’s pretty steadily burning wood these days, and has been relieved of its tree duties.

Lastly, Sküti von Buns, the Christmas bunny. She’s gotten pretty big, but the only reason she let me get this close with the camera is because I was down on the floor where she could keep an eye on me, where it didn’t seem like I could do any serious looming and threatening.

Good golly Ma, it’s a fire!?

2009-01-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

For anybody who’s been following the continuing saga of our not being able to get the wood stove installed for one reason or another... it’s finally over! After one missing part, then another, all finally came together. Our guy came over and put it in last week on Friday, the only sunny and over 40 day we looked to be having for a while.

There’s a whole subculture to fire-building. Everyone has their own tips, preferences, etc. I was walking down the street past a neighbor’s house the other day after only a few days of keeping the home fires burning, and thought, “Man, that fence sure would make some nice kindling!” You start to look at everything wooden in terms of how well (or whether) it would burn.

We have a guy bringing a big load of wood soon. Meantime, we’ve borrowed what we have now from Tom & Caroline’s stash. They came by and helped us build the inaugural fire Saturday morning, and Caroline took this picture for us. (and Terri brought some more wood by to us yesterday!).

In the words of the old song:
The weather outside is frightful,
but the fire is so delightful!

Disco Elf Yerself.

2008-12-11T16:40:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Normans.

2008-12-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

This is a picture Uncle Bob sent me last Christmas. A much younger group of Normans. I would guess this is from about 1981 or so (??). My good old Papa John had not been gone too long.

It’s been over twenty years since we lost our sweet Aunt Jackie much too early. This year will be our first Christmas without our sweet Dede. Thought she’d make it to 100, but she got pretty close...she’ll be missed.

Further adventures of Sküti von Buns.

2008-12-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

Sküti is a rambunctious teenager now, grown to what we suppose is nearly her full size. Though we hoped she would grow to be more affectionate, she probably is as close to that as something so low down on the food chain can ever be. Rabbits don’t seem to desire affection as much as tolerate it. She is pretty hilarious and curious, practicing her evasive maneuvers and running and jumping around. Handy I guess, when foremost in your little animal brain—coddled though you are, and with no actual predator experience to tell you so—horrible screeching death could come from the air at any time.

Thanks!

2008-12-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

Photo of Lexie and me from our first official family thanksgiving celebration at our little New Harmony house. (photo courtesy of our friend China, who was one of the guests)

We had a two friends come up from Nashville and another six from here for an even 11 (OK, an odd eleven). A good time was had by all.

We had a lovely free-range turkey from the nice local folks at DuMond Farms, and coincidentally were photographed while purchasing said turkey, by the Posey County News for an article on local turkey purveyors. Wish I had that photo to post...

Family Harmony.

2008-11-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

So Miss Anne and Natalie just came for a nice visit. We did pretty much everything a person can do in our little town this time of year. Ate out, went antique shopping, walked around looking at the town. And it snowed! Well, it flurried...and was unseasonably cold, especially for my girls from Alabammy (the picture of the 3 of us was taken by Natalie with her iPhone, and if you look closely we have snowflakes on us).

Nobody really took many pictures. Lexie was with us most of the time, but missed all photo-ops. The other pictures are from Griffin, IN, just up the road. Home of our friends the Mumfords. One of only two towns by that name in the U.S. if my research is correct. The other in Georgia. Since Griffin is my name and Miss Anne’s maiden name, it seemed like a trip to make.

We did a lot of visiting with friends at Laura’s coffee house and elsewhere, which is what we mostly do for amusement here anyway. Everyone was glad to finally meet some of my family.

Been down the rabbit-hole.

2008-11-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry to not have posted for so long if anybody’s been paying attention.

My buddy Mack is coming through NH on his way back to Nashville. Hope to do a portrait of him. Maybe that’ll be my next post.

We’re in the middle of getting a wood stove put in the house. Missing a few critical bits of piping that are back-ordered. Got the tile floor for it put in last week, some nice looking slate. Can’t wait...will definitely put up a picture when that puppy’s got flames. Apparently this has been the biggest year for wood stove sales since the oil crisis in the 70s!

Weiners and Losers.

2008-08-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

So that scruffy young Beck Hansen lad—of I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me? fame—is closing in on FORTY! Good God...where’s the time gone?

Seems like my favorite lately-ish record of his was Sea Change, which is probably about old enough for first grade now. The boy just does melancholy right... I liked Guero, but it seemed more of a production number (tho probably [IMHO] the most beautiful cover art he’s ever had) lots of nice dance re-mixes.

And Mellow Gold is still holding its own all these years later, by golly.

My sweetie did an illustration of Beck for American Songwriter, their next issue Sept-Oct (?) out the end of this month. Check it out.

Foto-show, Pt. 3

2008-08-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

Another installment from the New Harmony people portrait series. My barber (our barber) Irwin Reynolds. A barber for over fifty years, he’s a survivor from the time when you didn’t so much go in for a new “style”—but simply a good, honest, well-executed hair cut.

Irwin’s shop is in a great little old bungalow, with an old-school barber pole out front. You don’t need an appointment, just walk on in on wednesdays or saturdays.

Irwin is also our friend Liz Mumford’s dad. Also pictured, one my favorites of his cool ’fifties barber chairs.

Jake Leg Stompin’ Part Deux.

2008-08-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a brief trip to Nashville. Was able to see the last Jake Leg show before Junior Socrates Cottonberry heads off to Berlin. Joined by my lovely friends Mack, Charlotte, John, McGuire, and Diesel. We all split after the first set, but it was a good one...

Be on the lookout any year now for their fine new record (not sure of the title, pretty sure it’s changed a few times)—but don’t hold yer breath, that could be unhealthy.

Here are some Stompers pix of mine from an earlier Station Inn show.

Jake Leg Stompin’

2008-07-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Just said goodbye to our friends the Jake Leg Stompers today, after a stellar performance last night at the New Harmony Center for the Arts. The Stompers were in rare form, there was some dancing, and lots of smiling...good time was had by all, the band included.

God bless these guys for keeping alive a big dollop of American music & history that might otherwise go forgotten...

We wish Brandon well on his new adventure in Berlin, and hope that whatever form the Stompers find themselves in after his departure, they’ll come back and see us again!

Photo © Jake Leg Stompers. All rights reserved

Foto-sho, Pt. 2

2008-07-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here’s our architect friend Ben Nicholson from the New Harmony portrait series. He’s been wrapping up a book project dealing with the labyrinth. He’s also heading off to Italy in September to do a presentation at the Venice Biennale. In that spirit...

For he might have been a Roosian, A French, or Turk, or Proosian,
Or perhaps Itali-an!
But in spite of all temptations To belong to other nations,
He remains an Englishman!

Wednesday with Morrie.

2008-07-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

Went to the color-field show at the Frist today, and came away with an enormous new appreciation for Morris Louis. After having to take the Ab-Ex and color field stuff like castor oil in school, it’s been a slow and spotty journey back to it, but lo-and-behold...enough time has passed and it seems exciting again...

Louis was a typical art world figure, lionized, marginalised, died, commodified, sanctified.

Dead of lung cancer at 49, quite possibly as a result of some of the crazy-hazardous synthetic polymers he used to make some of his best paintings. Three really fine ones in this show are well worth the ticket.

If you find yourself in Nashville before this show closes in Late September, see it!

(this one, Floral V, from 1959, is the one I would have taken home, although it would be a tough toss-up between it and one of the two from his Veil series, both magnificently subtle)

Live from Nashville.

2008-07-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

We’ve been down in the old stomping grounds for a bit.

Went to see the Time Jumpers at Station Inn last night. Always love those guys, have been through many permutations with them, from the old Hoot Hester and Papa John Hughey days til now.

What can you say? It’s kind of a who’s-more-stellar contest. Hard not to love front-man Kenny Sears of the permanent cowboy hat and winning smile, but I am always floored by Paul Franklin, one of the most amazing men to ever touch a pedal steel. And the humbly luminous fiddle-meister Aubrey Haney.

Oh and when we walked in I noticed there was this guy Vince Gill sitting in with them, tuning up his guitar... Rare good night.

Our bad spider.

2008-07-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Turkeyman!

2008-07-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

A lovely recent painting of Lexie’s that I’ve just framed and put on the wall of my downtown New Harmony studio.

More at trying2fly.etsy.com

Foto-sho, Pt. 1

2008-06-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post one of the images from the New Harmony show, one every week or so.

The first is of our lovely friend Claudia, whose family, from what I understand, was one of the early families involved in the original NH experiment with Owen. She’s got eyes like the ocean.

Captain Sküti von Buns

2008-06-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

We are proud parents to a new, very tiny dwarf Netherlands bunny, named Captain Sküti von Buns (pronounced “scooty”). She’s pretty incredibly cute, but is still young and skittish and hasn't got used to us yet. She’s pretty sure we bring the food.

We talk very gently to her at all comings and goings. She’s gradually getting more confident with the running and frolicking about outside her little cage home on the porch during exercise time, but mostly keeping a safe distance from us. One of these days soon, she might just like us back as much as we like her...

Yo ho ho, it’s a Foto-sho!

2008-06-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

There’s an opening next weekend (Saturday June 21st, 4-6) for a show of portraits of New Harmony folks that I’ve been shooting the last few months. Should be up most of the summer. Y’all come!

A nice weekend.

2008-06-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

No pictures to prove it, but we had a pretty great weekend here in Bedford Falls. We went down to southern Illinois, almost to Paducah, yesterday to acquire a new member of our little family—details and pictures to follow soon!

There was an antiques street fair saturday and today, which I wasn't really in the mood for as a consumer, but it added measurably to the excitement-about-town level.

Nicest thing was having Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine in town for a show last night at the Granary. Nice to finally meet them after loving their music for years. I had met Jake Bradley, their current bass-man, a few years back when he was playing with the Vigilantes of Love. Lexie and I had a nice time hanging out with him today.

Our buddy Mickey Grimm is drumming for them, and he threw down quite a drum solo for the hometown crowd.

A big shout out to the National Guard, who spent several days doing sand-bagging around town, to stave off the swollen Wabash. It’s thundering as I write this...let’s hope there’s little or no rain associated. We’ve had quite enough, thanks.

Swan Divin’

2008-06-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Forgot to put up any pix of Swan Dive (Bill DeMain and Molly Felder) who rocked the house last month at our New Harmony Center for the Arts opening night (accompanied by friends and relatives Mickey Grimm and Jim Hoke) Didn’t get many good pix, but here’s to trying...

NHCA

2008-05-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

Beginning our first workshops next week with this fledgling New Harmony Center for the Arts that we’ve been working on with a group of friends here. Here’s a mini-poster for my classes. More to follow...

Arts. Arts. Arts.

2008-05-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Our buddy Bryce McCloud from Isle of Printing in Nashville came up this weekend for the first edition of this Arts In Harmony art fair we participated in (these are his pictures of us with our good friend Laura after the fair and me from my good side at the Swan Dive show saturday night). Me and Bryce shared a booth. Lexie’s pal Erica Rudy was supposed to come too, but she was getting over a freak illness. She’s coming up later this month, and we hope she’s lots better!

There was also the soft opening of New Harmony Center for the Arts, something we’ve both been very involved in getting off the ground. Our good friends Swan Dive played a nice show at the opening Saturday night. I’ll be teaching some collage and photography workshops this summer. Lexie will be teaching painting at some point...up until now she’s been doing a lot of much-needed administrative stuff (that I am certainly no good at!) Also are friends teaching, woodworking, blacksmithing and percussion. There’s not a website yet, but should be something soon. Let me know if anybody’s interested in taking a class! (or maybe teaching one down the line).

Eggs. Eggs. Eggs.

2008-04-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

We have been getting eggs from our friend Terri Hall for quite a while now. Always exciting to have food that someone you know grew, raised, gathered, whatever. Trying to eat local foods more and more. Never know what kind of mix of colors to expect, some of the chickens are those ones that Martha Stewart did the paint line from...Aracauna? I think that’s the way it’s spelled. (Hard to tell from this photo...some of them are a really beautiful pale green)

It’s a good thing.

2008-04-23T18:42:00.001-07:00

Lexie went all Martha Stewart on me the other day...came in and she had dried these little violets from our yard (some of which we had on our salad tonight with dinner), then she was brushing egg white and sugar on them with a little watercolor brush to make candied violets, apparently for dessert-making and such...curious, Captain...

The key to making good art...

2008-04-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

...as all of the gen-u-wine artists amongst you already know...the key is holding your tongue just right. Picture by Lexie.

Icon if youcon.

2008-04-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Lexie did an icon painting workshop/retreat in New Harmony last week with Peter Pearson, a lovely man from New Hope PA (near Pittsburgh—also home to George Nakashima, the exquisite Japanese-American woodworker, architect, furniture builder from the 40s til his death in 1990). A wonderful time was had by all. Very involved, meditative application of LOTS of layers of glazing, gold-leaf and symbolic typography. She made a very beautiful, finely crafted image of Jesus, that looks like the real thing, except for lacking that smoky patinated quality that age gives the old ones. More about Peter here. More about George Nakashima here. And more about Lexie here!

Good golly Ma, it’s an earthquake!

2008-04-18T06:16:00.000-07:00

Experienced my first earthquake tremors this morning between 4.30 and 5.00. According to the government earthquake site, it was a 5.2 (I’m assuming this is the Richter Scale you always hear about) in the “Illinois area” (see from the map how close to us!). Lexie was a little more rattled than she remembered being in California as a kid.

Daffodillyicious.

2008-03-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

First flowers from the yard. Lexie is chomping at the bit to get on with the gardening.

Winter’s last hurrah (?)

2008-03-16T13:03:00.001-07:00

Figured I’d put up some last nice winter pix, since it seems the daffydills and their ilk are pushing for Spring. Here’s hoping she’s imminent...

Putting the “end” in Indiana.

2008-03-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

For many, many months, the bridge which brings people into our little town from Illinois has been closed. People who have to actually come into town from Illinois have been sad. Maybe it’s been bad for commerce here. I haven’t missed the huge trucks that used to blow through town and rattle everything. Wish they could be banned. The little bridge is barely wide enough for two cars to pass safely.

They (whoever “they” are) said it would re-open Thanksgiving...then New Years...then kind of any old day now... Who can say?

I took the opportunity to wander out on the bridge in the lovely snow today while the chance still presented itself, and got a view of New Harmony I’ll rarely—if ever—get again.

Visitors from another planet.

2008-02-29T12:33:00.000-08:00

They call it Nashville...

Our second visitors to NH... Our good friends the Claytons came up for Sai’s Suzuki violin weekend at the University of Evansville, and came and spent the night with us last night prior to the festivities. They brought Sai’s friend Nicholas Gambill with them.

We had a nice dinner last night at the White House (our friends’ lovely restaurant...not the White House currently occupied by the Bushes) and a good little tour of the town yesterday afternoon, though it was still a little chilly for pleasant strolling.

Lexie’s mom Torie came up a while back, helping Lexie drive a uHaul, and was our first official visitor. What does she win, Johnny? A trip to beautiful downtown Burbank, you say?

Ice, Ice, Baby...Pt. 2

2008-02-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

Should be up to the 40s tomorrow and all this will vaporize, and things will be back to normal here in Bedford Falls.

Ice, Ice, Baby...

2008-02-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

Take a lovely falling of snow and add a nasty dollop of frozen precip, and whattya got? Nobody goes out of the house today...

Wanted to walk over to the river for some recon. It’s still rising apparently. But couldn’t make it more than a few yards from the house. Every step like falling through the ice, but nothing to drown you underneath...just hard going.

Crash on the levee, mama
Water’s gonna overflow
Swamp’s gonna rise
No boat’s gonna row

—Robert Allen Zimmerman

Spend an hour watching swans.

2008-02-07T16:35:00.001-08:00

[[This is a poem called Opinion, by Baron Wormser, from Subject Matter: Poems. It speaks a similar thing to me as my recent walks near the Wabash have, and something about my life in general...about what matters...about wildness and the overwhelming nature of modern life...whatever...just read it.]]

Halfway to work and Merriman already has told me
What he thinks about the balanced budget, the Mets’
Lack of starting pitching, the dangers of displaced
Soviet nuclear engineers, soy products, and diesel cars.

I look out the window and hope I’ll see a swan.
I hear they’re bad-tempered but I love their necks
And how they glide along so sovereignly.
I never take the time to drive to a pond

And spend an hour watching swans. What
Would happen if I heeded the admonitions of beauty?
When I look over at Merriman, he’s telling Driscoll
That the President doesn’t know what he's doing
With China. “China,” I say out loud but softly.
I go back to the window. It’s started snowing.

Ah, wilderness.

2008-02-07T09:54:00.000-08:00

Saw another bald eagle (and also a big old pileated woodpecker) on the river today.

The river which—according to the weather.com—is going to flood any old day now. Even after living in Nashville—technically a river city—for so long, I’m totally unfamiliar with the vagaries of rivers. All of the blues songs about the levees breakin’ start to come home to roost.

Stop scarfin’ that down, you’ll get indigestion.

2008-01-28T16:47:00.000-08:00

Haven’t photographed all of my Christmas scarfing victims yet, but here are a few of them. My mom “Miss Anne,” my buddy Roger, my Sai (wearing her own design in spare-key jewelry), and my sister Natalie, whose scarf I think i like best—though they’re all my children...

Eagles on the Wabash.

2008-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

Saw two big beautiful American Bald Eagles perched aloofly in a tall leafless tree while i was out for my this morning’s constitutional.* Closest I’ve ever been to eagles in the wild. One of them took off, but the other one sat there while I stared at him/her. Funny—since there was no patriotic music playing in the background—they didn’t strike me as symbols so much as big hungry birds, looking for brunch—so I tried to walk briskly and not appear to be a wounded animal... In case anybody was wondering, this is NOT my photo (no such mountains along the Wabash). From Veronica somebody’s blog, via Google.

Awfully nice to walk less than ten blocks away from your house and be in relative wilderness.

*This might seem to imply that I actually TAKE a walk every morning. This is not true, but I’m trying to make it a more regular thing.

And hats the way it is.

2008-01-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

This lovely new hat—possibly the warmest one I’ve ever worn—was made for my buddy Mickey by a friend from Bloomington named Ruth, who I had just met a few days before. Mickey just doesn't much wear hats, I think. Some of the kids at the coffee house had been saying how perfect it would be on me (perhaps because I have such a giant head, or because it hides my horns)—and in I walked. It was presented to me and I’ve gladly worn it nearly every day since. Thanks, Ruth!

Small good things in N.H. Pt. 1

2008-01-13T19:27:00.001-08:00

You know how sometimes you think you see faces in nature? Pretty sure this one was on purpose. Who knows, maybe it’s one’a them Ent things from Middle Earth...