Crabbers in the Front Yard & Table

It's funny how people that obviously aren't from "around heah" sometimes react to the ocean and especially the intertidal zone. These two kids were likely staying at the campground up the bay and they found, among the rocks on our shore, a great source of fun and adventure in picking up crabs. I talked to them and they had accents that placed them in the south (maybe Portland or Scarborough, heh, heh), but a youthful energy (well, the youngest one at least) for finding these elusive creatures of the sea and the adventure resulting. I suggested that they gather a bunch and bring them back to their parents to "cook up", as they are very tasty, but they couldn't imagine eating such a thing!

My table for the Children's Museum auction is primed and ready to paint. I have a general idea of the theme for the piece being a boat floating in the ocean, with the try painted as the hull of a boat (you know, wood grain with planks and ribs and such on the inside and maybe a waterline and a name on the outside) and the legs painted as the depths of the sea and its creatures with maybe posts coming out of the water and rocks and ledges in between. The photo is in-progress and shows the alterations I made to the legs and the table top for the ocean effect. Excuse the mess in my studio, I've been busy!

We are going to New Hampshire (via Portland, Maine) for a few days and the weekend, so I may or may not be able to post here, but I will bring my " 'puter" and make an effort.

Frame/Body Conflict...

... resolved! I just took the body off the frame so that I could replace the rusted metal in the back end of my truck. A little plate steel and I should be back in business, I just need to get to my brother's shop to borrow his welder and torches. As one can easily tell from the photo, the rear bumper has quite a sag to it due to extensive rust. It must be all those times I backed into the salt water and forgot to rinse off... duh!
Most of my day was spent doing the truck, but managed a great ride to the bridge this morning before it got hot!

Mechanics... Etc.

Yeah, so I've been working on the outboard motor the last couple of days (so of course I had to take some pictures - I have one of the boat draining after a "rinse" in Flander's Pond also). The motor gave us some problems last year with not really seeming to get enough fuel, so I took the carbs off and dismantled and cleaned them, blowing them out with compressed air. We took the boat up to the pond to try the motor and it seemed to run OK, but the steering was frozen up. If it's not one thing, it's another!
I've also been putting some more studio time in on glass and on the "Tres Chic" table (I will get some photos of the table in progress as I have to turn some bio in for the Children's Museum). The month of August will creep by and I won't have half done of what I would like to have done, but it is good to finally have some summer!
Now I have to clean up glass shards off the floor in the studio, they're everywhere and my niece likes to run around the house barefoot, so I had to warn her to keep out of the studio. The final photo is one of oak leaves blowing in the wind that I shot with high shutter and saturated the colors of the underside of the leaves. Fun!

Glass... Exclamation Point!

... has been taking up a lot of my time today. I had an group that I did as sort of production run of 10 or so and came out with 7 that were marketable. I also did 4 pendants that came out pretty cool with an exclamation point as a matrix for them all as they look nothing alike. Metaphor you say? Well, I was doing some thinking about why and what these might mean, but my head sprang a leak and I couldn't find a good metaphorical connection. I am sure one will present itself at some point. I do feel that the "carbouchons" might signify the souls of people and represent the ways that people connect, shared colors, shapes and edges make a piece work with another piece.

The new material for me is stone, and a true "cab" is actually made from a slice of mineral or gemstone and shaped through grinding. I've been grinding some rocks the last few days...

Empty Chair and Lunch

The skylight in the shop placed David's chair in a light that I couldn't help but shoot. It is so important to keep your eye on the light because that's really what it's all about, the light. More significant in this case may be that I recently read Joe Coomer's One Vacant Chair and was really moved by the depth of feelings wrapped around as simple a subject as a chair. I will never look at them the same way, although in my lifetime I have had many interesting moments with chair(s).

I made my own supper tonight as we decided to use up some leftovers and so we are looking at a lobster sandwich and a half (I already had eaten the other half of the second sandwich) along with a nice iced glass of grape kool-aid. My diet has been as weird as the summer!

I was pleased that I got the structure of my table for the Children's Museum all done and everything pretty well primed. All ready to paint and I have some good plans for what I'm doing, so I'm as pleased with this project as any I have done for the Museum.

Faces Back in the Sky

Looking to the southwest after finishing the walkway in stones around the east side of the house to the patio, once again there were faces in the sky. I've seen whole faces, figures, skeletons and all sorts of mystical and magic things in those clouds, and it always seems like there is something meant for me when I make those visual connections. Today, just a face looking to the left and up, but there is a sense of pride and sharpness of features that makes this a figure telling me to hold my head up, all is good in the world.

Days Are What You Make Them

... I can smell the faint oder of woodsmoke coming through the open bedroom windows left over from the fire on the shore tonight. We cooked some lobsters and then toasted a few marshmallows, throw in some nice new corn and some raw peas in the pod and you have an evening meal to appreciate. I even took the extra lobsters into the kitchen and picked them out when we were done (leftovers, ahh I love leftovers!). Matt helped me start the fire on the beach and even toasted a few marshmallows, so that was good.
The day started with a good bike ride through the new construction to the east and then a day of excellent accomplishment when I went into school. Everything I had to do fell into place and I saw everyone I needed to see, signed some papers, and left with a feeling of professional satisfaction that I hope carries over to the school year! The courtyard outside school looked great this morning and all the work the custodial staff has done looks marvelous. I got home from school, mowed the lawns, prepped the walkway out to the new patio for some stone and even got the base coat on the table legs for the Children's Museum Auction, soooo.... I think I worked toward making it a good day, and it did!

Feet and Feathers

Death... this is the first roadkill seagull I've photographed. Not much left of it but feet and feathers by the time I got to this picture, but there's always something about line and it's relationship to texture that fascinates me. Death, on the other hand, being inevitable, but far less tangible than a good old Ingres line, has it's excitement held in it's uncertain presence. Uncertain, of course, because we never really know when or where but as sentient beings we know that it's out there waiting and will eventually overcome us. Dealing with the death of others is especially hard for me, but in the presence of family or loved ones of those who have passed away I seldom have a lot to say but have been generally fortunate that I haven't ever really said the wrong things. People tend to be very sensitive during times of grief and the words of others take on meaning at times far beyond any kind of content intended.
I have a great deal more to say on this subject, but for now, "love does not conquer all, as it is death that has the final word, love can only make it easier to die."

Jeep in a Rock Pile

Or something else that might seem out of and yet precisely in place. Things fitting in where perhaps they shouldn't and yet fitting in so well that there is no way that they could belong elsewhere. That's the way the photo of my niece Morgan's jeep seemed to me as I looked at it from the top of our roof.

I shot 50 some odd pictures today and I'm noticing now that with choosing photos for the blog that I have trouble narrowing down my selections. I had 4 or 5 that I would have posted, but I think I am going to try and stay in the one-a-day routine. This will do several things for me, the most significant of which would be to help me become more selective, and more introspective with the choices I make, hopefully selecting only the best that I have to offer. This is hard. I like so many.

Work... Then Play!

Finishing the patio was the big deal for the day. David and I got a fairly early start (for two old guys on a Saturday) and we moved the 4 yard pile of stones on to the patio surface and voila, the patio was finished. Of course there was prep work, we did a grade for the gravel underneath and then compacted it, covered it with landscaping cloth (to keep silt from working into the stone and for washout around the edges) and then wheelbarrowed the stone into place. I think we were done by 2 or so, and then we had the opportunity to go sailing, so we did.


Not much wind, but Vern's Cape Dory trots along a few knots without much push needed. The day was gorgeous, lots of sun, and the cruise took us over to the east side of Calf Island where I got some great shots of the mountains unobstructed. It was a bit hazy, but the Porcupines out in front and the listening water made for some nice shots. I took quite a bit of video as I want o work some more with iMovie '09 and I told Vern I would try to put together a decent sailing movie for him (I need the practice, as I want to do a lot more video in school next year).

I missed the first day of August (starting to feel like summer's here) with the blog, but will have a couple of things today.