What to Do When One Doesn't Have a Pad of Paper.

I ran across this photo in my phone today while I was looking at some photos I'd taken earlier today.  Sure, it's not quite as interesting as the shots of the 70 - year old guy that had "Death Rider" sequined into his shirt tonight at Boomer's restaurant tonight but the picture has merit anyway.

This was my interpretation of a tiki commission sculpture that I'm doing for some folks in the California bay area.  Funny that I never thought of myself as much of a drawing artist but looking at the photo I don't think that it's too bad.  It will be a few months before I'll get this guy created and then I'll post some photos of it to my Website.

Shop Sale

Lots of Florida happenings!  Mackie's been working on the house with painting, and I've been working in the shop sorting metal for the scrap yard - I can't even begin to tell you how it pains me to get rid of metal!  We worked together on a successful shop sale today getting rid of some unwanted tools and lots of art that we didn't have room for.

Here's three free form tables that I built last year that went in this morning's sale.  We ran several ads on Craigslist yesterday, and we were swamped when we opened at 10:00AM.  That's the first time that we had used Craigslist to advertise anything and wow, what a response!  We had over 100 people in that first hour and that did it for the sale! 

Here's a Jet bandsaw that's been sitting in the shop for about three years; it's one of those tools that I thought was going to save time and it never panned out.  My chop saw really cuts time and is ultimately safer to use. 

Mackie and I started working on the guest bathroom tonight.  She's pulling off the top layer of wallpaper while I'm focusing on the glue layer underneath.  It's great being together and working on projects.  Looks like we'll be here for a few weeks working on getting the house ready for the market.

Moving the shop from Florida to Oregon

What a challenge to move artwork, metal, and tools 3,500 miles across country.  That's not a mis-print!  Florida has been interesting but the time for us to completely relocate back to the west coast is here.  Moving is the bad news, but the good news is that we'll be west in a few weeks.

Show news flash!  Looks like we'll have a number of California shows scheduled in September.  We'll be posting an update to our website at www.cliftonmetalworks.com as soon as we get confirmation.  But things are looking good for Mountain View, Lafayette, Los Altos, and Beverly Hills. Nice.

Tai Chi

 

Walking out of my shop last week, one of the other artists in my collective had lined up some of my work and was talking photos of my day's work.  I started laughing at my friends and it keeps me in line of why I do the things I do.  I'm the luckiest guy in the world.  I'm allowed to create art that people enjoy and makes them smile and laugh in the morning.  With so many choices in this world, I'm fortunate that so many people enjoy our work and want to be around us.

 

I'm in Bellevue this weekend and then taking the next month off to finish moving things from Florida back to our home in Vancouver, and then we'll be getting for our fall shows.  I'll have our website updated at http://www.cliftonmetalworks.com/ later in August, but right now, it appears that we'll be in the Mountain View, Lafayette, and Los Altos, California areas in September and towards the upper California Bay area in October. 

 

If you're going to be in the Portland, Oregon area, go visit the Love Art Gallery at 8036 SE 13th Avenue, Portland, Oregon.  Here's thier website http://www.loveartgallery.com/  We'll have new creations that we'll be featuring there begining August 3rd, 2011. 

 

Joe

 

A Boy and His Roots

This week I'm at the Connoisseures' Marketplace in downtown Menlo Park, California.  Menlo Park is about 10 miles or so north of San Jose and highway 101 (also known as the Bayshore Freeway here), and south of San Francisco by about 30-something miles.  The downtown core has somehow survived the overgrowth that has taken over a number of smaller communities in this area.  There's a quaintness that makes me feel good whenever I'm in and around one of these smaller towns.  It reminds me of spending time with my Grandfather in neighboring Sunnyvale before progress leveled all but one block of the Sunnyvale downtown core.

I've done a number of shows around this area but this is the first time that I've driven around this area since I was around 9 or 10 years old.  It's amazing the things that I remember and how I know how to get to so many places from 40 years long since past.  What do I remember...

I spent a lot of time at my grandparents home on East McKinley.  They adored me (very true) and much of my younger years were spent in their living room on one of those rope-style woven rugs.  It's the kind that was made from soft cotton and always seemed to be oval in shape and perfect for a young boy to lay on in front of the black and white television.  I recall my Grandmother making me oatmeal for breakfast and occasionally getting a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it; this is one of those weird sounding treats that is not to be knocked until it's tried.  Grandpa Joe worked as a janitor at Westinghouse and always brought me a treat each day at his shift's end; usually, it was a small bag of Planter's Peanuts or something along that line.

Saturday night I tracked down and had dinner at Vesuvio Pizzaria in Santa Clara.  I have no idea how I can remember this place from 43 years back, but the place is celebrating its 50th anniversary and it's still there!  Congratulations to them.  The place was much the way I recall.  Walking into the door and straight ahead is where I place my order; a quick glance onto the wall to see the menu and I order the spaghetti with meat sauce that I remember eating.  I take my number and walk over to the bar and order a "barley pop".  Walking over to my seat, they call my number before I even have a chance to find one.  Hey, I like quick service.

I just into my plate and ahh.  Old noodles briefly brought up to room temperature.  The bread was good.  I'm thinking that you have the picture here.

On to my next adventure.

At the Show in Royal Oak, Michigan

It struck me Saturday morning as I was driving the final hour into Royal Oak, Michigan that it was only about 10 miles from downtown Detroit.  Unfortunately, I had a slight queasy moment in my stomach thinking what am I doing here.  Detroit is known for a mass exodus of people that has been going on for years, and the stark contrast of the city against the skyline wasn't doing my thoughts of this place any favors.

Signs of decay are littered around Interstate 75 as it winds through the central core, and the broken homes and dreams that line the interstate are harsh reminders of a city that was once a jewel of this mid-western city.  But, there is a strange beauty in this stark reminder of a city that once mass produced most of the automobiles used around the world and set the foundation of how we live in this country.

There are several magnificent churches standing tall amongst the broken homes and bombed-out looking building along my path.  Few lights can be seen from the freeway, and it appears that most of these structures are abandoned. 

As I round through the city and leave Wayne County and enter Oakland county the change is almost instantaneous.  The Interstate is missing the constant thumping sound that started when I hit the Detroit city limits and trash is missing from alongside the road (there's a terrible amount of paper trash all along through Detroit).  Instantly, I consciously think that I'm going to like this place.  I turn west onto Interstate 696 west and head to the first exit to turn into Royal Oak. Right at my turn is Cariobou Coffee on South Main street...Ah, life can now continue!

I stop for some Java and head the two blocks west to the art show and my booth space.  It's right on the corner of East Fourth and Washington streets.  The neighborhood has obviously been going through improvements over a number of years and most of the storefronts have operating businesses in them.  Even at 6:30AM there are other people other than us artists walking around.  Everyone is amazingly friendly and happy - I wonder what they put into the water around here? 

The policeman has me back right up to my booth to unload...Am I in Kansas I think to myself (somewhere I have to reference The Wizard of Oz in all this).  Then I head down to the show to check in.  They give me two special passes because I have a dual wheel truck and trailer which allows me to park about 10 feet from my booth instead of the three blocks they have reserved for the other artists - it pays to have one one ton dual wheel truck with a 16 foot long trailer!


10:00 AM rolls on and people start milling in to the show.  There's a glass blowing exhibit across the way, and my other neighbor is creates really cool sculptures from a high fire stoneware.  He creates these small dragons that are hatching from eggs, giraffes, and has one cool cowboy on a horse (www.ericevanssculpture.com), and he's a great neighbor.  The show had consistent sales until we closed at 7:00PM and then I headed out for some dinner.

BD's Mongolian grill was around the corner and I settled in for a few beers and some grub.  I like these type of restaurants.  I can get fresh chicken and vegetables cooked to order and relax for awhile.  It's a great way to wind down the day.  I'm heading off to the motel to crash, and the streets are packed with people.  Restaurants are full and I can barely walk across the street from all the traffic.  This is obviously the place to be on Friday night.  However, I needed sleep and not entertainment.

I of course headed to Caribou Coffee for my morning fix and get my thoughts written.  In about another hour there's an artist award's breakfast, and we'll see if I'm one of the lucky ones or just get fed.  I'll be happy either way.

This is my last mid-west show and then I'm back to Florida tonight.  Thursday, I'm heading to Vancouver, Washington, but I have an insane amount of work to get completed before I head west.  It's going to be a busy summer.

On the Road in Cleveland, Tennessee

This week I'm on the road back for shows in Ohio and Michigan, and I'm thinking about my exciting life as a traveling artist.

It's a few minutes after 7 AM and I've been driving for just over an hour this morning.  I pulled over and stopped in Cleveland, Tennessee for a few minutes of rest and breakfast at McDonald's - nothing but the finest for us!  Cleveland is a few minutes north of Chattanooga on Interstate 75 in a beautiful hilly wooded setting.  Unfortunately, that will be the extent of what I can share with you because I've got to get back on the road.  It's typical of what I know about so many cities that I visit as I criss-cross America. 

This trip is about a 1,000 mile drive from our Florida home and time is a consideration for this time of year.  It's show time and many people depend on me to get there dreams created, and I love to see happy people.  There are times where I'd really love to be able to print something out and display it, but I don't believe that it would cut it with many of you.

Driving and working with the road are part of the challenges in getting to the next show.  Last night, a truck through a tire some ways in front of me, and as I saved the truck from catching the tire, the passenger side trailer fender was not so lucky.  The tire smacked the fender and dropped in front of the trailer tire which in turn whipped it upwards and under the fender.  Next, the fender ripped off save for two bolts and shorted out the trailer lights.  Hmm.  About 30 minutes before dark and what to do.  Hey, I'm an artist.

I dug out the tool chest, we keep it right by the trailer side door, and took off the fender.  The fuse was blown under the truck hood, and there wasn't any 20 amp mini fuses left.  Fortunately, I was about an hour south of Atlanta and there are plenty of truck stops looking forward to selling me what I needed.  All together I was only down about 30 minutes and back on the road heading north of Atlanta - I like to get north to miss the morning traffic through the city.

It was about 11:45 when I rolled into the first rest stop north of Atlanta for a few hours rest.  I set my clock for 6 AM just in case I dozed too long, but my body clock woke me about 5:30 and here I am.  A few more sips of coffee, drop off my tray, and hit the road.