2011 Overview

2011 has come and gone and now it’s time to look forward to 2012

I’ve never been one to look to much at the past but instead look toward the future.  Part of this is my nature and part is the nature of being an artist.  Artist is an interesting title and one that I’m not always comfortable with, but for many, it’s an important acknowledgement for what we’ve been able to create with our minds and hands.  I’m humbled when someone refers to me as such and work hard to ensure that their complements are justified.

January through March

We'd been getting a number of photos from folks of sculptures that they've adopted from us over the years, and we decided to add an adopted page to our website at www.cliftonmetalworks.com/adopted.htm .  This latest submission is from William Woods of a planter he gave to his daughter.  We're humbled by the ongoing support and photos that everyone sends in.  Thank you.

Florida shows were in full swing during January through March.  I spent most weekends doing two-day weekend shows, and when I wasn’t there, I was at the St. Petersburg Saturday Market displaying my latest creations.  I was awarded the first place ribbon along with a check at the Orlando Art and Living Festival in Orlando, Florida.  This was  quite a surprise and honor and one that I will cherish my entire life.

The weather was great and we have many fans, but it’s tough to be a recycled artist when there isn’t very many sources for recycled metal; that was definitely the largest challenge about working that far south.  I had to travel as far north as Alabama and Tennessee to continue to find material, and that made it very difficult to have time to work and both due shows. 

Mackie and I love the weather during this time.  Sunny and 75 were pretty much the standard seven days a week with very little humidity.  The biggest challenge are insects nearly the size of the bugs from Starship Troopers! 

April Through June

I did four shows in Ohio and Michigan in May and June.  Two trips up and back each totaling about 3,000 miles round trip, but I did enjoy spending time with my brother and his family between and at these shows.  Weather has been one of our biggest challenges in doing eastern US shows versus the western states.  Every east coast show had some significant weather this year, and we were fortunate to not see the worst like in Pittsburgh, where an entire block of booths were ravaged in the wind.  This photos was our booth in Delaware, Ohio where my brother and two nephews came to help out.  Incredible driving rain but the crowds kept coming in between the cloud bursts.

My good friend, Bill Woods, caught up with me in Atlanta, Georgia, and we traveled across country for the second year in a row.  This has been a great time for both of us to spend talking about our lives and seeing our country from a different perspective.

We stopped in Nashville, Tennessee the next morning and went to the American Artisan Festival in Centennial Park. I love going to different art shows around the country and see the different work that’s available.  It’s always amazing to see things available in the south that one doesn’t see in the northwest, or the work that I saw in Ohio but have never seen in California.  This is Bill with his friend Superman in Metropolis, Illinois on our stop from Nashville to St. Louis.

The next morning we went through to Gates Barbeque in Kansas City.  The Food Network once did a special on barbeque around the country and this place got rave reviews.  It was ok and I think that says it all.  We headed west and spent the evening just east of Denver; it was an evening of great thunder and lightning storms.

I did the Vancouver Recycled Arts Show during the last week of June and started getting ready for the July art show crush.

July through September

July is our busiest month each year.  There’s usually several trips to California, a show in Oregon, and our annual Bellevue Art Show to keep us focused.  Everything was pretty routine and then I caught the shuttle back to Florida and my lovely wife.

Mackie and I spent August enjoying the Florida sunshine and deciding our next steps for the remainder of 2011.  We decided to head back to our Vancouver home and spend the winter west, and this was my second trip driving across the United States in 2011.  Below is a photo after the drive that I took of Mackie with our kids, Sophie and Sherman, and our dear friend Judy next to our truck and camper in Lafayette, California.

The Love Art Gallery contacted us and started selling our work.  Ruby and family are wonderful people and have done an incredible job in marketing our creations.  This has got me looking at galleries in a whole new light.  Several groups have contacted us and we'll be adding some new galleries this spring in the Portland-to-Seattle metro areas; I'll keep our website posted with the new locations.

October through December

We did a number of events through year’s end, and we picked up two additional art galleries.  It’s been busy and I’ve been able to create a number of new works.  I’m looking forward to 2012 and the new opportunities that await us.  We have two shows already booked in February in Seattle and Portland, and we'll be working like crazy over the next six weeks.  We have a lot of new creations that we've been working on this winter, and January is going to be here and gone before we know it. 

Our show schedule is updated on our website at www.cliftonmetalworks.com , and we’ll keep it updated and we hear from shows as we’re accepted into them.

Whew! Christmas Shows are Done

I know. I know.  My wife always tells me that cakes are done and I complete everything else.  But, it's been a long year that started in Florida, went through Georgia to Ohio and Michigan.  Then to the west coast for shows in California, Oregon, and Washington.  Just when I think that I get a little bit of rest, I've got at least three applications for next year that are due to turn in in the next five weeks.  Oh, an artist's work is never done.

For the past three weeks, I've been in Purdy and Gig Harbor, Washington, and we just finished at the Salem Holiday Market in Salem, Oregon.  Here's a little about each of the shows.

Winterfest in Purdy, Washington
Purdy is about 15-20 minutes north of Tacoma, Washington across the Narrows bridge.  For the history buffs, this was the third longest suspension bridge until November 7, 1940 when a gale wind came along and started a chain reaction that started the bridge bucking like a bronk and ended up falling into Puget Sound.  Here's a great video of the event on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

The show is held at Peninsula High School and the stuff does a great job putting this charity event on. Great organization, mostly high-quality work and a loyal following.


Tidefest in Gig Harbor, Washington
Gig Harbor is the first city across the narrows bridge coming from Tacoma.  It's a beautiful setting and man what a great show!  This one is organized better than any show that I've ever been to.  And, that's just the start.  They treat artists like kings and queens.  It starts with coffee, cookies, vegies, and such about every 20-30 minutes during the show.  And the Sunday morning breakfast was incredible.  Never have I felt so wanted at a show.  Yes it was a great show too.  Well attended by the community and they really support the arts!  Both  this and Winterfest have the added bonus that I get to stay at my sun's home in Tacoma and we get to enjoy some great times together.

Salem Saturday Market Holiday Show
Salem, Oregon is the state capital and the Saturday Market holds their annual holiday show at the Ameriplex building at the Oregon state fairgrounds.  The show is well organized and attended with brisk sales on Saturday.  Sunday was more for a day for Mackie and I to get out and find gifts for our crowd.  Salem is also great because it's only an hour south from our home which allows us to spend time at home.

Well now I'm off to start seriously thinking about 2012.

Hearts Galore

Many of you have seen a number of different hearts over the past years.  Twisted steel, glass, bike gears, and other recycled steel parts were welded into wonderful sculptures.  I was fortunate to discover a haul of various colors of recycled metal shelving.  Green, red, blue, and orange all in about 10 foot lengths.  What a find!

There's going to be a number of significant changes with my work that you'll see at some of this year's shows.  Many shows will feature the same work that I love to do that many of you have been enjoying for what is now decades, and the fine art shows will feature work similar to the hearts below and other new work that I'll be featuring here over the next few months getting ready for 2012.

This first heart features a three inch side with alternating horizontal green and red slats.  It's approximately 16 inches tall by about 12 inches wide.

The second heart is similar to the one featured above with the metal running vertical.  I like this one a lot.

Number three is my version of what's hanging around inside our hearts.  It's also about three inches thick, and I've created a variety of plumbing interconnected with bicycle gears.  Now that is some pacemaker!  Note the stitching across the front, and it's also all around the outside where the heart front meets the heart's sidewalls.

This is the fourth and last one for tonight! It has some serious plumbing work, and I've added the metal at different levels throughout the heart. Imagine as if the heart's skin is pealed back to reveal its inner workings. 

A lot of things are changing this year with my work.  You can keep up to date by subscribing to my blog for the latest additions.  See you soon!

New Video

I discovered a great stop action film program for my Android, and it's great for making short videos to add to my youtube site.  I've embedded the video that I shot this morning and edited down to about one and a half minutes.  Windows Live Movie Maker on my laptop was used to edit the movie.  It's amazing how easy everything was.




This is going to really speed up the video making and editing process and will allow me to get the latest greatest videos for everyone's enjoyment!  Please let me know what you think.  Joe

Adopted

Our Adopted Page on our website at www.cliftonmetalworks.com/adopted.htm is really starting to fill up.  Thank you everyone for all the great photos that you're emailing in.  Here's the latest addition to our growing family.

Teri's New Friend

William Woods adopted this young lady for his daughter and is in her backyard in Salem, Oregon.  She's really brought new life into what is already an exciting vibrant yard.

 Dr. Dave's Stork

I've created a number of works for Dr. Dave over the past few year's with this fellow being the first.  He commissioned this piece for his office and his staff and clients just love it.  It really breaks the ice when new folks come in!  Currently, I'm working on a new office piece that is being created of medical instruments that he provided last summer to me.  Hmm.  Wonder what they could be???

The Way Back Home

I get tired of driving towards the end of each year after the shows and it's so especially this year.  Two trips back and forth from Florida to Michigan; two trips driving from Florida to Washington; and numerous trips from Washington to California.  Part of the exciting life of being an artist.  Along with all the driving comes the fuel bills, vehicle maintenance, and the unexpected things that can happen on the road.  And, so it went with last Monday.

Around midnight I stopped in Willows, California to catch a few z's before completing my return trip home.  After a few hours, I woke and headed north excited to make it home sometime around noon.  I stopped at the McDonald's just outside of Shasta, California (I actually like their coffee) for a brief rest-over and headed back north.  The weather was starting to turn nasty as I turned north onto Interstate 5.  Everything was going great until about 20 minutes north of Grants Pass, Oregon when a guy pulled up beside me and started waving at me.

It seemed that I lost a wheel about a mile back and never felt a thing.  The other tire blew as the guy was signaling me that I had a challenge.  This is the look beside the tow truck after the driver and I got the trailer loaded.  A few words of advice.  AAA RV Plus.  These guys are terrific and this membership will get your vehicle and trailer towed up to 100 miles for no cost to you other than your annual membership fee.  This has saved my back a few times over the last 20 years.

We headed back south down the freeway towards Les Schwab tires where I had already given them a head's up that we'd be coming in.  It was close to noon when I arrived and about five o'clock when they had me back on the road.  And, it was around 10 PM when I returned home.

The moral of this story is to be prepared and keep a positive attitude.  This is such a small event in the grand scheme of life.

Sunday Morning in San Carlos

San Carlos is our last California show for 2011, and I'm sitting here at 6:00AM with a fresh Starbucks Americano (no run for cream please).  It's kind of like a strong black coffee ( and again, no run for cream please)!  I could write a whole blog post on the number of times I ordered black coffee, and the clerk, barista, whoever was behind the counter asked me that question.

San Carlos is a nice town just south of San Francisco right off highway 101 and slightly below California state highway 92.  This week the show is on Laurel Avenue and runs approximately five blocks south, and then there are two blocks at San Carlos Avenue which intersects Laurel.  It's another town that seems to buck national trends where the downtown section is mostly intact with businesses, and even a large vacant building has a sold sign on it.

The weather is picture perfect California - sunny and low to mid seventies yesterday, and it's supposed to be mostly the same today.  "What's that in my picture"?  Dang aeroplane pulling the Geico gecko sign.  Only at an art faire in California would one see this. 

Yesterday morning started off with a bang with my latest fish going to this fine gentleman.  No, not the good looking guy in the Hawaiian shirt (that's me), it's the happy guy on the right.  As I always tell everyone I wake up better than average, and I'm happy to go to bed in an even better mood.  It's contagious and people really are happy to be around you!

 The sun is still low and I'm going to do some reading for now.  There's still a number of shows to think about over the next few months, and we have to get serious about planning shows for next year.  People are always amazed when they discover the whole process and logistics we artists go about to do the shows.  Most are thankful and often comment that maybe their job isn't so bad.  It takes a certain person to do these  shows and be successful at them.  A lot of persistence and self motivation are the key, but I really believe that anyone can do this.  I've been approached several times to teach a course, but I'm always so busy that it's hard to fit it in my current schedule.