San Francisco

One of the best things about being a traveling artist is being able to experience people and places that are just a little outside of everyday life. Today we took a short trip into Sausilito and San Francisco.

First, we finally figured out the two buses that from Novato to Sausilito. It seemed like it took forever. Fortunately, there was a Starbucks across the street. appropriately caffeinated, we boarded the 71 bus and headed to Marin City to make our transfer. We arrived in downtown Sausilito about an hour after we started our journey.

Downtown is very nice and every building has some sort of gallery, tourist shop, or restaurant. Shopping mostly consists of high-end gallery's with outstanding artwork. We purchased a bronze gecko for Mackie that is overlayed with enamel - no photos of it yet.

After shopping was complete and lunch, we decided to take the Blue and Gold ferry to Fisherman's Wharf. The ferry ride was about 30 minutes, and it was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon. The sun was out in full force and a light breeze covered the water. There was virtually no chop with the exception of full view of the Golden Gate Bridge. There's a spot where one can see from the bay out into the Pacific and a pretty good blow was coming across here.

We arrived at Fisherman's Wharf and began our hunt for squished penny's. Those are the machines that you can put a penny in along with a couple of quarters, and then the machine (either manual or electrically operated) rolls a pattern onto a penny after it squishes it flat. Mackie has been collecting these for years, and San Francisco had plenty of offers for her.

We ate supper at Boudin's Bakery (http://www.boudinbakery.com/) on the wharf. This is a real San Francisco institution that has been there for as long as I can remember. Many year's ago, my grandpa Joe would take me to San Francisco for our annual jaunt on the train from Sunnyvale. A clam chowder bread bowl and a special toy were always part of the trip. Oh what good memories!

Boudin has an incredible selection of breads, and my favorites are the ones shaped like turtles, crabs, lobsters, teddy bears, and alligators. The bakers are really talented and enjoy talking to people on the street through the glass wall. They have two way microphones installed so people can speak back and forth.

After all that, we headed to the Mission and 1st transit stop and caught the 80 back to Novato. It's been a full day of treats! Tomorrow were back on duty to get ready for the next show.

Heart of Joy

Last week we were at Artfest in Spokane, Washington. It’s one of the highest quality shows that we’ve exhibited in – ever. The museum facilitates the event and do an incredible job in the organization, just, and management of this event.

We had a number of new items this year and one of my favorite was Heart of Joy. It stands approximatley 6.5 feet tall and is about 3 inches thick. I created this piece beginning from the bottom with a plow disk, the heart itself has the structure created from flat steel and round bar, and is coated with skeleton key (skeleton key is cast off sheet metal from another manufacturing process). After I create the frame, I layer several sheets of the skeleton key around the frame until I get the correct three-dimensional look that I’m pictuing in my mind. That brings up another good point. I’m still working on my drawing skills, but I’m thinking that this is going to be a life-long effort and of course that is part of the journey.

Back to Work

Vacation is over and we're back to work. We just finished two art shows over the past three weeks, and we're getting ready for tne next three exhibitions. It's interesting how we've been able to create our art, and have the opportunity to share it with so many of you.

Three weeks ago we were at Art Under the Elms in Lewiston, Idaho, and last weekend we were at the Mother's day show in Spokane, Washington.

The show in Lewiston is on the Lewis and Clark College; it's a gorgeous setting in the lawn beneath the trees. The quality of work was excellent and we saw some new work that I had not seen in other places before. That's a great benefit Mackie and I get from traveling around the country. We get to meet great people and see things that most people never get the opportunity to share.

We've been doing the Spokane show for the past three years. It's an opportunity to share good times with other artists that we havn't seen for awhile and it ties in nicely with Mackie's birthday. We had a bbq in the college parking lot with fellow artists Doug and Judy Marco, but mother's day breakfast in Pasco, Washington was the real hoot.

Both of our families have a camper on the back of our trucks and we pull enclosed trailers. We had spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot and had dinner at a restaurant close by. We decided to meet for breakfast to celebrate mother's day with our wives. The next morning we got to Cousin's Restaurant about 15 minutes before it was open. Two cars pulled up and eight people got out that looked like they hadn't slept in a few days. After a few minutes they all started walking towards us. One of them asked, "have you guys camped out to eat her this morning"? I replied, "absolutely". Needless to say we had a hoot with them.

It's another great experience that Mackie and I have shared over the years with the art shows and our friends.

Clifton Mill

During our trip we stopped at Clifton Mill in beautiful Clifton, Ohio (http://www.cliftonmill.com/). Interesting that the town and mill is the same as our last name. Interesting indeed. This is a beautiful landmark that includes a restaurant and one of the largest Santa Claus collections in the area. There are over 3,000 Santas in a reproduction service station across the parking lot.

But, let's talk about the breakfast. It was soooo good! The biscuits and apple butter were incredible, and the hot cakes just melted in your mouth. The bacon, the sausage, it was all great!

Visit the website above to see more about Clifton Mill!

Sparky In the Snow

Sparky is buried in the snow just to the lower right of the bush in the center. He was adopted during the First City Arts Faire at Oregon City. That was a great show and we were disappointed when they quit having the show.

Sparky is a true testament that our work is made for the outdoors but just as comfortable inside. Please check our show schedule at www.cliftonmetalworks.com to see when we'll be at a show near you!

Metropolis Illonois

Well I may be out of time sync on our trip but who cares.

Metropolis, Illinois (the home of Superman - so they claim) was our next stop from St. Louis. Mackie is standing next to Superman behind the court house. The Superman museum is just across the street and has a number of trinkets for sale. Unfortunately, they don't have a penny smooshing machine.

We parked across the street from Superman and a guy walked up when we got there and said, "thank you for stopping in Metropolis." This was one of the friendliest citys that we visited on this trip and one that we'll go back to during the annual Superman festival - see http://www.metropolischamber.com/ .



The city is on the Ohio River where the Tennessee River flows into it.

We're Back!

Ok already. Mackie and I have made it back from St. Louis. We're actually in full swing with the art shows, and I'm sure I can come up with a few more excuses why I've been in remiss. Oh the stories I could tell.

Our vacation was interesting. We had the opportunity to visit with our daugter in St. Louis, visit friends in Douglasville, Georgia, and visit with my brother's family in Troy, Ohio. Along the way we ate at two different Cracker Barrell's and two Waffle House's (I'm not sure if there is a correlation here), and had Martin's Chicken and biskits for breakfast one morning. Whew. And all that in seven days!

There were many things to see, but the big chicken in Marietta, Georgia was one of my favorite. Kentucky Fried Chicken (no endorsements from me as I'm a Popeye's Chicken fan) had it built way back. I understand KFC was going to remove it at one time, and the community were up and arms. KFC backed down and it stands as one of the remaining roadside attractions from days long gone.

On the leg of our trip from St. Louis to Douglasville, we got stopped on the interstate between Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennesse. A tornado had touched down and crossed the freeway leaving a torn open truck and what looked to be an endless supply of firewood. I was very impressed with how quickly the Tennessee department of transportation re-opened the interstate - we were moving in about an hour! Hats off to those folks.

More to come later...