It's England in America

It was a surreal morning surrounded by fog with just enough of a breath of wind to lift the British Union Jack but not the American Stars and Stripes. I was staying at a British-themed bed and breakfast at the end of August, the Blacksmith Inn located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Very eerie start to the day.

Off the beaten path, and on the path to mystery, a spider web gleamed in the faint light of morning.

The house through the fog seemed to make reality itself shimmer in and out enveloped in intangibility. Here is a link to the Blacksmith Inn's website:

http://www.blacksmithinn-lexington.com/

Looking out across the lawn into the realm of dreams, the mind conjures up a whole host of possibilities to wonder about. Beyond, adventure awaits ...

The Charlie Brown Craft Show Tent – Of Good Samaritans and Your Tax Dollars at Work

To qualify for the vast majority of outdoor craft shows, you need a 10-foot by 10-foot white canopy tent. I called my friendly neighborhood Pat Catan’s to see what they might have. Turns out they had just one left … the floor model display, and the cost was a whopping … * drumroll please * … ten dollars! An awesome find, since many of these tents cost hundreds of dollars. “Hold it for me, I’m getting in the car right now and will be there as fast as I can drive!”

On entering the store, I heard far-off clinking metallic sounds. I made a manager aware of my presence and mission. Off we walked towards the metallic sounds. Surprise! A couple of employees were dismantling the craft show tent. “Hold it right there,” the manager said, “You can’t take this home free for yourselves. We’ve got a paying customer.”

The tent went into a box with no cover and no set of instructions. At least I was able to carry it to the car myself. I’m small-built, so if I hadn’t have been able to lift it, this saga would have ended right there.

This summer I applied for the Rocky River Fall Arts Festival. Kinda nervous, I called a couple friends to ask if I could borrow their backyard and could they help me practice setting up the tent? I brought them a cherry strudel for their trouble. But between the three of us, there was no earthly way we could stand the crazy contraption up!

The big day arrived. I showed up and explained my predicament. Someone suggested I could live without a tent since it was a nice day. Only, the mayor hosting the arts festival would not like that.

And so it took SEVEN PEOPLE working AN ENTIRE HOUR to help set up the craft show tent! Come to find out, these Good Samaritans included at least one financial tycoon of Northeast Ohio and several high-ranking officials in the local city government! I asked the most helpful one who he was so I could thank him properly, but he preferred to remain anonymous. In fact, nobody gave me their names. Anyway, I am SO IMMENSELY GRATEFUL to everyone who helped me at the first annual Rocky River Fall Arts Festival. Thank you! You know who you are!

Later on, my friends from the backyard came to help me take down the tent … which of course was no problem at all.

As for the fate of the tent, I’m planning to drop it off at the Goodwill store. The good news is, at least it served its purpose on the day I really needed it!

What If You Held a Butterfly Festival, and No Butterflies Came?

In the photo above, a Wood Nymph butterfly focuses intently on a delicious meal of autumn aster. Picture taken in October of 2005 at the Holden Arboretum in Northeast Ohio.

Well anyways, the burning question was answered this past Saturday, September 12th. The Monarch Butterfly tagging portion of the Butterfly Festival on Kelleys Island had to be cancelled due to lack of attendance on the part of the butterflies! Apparently they didn't receive their invitation. It was also being said that as a matter of fact, the butterflies weren't migrating normally in general. There were also no Monarchs in either Mexico or California. Maybe it's this crazy weather we've been having.

Having looked in on friends elsewhere in the blog world and the Flickr photography website, it seems the butterflies are hanging out in places like Indiana (hi Mary at Faith, Fabric, and Photos!) and Georgia (hi ruthalice43 on Flickr!)

Link to Mary's blog post:

http://faithfabricandphotos.blogspot.com/2009/09/henderson-slough-part-1.html

Link to ruthalice43's photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruthalice43/3912376500/

Anyways, it was a beautiful day to sit out on the porch of the new Kelleys Island Historical Association building and sell landscape photos while right next to me sat an author who lives on Kelleys Island and just published a book on the island's colorful residents from earlier times in history.

A friendly slobbering Golden Retriever named Zeus who was very old and allegedly had a "delicate stomach" spent the day following around with big, sad, begging, hungry, puppy-dog eyes anyone who bought a hot dog. It's almost too bad we couldn't have tagged Zeus and sent him airmail on down to Mexico or California, but that pesky ole dog was just too doggone nice and provided a bit of entertainment.

Market Street Art Center Members Exhibition

Two of my photos are currently on display at the Market Street Art Center in Lockport, New York as part of the annual Members Exhibition. The show runs from September 5th - October 4th. The reception will be held this Saturday, September 12th from 5 pm to 8 pm. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend because I have a different event going on that day, the Butterfly Festival on Kelleys Island. That will be a whole 'nother adventure, and is always a good time.

Here's a link to the Market Street Art Center current show information:

http://www.marketstreetartcenter.org/shows.html

The first photo, Lockport Cave Raceway, shows the entrance to one of Lockport's best-kept secrets when it comes to underground caves beneath the city streets. Tours are now held there.

Here's a link for more information on the Lockport Cave and its Underground Boat Ride:

http://www.lockportcave.com/

Another one of my photos, Skeleton Barn, is also on display: A dark wooden frame framed itself by the bright glow of autumn woods in the Hocking Hills of Ohio.

Dream of Freedom

Stirred by a wind coming down from the mountain and bathed in the last rays of quiet sunset majesty, a horse lifts its head. Soon the sheltering fences will find themselves enclosed within the folds of night that will turn even the blue ridge to a sleeping black. The horse will remain awake, to graze, and to dream of freedom.

This photo was taken two weeks ago on a quick trip to a Bed & Breakfast in Virginia, and to my mind made the whole journey worthwhile all by itself.

In the Middle of Lake Erie Grows a Flower

Above is a photo called "Lake Erie Daisy" that I presented to the innkeeper of the House on Huntington Lane in gratitude for all her help with getting started in the art world.

A year ago today was the first time I ever participated in an art show. It happened kind of like the way things happened to Forrest Gump. You see, I had called up my friendly neighborhood innkeeper at the House on Huntington Lane Bed and Breakfast on Kelleys Island to ask whether she had a room available so I could stay overnight, take pictures, and look into selling some prints on the island. A link to the House on Huntington Lane appears below:

http://www.houseonhuntington.com/index.htm

Since I had stayed there before, the innkeeper knew me and suggested, “Why don’t you call up the Kelleys Island Historical Association? They’re having an art show. All you have to do is come set up a card table.” A link to the Kelleys Island Historical Association appears below:

http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/

Having absolutely no experience, I happily agreed. Long story short, I sold a decent amount of photos featuring Kelleys Island landscape and nature scenes last year. The most touching moment came when a six-year-old boy stepped forward and introduced himself to me because he wanted to meet a “real artist” and his mom had just bought him a picture I was selling of the glacial grooves so that he could hang up the famous Kelleys Island rock formation in his bedroom. A link to an earlier post on the glacial groove photo appears below:

http://countrydreaming-countrycorner.blogspot.com/2009/02/kelleys-island-photo-published-in.html

The event ended on a humorous note when my card table totally collapsed right at the end of the show. Some guy volunteered that he could fix up my table enough so that the Kelleys Island Historical Association might pay me $10 for it. At that point, I simply donated the table for free and was real happy they didn’t charge me anything to haul it away as junk that was messing up their beautiful island! You might say my art career began with a bang …

Anyway. This spring, the same innkeeper from the House on Huntington Lane gave me another good suggestion: The Lake Erie daisies were in bloom along the North Shore Loop trail. I was so grateful that I gave her a 5x7 copy of the daisy in an 8x10 mat as a gift at this year’s island art show.

Back for Some Splashing Cool Conversation at Ye Olde Summer Watering Hole

This photo is called "Keeping Cool." These two horses were happily splashing around in their watering hole just like little kids. Photo taken at the Southern Cross Ranch in Madison, Georgia back in May, 2007.

What a long, strange trip it’s been … and the journey continues.

So what’ve I been up to?

Driving back and forth like a mad woman between Ohio and New York to participate in not one, but two art shows at the same time. Right now I have two photos on display: “Memories of Ellen” is up at the Market Street Art Center in Lockport, New York. “Intergalactic Scenic Overlook” … the photo that won first place back in February up in New York … is up at the Zanesville Art Center in Zanesville, Ohio.

“Memories of Ellen” is named after a childhood friend who grew up and moved away. In fact, this is the playhouse in her backyard. Link to the Market Street Art Center: http://www.marketstreetartcenter.org/

“Intergalactic Scenic Overlook” … as mentioned in an earlier blog entry … here’s a link to that blog entry:

http://countrydreaming-countrycorner.blogspot.com/2009/02/sky-is-not-limit.html

And here’s a link to the Zanesville Art Center: http://www.zanesvilleartcenter.org/

Worked on a short-term, time-sensitive technical writing contract assignment during the month of June. Long hours, but so rewarding to work with manuals in foreign languages from Spanish to Japanese as well as with excellent supervisors.

Feeling a bit under the weather with one thing or another, just now feeling like my old self again.

Attended a 4th of July picnic at a relative’s house. Most memorable moment was hearing from across a smoke-filled backyard, “Mom, he’s got one of the sparklers in his mouth …” Don’t try this at home. Even though someone else actually did.

So that’s what’s been up with me. I look forward to visiting blogs now that I’m here … Wow I’ve missed you guys! :-)

Question for Readers: So, how have you been spending YOUR summer vacation?