31 years ago (32 in less than a month), Dave and I married and set up house in a one bedroom apartment in a beautiful Victorian house in Canandaguia NY. Ric and Kate Berry were the home owners and our all time favorite landlords. We became fast friends with meals together, thrift store shopping and dreaming up projects and business ventures. They helped out a newly married tenants in many ways including lowering the rent! Has that ever happened to anyone else!
Although we wanted to stay in our cozy apartment, life brought us back to our families in the Western NY area. We visited back and forth for a few years till the Berrys moved west, somewhere in Montana I thought. Decades later when life and a job brought us to Cheyenne WY, I decided to get on the internet and see if I could locate Ric and Kate. In less than an hour I found that they were, by Wyoming standards, living just up the road from us in Casper! In November of 2009, just a year into living in Wyoming, I headed out for a residency at Jentel in Banner WY. I had to pass right through Casper so I turned off I-25, drove into town, parked in front of the house the internet said was theirs and knocked on the door. When it opened, there was my friend Kate! 20 plus years had passed but we took up right were we left off and haven't stopped since. Dave and Ric are now hunting buddies and Kate and I are still tossing around ideas for projects and ventures. When I asked Ric to describe what his personal fabric would look like, he was quiet for a minute (make that a second), and then blurted out with a big smile, "tie dyed corduroy!" Only the man with more wild and wonderful stories than you can imagine would come up with that combination. Kate, the calming half of this couple, showed me a green dress that her Irish Auntie made and expertly embroidered with vines, flowers and birds. I took a picture of the dress and used it as inspiration to create Kate's personal fabric. The Berry's section in the LEAP 366 Life Ring will be as original as they are. Their friendship and generosity have rippled through our lives for years and we intend to keep it that way.
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Click, defined as verb, means to fit together; function well / to succeed; make a hit. Every year the Wyoming Arts Council sponsors the CLICK conference for visual artists. Its a golden opportunity to "fit together," with artists from across the state and beyond. Another highlight of the conference is the announcement of the Visual Arts Fellowship winners. Chosen by three out-of-state jurors, it's an artistic honor that culminates in the Biennial Fellowship Art Exhibition. The 2016 and 2017 Fellowship winners will have a their Biennial show at the Nicolaysen in Casper. I was honored as a 2016 Fellowship winner and will be exhibiting at the Biennial along with Jennifer Rife, Susan Moldehauer, Shelby Shadwell, Bailey Russel and Florence McEwin
There were about 60 attendees at this year's conference and my goal was to connect with one of them to include in my LEAP 366 Life Ring. I decided to chat further with Sonja Caywood after I heard she went with members of her church to Zambia. During her mission trip, she taught painting classes to all age and ability levels Shy, let me stay in the background, Sonja reached across culture and language barriers through the gift of art. Sonja also shares her art through classes she teaches in her home town of Dayton Wyoming. Here is an excerpt from Sonja's website; I was raised in Montana and Wyoming in a family who ranched in the "old ways." We spent summers in Montana settings reminiscent of CM Russell paintings, with a mess-wagon, tents and teepees and a rope corral. Being immersed in nature, far from modern distractions, I learned to study and appreciate the world around me. I've always loved animals, and livestock figures prominently in both my memories and my paintings. Sonja is a talented artist that puts personality into her paintings of cows and horses,(I don't have any gift for painting livestock!). When I asked Sonja, "If you could design a fabric that represented you, what would it look like"? She said, "Although I can be bubbly, I like to blend into the background, so my fabric would have to look beige or brown or sage from a distance but a bit more interesting up-close". The Wednesday after CLICK I went to my favorite hunting ground, the Meals on Wheels thrift store. I found Sonja in a cozy sweater made from green and grey yarn shot through with multi-colored flecks. Warm and accepting, bubbly and quiet all at the same time! Her perfect,"personality fabric". "Colorado Fabrics is the largest fabric store between Los Angeles and Chicago", pronounced the sales woman when Abby and I entered the biggest fabric store we had ever seen. Calling out to be touched were rolls of silk, wool, brocade, fake fur, lace, designer fabric and more. I was surrounded by fabric and memories of trips like this with my own Mother. Unwinding bolts of fabric, then discussing the fabric's pattern repeat, drape and overall suitable for the project at hand were common conversations with my Mother . I firmly believe that my pull towards pattern, color and texture, comes from handling so many textiles growing up. I have clear memories of looking at the ends of fabric blots and enjoying the way the edges looked as they wound around the cardboard core.
Interpreting this trip for the Life Ring had to be fabric that reminded me of my Mother. While Abby was looking for, "tropical weight wool" for her next historical costume project, I set out to find my Mother. I settled on a lovely cotton sateen floral. Bright blooms on a black background seemed like the perfect pick. Of course it was expensive but that fit too. My Mother never shied away from quality but her frugal, thrift store loving daughter, was happy she only needed a quarter yard! The Antelope Truck Stop in Burns is one of those places others might dismiss as just another greasy spoon. When we saw the sign that said, Indian food, we were all in! Its been a family favorite ever since.
April 3rd and its just days before Dave's birthday, perfect excuse! So on a sunny Sunday afternoon we jumped in the car and headed 30 minutes East on I-80. The land between here and there is flat and pretty boring until, out of the corner of your eye, you catch the first glimpse of the wonderful world of Mel Gould's whirligigs! Let me take just a minute to tell you about Mel. He is a self-taught, mechanical genius, who lives with his wife Opal on the family compound. It only takes a few minutes to realize that the Goulds are our kind of folks! Mel has done a lot over the years but the biggest surprise was finding out that he has designed mechanical parts for a couple of Christo's instillation! What! Christo in Burns WY. Who knew! Years ago Mel also buried a bus underground which he has outfitted as a workshop. Also in his basement is an elevator he made out of an oversized locker. Why? To make it easier for his beloved Opal to get down to the laundry room! The Goulds must be in their 80's now and I only hope there are provisions for caring for his art pieces that spin in the wind. Back to the Antelope! The owner's name is Jarnail. He landed in NYC in 1979 and finally ended up in Wyoming in 2007. He is a proud US citizen and former Kabaddi champion ( an incomprehensible East Indian sport). Jarnail wanted me to know that his family is, "hard working, no robbing" He has a few basic rules for a good life, " Calm down, try to be nice. Respect and honor God. Listen to your grandfather, mother and Papa. God, country and family, that's what's important." Delivered by a man with a thick accent, it's timely advice that some of our presidential candidates would do well to heed! Historic Old Colorado Springs is an eclectic mix of normal and flat out strange. On Good Friday we decided to check out the Little Saint Rose Arveson Shrine. Now most people would look at the property and say, "no way am I going in there!" Being the curious person I am and because of my year long quest to discover place and people, I just had to investigate.
Rose Arveson died in August 1963 and at the same time gave birth to a legend. Her two daughters, Dorothy and Pauline, claimed a miracle occurred after their mother's funeral when six wilted roses on her casket revived and then bloomed ten days later. The sister's claimed that a petal from one of the roses cured a friend's arthritis. From there news spread fast and people began to visit in search of miracles. A shrine was set up, sainthood was sought and rose petals, blessed in their mother's name where shipped out by the thousands to people around the world. A document at the shrine from the Mercian Rite Catholic Church proclaims Rose as a saint. Research shows that the Mercian Church was set up as a non-profit in 1987 but is now defunct. Official sainthood never came to Rose despite the efforts of the sisters. As they aged, the property once full of gardens and pilgrims, went into disuse and decay. Pauline died in 2008 at the age of 82 and Dorothy in 2011 at the age of 81 ( when neighbors complained of an unholy smell, Dorothy's body was found on the porch by the first reponders.) According to the current caretaker, Carson Crisel, the house had been condemned and vandalism is a problem. He wants to clean up the property and bring it back to some of its former glory but that will take money he doesn't have. Just before I said goodbye and gook luck, I told Carson about the LEAP 366 project. The shrine will be represented by red of course but when I asked Carson what his "personality fabric" would be he said, "Purple, just purple no print. I'm an ordinary guy who works in construction." I'm not sure what to make of Carson's quest or this place. I am sure someone should write a story about it! Reality, fiction, drama, mystery and horror, all pressed together like a faded rose petal. Does 14" of snow sound like Spring to you? To be fair it is typical weather for our area but we needed to get going on our Spring break adventure! Come Thursday morning the snow had melted so we pointed the KIA down I-25 going 80 miles an hour (legal speed limit) bound for the Colorado boarder and hopefully better weather.
Our first overnight was at the Buffalo Lodge in Historic Old Colorado Springs. I found this motel on Tripadvisor and from the description, it seemed like just our kind of off-beat place. I walked into the lobby and knew I wouldn't be disappointed! There was a wild boar skin underneath the TV, a hand painted mural cowboy mural, a massive stone fireplace and oh yes, a growling lion's head on the piano. The Buffalo Lodge is just the right amount of, "why be normal when you can be interesting"! I met one of the co-owner's, Liz Wiszniewski, who told me rumored had it that President Roosevelt had stayed there several times in its hayday. This wasn't hard to believe with all the animal skins in the lodge. Maybe some of them were his trophies. Our room was simple, clean and right around the corner from the Garden of the Gods Park. In the morning we skipped breakfast to be at the park in time to see the morning sun strike the red rocks. Glowing red rocks, crisp air and birds calling, inspirational! If you have never been to this amazing spot you must go! Massive red rocks jut out of the ground like ancient pottery shards scattered by a giant. Trails wind through the rocks and can be hiked or driven. We went to the park again the next morning because it snowed several inches overnight. Neither of us had ever seen the park in snow. Once again, inspirational! Back a the Buffalo Lodge, I interviewed Liz for my LEAP 366 Life Ring. I asked her, "If you could design a piece of fabric that represented you, what would it look like?" As she was considering the question her daughter came in and said,"She's feisty! I think she should be an animal print." Liz said that her family was the center of her life and she was protective of her cubs so a leopard print would be just right! The invitation came through Facebook. It looked like an interesting event, for a great cause, at a great place so, I had to go and support it (no pun intended) ! Megan Gebhart, author of 52 Cups of Coffee, was the guest speaker. As a Wyoming native, she was the perfect choice for the Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative's kick-off event. Here is an excerpt from the 52 Cups of Coffee website;
When Megan Gebhart graduated college in 2011, she knew she couldn’t resign herself to life at an aimless 9-to-5 job climbing the corporate ladder. So instead, she challenged herself to have a single cup of coffee with a different person every week for a year to see what lessons she could learn about life and careers. What started out as a strange, unconventional, and slightly awkward experiment soon transformed into a year filled with adventure, hardship, courage, and personal growth. Whether she’s grabbing a grande coffee with a former Starbucks's Vice President, discussing recess politics with a first grader, or debating talent with the co-founder of Apple, Megan’s enthusiasm and empathy coax the best advice from every walk of life. Interestingly enough, Megan now works for Air BnB, a company that connects travelers with hosts all around the world. An adventurous and fitting job for a young woman willing to embrace people from all walks of life! A wedding is way more fun than a funeral,( even though it contains the word fun). That's the logic I used to convince all of my siblings, their children and one grandchild, to meet in Houston for my niece Nikki's wedding. The Air B&B house we rented barely contained us all! One couple (that was us) even ended up sleeping on an air mattress underneath a table, the only patch of floor space left! It was OK though, because this side of the family hadn't been all together in one place for over 20 years! We did a lot together but we also took time to do a little exploring before the big day. Those of us interested in art and authentic Texas BBQ headed out for the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and Drew's BBQ. Good art, great food!
The Carriage House in Conroe is in the middle of nowhere but made a beautiful venue for a wedding. During the ceremony I could hear horses whinnying and an occasional gunshot. Made me feel right at home! Nikki, Anthony and my brother Kurt and his wife Nancy spent a year getting ready for the big event. Many of the decorations where handcrafted or antiques ( they had to rent a U-Haul to get it all there). Nancy and Nikki spent month's collecting thrift store china and silverware for the shabby chic place settings. Kurt and Anthony made good use of their woodworking skills for several of the decorations. Their hard work and care was evident throughout. Thanks for the fun! Let's plan to get together again soon. I landed in the word's busiest airport, Hartsfield International, at 5:00am on Sunday morning. I got my rental car, tossed in two large suitcases and headed 30 minutes North. The reason for this visit? To get our rental house ready for sale. I found the house key frozen to the underside of the white rock just where my tenant said it would be and went in. Thankfully the place was clean so I unpacked, blew up the mattress, unloaded the few tools I brought and headed for Goodwill. I was on the hunt for sheets, blankets, and a few kitchen supplies. Mission accomplished, then it was off to Target for a pillow. Now I was ready to set up camp at the house and get to work. I was up at dawn and asleep late everyday that week. My only daily distractions were trips to the Dekalb Farmers Market for meals and Home Depot for supplies. This wasn't a vacation but I did get to connect with a couple of friends and visit a few of my favorite places in town.
What you need to know about Clarkston is that the Federal government has been settling refugees there since the Vietnam War. If there was unrest somewhere in the world, soon after we would see refugees from those areas. The world is in Clarkston! We enjoyed the diversity and leaving was hard but necessary. We grew up on the East coast, Lived in the deep South and are now in the West. Three very distinct areas of this vast country. Our philosophy has always been, find the uniqueness of a places and make it better for being there! January will have two posts. The first is a trip we took to Loveland Colorado. Dave and I were walking downtown just enjoying the evening when walked past the Loveland museum and saw that it was the last day for a show called, Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Tom Golden Collection. Not knowing quite what to expect, after all Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude were temporary instillation artist, we went in.
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