Escape to Escarpment

Spring has arrived (we hope!) in Saugerties and we left our pots back at the ranch so we could run and play a little. We are close to New York State's Catskill Park so we hopped into the car and drove about 5-6 miles before we started hiking. There is still snow on the ground up there from the last 5' dump while we were at the ACC Baltimore show in late February. We went up to the South/North Lake area where we found many people basking in the sun or walking their dogs. As we rounded the lakes, there was a sign mentioning the actual site where Thomas Cole painted his 'Lake with Dead Trees' painting.
 Cole was responsible for drawing attention to the natural beauty of the area and helped form the 'Hudson Valley School of Painters' which was the nation's first home grown art movement.

This is the spot. If you look carefully you can see the connection in the center between the North and South Lakes. The mountain in the distance is Roundtop.

After walking around the lake a bit, we decided to meander up to the Escarpment trail to check it out.
The views on this trail are as beautiful as most in the Catskills without a lot of climbing because it looks over the Hudson Valley. If you look, you can see the Hudson River.

When we turned into the forest again, we ran into some large slippery ice patches. We were headed for Mary's Glen to make a circle out of the hike. Along the way we found waterfalls where there aren't usually waterfalls:

As we walked down, it became obvious that even navigating the trail would be a challenge.

We eventually reached the bridge over THE Ashbury Falls of Mary's Glen and then hiked down to the bottom for a photo.

So now you know....... we do play hooky now and then!

Winter Park Sidewalk Art Show 2010

We're home!

Here's what happened....
First we celebrated my parents 50th anniversary early.

then we ambled over to Winter Park to set up for the March 19-21 show.

Downtown on the park:

and setup in front of the railroad tracks:

There were over 200 exhibitors. Most were unbelievably excellent... very high quality... lots of prize money for individual artwork attracted those artists who make one of a kind pieces. We were in good company. Unfortunately we had a torrential downpour on Sunday so by the time we left... we were running.......to the Shenandoah Valley in West Virginia to visit some friends .........

We followed the Skyline Drive through the National Park..........

until it started to snow half way through the drive.

It was good to get home........

Winter Park, Florida

We leave early early on Sunday to drive two days down to Florida. With day light savings time in tow, we hope to drive through the heavy rains they are predicting for the Atlantic states and on down to the Sunshine state. We have two purposes. The first will be to celebrate Cherie's parents 50th wedding anniversary (a second marriage for her dad) and the second is to participate in the 51st annual Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. The name is deceiving...... this is a difficult show to be juried into and boasts having a crowd of 350,000 viewing 225 artists. So now you know why the artist's pick of the last kiln was Palm Trees! If you are anywhere near the area, come on by and see us in booth #211 in the Park.


 And here is the gift I made for my parents:

Firing 3/5/10

When we returned from the Baltimore ACC show a week ago, we just unloaded everything into the shop.

Packing up at a show's end is always a fast moving event during which some boxes get better packed than others. Back at the ranch, we often unpack everything to look at the inventory before deciding what we need to make next. This time I unpacked and repacked the same day, removing orders, filling gaps with other pieces from our stock and then labeling each box. We did this because sooner than soon we will be traveling to another show. It is worth the effort to pack correctly at home rather than try to organize directly from the boxes at a show.

We also had a couple of orders we didn't get finished before Baltimore and so the first day in the studio
Steve glazed those pots to fire on Sunday.
You can see it wasn't a large firing... just enough to get a couple of special pots out.

More at Baltimore 2010

Continuing with our Baltimore cruise, here are a few more 'must see' artists.

Worthington Woodworking: this husband and wife team are actually from Saugerties, REAL neighbors. They do absolutely wonderful work in several mediums but I've only seen their incredible woodworking. Their booth here at Baltimore is #2007 or you can view more of it at www.oilswoodstone.com

David Bryce's drawings and ceramic sculpture have a lovely Chinese flavor ...very unique. They have a wonderful fresh quality of spontaneity. He is an artist that we consider a friend though we only see him at art fairs. He's here at Baltimore in space #2206 or you can check out his website at www.flycreekstudio.com

Judy has been a friend of ours for a long time also.
Over the years we have enjoyed watching her work grow and change. Her work reflects the joy she has in communicating new ideas through her medium. This year she is displaying in Booth # 1302 or you can see more of it online at www.judyrand.com

John Russell always has a story to tell. It is absolutely appropriate that he makes marketry boxes to hold them! 

You can catch his work at www.wood-veneers.com/gallery14.html

Booth #1107 at Baltimore

This furniture is made by a couple we just met, Edward and Sherry Schoen. They call themselves Signature Gallery and make furniture in an Arts and Crafts style. You can see their work in Booth #2101 here at the Baltimore show or online at www.signaturegallery furniture.com

Candone Wharton's ceramic has such a special distinctive regal look. You just have to come to her booth #1303 at Baltimore or else view her work online at www.candone.com

Suzanne Crane Fine Stoneware
Suzanne and her husband, Matthew, make a beautiful combination of ceramics and wood. Their booth installation is an art piece in itself and makes you feel right at home. At Baltimore their booth # is 1204 and online you can see more at www.suzannecrane.com

All these artists are excellent in their particular medium. It is a delight to see their work at the show. Plus they are all really good people. 

There are many more but I'm limiting my selection to just a few here. If I've only wet your appetite, go online to http://public.craftcouncil.org/baltimore where you can view all 700 artists' work.

ACC Baltimore neighbors

Here we are at the American Crafts Council Show in Baltimore's Convention Center where we have been camping out since Sunday.

 

I thought you might like to meet our neighbors. 

Across from us on one side are bronze artists Jack & Alice McLean:

You can see more of their work at www.Mcleanbronze.com

Adjacent to us on one side is a furniture designer, R. A. Laufer:

More of his work can be seen at www.blackwaterwoodworks.com

On the other side is a wood sculptor, Michael Bauermeister:

 

You can see more of his work at www.michaelbauermeister.com

Then we have a large aisle between us and the three neighbors across the way. 

Jeff is a ceramic sculptor:

 Visit his website at www.jeffmargolin.com.

and Helen makes whimsical woodworks:

 Her website is www.helenheinspeterson.com

Next to her and diagonally from us is an Iron sculptor, Robert:

who can be contacted via email: robert.crecelius@gmail.com

All these artists are really fantastic. Their work is very high quality and it has been wonderful to have them as neighbors under the mercury lights!

Tomorrow I'll venture out a little further to give you a look at some more great artists at the show.

If you are in the area, don't miss the opportunity to see firsthand any of the 700 artists from all over the country. This show is one of the best art fairs for consistent top quality.

Going for the Gold......

We set up our display in our living room before packing because our work has been changing a lot over the last 3 years. We no longer have as many larger pieces to anchor the display. Our thought was that the practice run will save us some sloppy discussions after driving 6 hours to Baltimore. It also precipitated our buying new shelves (the old ones were splitting) and cleaning the rug thoroughly. The only question that remains is whether we'll have adequate lighting. Knowing that we usually have dark spots when we do a corner booth, we ordered a halogen light that extends beyond the booth and would allow light to shine in from outside. The light looks good and we may have solved the problem but the real test will be in the convention center on Monday when we set up.
The car is almost packed and we plan to leave tomorrow am. Sounds like the weather is holding for our traveling; however, Baltimore may get some bad weather on Wednesday and Thursday.
We will be settled by then but we are hoping the weather information is WRONG.
This is a wonderful show... 700 excellent craftspeople from all over the US... we always look forward to seeing our friends' and newcomer's work and catching up with the group. I'll send some photos along if I can....