Disco Elf Yerself.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Normans.

This is a picture Uncle Bob sent me last Christmas. A much younger group of Normans. I would guess this is from about 1981 or so (??). My good old Papa John had not been gone too long.

It’s been over twenty years since we lost our sweet Aunt Jackie much too early. This year will be our first Christmas without our sweet Dede. Thought she’d make it to 100, but she got pretty close...she’ll be missed.

Further adventures of Sküti von Buns.

Sküti is a rambunctious teenager now, grown to what we suppose is nearly her full size. Though we hoped she would grow to be more affectionate, she probably is as close to that as something so low down on the food chain can ever be. Rabbits don’t seem to desire affection as much as tolerate it. She is pretty hilarious and curious, practicing her evasive maneuvers and running and jumping around. Handy I guess, when foremost in your little animal brain—coddled though you are, and with no actual predator experience to tell you so—horrible screeching death could come from the air at any time.

Thanks!

Photo of Lexie and me from our first official family thanksgiving celebration at our little New Harmony house. (photo courtesy of our friend China, who was one of the guests)

We had a two friends come up from Nashville and another six from here for an even 11 (OK, an odd eleven). A good time was had by all.

We had a lovely free-range turkey from the nice local folks at DuMond Farms, and coincidentally were photographed while purchasing said turkey, by the Posey County News for an article on local turkey purveyors. Wish I had that photo to post...

Family Harmony.

So Miss Anne and Natalie just came for a nice visit. We did pretty much everything a person can do in our little town this time of year. Ate out, went antique shopping, walked around looking at the town. And it snowed! Well, it flurried...and was unseasonably cold, especially for my girls from Alabammy (the picture of the 3 of us was taken by Natalie with her iPhone, and if you look closely we have snowflakes on us).

Nobody really took many pictures. Lexie was with us most of the time, but missed all photo-ops. The other pictures are from Griffin, IN, just up the road. Home of our friends the Mumfords. One of only two towns by that name in the U.S. if my research is correct. The other in Georgia. Since Griffin is my name and Miss Anne’s maiden name, it seemed like a trip to make.

We did a lot of visiting with friends at Laura’s coffee house and elsewhere, which is what we mostly do for amusement here anyway. Everyone was glad to finally meet some of my family.

Been down the rabbit-hole.

Sorry to not have posted for so long if anybody’s been paying attention.

My buddy Mack is coming through NH on his way back to Nashville. Hope to do a portrait of him. Maybe that’ll be my next post.

We’re in the middle of getting a wood stove put in the house. Missing a few critical bits of piping that are back-ordered. Got the tile floor for it put in last week, some nice looking slate. Can’t wait...will definitely put up a picture when that puppy’s got flames. Apparently this has been the biggest year for wood stove sales since the oil crisis in the 70s!

Weiners and Losers.

So that scruffy young Beck Hansen lad—of I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me? fame—is closing in on FORTY! Good God...where’s the time gone?

Seems like my favorite lately-ish record of his was Sea Change, which is probably about old enough for first grade now. The boy just does melancholy right... I liked Guero, but it seemed more of a production number (tho probably [IMHO] the most beautiful cover art he’s ever had) lots of nice dance re-mixes.

And Mellow Gold is still holding its own all these years later, by golly.

My sweetie did an illustration of Beck for American Songwriter, their next issue Sept-Oct (?) out the end of this month. Check it out.

Foto-show, Pt. 3

Another installment from the New Harmony people portrait series. My barber (our barber) Irwin Reynolds. A barber for over fifty years, he’s a survivor from the time when you didn’t so much go in for a new “style”—but simply a good, honest, well-executed hair cut.

Irwin’s shop is in a great little old bungalow, with an old-school barber pole out front. You don’t need an appointment, just walk on in on wednesdays or saturdays.

Irwin is also our friend Liz Mumford’s dad. Also pictured, one my favorites of his cool ’fifties barber chairs.

Jake Leg Stompin’ Part Deux.

Just got back from a brief trip to Nashville. Was able to see the last Jake Leg show before Junior Socrates Cottonberry heads off to Berlin. Joined by my lovely friends Mack, Charlotte, John, McGuire, and Diesel. We all split after the first set, but it was a good one...

Be on the lookout any year now for their fine new record (not sure of the title, pretty sure it’s changed a few times)—but don’t hold yer breath, that could be unhealthy.

Here are some Stompers pix of mine from an earlier Station Inn show.

Jake Leg Stompin’

Just said goodbye to our friends the Jake Leg Stompers today, after a stellar performance last night at the New Harmony Center for the Arts. The Stompers were in rare form, there was some dancing, and lots of smiling...good time was had by all, the band included.

God bless these guys for keeping alive a big dollop of American music & history that might otherwise go forgotten...

We wish Brandon well on his new adventure in Berlin, and hope that whatever form the Stompers find themselves in after his departure, they’ll come back and see us again!

Photo © Jake Leg Stompers. All rights reserved

Foto-sho, Pt. 2

Here’s our architect friend Ben Nicholson from the New Harmony portrait series. He’s been wrapping up a book project dealing with the labyrinth. He’s also heading off to Italy in September to do a presentation at the Venice Biennale. In that spirit...

For he might have been a Roosian, A French, or Turk, or Proosian,
Or perhaps Itali-an!
But in spite of all temptations To belong to other nations,
He remains an Englishman!

Wednesday with Morrie.

Went to the color-field show at the Frist today, and came away with an enormous new appreciation for Morris Louis. After having to take the Ab-Ex and color field stuff like castor oil in school, it’s been a slow and spotty journey back to it, but lo-and-behold...enough time has passed and it seems exciting again...

Louis was a typical art world figure, lionized, marginalised, died, commodified, sanctified.

Dead of lung cancer at 49, quite possibly as a result of some of the crazy-hazardous synthetic polymers he used to make some of his best paintings. Three really fine ones in this show are well worth the ticket.

If you find yourself in Nashville before this show closes in Late September, see it!

(this one, Floral V, from 1959, is the one I would have taken home, although it would be a tough toss-up between it and one of the two from his Veil series, both magnificently subtle)

Live from Nashville.

We’ve been down in the old stomping grounds for a bit.

Went to see the Time Jumpers at Station Inn last night. Always love those guys, have been through many permutations with them, from the old Hoot Hester and Papa John Hughey days til now.

What can you say? It’s kind of a who’s-more-stellar contest. Hard not to love front-man Kenny Sears of the permanent cowboy hat and winning smile, but I am always floored by Paul Franklin, one of the most amazing men to ever touch a pedal steel. And the humbly luminous fiddle-meister Aubrey Haney.

Oh and when we walked in I noticed there was this guy Vince Gill sitting in with them, tuning up his guitar... Rare good night.

Our bad spider.

Turkeyman!

A lovely recent painting of Lexie’s that I’ve just framed and put on the wall of my downtown New Harmony studio.

More at trying2fly.etsy.com

Foto-sho, Pt. 1

Thought I would post one of the images from the New Harmony show, one every week or so.

The first is of our lovely friend Claudia, whose family, from what I understand, was one of the early families involved in the original NH experiment with Owen. She’s got eyes like the ocean.

Captain Sküti von Buns

We are proud parents to a new, very tiny dwarf Netherlands bunny, named Captain Sküti von Buns (pronounced “scooty”). She’s pretty incredibly cute, but is still young and skittish and hasn't got used to us yet. She’s pretty sure we bring the food.

We talk very gently to her at all comings and goings. She’s gradually getting more confident with the running and frolicking about outside her little cage home on the porch during exercise time, but mostly keeping a safe distance from us. One of these days soon, she might just like us back as much as we like her...

Yo ho ho, it’s a Foto-sho!

There’s an opening next weekend (Saturday June 21st, 4-6) for a show of portraits of New Harmony folks that I’ve been shooting the last few months. Should be up most of the summer. Y’all come!

A nice weekend.

No pictures to prove it, but we had a pretty great weekend here in Bedford Falls. We went down to southern Illinois, almost to Paducah, yesterday to acquire a new member of our little family—details and pictures to follow soon!

There was an antiques street fair saturday and today, which I wasn't really in the mood for as a consumer, but it added measurably to the excitement-about-town level.

Nicest thing was having Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine in town for a show last night at the Granary. Nice to finally meet them after loving their music for years. I had met Jake Bradley, their current bass-man, a few years back when he was playing with the Vigilantes of Love. Lexie and I had a nice time hanging out with him today.

Our buddy Mickey Grimm is drumming for them, and he threw down quite a drum solo for the hometown crowd.

A big shout out to the National Guard, who spent several days doing sand-bagging around town, to stave off the swollen Wabash. It’s thundering as I write this...let’s hope there’s little or no rain associated. We’ve had quite enough, thanks.

Swan Divin’

Forgot to put up any pix of Swan Dive (Bill DeMain and Molly Felder) who rocked the house last month at our New Harmony Center for the Arts opening night (accompanied by friends and relatives Mickey Grimm and Jim Hoke) Didn’t get many good pix, but here’s to trying...

NHCA

Beginning our first workshops next week with this fledgling New Harmony Center for the Arts that we’ve been working on with a group of friends here. Here’s a mini-poster for my classes. More to follow...

Arts. Arts. Arts.

Our buddy Bryce McCloud from Isle of Printing in Nashville came up this weekend for the first edition of this Arts In Harmony art fair we participated in (these are his pictures of us with our good friend Laura after the fair and me from my good side at the Swan Dive show saturday night). Me and Bryce shared a booth. Lexie’s pal Erica Rudy was supposed to come too, but she was getting over a freak illness. She’s coming up later this month, and we hope she’s lots better!

There was also the soft opening of New Harmony Center for the Arts, something we’ve both been very involved in getting off the ground. Our good friends Swan Dive played a nice show at the opening Saturday night. I’ll be teaching some collage and photography workshops this summer. Lexie will be teaching painting at some point...up until now she’s been doing a lot of much-needed administrative stuff (that I am certainly no good at!) Also are friends teaching, woodworking, blacksmithing and percussion. There’s not a website yet, but should be something soon. Let me know if anybody’s interested in taking a class! (or maybe teaching one down the line).

Eggs. Eggs. Eggs.

We have been getting eggs from our friend Terri Hall for quite a while now. Always exciting to have food that someone you know grew, raised, gathered, whatever. Trying to eat local foods more and more. Never know what kind of mix of colors to expect, some of the chickens are those ones that Martha Stewart did the paint line from...Aracauna? I think that’s the way it’s spelled. (Hard to tell from this photo...some of them are a really beautiful pale green)

It’s a good thing.

Lexie went all Martha Stewart on me the other day...came in and she had dried these little violets from our yard (some of which we had on our salad tonight with dinner), then she was brushing egg white and sugar on them with a little watercolor brush to make candied violets, apparently for dessert-making and such...curious, Captain...

The key to making good art...

...as all of the gen-u-wine artists amongst you already know...the key is holding your tongue just right. Picture by Lexie.

Icon if youcon.

Lexie did an icon painting workshop/retreat in New Harmony last week with Peter Pearson, a lovely man from New Hope PA (near Pittsburgh—also home to George Nakashima, the exquisite Japanese-American woodworker, architect, furniture builder from the 40s til his death in 1990). A wonderful time was had by all. Very involved, meditative application of LOTS of layers of glazing, gold-leaf and symbolic typography. She made a very beautiful, finely crafted image of Jesus, that looks like the real thing, except for lacking that smoky patinated quality that age gives the old ones. More about Peter here. More about George Nakashima here. And more about Lexie here!

Good golly Ma, it’s an earthquake!

Experienced my first earthquake tremors this morning between 4.30 and 5.00. According to the government earthquake site, it was a 5.2 (I’m assuming this is the Richter Scale you always hear about) in the “Illinois area” (see from the map how close to us!). Lexie was a little more rattled than she remembered being in California as a kid.

Daffodillyicious.

First flowers from the yard. Lexie is chomping at the bit to get on with the gardening.

Winter’s last hurrah (?)

Figured I’d put up some last nice winter pix, since it seems the daffydills and their ilk are pushing for Spring. Here’s hoping she’s imminent...

Putting the “end” in Indiana.

For many, many months, the bridge which brings people into our little town from Illinois has been closed. People who have to actually come into town from Illinois have been sad. Maybe it’s been bad for commerce here. I haven’t missed the huge trucks that used to blow through town and rattle everything. Wish they could be banned. The little bridge is barely wide enough for two cars to pass safely.

They (whoever “they” are) said it would re-open Thanksgiving...then New Years...then kind of any old day now... Who can say?

I took the opportunity to wander out on the bridge in the lovely snow today while the chance still presented itself, and got a view of New Harmony I’ll rarely—if ever—get again.

Visitors from another planet.

They call it Nashville...

Our second visitors to NH... Our good friends the Claytons came up for Sai’s Suzuki violin weekend at the University of Evansville, and came and spent the night with us last night prior to the festivities. They brought Sai’s friend Nicholas Gambill with them.

We had a nice dinner last night at the White House (our friends’ lovely restaurant...not the White House currently occupied by the Bushes) and a good little tour of the town yesterday afternoon, though it was still a little chilly for pleasant strolling.

Lexie’s mom Torie came up a while back, helping Lexie drive a uHaul, and was our first official visitor. What does she win, Johnny? A trip to beautiful downtown Burbank, you say?

Ice, Ice, Baby...Pt. 2

Should be up to the 40s tomorrow and all this will vaporize, and things will be back to normal here in Bedford Falls.