Mike Meador

Life goes on.  We work, we play, we carry on.  But there still seems to be a void in the world where Mike Meador used to be.  Gaye and I went to Indianapolis yesterday to attend the memorial service.  I'm so glad we went.  The service was just wonderful.  Even though we have known Chris and Mike for many years, it was a lot of fun to hear what he was like in his high school years and on into adulthood (not to mention seeing the great slide show of old pictures).  Much was made of his time helping youth groups, and encouraging kids develop an interest in music.  In retrospect, it should be no surprise to hear his quirkiness was something he was apparently born with, as he has been that way his whole life!  Tales were told, starting with his mandatory time at his parents' dry cleaners after school each day, where he sat at a desk in the back with only a box of paper clips to keep him entertained for hours on end.  I guess that explains where he got his ability to make things and develop his uncanny skills with inanimate objects.

And speaking of such objects, where else can you attend a memorial service where there are trinkets on a table for all to take home with them.  I almost jumped up and down when I saw the tiny version of my favorite stencil, the little happy girl.

I didn't open the clear box it came in until I got home, and there inside I discovered the little book called "Little Lucy Rhymer".  It says at the end that it's a story by Mike Meador, 2004.  Sometimes I feel so dense.  Back in June, he posted comments about the name of the girl in the stencil, and I didn't know what he was talking about, but it makes more sense now - well, not really, but now I see why he recited that odd poem, because it was one of his previous projects.  (See his comments here.)  I'm going to miss his comments on my blog.  I knew when I was getting boring and when I was making someone laugh.  But that is still my favorite stencil, and she means even more now each time I use her.

He is having fun now, that's for sure.  And he knows so many things now that we can only dream of knowing.  Peace, Mike.  Hugs, Chris and Andy.

Words

Sometimes there just aren't any. 

When I got off work today and checked Ginny's blog here, I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.  I learned that we have lost our friend Mike from Coffee Break. We have all lost a good soul on this earth.  He is on a grand caper, and oh, my, we are all safer now because heaven is getting some new gadgets.  There is a new inventor in town Up There.

I'll bet all the stories people will tell about Mike are funny ones.  He had a way of making everyone feel like they were in on one of his secret pranks.  He was made up of goodness and kindness.

Our thoughts, prayers, and love are sent to Chris and Andy.

Art Frenzy

I have been in a dead zone artistically lately.  I chalked it up to simply a heavy work schedule, with little play time.  So when I started rummaging for my clear packing tape (to use for its intended purpose of sealing up a box for mailing) all that bottled up creative energy escaped and set forth to make things.  A couple of hours later, I had these.

One is a calendar idea I've been working on.  It's still not finished, but I added a few more things to it.  The middle book is one I had made a few weeks ago, but had never put the covers on.  That was because I wasn't totally happy with the book in general.  I was trying out a new size and a new plastic type cover.

The top book is just pure randomness (if that's a word).  I had some strips of paper left over from cutting some larger sheets.  It was nice paper, so I put it aside for the time being.  When I came across the paper again, I decided to either do something with it or toss it.  So I tore and folded, folded some more, and ended up with a little book about 4 x 5 inches in size.  Some paper strips were longer, so if they stuck out, I folded them in and sewed them on the machine.  The covers are scraps of watercolor paper where I had cleaned off my paint brush when I was playing with acrylic inks recently.  I added other scraps and bits (including a felt button on the cover).  As you can see, most of what I do is in the blue family, so when I have leftover scraps, they all work together well.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with this book, and it has no intended purpose right now.  But I sure had fun with it.  It pays to go with the flow, and follow the muse wherever it takes you.

  (Unfortunately, the box I was taping up never got mailed...)

Bundles

I like to sometimes drop in at the only fabric store in my area.  I'm always amazed that chain stores don't have the same things in different cities.  I like the fact that my Hancock Fabric store takes their leftover scraps of fabric, bundles them up, and throws them in a pile on a table, or sometimes in wire baskets (they keep moving them, so "the hunt" never gets old).  Sometimes they have nothing to interest me.  Whatever I get, it's usually half a yard or less, and it's usually a dollar or less. 

I almost always grab the muslins, kona cottons, and canvas.  The whites and off-whites appeal to me for possible lettering projects.  Most of the time, the bundles aren't marked, so I don't really know what I'm getting.  But the smoothness of a particular bundle intrigued me, so I brought it home this week.

When I unrolled the bundle, there was faint printing on the edge that leads me to believe it is drapery lining.  I did play around with some lettering on it with acrylic inks.

I also played around in my stencil journal some more.  Not totally happy with the stitching on the fabric, but it's a no-pressure journal, after all.  So I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

Chair Art

My local paper had an article in the home section that mentioned "typographic decor" is the big thing all of a sudden, with letters and numbers, old typography, etc., showing up everywhere.  Hmmm... haven't we all been using those things ForEver already??  Nevertheless, they showed as an example a chair like this one.

It was made by Palette Industries.  Check them out here.

Thanks to everyone who confirmed that I have persimmons in my yard.  At least now I know.  And Jan knows how to dig into my brain and make me curious. (FYI, that is not my brain.)

She left a comment about cutting open the persimmons and predicting the kind of winter we will have, depending on the pattern inside.  So of course I had to go out and gather some.  Just to get a good sampling, I got some ripe ones off the ground as well as some unripe ones off the branches.

Ready to proceed with the cutting...

The first thing I noticed was that a couple of them had ants on them.  eeeek.  Got rid of the ants and proceeded.  They were really squishy to cut into.  And I didn't see a pattern either, because there was a hard seed in the center.  I looked at Jan's comment again and saw where I went wrong.  She said to cut the SEED to see the pattern, not the persimmon.  Ooooh, that's different. 

By then, I realized these suckers were slimy and sticky.  I did try to cut into a couple of seeds, but they kept getting away from me.  Since I type all day for a living, I decided that welding a sharp knife and some slippery seeds were probably not the best thing for me to be doing.  Slicing off a finger is not an option!  So I will just assume the winter will be cold, with snow and some unpredictable weather (with lots of slipping and sliding!)  I also learned I don't have the patience to gather enough pulp for persimmon pudding. 

Just stuff lying around

(Can you tell I use my blue spray paint more than any other?)

(I seem to find more and more feathers lately.  My Pollyanna attitude likes to think these birds just had too many feathers, so they left some behind for easier flight... they weren't attacked by predators, nope, not in my yard.)

I brought this inside because I had a sudden urge to make a pencil drawing or a watercolor sketch of it.  Of course, that didn't happen, and it shriveled up and I threw it out.

If anyone can tell me what this is, I'd be grateful.  For years and years since I have lived here, they fall in my yard, and all over my driveway and get on my tires.  Instead of being a hater, maybe I need to see if it is something I should be eating... you know, in case of a nuclear meltdown and having to scounge for food....

Rest Stop

I am in awe.  And I have a new respect for Iowa.  I thought all they had was a lot of corn, and a magic baseball field.  (Just kidding - Iowa actually has a great arts culture) --  But check out this rest area...

Yes, that is a giant nib, and it is even dipping itself in some black ink on the concrete.  Is that the coolest rest stop or what?  The photo was taken by my friend Leslie Cefali, who knew I would go crazy over it. 

I told her I have been doing all kinds of internet searches trying to find out more about this rest stop.  I found a bunch of other art themed rest stops, but that one was not listed.  The Iowa Dept of Transportation has some here, just click on each one to see their poster with info about a particular one (it takes a while for each to download).  The one on I-80 at Tiffin has an education theme, with pillars made of stacks of books.  But as I told Leslie, the nib spoiled me, and everything else looks puny in comparison!

When I asked Leslie where this rest stop is located, she didn't remember exactly, but narrowed it down to Interstate 80, somewhere between the eastern border of Iowa and the western border of Iowa.  (Yes, that would be my sarcasm showing, with a smile of course.) 

Check out these other photos she took inside the building, with a whole wall of M's by the men's restroom, and a wall of W's by the women's restroom.  They are floor to ceiling, wall to wall.  Pretty impressive!

Thanks for letting me post those, Leslie!!

Happy WEG

They have talked about it for years, and the time is finally here.  The World Equestrian Games, just up the road in Lexington, Kentucky.  Check out that corn maze people will see from their arriving airplanes.  The horses arrive in airplanes too, but I don't think they have a window seat.

I'll admit, I don't know much about equestrian games.  I just know it is like the Olympics except its for horses.  Competitors come from all over the world.  And they have events that sound cool, but I don't know what they actually are.  Like "Dressage".  I think I'd like to compete in Dressage... it sounds like dress-up, but I'm sure it's more complicated than that.  I know Lyle Lovett has a horse in the Reining event.  I know William Shatner (yes, Captain Kirk) has interests in some event.  (Yes, my knowledge is very vague.) 

Actually, there's a lot online to help the spectators who need to know what the events are and how to act.  Most of it is like golf - quiet, please, when the event is in progress.  They describe the object of dressage as "the development of the horse into a happy athlete through harmonious education".  Vaulting is like gymnastics on horseback.  That sounds dangerous.

I know there are a lot of art exhibits and events.  If I lived closer, I might pop in, but I don't.  It should be exciting over there, though.  And in these economic times, what state doesn't need a big influx of tourist dollars to help with the budget.  So come on down.  Spend your money.  This is the land of horses, whiskey and genteel women!

Gourmet Recipes

Let me finish that sentence... Gourmet recipes cannot be found here.

I'm always amazed at all the great recipes found on blogs of other artists.  There is Alisa Burke for instance.  She makes me want to eat healthier. And I have been craving a grilled cheese sandwich since I saw this yummy version here. 

Then there is Randall Hasson, who has inspiring calligraphy on his blog, but has a separate blog for recipes here. 

There are many, many more I'm sure.  Creative people seem to be creative no matter what room they are in!

This time of year, I do sometimes make a favorite dish.  In spite of what it may seem, I am not obsessed with candy corn.  But I did work with a woman a few years ago who, every fall, had a dish of this on her desk.  It is impossible to avoid grabbing a handful every time you walk by.  Here is the complicated recipe:

Take some of these:

Add some of these:

And mix them up.  They are really good together. 


But if you want the "gourmet" version, also add this:

Put the mix in your finest Halloween serving dish.

Okay, so I don't have a Halloween serving dish.  What?  You don't put up your Halloween tree this time of year?

Look to the Skies

That is the moon on the right.  The dot on the left is Jupiter, closer to earth right now than in decades.

Taken last night with just my little ol' camera.  Imagine what I could see with proper equipment.

Jupiter is apparently filled with jumping beans.  Or maybe I should have used the tripod!
 (Do people even know what jumping beans are anymore, I wonder....)

Serious Post

This is a serious post for a change.  I had some odd emails today that said some of my sent mail could not be delivered.  I knew I had not sent these emails, and now I wonder if there were other emails I supposedly sent that DID go through.  PLEASE, if you received email from my aol account, no subject line, and just a web link in the body of the email, DO NOT OPEN IT.  I DID NOT SEND IT.  I apparently was hijacked.

Thanks, and apologies if anyone was affected.

Fall Madness

Dear Diary

Then she made another...

Yes, I liked my first stenciled journal so much that I made another.  It just happened and wasn't planned.  It may end up as a set of two, or who knows - a set of... well, I don't want to think that far ahead! 

I decided to make a trip to the office supply store to get more dividers in case I want more covers in the future.  I knew it was Labor Day, but I guess I don't know the rules about holiday shopping.  I didn't know the stores closed earlier than normal.  So, all the places on my list were closed at 7:30 pm.  I was forced to go to Michael's instead.  Where I found stuff.  Like these drawer pulls.  One dollar each!  I'm happy now.

They also had the ceramic white balls with black letters on them, a dollar each.  I was very proud of myself for not buying them all, but I resisted.  You can't just have a couple.  You need a bowl full.  And you need a bowl.  And a nice place to put it.  It was too much for my pea brain to think about!  I'll settle for the drawer pulls.

Just Because

I was going to show a detailed shot of how I fixed my make-a-stamp from the previous post, but I only took this one picture, then my camera battery died.  D'oh.

I did take the stamp apart, removed the paper backing (as Clearly stated in the instructions), and stamped a face on the handle before re-assembly.  I'm sorry I didn't have the "before" of the whole thing.  It comes flat, with the die-cut parts and the rubber die already with cushion.  Too cute!  Coffee Break Design is all about cute ya know.