Make What Ya Brung #2 at Valley Ridge Art Studio

Let me make it clear:  I love Valley Ridge Art Studio.

Each princess to her own Evil

Since Katherine Engen, its proprietress, decided not to sponsor workshops but allow artists (and normal people like me) to set up their own thing, I have been working with my art buddy Kelley Clark to host playdates we call Make What Ya Brung.

From April 26th to the 28th, Kelley and I hosted the second playdate.  We started with a trip to Cuba City, WI, which is home to two antique stores we like to haunt.  My wife Denice came along and we were also joined by Kelley, Lynn Ovenden, Cindy Stamp and Carolyn Abramofsky.  I cannot speak for the others but I dropped $80+ bucks in one store and $35 at the other.  Then we all lunched at one of the local spots and our extra excursion was complete.

Driving to Valley Ridge from Cuba City got us there around 3 p.m. for set up.  Valley Ridge Art Studio consists of Katherine's home (which also has sleeping rooms for two guests), the farmhouse (where four rooms are available for rent), the studio and the community room for meals.  Our job was to set up the tables in the studio for the weekend.

Denice, Tom, Coolie and Lynn

Eventually on Friday we were joined by Cris Smith, Jenny Gringer Richards and Tom Goodman.  Some of us set up, some of us had time to start projects, but all of us went to Castle Rock to eat the Friday Night Fish Fry.  Castle Rock is a very rural, very local establishment with an interesting buffet.  It is always fun to watch the faces of folks who have never eaten there as they try to take in the atmosphere and all the fried foods and deviled eggs.

With this being a play date, folks can work in the studio as long as they want.  At night's end, it was Cris and I who turned off the lights at midnight.

While in Cuba City, I had noticed a poster for Crazy Frank's Flea Market in Mineral Point which was going to take place on Saturday and Sunday.  If you have not been able to tell right now, junkin' is at the heart of all we do so off we went at 7:30 a.m. to Mineral Point.  While the poster said there was 150 dealers, we found about a dozen (and I still managed to buy a ton of stuff).  The real payoff is the Crazy Frank has his own indoor dealers that are available any day and today we attached the inside stores with relish.  Another $50 worth of stuff went into the van.

When we got back we found Carol Shufro had arrived but no Coolie.  Despite Friday being her birthday, Coolie's car had broken down and she was not able to arrive until midday--but to much applause for having the strength to keep going forward instead of going home.

Lunch each day was an option but the food was provided by Joe from The Cook's Room.  This is gourmet food served in the community room with a view to die for.

Saturday night is our traditional bowling tournament at Tower Junction but the real reason we are there is to eat the pizza.  I bowled a barely 100 game and then ripped off a 140ish game.  Go figure.

By 5 p.m. on Sunday, it was all over.  There is a bittersweet quality to all things Valley Ridgeish this year as the place is going up for sale.  Hopefully, Kelley and I will be able to hold one more Make What Ya Brung this fall so we do not have to say this was the last.

Here are the pieces that I made.

This first piece is called Death is Death.  It is from a James Russel Lowell quote I used on the piece that reads:

Console if you will, I can bear it;
'Tis a well-meant alms of breath,
But not all the preaching since Adam
Has made Death other than Death.

The base is a piece of iron brought to Valley Ridge by Jean from Life of Riley, a local bed and breakfast (Jean also brought many bones and skulls, many of which I claim for my stash).  I painted the iron piece, added a tin type photograph and a rosary icon.  Then I added a backdrop page from an old German bible some of us  had bought at Make What Ya Brung #1.  When I got home, I added the last piece--another backdrop of hand made sabai paper.

The second piece started as a plain little box.  The reason I worked with it was because I wanted to practice the technique of layering on materials and then setting the box on fire.  My materials this time were gesso, acrylic paint, shellac and Kroma Crackle.  The interior was completed with a tin type and a rosary icon.  The quote I found for the box was "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (which is also the title) from Matthew XI, verse 30.  On the cover I added a religious pin.

The third piece is my doll head on a stick routine.  I like making these forms and have done about a half dozen of them.  This one started out as some old farm tool that might have been a pick or axe.  The small clothes brush was a great find because I knew when I bought it that the colors in it were inspiring without any additions needed.  The arm like extension is part of an old lawn sprinkler with some candle holders stuck on.  Some Apoxie Clay added the features to the doll head and then it was just a matter of painting it up.

I call this one Young Colonel Sander's Mohawk.

Me and the Colonel (photo by Katherine)

The last piece was the challenge for the weekend.  Here was a second piece that began its life on my worktable at home.

I bought the wooded carved head at some flea market or estate sale.

To give it dimension, I added the old slide carousel to the back of its head.  A plastic butterfly decorative piece got split to create the wings.

One of my favorite go-to supplies is Aves Apoxie Clay.  Here I had to use it to create a false leg so the wooden head would sit balanced on a table.

Then it got painted.  I have to say that in my old age, on these big pieces, I am doing the initial coat of white from a spray can rather than with a brush and some gesso.  The jury is still out about how this helps the second coat of paint but that spray can sure cuts down on the time it takes to cover the nooks and crannies of a piece like this.

After painting I had to add all the adornments and it was done.  

The title of this piece is Damage to the Hippo Campus Leads to Anterograde Amnesia Wherein the Distant Past is Remembered But No New Memories are Formed.  

There will be one more Make What Ya Brung at Valley Ridge this November.  I welcome you on behalf of Katherine Engen and Kelley Clarke.  Visit the Valley Ridge site to discover the details.  

IN CUBA, HAVING A PLAN B IS ALWAYS A GOOD CHOICE: Dia Dos

Day Two is Monday, February 18th, and the day began with the breakfast buffet in the Hotel Nacional--an activity which will be a daily ritual every morning we are in Havana.  Everyone eating in the restaurant is a tourist and everyone waiting on us is a Cuban and there is virtually no interaction between the two to my regret.

Today begins with Eric taking us on a guided walking tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Old Havana.  Our first stop was Cathedral Square, home of the Cathedral of Havana.  

Walking the streets of Old Havana was a fascinating experience.  It is an area of layers.  Much that is old, not very much that is new.  All of it with a sound or a smell.  

Photo by Jennie Stoltz

 Photo by Jennie Stoltz

In the square, we find more art:  here is a metal sculpture by Roberto Fabelo that, for obvious reasons, stops every tourist in the mall.  It is called Fantastic Voyage (Viaje Fantastico).  

On this square, I purchased a print by an artist named Alberto Areos from a shop .  I was drawn to this print because of the juxtaposition of the boy and the icon Che portraits.  However, I also wished I had been able to take this photograph.  

Eric's most interesting revelation of the tour was the concept of the Comités de Defensa de la Revolución ( Committees for the Defense of the Revolution), or the CDRs. Historically, they are a way for the people in a neighborhood to monitor the neighborhood (and possibly each other).  The CDRs consist of about 125 households but perhaps even more importantly, a doctor.  The doctor lives in the CDR and knows all the family members and everyone of their needs.  Health care in Cuba is free to all residents.  You start with your doctor, move to a clinic and then to one of the many hospitals on the island.  Most of the hospitals we saw were specialty places like "over there is the eye hospital."   

Because Hemingway is important to everyone both on and off the island, his various resting spots in Havana and the surrounding areas are treated like major tourist spots.  First stop today is the Hotel Ambos Mundos (which is bright pink) wherein Hemingway stayed in Room 511 when he first arrived in Cuba in the 1930s.

Next we made our way down to Plaza de la Catedral which is fun to visit for a number of reasons.  First, of course is the massive cathedral that dominates one side of the square.

In the square, there are many buskers who will work the tourists to get a few CUCs to have their picture taken.  I was not afraid to get a smooch as long as it led to a great photograph.

Photo by Jennie Stoltz

Just off the square is the Taller Experimental D'Grafica printmaking cooperative that I visited because I have a print cooperative that I use in my home town.  There were artists working in the back and a display of their works in front.  

Next stop was La Bodeguita Del Medio, the busiest spot in Havana.  The reason why this bar is so popular is because it was Hemingway's favorite watering hole.  The bar even has a posted signature to prove it.  

Plaza de Armas (Military Square) has an interesting story to tell.  Evidently one of the first rich home owners, named Antonio de Cespedes, had a wife who complained about the noise of the traffic on the cobblestones.  So, he paved the road in front of his house with wood.    

On this same square is where the used book dealers set up.  Shopping here was fun as I bought found objects for my assemblage, some old movie lobby posters ("I AM A CAMERA") and a book or two.  While my miserable attempts to remember my high school Spanish failed miserable, each book dealer would say to me, "I speak English but not too well."  Au cont rare my friend, you speak excellent English.  

We had lunch at La Mina.  While the food and music was excellent, the local bird population proved to be the real high lite.  

After lunch we made our way to towards the International Book Fair of Havana 2013 at Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña, known as La Cabaña Fortress ( the Fort of Saint Charles).  The Fortress was built by the Spanish in 1763 and was used to defend the island and as a prison.  When Cuba won its independence, it continued as both.  Even Fidel used it for those purposes at first but now the site is a museum and the home of the annual International Book Fair of Havana.  

The Book Fair turned out to be a bit of a conundrum for us.  While we were free to roam every where, I am not sure we understood what we could be doing including how to buy stuff.  Obvious, the language differences was a barrier.  However, so was the money.  Evidently most of the transaction were being done in pesos, not the CUCs tourists carry.  This makes a lot of sense considering the fair is for Cubans to buy books they cannot normally obtain, not for tourists like us.  I did manage to buy a CD collection of Cuban music in one booth but I did not purchase anything else while we were there.

As far as the displays of materials, each country had its own booth within the various halls in the fortress.  While the signage was great, the people staffing the booths did not seem to be very approachable.  Not sure if this says more about us or if it had to do with the fact that our name badges clearly said "Estados Unitos."  I did have one experience at a children's book booth where the woman standing next to me noticed by name tag and (not very subtly) poked her friend in the ribs and pointed it out to her.  I tried to be cool but inside I was thinking, "I can see youuuuuuu!!!!"  

The guest of honor this year was the country of Angola.  There display included some great art as well as their published materials.  

There was a number of activities going on during the fair.  There was a children's area and there we found a school group modeling clothes that had made from recycled materials.  

We also found some rockets left over from the Cuban missile crisis.  We wondered if these were a permanent part of the fortress but someone found out they were only brought in for the book fair.  Hmmmmm.....

From the Fortress, I could see the giant Jesus that guards the harbor.  We never got close to the statute but Eric at some point told us that the Cubans can no longer take the ferry over to see Jesus close up because the ferry was hijacked twice to try to sail it to Florida.

We probably spent a total of two hours at the fair but I am not sure we really benefited from the experience. This was a disappointment for us more out of sense of not understanding than anything lacking in the fair itself.  I think if I could have had a do-over, I would have had Eric accompany us so we could have had an interpreter for interactions.  

We certainly did see a wide variety of people at the Book Fair and I guess you never know who will put in an appearance.

The parking lot proved to be a great hunting ground for more cool old cars. 

After we left the book fair, we hit the streets in the bus again.  We pasted a cruise ship in the harbor, a normal sight as tourists come here for all over but -- yup, Estados Unidos.  

Eric took the time while we were on the bus to fill us in on the education system in Cuba.  Education is free but you do have to work for what you want.  Eric himself graduated high school, pasted the exam for university and graduated.  In Cuba, when you graduate, you are guaranteed two years of work.  In order to be a tour guide in Cuba, Eric had to earn a Master's degree and speak three languages.  Of course the first is his native Spanish, and to that he added the English that we were enjoying plus French.  Later on the trip, more will be revealed about Mr. Eric Garcia and his path to being our tour guide.  

We headed over to an arts and crafts building where we could shop for tourist items.  There was a lot to choose from, most of which was too crafty for me.  I did pick up a wooden hummingbird for my Mommy and one of those ubiquitous Fidel military caps (hey, c'mon--how many time am I going to be Cuba?).  I thought before time slipped away I needed to buy one of the little wooden cars that appear to be everywhere in Havana.  I picked up a '57 Chevy then decided to pick up an art print of the same car.  Because I have not had time to frame this print, here is a partial scan of the print.  It should come as no surprise that the work also includes the face of Che.  

Tonight dinner was at La Moneda Cubana, a paladar.  This was a rooftop restaurant where the wind off the ocean meant we had to bundle up.  I ate seafood tonight and the music was terrific.  

Then it was off to a house in downtown Havana where we climb some rickety stairs to a woman's home.  We knew that she was going to teach us how to salsa but what we did not know was that she was going to have a whole band on her balcony. 

So, we finished the night, under a Havana moon, dancing to the music of this fiery country.  

For a complete set of all the photos from this trip, please visit me at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gniebuhr/sets/72157633250056880.