20

I was reflecting this morning that today would have marked the 20th anniversary of my reopening Stampeaz. We almost made it to that milestone! I had some fun things planned for celebrating the day that won't happen now, but that's okay. Many wonderful things happened along the way. 

I met some of the most wonderful and amazing people because of Stampeaz - both in person and online and I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I appreciate all of you. Sharing the adventures of art, carving, letterboxing and the quest for a better carving material  enriched my life. 

Thank you!

It's the End of an Era

Most of you have probably already read in one place or another that I had a house fire. The good news is  Piper and I made it out safely. The bad news is my house will need to be completely gutted, sealed and rebuilt. For such a small fire that was so quickly contained, the devastation is unbelievable. 

They tell me all this will take somewhere between 10 and 15 months to complete. So, for at least the next year, I have no way to stock, pack and send out orders for Stampeaz. In any event, all the Stampeaz inventory was covered with soot and had to be removed from the house before any remediation could occur. All my personal belongings leave the premises beginning tomorrow. 

Four intrepid souls showed up at my house yesterday to empty the basement of all Stampeaz stuff, since it isn't covered by insurance and could not be included in the cleaning and restoring. I'm very glad that this part of my world isn't simply going to a landfill, which would have been the alternative and would have totally broken my heart. I hope they find a way to share the wealth with other lovers of printmaking in all its forms. 

There are still 60 sheets of Tan-Z Kut (54 x 12 x 1/4 inch) in the garage. They have escaped most of the soot and smoke damage. If you are in the area and have a truck, come and get them. They, like all the rest of the Stampeaz stuff is free for any who dare come to the site of devastation. (The garage isn't bad at all, compared to the rest of the house...) 

(Baloo welcoming the first shipment of Tan-Z Kut!)

The story? So many things went right, for all that went wrong. My alarm clock went off, as usual, but instead of getting up immediately and heading out of the house with Piper, we lazed around for an extra ten minutes and I was just wondering what I'd made for dinner the night before, since I smelled something funny. Mere seconds later, every smoke alarm in the house started screaming. I opened the bedroom door and followed the smell down the hall, through the laundry room and to the basement door and when I looked down the stairs I could only see smoke. 

I closed the basement door, closed the laundry room door and dragged Piper out the front door with me and closed that door, too. The fire chief told me that those three things kept my house from burning to rubble, so I still have a structure for them to gut and restore. 

Piper and I stood on the front lawn for about four hours, while ten fire trucks full of first responders battled the fire on, of all things, First Responders Day. I'll never forget that date again. 

I've closed down the Stampeaz website, but I will still be hanging around here. I even have a series of mushrooming pictures I had prepared for a post, before, well... before. Give me a little while to regroup. It's been a rough few days here.

Sorry about the rambling post. There are so many interruptions right now that it's hard to gather my thoughts into a single, somewhat coherent pile.  

My Friend Flicker

After a recent rain, Piper and I discovered a young flicker taking advantage of the water captured in the top of an old wine barrel. He watched us watching him get a drink. 

He didn't seem to mind our presence, though. 

I really love the flicker's markings. I did a carving of one a while ago, just to try and capture all those spots and stripes. 

This pose got the cuteness prize for the morning. 

An adult flicker was foraging nearby. You can see that his bib is more complete and the red feathers on the back of his head are more brilliantly colored. The youngster's patch of scarlet is still muted by some baby brown feathers. 

See? The spots on the front and the stripes on the back (not to mention the dramatic moustache!) Then, to top it all off, when they take flight a flash of bright yellow under their wings is an extra treat. They're called yellow-shafted flickers as well, because rather than being white, gray or brown, the feather shafts are that same bright yellow. 

These beautiful birds fly south for the winter, too, so I'm appreciating them while I can! :)

More Morel Mushroom Madness

The morel mystery had quite a few sharp eyed readers. Nice hunting!

Also, I mentioned a morel print I had made a few years ago and mushroom lovers seemed to want to see it, so I pulled it out and took a picture. 

I apologize that it's not a perfectly squared up picture. I tried to photograph it from straight on, but didn't manage to get it quite right. Anyway, it gives you a pretty good idea. I wanted to have the morels just a little bit hidden the same way they are in the wild, so they're tucked into the leaf duff, grass and twigs. It was a fun and challenging carve. :)

A Minor Mother's Day Mystery - Mapped

Here's the clue from yesterday, if you missed it - or so you don't have to toggle back and forth to check for the mystery's subject(s). 

The subject in question at the moment is close to the middle of the picture. Not quite perfectly centered (there had to be a little photographic balance, after all). And there is more than one, but the others will be frustratingly elusive from this angle. 

Every year, our family would spend Mother's Day weekend wandering around out in the woods looking for treasure. It was a search to rival any Easter egg hunt and we children had as good a chance to make great discoveries as our parents, since our eyes were lower to the ground and provided an excellent vantage point. 

This is the one you should be able to spot in the mystery picture. I tried to get another picture at the same angle, so you can look for shape and shadow. It's the one that put me on alert. 

Once a little lower to the ground (children's eye level) in an effort to gather the first specimen, its friends were easier to locate. 

My brother and I harvested nearly two gallons of black morels in our afternoon of hunting, but a lot of crawling along on hands and knees through brambles was required to accomplish the feat. 

However, there's nothing quite like a pan of fresh morel mushrooms fried in butter for hors d'oeuvres as a reward for the effort. Yum!

I have made morel mushrooms the subject of one of my block prints, and it was fun to try to keep some of the mystery of the hunt in the final image. If anyone's interested, I can post a picture of it. :) 

Celebrating a Whole Year!

Believe it or not, it's been a year since I brought Piper home to be part of my family. She's a sweet little dog (well, little in comparison to Baloo, anyway) but I will admit that she's an odd one. 

She loves to run full tilt, and occasionally plows right into something. I think she knocked herself silly at some point along the way. (This picture was obviously taken a few weeks ago, with the snow covered ground.)

Like Baloo, she loves to scoop up snow and eat it (and quite frequently grabs a mouthful as she's dashing by at top speed). And mercy! Can she levitate? Yes, she can! She jumps amazingly high straight up from a standing position. It makes me laugh every time. 

She has that one ear that just wants to stand up all on its own, but she looked pretty sitting among the blooming snowdrops this morning. 

Piper loves all the people, but still isn't comfortable around other dogs and she really hates loud noises of any kind. She's quirky, but we're learning how to manage her idiosyncrasies. I'm a bit odd, myself, so I get it. 

On the whole, I think she approves of her new life with me -- at least she looks pretty comfortable most of the time -- as long as there isn't any thunder. :)

Titmice Toujours!

I do always love watching the titmice. They're charming, beautiful and an absolute hoot to watch when they're feeding their youngsters and teaching them how to fend for themselves. The young ones fly after their parents in an airborne train. If you ever have the chance, stop and watch them for a while. It's very entertaining. 

They tend to be difficult for me to photograph, because they are quick, shy and prefer to stay out of the limelight. I can sometimes catch one trying to decide which peanut to extract, but they don't dither for long, so if I'm not already snapping pictures of other birds nearby, I'll miss it entirely. Sometimes, I just have to stay focused on the peanut feeder and wait for one to come back for another helping! Yes, that's what happened here.

This one, however, perched in my miniature lilac bush and spent more than a second or two observing the goings on in the rest of the yard. Isn't it beautiful? For some reason, the big, round eyes seem more pronounced than on other birds, making them look so sincere - and sometimes a bit like a cartoon caricature.

Speaking of caricatures, I'm thinking that one of these poses might just have to find its way to a block of Tan-Z Kut for a little carving session. I carved one of these beauties a couple years ago, but the subject bears repeating. :)

 

 

Duck Back Riding

Things have been hectic and I haven't taken time to sit down and prepare pictures for the blog. I have been taking them, though, and finally got a few ready to post. Stories and pictures will probably be out of sequence, at least some of the time, for a while. 

I loved the mother merganser giving her little ducklings a ride. They were concerned when Piper and I wandered out to the boat launch to see who might be around. 

Piper also likes to get a drink and take a little swim when we walk that way, so I guess mother merganser had reason to move the youngsters away from us. 

They're awfully cute floating fluff balls, aren't they? They have grown nearly as big as their parents now, but still hang out and go fishing together. 

They got far enough away that they started paddling around on their own again.

Then, mom gave them a lesson in how to go fishing for breakfast. 

My brother continues to improve and I was able to come back home two days before the local art show to get a few prints into frames and mats and ready to display. 

Now, I need to start catching up on things like cutting and preparing Tan-Z and Firm Kut and doing an ink order for Stampeaz. Not to mention, culling through more pictures to find good ones for the blog. :)

Fruits of the Field

 Summer sweets are available along the trail for the observant hiker. 

Raspberries are in season and I found a nice patch to raid along the way.

I did a carving of these guys a few years ago with three different blocks and colors, because they're not only delicious, they're visually interesting. 

Baloo loved raspberries and would race me to the treats, so I had to teach little Piper about the joys of berry picking. It didn't take her long to catch on to the goodness. 

She can't reach as high, though, and sometimes asks for a little handout.

This wood satyr butterfly seemed to like hanging out in the brambles, too. 

Further Flowery Foolishness

I have a few more of the neighborhood flower pictures ready to post. Piper was very good while I was taking them (although, she has been trying to photobomb a few while trying to figure out what is capturing my attention). 

Black-eyed Susans might be simple flowers, but I find them cheerful. There are a couple spots with large patches of them and they're like little fields of sunshine. 

This butterfly weed makes a great addition to a pollinator garden. As the name suggests, it's very popular with the butterfly population. The garden these grow in isn't quite a classic pollinator patch, since it has a lot of more traditional flowers as well, but the butterflies (and bees) don't care.

Here's a daylily - the colors and patterns are just brilliant - and the frilly, crimped edges on it are the perfect finishing touch.

Here's another lily, but it blooms in clusters, rather than individual flowers. The color really is that intense.  

Daisies! Who doesn't love daisies? Well, other than my sister who thinks they stink. She likes them well enough outside, but no daisy bouquets for her. I've been thinking of carving a daisy (or group of daisies) and this handsome specimen might provide some inspiration. 

Pansies always make me think of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the garden of talking flowers. 

Last for this installment, but definitely not least, is the humble blanket flower. I love all the color and pattern variations with these beauties - and they're another excellent pollinator garden plant. 

A Tiger Tale

The tiger swallowtail butterfly is a real favorite with both my brother and me.
 

There's just something so dramatic and dazzling about these guys (and these really are all guys - the female of the species is beautiful, too, just in a more muted fashion).

Watching them gracefully glide from flower to flower is peaceful and quite mesmerizing.

They seem to love the dame's rocket (an invasive, but a beautiful flower) that my grandmother started in the homestead yard many long years ago.

At blooming time, the hillside can be completely covered with them (I meant the flowers, but it's also true of the butterflies).

I think one of these beauties might have to end up on a piece of carving material in the not too distant future.

The bold markings just invite it,don't you think. I love the little dots of orange and blue at the base of the wings as extra little artistic exclamation points.
 

It's Draw a Bird Day!

 

Once again, it's Draw a Bird Day! On April 8 we celebrate the birthday of Dorie Cooper, who in 1943, visited her uncle in the hospital, as he was recovering from a land mine injury during World War II. He was understandably upset and depressed at the loss of a leg and, in an effort to cheer him up, Dorie asked him to draw her a bird.

He complied with her request and they laughed at his poor artistic skills, but she promised to display his bird in her room, anyway. After this first visit, every time she would come to see her uncle, the soldiers on the ward would hold bird drawing contests to see who could come up with the best picture. It always seemed to lift everyone's spirits.

Sadly, about three years later, Dorie perished in an automobile accident. At her funeral, the soldiers, nurses and doctors from her uncle's ward filled her coffin with bird drawings in her honor and her birthday has become an unofficial celebration of Dorie's bright and indomitable spirit and an excellent reminder to find joy in life's simple delights.

Here's an invitation to draw a bird for Dorie's birthday. Your drawing doesn't have to be fancy or accurate – remember, her uncle's was pretty bad. But if you're great at drawing birds, show off your skills! This year, I drew a playful bluebird of happiness, thinking of the 8 year old Dorie.

Don't forget to share your drawing with someone to spread the joy and honor Dorie's memory. 

 

Happy Draw a Bird Day!

Posing for Portraits

This colorful little house finch decided to pose for me at the tip of a lilac twig, so I was able to get a few good pictures of him.

 
Usually, the birds are hidden among the many crossing branches and it's hard to get a good look at them.

I try to take full advantage of any clear views I can get.

All the different poses are entertaining and offer carving possibilities, too. This fellow is likely to end up immortalized in Tan-Z Kut.

This last one might be my favorite. He looks so puzzled and inquisitive. So, that's today's portrait sitting. He was an excellent model, don't you think?


 

Happy Easter!

I just had to pop in and wish you all a very Happy Easter! This time with a little bit of carved art. :)

 

Every now and then, the back yard bunnies give me a perfect pose - and I couldn't resist carving this one. 

I hope you and your loved ones have a joyful celebration - finding eggs, feasting and spotting the occasional Easter bunny on its way home from a long night of spreading springtime delights. Not to mention chocolate... 

Creative Assist, Please

Some of you may remember this picture from a blog post a couple years ago. Well, I finally got around to getting the drawing done and carving the mother and fawn.
 

Now, I'm in the process of making some prints and I have a small problem. I haven't been able to come up with a title that makes me totally happy. Some ideas have been:

Breakfast Break
Mother's Milk
Nurturing Nature
Fawn's Feast
Breakfast in the Meadow
Milk in the Meadow
Morning Meal (or Milk)
Morning Meadow (just leave the whole food aspect out entirely)
Doe's Delight

Any other brilliant ideas or preferences? I'm sort of stumped. Am I overthinking things? (Almost certainly.)