S T A C Y V E R B

Weekend in Asheville & western NC

Over the weekend we headed to Asheville, North Carolina, so Adverb could attend the annual conference of the South East Chapter of the National Cartoonist Society.  This is always a fun gathering.  The Society's Asheville membership had worked hard to show us all a good time.

Friday night: Carolina barbecue and live bluegrass at The Fiddlin' Pig.  I bought a T-shirt from the Pig that says "Gettin' Piggy With It."  Ha!  I especially enjoyed the sweet potato fries.

Steve H. was dressed for the bluegrass, but maybe not excited about having his picture taken.

Saturday the cartoonists attended meetings and presentations all day.  The highlight was the guest of honor, Jack Davis, of MAD magazine fame.  Everyone reports that Jack was a very sweet gentleman.  At dinner, he petted my hair in a charming, non-creepy way.

While all these meetings were going on, I was getting some work of my own done in the hotel room, as well as swimming in the heated pool.

Who knew the cartoonists were such a multi-talented bunch?  A jam session broke out in the hotel ballroom on Saturday night.  I ended up doing a duet of "Jackson" (sadly, no footage of my performance is available) with some random guy, who I later learned was a filmmaker from Michigan working on a documentary about MAD.

After the conference ended on Sunday, Adverb and I explored the great shopping and dining opportunities in downtown Asheville.  (More blog coverage on this topic coming soon!)  

Monday, we spent the whole day driving back to Atlanta via the long, scenic way.  It was a lovely day to explore the countryside.

While on another road trip in NC several years ago, we had seen a million billboards assuring us that we were very near Harrah's Cherokee Casino, and yet we never actually saw it.  This time, we drove right up to it, completely by accident.  This cracked us up to no end, so we just had to go in and play some slot machines for a little while.  We ended up $9.00 in the hole.  Oh wait, correction, make that $8.75--on the way out, I found a quarter in the parking lot!

More lovely scenery in the Blue Ridge area of western NC.  Fall was definitely in the air.

We stopped for a late lunch at this nice spot on the Nantahala River. 

Our last visit before heading home was to the John C. Campbell Folk School.  (Long-time Stacyverb readers may remember that this is where Adverb took a class in the art of kaleidoscope-making last fall.)  We had a nice time exploring the grounds of the Folk School, including this nice fence dedicated to the different arts.  These were two of my favorite panels.

This beautiful old barn on the Folk School grounds was looking very autumnal.  Someday I hope to return to the Folk School as a student myself.

A fun, relaxing weekend in North Carolina.  Batteries recharged, and ready for fall to come to Atlanta!

San Francisco, part 6: Local color

We conclude my San Francisco travelogue with some random shots of interesting stuff that just didn't really fit in any of the other posts.

San Francisco has lots of cool murals in many of its neighborhood.  This was one of my favorites, in some alley off of Valencia.

This one is cool because it is the whole front of someone's apartment or studio.

I met Cricket the poodle while shopping at this really amazing fabric store in Berkeley.  I loved how glamorous she looked here, riding in her shopping cart, with all the shiny fabrics behind her.  Her human told me Cricket had just come from the beauty parlor.

This tableau in the parking area at the Golden Gate Bridge cracked me up.

More wacky signage, this time in Japantown.  I love the graphics on these, especially the smiling shrimp on a platter.

More of the weirdness on offer in Japantown.  This was in the window of a crazy toy store.

Hustle and bustle in Chinatown.  This was our last day in San Francisco.

We also took a walk down by the piers on our last day.  (There's Adverb, in full-on tourist mode, by the lamp post.)

Later, we caught the red-eye back to Atlanta.  This was not a relaxing vacation by any means--it was stimulating, exciting and fun.  Thanks for letting me show you the highlights!

San Francisco, part 3: Golden Gate Park

On Saturday we BARTed to Embarcadero Station, where my friend Andrea picked us up.  Andrea and I became friends when she lived in Atlanta, before moving to S.F. a few years ago.  We all headed to Golden Gate Park for lunch, catching up, and seeing the sights.

 

This is a partial view of the park from the observation tower in the DeYoung Museum.  As you can see, it was quite foggy that day.  I'm sure the views from the tower on a clear day are spectacular.

 

I loved these carved sculptures from the DeYoung's Oceanic art collection.  They remind me of kooky creatures from a Tim Burton movie or something.

These wire sculptures by Ruth Asawa left me absolutely stunned.  The forms are so organic and yet carefully structured at the same time, and the way she utilized light and space as part of the work is utterly gorgeous.  In the photos, it's sometimes hard to tell which shapes are the actual pieces and which are their shadows.  I. love. these.

 

After the museum, we ventured out to the west end of the park to Ocean Beach.  Again, the fog obscured what would have been otherwise a gorgeous view, I'm sure.  There's Adverb, pensively gazing out at the Pacific.

 

As you can see from my hair here, it was also very windy that day.  But we made it work.  Thanks, Andrea, for a great afternoon!  Carry on.

San Francisco (and beyond), part 1: Schulz Museum

And...we're back.  Settle in now, dear readers, as I regale you with my travelogue.

Friday was our first full day in California.  We made a day trip north from our home base in the East Bay and headed toward Santa Rosa so Adverb could make an important pilgrimage.

 

Here we are crossing the Richmond Bridge into Marin County.  My normally land-locked self cannot resist taking pictures of water!

 

Our destination: the Charles M. Schulz Museum.  Adverb was excited to get his geek on and learn more about his cartooning idol.

 

This huge tile mural adorns the main wall as you enter the museum.  It looks cool from a distance, but it's even more impressive up close...

 

...because the whole mural is constructed from tiles depicting Peanuts comic strips.

 

Artist Yoshiteru Otani designed the mural using 3,588 ceramic tiles--about ten years worth of daily strips.  Impressive!

 

After touring the museum, we quaffed some root beers in the adjacent Warm Puppy Cafe.

Vermont Studio Center

Founded by artists in 1984, the Vermont Studio Center is the largest international artists' and writers' Residency Program in the United States, hosting 50 visual artists and writers each month from across the country and around the world.The Studio Center provides 4-12 week studio residencies on an historic 30-building campus along the Gihon River in Johnson, Vermont, a village in the heart of the northern Green Mountains.     

via www.vermontstudiocenter.org

This is me trying out my new "Blog It!" feature, which allows me to create a blog post with one click anytime I find a web site that interests me. It seems to be working. Cool.

I've known about the Vermont Studio Center for a long time, and have known some people who've done residencies there. I've been thinking about applying for it.

Random post of randomness

Yes, suddenly I reappear after two weeks of blog silence.  There hasn't been anything major to report (no news is good news, I guess), but here are some snippets of recent activities.

 

I got this little sweater ready for my cousin's new baby.  Cute, eh?  The yarn really did all the work here.  It's Mochi Plus, a new offering from Crystal Palace Yarns (now available at Decatur's own Sheepish).

 

My friend Melissa has hired me to create her "something new" for her upcoming wedding.  This is the design I've been working on for her earrings and necklace.

As always, there have been art parties to check out.  Here, Adverb lounges in the usual wacky atmosphere at Alcove. 

 

This fuzzy cat and her kitten have become regulars on our porch.  We have hopes (delusions?) of taming them so someone (preferably not us!) can adopt them, but so far they've resisted all our attempts to pet them.  They are getting braver, though--here they are peeking in the window at us.  Aren't they adorable?  Don't you want them?

 

I have great plans for one last summery sewing project, which so far looks like this.  Yeah, I haven't gotten very far.  I need to step it up because I want to wear the dress to...

 

...San Francisco.  Ten days and counting until we head west!

A-R-T and B-B-Q

Last night Adverb and I went out for a little art gallery hopping.  First stop: Mudfire pottery gallery.  It was opening night for Mug*Shots, an exhibit of drinking vessels.

I was very attracted to these striking black and white pieces by Karen Newgard.

Skull vessels by Steven G. Cheek.

Debra Fritts made this wonderfully strange little shot glass with the tongue sticking out.  This might be the face you make after doing your shot. :)

Before we could continue, we needed sustenance.  The legendary Daddy D'z on Memorial Drive fit the bill.  This metal pig sculpture and sign adorn the roof.  The black and white portrait below the pig is of Daddy D himself.

With full tummies, we moved on to the Brotherman Comics show at the Art on 5 gallery.

Adverb's pal Dawud Anyabwile is the mastermind behind Brotherman.  This guy is amazingly talented and quite a Renaissance man.  He even composed the music that played during the evening's festivities.

There was a slide show previewing the Brotherman graphic novel, currently in production and scheduled for release in 2010.

This was one of my favorite paintings in the show.  These pieces were enlarged panels from the comic books.  Dawud has done a fantastic job of creating a whole world for his characters in the fictional setting of Big City.

He even had a large map of the Big City Massive Transit System on exhibit.  I loved this little detail on the map key, especially the note about wheelchair accessibility.  Great job!

BIG TUNA party at Alcove

What's a great way to spend a Friday night on the east side?  Why, a party at Alcove, of course!  This time it was the gallery's sixth anniversary party (congratulations, Chris!), as well as the opening of the Big Tuna show, featuring artworks inspired by the work of David Lynch.  Fun and weirdness abounded.

Jon had a Blue Velvet moment, lip-synching to Roy Orbison.


Throughout the evening, trapeze girls performed above the crowd.

Fabulous!  Trapeze always looks like so much fun.  I wish I could do it.


Lynchian art on exhibit with film projected on the same wall--a multi-media extravaganza.

Dave and Anthony (Adverb) took it all in.  I love the painting above Dave's head, titled "Ear." ("Are you the one who found that ear?"  Heh.)

We rounded out the night with this performance by Duet For Theremin and Lap Steel (with trapeze accompaniment, of course).  Overheard in the crowd: "Wait a minute--is that Scott, my pharmacist, playing a theremin?!?"  The answer is yes...yes it is.  It was just that kind of a night. :)

Friday Jazz

As card-carrying members of the High Museum of Art, Adverb and I get free admission to the monthly Friday Jazz event.  This month we actually remembered it was happening and decided to check it out.

The jazz portion of the evening was provided by the Mace Hibbard Quintet.  (That's Mace on sax.)

In addition to the live band, drinks, and munchies, this event also gives attendees free run of the whole museum.  After grooving to the music, we strolled around looking at art and admiring the views of the city at night.

Claude Monet posed with a silly cardboard cutout of my husband.  Or was it the other way around?


I love how the museum and the grounds look lit up at night.  In this shot I tried to include the Rodin sculpture on the left, and the Calder mobile sculpture on the right.  (Click to enlarge.)


A beautiful night!

Monet and Misrach at the High

Today Adverb and I went to the High Museum of Art for the preview of two exhibitions: Monet Water Lilies and Richard Misrach: On The Beach.  (Click on photos to enlarge them.)

The Monet exhibition features four of the artist's important paintings of his water lily pond, produced near the end of his life when he was afflicted with cataracts.  The exhibition's highlight is the spectacular Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond, a triptych totaling 42 feet in length.  The picture I've shown here (photo from the Museum of Modern Art web site) is the left panel of the three.

The large scale of these paintings really lets you experience Monet's exquisite touch for capturing light, reflections, and movement in water.  I spent a lot of time studying the golden-peachy hues he used to convey the reflection of the clouds in the water.  These are peaceful paintings, although they represent water and light in constant motion and were produced at a time in Monet's life when his creativity underwent an upheaval due to his failing eyesight.

The Richard Misrach exhibition, On the Beach, provides an interesting counterpoint to the Monet paintings.  Both artists are representing water in their work, but Misrach's photographs depict a much more ominous look at water.  This photo, for example, Untitled 192-03, depicts several people wading in the Pacific.  (Misrach photos from Honolulu's The Contemporary Museum's web site.) 

The sheer scale of ocean vs. people, and the lack of horizon or shoreline in the photo, create an air of danger.  The humans look as if they are desperately fleeing from something.  Like Monet, Misrach makes great use of the way sunlight reflects off of water.  But in his contexts, the sun comes across as a scorching, inescapable force. 

Likewise, in Misrach's photos of people lying on the sand, the viewer gets the impression that these humans have lived through something catastrophic.  People lie in the fetal position, couples cling to one another, and again, the beach threatens to overwhelm them all.  The scale of these photographs (most are at least four to six feet high) forces us to look at the strangeness in the act of sleeping on the shore or plunging into the vastness of the ocean.  The results are both disturbing and beautiful.

Both Monet Water Lilies and Richard Misrach: On the Beach open to the public at the High on June 6.