The new world explorer discovers Columbus

I had yet another jam-packed week. I started out by preparing for my assaults on the every town named Columbus between Bloomington and New York (and New York had better watch out too!). The boys had their last day of school, which meant I had one last window of freedom to get things done until August. I started out by convincing my photographer, Tom Bertolacini, to come into town to do a quick photo shoot of my newest work before it left the studio. I also printed (thanks White Rabbit!) and packaged my note cards for upcoming shows. For that I got some help from the boys, who pack them in wrappers and put the price tag stickers on. All for a reasonable fee, of course, that will either go to Yu-gi-oh cards or a new pack of silly bands. On Wednesday I packed up some of my bigger pieces for an exhibit in the Phi Gallery at the Hotel Indigo in Columbus Indiana. While I was in town I did an interview with The Republic newspaper, which I think will be published in Thursday's paper. After a stop for ice cream at Zaharanko’s (a set-up tax for the boy’s cooperation) we raced back to Bloomington for dinner and packed up the monster rental van with all my art fair stuff. On Thursday morning we set out for the Columbus Arts Festival in Ohio under pretty blue skies. The set-up went smoothly, and I have to say that it was a beautifully organized show. I was impressed with the show coordination, the helpful and ubiquitous volunteers, the artist support facilities and the show planning efforts that made everything go smoothly. It’s an artists dream to participate in a show that well organized, especially for its size. The only thing that didn’t go as planned was the weather. Friday was off-and-on rainy, with storms in the distance. Saturday was dampened by torrential rains and thunderstorms that shut down the show for a couple of hours, but the booth held together and kept me dry. The worst part was that I left my needle-felting supplies at home so I didn’t have anything to work on. By late afternoon the weather cleared and the crowds came back. I had a lot of very interesting conversations, including some with former Bloomingtonians and people with some connection to my hometown. I’ve even ended up in someone else’s blog! One of the highlights was meeting a group of fiber artists from Cincinnati who said that drove up just to see my work—I felt so honored! We talked about the possibility of putting together a workshop next year, and I’m getting some ideas together for topics.

Of course, any show I do involves the travails of my road crew. They bring me food and keep me entertained with trick scooter riding and stories. While I watched the threatening skies on Friday, they partied at the Zoombezi Bay water park at the Columbus Zoo. They body surfed in the wave pool, rode the tubes in the lazy river, and defied certain death on the huge waterslides. The next day they went to the CoSI, the Columbus museum of Science and Industry, which was an easy scooter ride from the fair. I’m told the boys ran around like crazy and explored all the exhibits, wearing out their father in the chase plane. At least I got some of the leftover cheese pizza from lunch. On Sunday we packed up the moment the show closed and were back on the road by about 7:30. Everybody except the driver fell asleep on the way home (good job, Jim!), and we were all sound asleep in our own beds by midnight. To top off my adventures in Columbus, on Monday the boys and I had to drive back to Columbus Indiana to tie up a few odds and ends for the exhibit and the opening reception for "Touching Summer" which is on Thursday June 10 from 5:30 - 7 at the Phi Gallery in Hotel Indigo.

For now, I’m happy to be back home, enjoying the lilies flowering in the yard and gearing up to start a commission for a red-eyed tree frog piece for a patron in Columbus. Now that everything is done I’m looking for a celebratory dinner—I wonder if I’ll get pie!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

Beach Week 2010

What an awesome adventure! I just got back from a week with my family in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The highlights were fresh fish, good wine, exploring the area and splashing around in the surf. I even got some work done in quiet moments, although that qualifies as fun for me. With such a full week it’s hard to know where to begin!

I guess I’ll start with the art and fill in the rest. I made the conscious decision not to take my needle felting along. That spared me the suspicious looks I get at security checkpoints at the airport. I took pencil crayons and charcoal pencils, and I picked up rice paper at a local art supply shop. The felt tiles I’ve been working on were calling to me, so I took the chance to do some small studies in composition and color to decide which elements I want to commit to art pieces.
I practiced positioning colors in different sectors of the pieces to try to draw my eye in different ways. I was very much influenced by the nature scenes around me, so you’ll see a lot of sandy, grassy or wavy motifs. There are also a lot of seashell shapes, and even a wine bottle or two. Hmm, I wonder how that got in there? I’ll sift through what I have for use as templates for future tiles.

The weather this year was a little cooler and cloudier than past trips we’ve made. That sent us off to new adventures, such as a drive to Jockey’s Ridge State Park. This is the largest sand dune on the outer banks and a great place to climb. Actually, it’s a great place to climb up once, and an even better place for the kids to roll or run down the dunes. Everyone sleeps better at night when that happens! We also did a couple of trips to mini-golf courses. This year I came out with the lowest scores on both trips! The bad news is that the winner has to buy ice cream for the family, so I’m on notice until I pay off one more debt. Later in the week we had a couple of sunny, warm days where we drove to the beach by the Currituck lighthouse. There’s a great beach beyond the dunes for kid-friendly swimming. The boys spent most of their time body surfing or riding a boogie board we found at our rental house, while I guarded the blanket and kept the ghost crabs at bay. They’re fun to watch emerge when things quiet down around you to clear the sand out of their hole. That’s a heroic task on a windy, sandy beach, but they seem up to it. I managed to do some shell collecting too. Mostly I collected small, polished fragments that might well become fish skeletons. And to cap off each long day of exploring, a trip to the hot tub on the back deck was a great way to unwind.

When vacationing on the outer banks, eating fresh seafood is part of the equation for us. This year we discovered Carawan’s seafood market and got fresh tuna, redfish and flounder. Each ended up as a delightful meal, culminating with a pan-seared tuna with toasty garlic, onion and lime in the mix. We ate it with fresh bread and a nice Ganache, based on the advice of our new best friend Chip at Chip’s Wine and Beer Market in Kill Devil Hills. Chip taught us about matching different kinds of food with wine based on which part of the palate you taste the wine, and he taught us to value growing climate over grape varietal when making a selection. We learned a lot and had a lot of fun chatting with Chip. He has a tremendous selection and his shop is a must-stop site for wine drinkers on the outer banks.

Well, all good things must come to an end, and our week on the sand and in the surf is no exception. On our drive back to Norfolk we did stop in at the Botanical Gardens next to the airport. It’s well worth the trip, with hundreds of rose varieties in bloom, a native garden, flowering trees, a kids garden, a butterfly enclosure, a coniferous garden, a half-hour tram ride—it’s just a great place to spend the day. But now that I’m back I have to shift my artist persona into high gear. I’ll be hanging a show Wednesday in the Phi Gallery at the Hotel Indigo in Columbus, Indiana (the reception is June 10 from 5:30-7:00 pm.). Then later this week I head for Ohio to participate in the Columbus Arts Festival this weekend. It’s my first time in the show so I’m excited to see how it plays out. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin