Mostly boat and ship portraits, eagles and other marine art come out of my shop. I am as much interested in the philosophy of what I do as I am in the art and technique.
A twelve-step program for compulsive tool buyers might help. But I have a thing about being away from my tools for meetings. Just taking the time to write this keeps me away from browsing the Lee Valley site, not to mention Rockler, Woodcraft, and Highland Woodworking.
A shop with all the tools neatly racked, and no chips are like a clean desk—a sign of a sick mind.
He made it clear over the following months that while I was his buddy, she was his "mom."
it was the reek of pure Old Woodsman. Over the long lifespan of the boat, gallons must have been spilled in it, because no amount of restoration would ever remove all that smell.
Sitting on the float, I could look at my reflection in the water. If I shifted focus, I could see the thousands of small jellyfish swarming around the float and the nearby wharf.
Please, If you speak a local English variant, hold onto it, cherish it and make sure your kids learn it. Don't allow the "standard" to swamp the individual beauty of your voice.
The old saying goes that free advice is worth what you pay for it.
The problem with imagination is that it's boundless. On the wall is a poster telling you that you can do it if you can imagine it. Don't take it too literally.
I have to quit driving straight through from North Carolina to Massachusetts in one go. The fifteenth hour of driving is the worst.
Listen, candy is sweet, but you can't make a steady diet of it.
"Glory is fleeting. But obscurity is forever."
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." Lao Tzu
I needed a break from writing, So here is a short summer time video. I hope it helps put you in a relaxed mood
No pay or slow pay. The wonderful world of small business debt collection.
Periodically the landlord, other tenants, the current resident feature of the Teahead's affection, caused a general eviction.
Some people never learn.
"Queequeg was a native of Kokovoko, an island far away to the West and South. It is not down in any map; true places never are." Herman Melville
the Teahead of the August Moon- thought a poet and psychic would be an exciting addition to our menagerie of odd bits and pieces.
There are three varieties of kale in the garden
It was before email. The web was a very primitive concept barely imagined. Yes, this happened a long, long time ago.
Take the good from twenty, cherish the memories, and then get moving.
I like to believe that unlike the later hippie phenomena, Folkies were diverse as a group.
An old saying says, "Keep your eye on the donut, not on the hole." Well, this time, I was deep into hole territory. A simple build turned major construction.
Be thankful for your friends.
There was no doubt. It was a piggish indulgence. We sat, each of us holding a pint of ice cream and a jelly jar of maple syrup. Said Bill, " …and as Saint Augustine said…it was wicked, but I loved it." I just nodded my palate and brain, too frozen to speak in return.
If your play is your business, you have to take care that the fun remains in the mix - or you might find yourself doing something you hate.
Closer than family?
Because of the good and bad of the design, it's a piece I love and hate.
What's the old saying? If wishes were horses, beggars would ride? Well if you were hitching around in the 1960's you wished a lot and sometimes rode.
But, "Always remember, Louis. Nothing is free."
Here's my advice: bend, twist, spindle, and mutilate.
My mentors were just that, mentors. Several couldn't afford the expense that having an actual apprentice would cost; others were not interested. But then by the 1960s, the old apprenticeship programs in crafts like carving were gone.
It's nice to be remembered.
Careful is not a word in the official governmental vocabulary. Procedural is.
We'd remember this night and laugh about it years from now. Yeah, Right.
That's right, the booze-filled evenings with crazy dance tapes. Dancing till four AM, even if it was sometimes with enemies, was normal. Tomorrow in the colloquium was tomorrow. Tonight we danced our unity as a tribe.
There was a tradition when I was in the Navy of the "Short-Timers Rope." The rope, or sometimes chain, had as many knots ( or links) as remained in the sailor's enlistment. At the end of each day, a knot, or link, was cut off. I saw this happen at meals.
National Maritime Day - May 22, 2020
Names have consequences.
Just a few weeks ago, I was talking about bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, and trout lily. Those early ephemeral spring flowers are gone as I write this in mid-May. They come and go as things warm up and as the days become longer.
We make haste slowly.
In January, I started what I thought to be a quick project for a portrait of the halibut Schooner Republic. There was not much online where I began, and even less available in terms of print sources. My collection at home also came up dry. I was able to complete the project in March but wished that I had better documentation.
Accuse someone of having poor skills as a sailor. Accuse them of being a lousy cook. Accuse them of stupidity. But, the worse thing you can do is stick the Jonah label on anyone. It's like a stripe of paint down your back. It holds and ruins your reputation.
Clancy was a bloodsport type of cat. If no other cat or dog were available to pick on, he'd pick on me.
Free is a dangerous word, and worse, it's a slippery concept. Why? Well, it opens the path for the abuse of generosity.
I am not a super fan of Bob Dylan, but a line from one of his songs has always summed it up for me: " He not busy being born is busy dying." Grow, change, keep being born.
New England spring is not extravagant. Miss something today, and it'll be a year before you see it again. Don't waste time; Spring is fast.
Advice can be a curious thing. Especially when the same advice comes from sources that would seem to be juxtaposed.
Sometimes you have to be careful with debt collection methods.
keep your dollar in your pocket, and never say never.
When I lived on or traveled to coastal Maine in the seventies, I was tied closely to my wife's home town by bonds created by that marriage. Back at the university, I was for studying for a career in anthropology. In Maine, I was understudying for the Cap'n on board his 34 foot ketch, being introduced as his son, and learning how to fit in.
It's been decades. But every time I visit Portland, it's inevitable that I'll think about those cookies. Losing a good friend is always hard, but losing a great molasses cookie. That's tragic.
"Lo, how the mighty have fallen."
Many artist's statements are full of hyperbole, vague statements, and references to famous people that no one has read, but that they heard about in an art history course. The artist's statement Bill's friends had provided avoided most of that. It was modest. We changed that.
Writer & editor
Journal
Grumpliciousness
This WordPress.com site is Pacific War era information
Je gratte, donc je suis
This blog is a selection of interesting things I've come across during my history research. I have a wide interest in history ranging from Wars of the Roses, country houses, Stuarts, Georgians, Louis XIV, Napoleon and criminals. So expect to see a bit of everything on here.
Discover and re-discover Mexico’s cuisine, culture and history through the recipes, backyard stories and other interesting findings of an expatriate in Canada
The observations of actor, author, comedian, critic, director, humorist, journalist, m.c., performance artist, playwright, producer, publicist, public speaker, songwriter, and variety booker Trav S.D.
The little and large things making my life delicious!
Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
Musings from the Mountains
Everyday Thoughts and Musings
Write here, write now.
life in rural New Brunswick, Canada
Dedicated to the study & appreciation of wooden boats. WaitemataWoodys® was founded upon a desire to tell the stories & a need to archive the history of our classic wooden boats, the craftsman who built them & characters that owned & crewed on them. To share - email your photos, video's & stories to Flora McKenzie at waitematawoodys@gmail.com - Special thanks to marine author & historian Harold Kidd. Click the follow button at the bottom right of the page to get email alerts on new & updated stories. WW gets a LOT of emails every day - we like that, but sometimes we just can't answer them all, it's not that we're lazy or rude - just busy working on the next story :-) alan houghton - WW founder ©2020
scenes from the sixth boro and gallivants beyond by any and all the crew
Our Little Patch of Woods in Downeast Maine
