Loads of Flowers and Wishful Thinking

It was minus eleven when I got out of bed this morning, so what better way to beg for mercy than to post a garden scene on a 25 by 20 inch window.  Oh please oh please Ms. mother nature, could you turn up the heat just a little back here in Minnesota?  Happy New Year!

Smith Tower, Seattle, Washington

The Smith Tower in Seattle is sort of that city's version of the Foshey Tower in Minneapolis.  Both buildings look a bit alike, but how they are most similar is both were the tallest building in their respective city back in the 1970's, and in both cases that is far from the case today.  Seattle has built up around the Smith and Minneapolis has built up around the Foshey.

Well anyway, now complete on a 9 by 20 inch frame, a glass mosaic of the Smith Tower, Seattle, Washington.  Merry Christmas everybody!

Flowers and Weeds on a Very Cold Day

Just completed this flower and dandelion design on an old basement window for a coworker.

Rooooooooow Houses and a Wee Town

I haven't had a lot of time to mosaic lately, but another Wee Town and a very large, 62 x 18 inch to be exact, row house is now done.  This thing is so large I had a lot of difficulty properly photographing it.

Jellyfish and Some Friends

Perhaps two years ago, I set a Patron tequila bottle upright on a kiln shelf curious to see the end result (normally bottles are laid on their side in a kiln).  Almost immediately upon retrieval, that Patron bottle looked to me to be a future jellyfish.

Though it would need to wait on a basement table for quite some time, that jellyfish has finally come to life on a large old window of 31x30 inches.

My Map of the World Hangs in the Roseville High School Library

This morning I received a picture of my Map of the World mosaic on an old storm window, as it now hangs in its new home.  It took me well over a month to finish this piece last summer, and it was purchased by Roseville High School soon after the LOLA art crawl.  The picture below is of the piece as it now hangs in their library.

It's a real honor to think of the future generations of high school students that will view my creation.  Thank you Roseville High School.

Bukowski on Love and Death and Glass-O-Lantern is Back in His Perch

Bukowski is quoted on an old double hung window

and it's October, Glass-O-Lantern again hangs in front of my house

The Uptown Bar, Minneapolis

Because the world must have another Apple store.

For decades, Minneapolis bands played the Uptown Bar's tiny stage on their way up.  Most played there hoping to one day graduate to playing the much larger (and legendary) stage at First Avenue.  But in the process, that little stage at the Uptown also became legendary.  The Replacements played there many times.  As did the Jayhawks, the Hoopsnakes, Run Westy Run, and a million or so other local bands.  Some good, and some not so much. 

National acts on their way to stardom played there too.  To name just a few, Jeff Buckly, Uncle Tupelo, The Flaming Lips, The Screaming Trees, UK Subs, and Nirvana.  I believe Nirvana actually played there more than once.

In an earlier blog post, I talked of a 1996 encounter my friend and I had with Charlie Harper of punk band, UK Subs, in a night club in Prague.  We arrived for their show early that night and found ourselves spending quite a bit of time chatting with the very friendly singer.  When he asked where I was from and I said "Minneapolis," he started telling a story of playing a show in Minneapolis, but he couldn't remember at which venue.  As I was about to say "probably First Avenue," but before I could finish my sentence, he said, "before the show they fed the band and me a fantastic meal at the bar."  To which I immediately corrected myself saying "then it most definitely was not First Avenue."  Anyway, as we ticked off the list of possibilities, I said "The Uptown Bar" and he said, "that's it!  It was the Uptown Bar!"

Personally, I saw a few shows there.  But I definitely missed the bar's musical hay day of the 1980's, being that I was just a bit too young.  I recall seeing local all female band, Zuzu's Petals, play there in the early 1990's.  Lead singer, Laurie Lindeen, went on to marry Replacements lead, Paul Westerberg.  And she obtained her MFA in writing from the University of Minnesota, before writing the book, Petal Pusher, detailing her days in the band.  I loved that book!  I also saw Chicago one-hit-wonder, Veruca Salt, play the Uptown just as they were preparing to rocket to super stardom.  Except it didn't work out that way, they fizzled and broke up not long after I saw them.

But times change, and The Uptown bar is no longer in existence.  Nor is the building that once housed it.  People do still line up in front the building that now stands in place of The Uptown, though now it is just for the privilege of owning the new iPhone.

Now in glass, on an old window of 49 by 38 inches, The Uptown Bar

Houses on the Street

Another LOLA is now in the rear view mirror and with that I took a few days away from my basement, glass, and old wooden windows. 
But I did get another piece going after a few days off, and it is now complete.  On an old window pulled from the bottom of a construction dumpster in St. Paul.  It's aproximatly 30 by 30 inches, and it is Houses on the Street.  Thanks for checking it out.

LOLA 2013 And I heart MPLS

Shots from LOLA 2013.  It was beyond hot, but the people still came.  Thanks to all who did, see you next year!

The Flag Has Been Raised, It Is Officially LOLA weekend!

The flag as it now proudly flies over my little library. It's LOLA weekend, 10 AM- 5 PM, Saturday and Sunday.  For all the details such as maps, directions, and the artists themselves, click the following link http://lolaartcrawl.com/

 A couple of new pieces in just under the wire.  On a charming little window delivered to my door, a maple with swing.  Approximately 24 by 24 inches.

Though difficult to discern color in this picture, a slightly larger window and a pink flower rebel.  See you tomorrow!

LOLA is Coming and a Whole bunch of New Pieces Finished

LOLA is this weekend (8/24 and 8/25, 10 AM to 5 PM)!  Yikes!  I have been working like a dog to finish a few new pieces before the big weekend.  And this year LOLA is huge, over 150 artists!  Please visit the LOLA website for all the details including maps, directions, and the artists themselves http://lolaartcrawl.com/

And now, pieces I finished this past weekend:

"Japan" on old window, 24 by 24 inches

It had been some time since I did any 4x6 inch pieces, but I completed four over the weekend.  I have about 20 of these for sale during LOLA, just $25 each.

My dad drops by with little frames for me from time to time.  He makes them out of scrap wood he or I have laying around, and they usually turn out to be quite charming.  Below is one such piece, flowers in the grass, 19x 22 inches.

 

And finally, my brother-in-law and I were unloading some construction scrap at the dump a couple of weeks ago when I spied this fantastic window.  It is quite large, 53 by 24 inches, and rather perfect for what I wanted to do.  Rescued from the dump, rock and roll people!

Kid Vicious

From the depths of a construction dumpster, a large weathered window.
And now, Kid Vicious!

Martin Mull on Writing and Dancing

I love this Martin Mull quote.  So much so that it is now in glass on a full-sized window

Bukowski, Houses on the Street, and the One Month Warning

Charles Bukowski offers his advice, 13 by 13 inches 

 

 

Houses on the street, 15 by 39 inches

 

 

And a little reminder that the LOLA art crawl is just one month away from this coming weekend.  The link to the website is here http://lolaartcrawl.com/

We are a couple of days away from the LOLA site being updated with all of this years information, but I wanted to mark the one-month-out point.  Something like 170 artists this year.  Wow! 

So check the LOLA link in the coming days for all the details of this years event.  And as the date draws more near, I will be posting updated LOLA information here as well.

 

Big Red Flowers

Flowers on a weathered window, 36 by 26 inches

Flowers in Bottles and The World

Many say God took just six days to create the world and everything in it.  Let me state a new appreciation for his incredibly efficient pace.  I have now finished just a map of the world on a large old storm window, 47 by 34 inches, and it took me well over a month.  I am very happy to be done.

So here it is, in glass, the world

More flowers in bottles

Little Red House on the Hill and Yet Another Rebel

A red flower rebel, 28x27 inches

And a little red house on the hill, 22x23 inches.  Happy Independence Day everybody!

Bono and the Blind

Reportedly, in the year 1546, a man named John Heywood proclaimed "There is none so blind as those who will not see."  So obviously Bono of U2 cannot be credited alone as the creator of his lyric "no one is blinder than he who will not see" from the song I Threw a Brick Through a Window, off the October album.  But it was Bono who introduced me (and likely much of the world) to this fantastic quote. So for this reason I pay homage to U2 here, Bono specifically.

There is just nothing like old U2.  Boy, War, October, such great albums ("albums" intended since they are of that era).  I love their oldest recordings on a rainy Fall day.  Or a cold day in winter. And then there's the Joshua Tree CD (probably one of the first CD's I ever purchased).  It came out in 1987, the year I graduated high school.  Oh the memories. <Sigh>

So, a great Bono (with a little help) lyric now in glass on a full-sized window.

Row Houses and Cool New Lights for My City

A new set of row houses on a full-sized window from the 1960's I believe.

 

 

 

And a friend of mine picked up these super cool lights for me.  A long time ago I made a large cityscape mosaic and it hangs in the dining room of my house.  These lights allow for many different settings, and a video of that in action is what you see below.  I admit the video quality is not the best.  But it is so cool at night when the room is dark and the lights fade in and out in the background. 

 

Japan

Just back from a couple weeks in Japan.  We spent most of our time cruising the far north of the country, the area in which my wife was born.  While in that region, we spent some time in the beautiful coastal city of Ofunato.   Along with its beauty, Ofunato is also one of the towns hit very hard by the tsunami of 2011.  And it was the tsunami and an opportunity to volunteer there, with Habitat for Humanity, that took us to Ofunato. 

Before leaving home I made a few of the 4x6 inch Japanese flag mosaics, similar to those I sold as a fundraiser for the Japanese town of Mashiko, Japan back in 2011.  The plan for these Japanese flag mosaics was really just to give them away to people as we visited the region.  And that is what I did.

One of the mosaics was given to the owner of an izakaya (sort of a Japanese pub) by the name of Engawa.  We dined there one night, had an amazing meal and an awesome time. The owner of Engawa lost her previous business, a hair salon, to the Tsunami when the entire building was washed away.  So as not to be kept down for long, she and her 85 year-old mother chose to reopen this fantastic izakaya.  What a great time we had there.  And she seemed really happy to have the mosaic, which in turn made me happy as well.

Another mosaic was placed in what has become an Ofunato tsunami museum of sorts.  A local carpenter in Ofunato has been collecting items found after the Tsunami, with which he then built the museum/play house for local kids to explore (shown below).   I took a couple pictures of my little mosaic from the inside as it now hangs in the structure.

I also gave a mosaic to some friends we made in Ofunato, Ken-san, Ishihara-san, and Yoshiko-san, while working with Habitat.  Thanks to them for contributing to a really rewarding experience.

And a larger version, about 27 x 12 inches, made from wood off our old cedar fence.  I brought this along and it now hangs in the window at the in-laws in Hachinohe, Japan (pictured below).

Dragon City Cafe

Dragon City Cafe, 43rd and East Lake Street, Minneapolis.  Been serving up chow...........mein in Longfellow for a long long time.  Now in glass on a window, 25x14 inches.

No Goose For You

Flowers in a jar and a bottle of calamity.