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.

Glass Wars

Glass Endeavors, a shop in my neighborhood, has their annual glass competition this week.  Viewing starts Tuesday, April 23rd, is open to the public, and runs through the final reception on Saturday, April, 27th.  I've entered two of my "dive bars" into this years show, Nye's and Bunker's (seen below).  If interested in checking out the show and voting for your favorite (which does not have to be mine), all the information you need is here http://www.glassendeavors.com/2013artshow.htm

If this week you find yourself in the vicinity of Lake Street and Minnehaha, South Minneapolis, stop in and have a look.

Tschida Bakery

              "I owe it all to little chocolate donuts."

                                             --John Belushi

Tschida Bakery existed over on Rice Street, St. Paul, Minnesota, for something like 70 years.  It closed its doors in 2012 when the present owners decided to retire.  More than a few people miss that place, and one such person asked me to recreate it in glass.  Now complete, 29x27 inches in size.

RIP Tschida Bakery

  
As it now sits in its new home

Show Me the Honey!

Honey and Syrup. 

And let me also say this, it is completely unacceptable that now end of March and I have to find Spring in my unfinished cellar (via the completion of Spring themed mosaic).

Come on Mother Nature, it's almost April for Pete's sake!  Spring by this point should be provided.  Lord knows we earned it.

Honey, approximately 25x23 inches

Syrup, 20x9 inch

Tree Limb/Greenery/Spring, What a Concept

To be installed over the front door of a co-worker's house.  A very large (66 x 22 inch, weighs 40 lbs.) tree limb with budding greenery.  Sort of looks like Spring. 

Spring.  A concept I assure you we know very little about here in Minnesota today.
End of March and we wake up to about 5 degrees.  So sick of that!

Hope and the Wee City Says Drink Your Milk

Give Us Wings is an organization dedicated to helping the people of Kenya and Uganda overcome issues related to poverty.  For their annual silent auction fundraiser this year, I am honored to be able to contribute the following window.  Here's to hoping someone swoops in, spends a lot of money for the piece, and goes home happy.  And hopeful.  You can have a look at the Give Us Wings website here http://new.giveuswings.org/

 

And another wee city, approximately 10 x 8 inches.  Drink your milk!

 

 

"Well Ain't This Place a Geographical Oddity. Two Weeks From Everywhere."

 A large old storm window, 47 by 34 inches.

Gin and Juice

A small window, 24 by 28 inches.  A Coke bottle, a gin bottle, and some long-stem flowers. 

Dylan on Money and Hamm's in the Wee Town

Money and Swearing, 15 by 22 inch

Hamm's in Wee Town, 7 by 17 inch

Little Red

A little red cabin by the lake for a coworker with a little red cabin by the lake.

Punk and a Red Flower Rebel

Punk, 27x24 inches

The Rebel, 34x28 inches

Drunk Bob Dylan, A Bottle of Dandelion, and The Wee City of Peace

Several pieces completed over the weekend.  First, Mr. Bob Dylan on a full sized window:

Next, an 11"x7" bottle of Dandelion

And finally, a couple wee cities, one, the wee city of Peace

Row Houses and another Wee City

Row houses on an old storm window, 28 by 47 inches.

And another wee city of 6 by 8 inches.  Happy New Year everybody!

Junket: Tossed and Found

Have you been to super cool new vintage store, Junket: Tossed and Found? 

Owner, Julie Kearns, is being so kind as to allow me to hang a few windows in her place.  She's open every other weekend.  She has lots of great stuff.  Here's to hoping all stop in and check them out.

Address:  4047 Minnehaha Ave S, Minneapolis-Longfellow

For hours and details visit her site here: http://www.facebook.com/junkettossedandfound

Some of my windows as they hang at Junket:





Leonard Cohen

In the very early 1990's, I worked as a bellman at the Whitney Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.  We were really the only upscale hotel in town at that time, so we got all the musicians, actors, and general celebrities.  My goodness, that was a fun place for a college kid to work.  Anyway, one early afternoon I was summoned to the room of Mr. Leonard Cohen.  He and his then girlfriend, actress Rebecca De Mornay, had laundry that would need to go out.


After arriving at their room, we spent a few minutes chatting as they sorted their clothes.  How cool it was to be there, just the three of us (I wonder if he and Ms. De Mornay remember it as fondly as I do).  Anyway, Leonard Cohen, one of the world's great songwriter/poets called me "man" perhaps 50 times, "hey man,"  "thanks man," "how you doin' man?"  After a few minutes I was handed five identical button-down gray, Dickies style "work" shirts , all monogrammed in script with  Leonard Cohen over the left pocket.

Leonard Cohen, nice guy, genius.   And I love this quote, now in glass on a beat up old window:

Bottles and Flowers

I've had this piece going in my basement, in some way, shape, or form, for approximately one year.  I'd started and stopped it over and over again.  Well it's finally done. And I am happy with the way in which it turned out.