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.

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!