Turnout for last weekend’s studio tour was lighter than I was hoping for, but enough people braved the gorgeous fall weather to make for a couple of days of interesting folks, engaging conversation, and some decent art sales. Thank you all for stopping by!
Gerret leads a group up the hill to the gallery.
Leaves after Matisse in the woods.
Blurry cell phone shot (to protect the innocent) of folks in the yurt gallery at the top of the hill.
My new banners are now installed in the woods just in advance of the Alamance Studio Tour this weekend. (October 15-16) The leaves are starting to turn, the forecast is excellent, and I’m expecting thousands upon thousands of visitors.
Because my Kickstarter campaign overachieved its goal, I was able to add seven banners instead of the original six. Here’s some pix of the new work in situ:
Leaves after Miro
Leaves after Cezanne
Leaves after Picasso
Leaves after Matisse
Leaves after Gericault
Leaf after Klee
While I am not the sort who would wish anything that might rush winter, I’m very interested to see how banners change in their settings as the trees turn color in fall, and, especially, how the last one, “Leaf after Klee” looks in the snow.
By my count that’s nearly 30 banners that are now hanging around the woods here, in addition to the canvas prints in the yurt gallery. So come on by the 15th and 16th or any other time (but please call ahead).
Gerret and Maggie have both reached that level of maturity that makes dog companionship so enjoyable. So we took them on their first real car trip vacation to the Outer Banks. Of course it could not go uncommented on by The Gerret.
While I’m not sure it had much impact on Wall Street or the foreign markets, I’m pleased to say the economy is a bit brighter around these parts since my Kickstarter campaign has successfully reached its goal. Thanks to all of you who became backers and ambassadors. I hope to see you all out here in the woods once the new banners are installed.
And if you’ve been meaning to back the project because you wanted a print or a banner or an ambassadorship, it’s not too late. The project is open until Wednesday, September 21 at 1:00 p.m. All backer rewards are still available at all levels. For me, if the campaign goes past the goal, I’ll add more banners to the gallery. Just follow this link:
We’re a ways inland from the shore here at Bourbon, Dogs and Art, North Carolina. So even though they call North Carolina “hurricane alley” you might say we’re over on the next block. In the past we’ve prepared for a number of hurricanes, and sometimes it mattered and sometimes it didn’t. It’s that first hurricane where you should have cared but didn’t that sets the tone for the rest.
At any rate, if you’re living on the East Coast right now there’s no more overused phrase than “batten down the hatches” as Hurricane Irene heads up the coast.
What actually are battens you might ask? They’re slim strips of wood used to secure a tarp over a hatch on a boat as a storm approaches, or as you approach a storm. But over time it’s come to mean, “get yer shit together… NOW.”
So here we battened our hatches as has become our habit since we arrogantly tried to ride out Hurricane Fran in a travel trailer back in ’95. And now Hurricane Irene is headed north and not much happened here at Bourbon, Dogs and Art. We got some wind and some nasty gusts that brought some limbs down, and some rain but no downpours. But our preparations would only seem like overkill if you’re a rookie. (What’s a rookie? Someone who can’t believe there isn’t a flashlight battery available within 100 miles 48 hours before the storm is due. Sucker.)
Anyway, enough foreplay.
As you might know, I’m working on a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to print more woodland banners. As the wind started whipping up I figured it might be educational to document how the current banners handle an approaching storm. So me, The Gerret and Maggie (the dogs) took a walk. Shot some video.
I was trying to create a rather foreboding video as the tall pines whipped back and forth in the wind and the banners held on for dear life.
But Gerret and Maggie weren’t really with the program.
To digress for a moment, if you were following the news earlier this week there was that rare East Coast earthquake followed by a human interest story about how all the animals in the DC zoo reacted in advance of the event. Well in this case, Gerret and Maggie went out of their way to eschew my personal sense of drama and make it clear that there was nothing to fear but showing up late for dinner.
So here you see our version of Hurricane Irene, the woodland banners and the dogs.
Bourbon, Dogs and Art is a blog by Steven Durland. It is mainly about bourbon, dogs and art (and chickens). BDA is also the name of his art studio. More about that and other bits of practical information available at durland dot com.
We’re a ways inland from the shore here at Bourbon, Dogs and Art, North Carolina. So even though they call North Carolina “hurricane alley” you might say we’re over on the next block. In the past we’ve prepared for a number of hurricanes, and sometimes it mattered and sometimes it didn’t. It’s that first hurricane where you should have cared but didn’t that sets the tone for the rest.