Second Time Around…

See, you never know…I was surprised, when I had to search my own blog to jog the memory banks, that it was four years ago when the hubcap arrived at my studio door.
If you click on the images below it will take you on the journey which that dear Chevy disc traveled, from side of the road, where the imagination of Ken Marquis picked it, and about a thousand other hubcaps, up…and had an idea, The Landfill Art Project.

Then,

hubcap-arrives

to the hands of this artist,

hubcap-e1290437669712

and the whims of the muses,

the-mechanic-detail72

to … a MUSEUM ?

Yes, that’s right. That thoughtful, coffee swilling mechanic was tagged to be in select  group of hubcaps, which were chosen to represent the Landfill Project …Over a thousand hubcaps which were painted and welded and sandblasted and otherwise tweaked by hundreds of different artists from around the world.

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is the opening venue for this touring show.
Here’s a link to their website page… Click Here

Second Time Around: The Hubcap as Art will Open this coming weekend, September 7th with an opening party on the 6th.

They have a video  trailer for the exhibition and I’m posting the link here… Hubcap Art Video

As Ted would say… ” that’s sorta fun”
and I’m honored to be included in the launch of this very “green” and groovy project. There are some wild and crazy,  and thought provoking, interpretations on the theme which were well worth putting down the wrench, pouring a cup of coffee and sitting down at the computer for a restful purusal between oil changes.

You just never know.

Fair Week

The-Grange

It’s fair week on the Vineyard.
An agricultural throw back to the old thyme days of preserves and pies and pig races and winning flower arrangements.
I’ve heard the pigs are out this year, lemurs are in ?
And I’ve got some preserving of my own to do around here.

But somehow, some day, it’s on my bucket list
to attend the fair.

Racing through the summer…

Today was the perfect summer day.
A cool morning spent waiting for the sunlight, to break through the ash tree’s canopy, and  settle just where I wanted it on the clotheslines, which had been strung with a white cotton sheet, and clipped with Ted’s pin…Herself, as model, went about watering the garden beds in between bursts of light, and I spent the time picking asparagus beetles off of the fronds.

Then, Finn and Herself headed up to the park for a walk, while I headed inside to work up the sketch, and review the photos, before a quick sanding on the studio porch to get the panel ready.

Then I heard the beep of a text to ask if I wanted ice cream for lunch…and off we went for a beautiful drive through the high summer hills and that rich creamy Reeser’s cone of bliss.

Then a spur of the moment stop at the Old Trail Variety Store on the way home, where we always find something we don’t need but might someday find it’s way into a painting or two. Today it was a couple of old hand forged cooking tools and some impossibly deep red drinking glasses. Stay tuned there.

Home to a dry panel ready for the first pass of paint, and a chat with neighbor Sue who was kindly mowing our lawn and smiling at her grandchildren who had arrived to swim and romp through her yard like kids used to do on a summer’s day. And off went She Who Must Swim, up to the lake, for her afternoon adventures.

A few hours of peaceful painting…and now it is late, but the sky refuses to give up the day, and, having checked in with the Vineyard Gazette for news of the island, I read that today was the running of the Chilmark Road Race.

Since this year’s show included the painting, The Road Race, I thought it was time to check back in here and connect those dots.

The Road Race

I just love the hometown feeling of this summer island event. And the winners get 5 lb lobsters ! That almost makes me want to…well…no. But here’s a taste of victory…

Pot Luck

I’m headed home now, the log cabin is hosting movie night and I’m in charge of the popcorn. Here’s hoping you have had at least a handful of these summer days to add to the memories…
Here’s a link to the full article about the race, but I’ve copied it here to read.

Click Here to Read Article…

Fleet Feet And Tradition Are Heart of Chilmark Road Race

  • Ivy Ashe
  • Saturday, August 9, 2014 – 6:14pm

– See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/09/fleet-feet-and-tradition-are-heart-chilmark-road-race?k=vg537f3e3453436#sthash.5bf82Ivt.dpuf

Sheridan Wilbur, 17, of North Smithfield, R.I., woke up at 5:20 on the morning of the 37th annual Chilmark Road Race. She piled into a car with her family and they drove to Woods Hole. There was a bus from the parking lot, the boat ride over, a bus to Chilmark and finally a bus to the starting line of the race.

After that Sheridan needed only her feet, crossing the finish line in a brisk 18:24.55 to earn the top women’s time in the race, placing 13tth overall. Though the rising high school senior has taken first place in her age group before in her four years of running the route, she’d never won the whole thing. But on Saturday morning, she finished with both a victory and a personal best.

“I was running with another woman for the first two miles,” she said after the win. “I started to break away from her then.” The famous hills of the topographically challenging race start to appear at about that point, but as Sheridan said, “As soon as you get to the top, you have the ocean view and you think, oh, the finish is close.

“It was cool just to break the tape.”

David Melly, 21, of Newton, knows exactly what it’s like to break the tape too. The winner of the 2011 race, Mr. Melly blazed to a sub-16-minute finish (15:43.31) to take first place once again. A rising senior at Cornell University, where he competes on the cross country and track squads, Mr. Melly said his familiarity with the course helped secure the win.

“In this race I was pretty much just chilling in second place until the last mile,” he said. “The hills become your friend. You can use them to your advantage.” In the final stretch, everyone has the same advantage: the packs of cheering spectators on both sides of the road, forming a veritable tunnel of support.

“That’s so much fun,” Mr. Melly said. “More than anything else, I think that’s why I keep doing this. It’s the best finish. It’s very, very gratifying.”

As per tradition, the winners of the men’s and women’s races collected massive five-pound lobsters from Larsen’s Fish Market as their prizes. The winners of the kids’ divisions each earned a pair of chicken lobsters. When nine-year-old Jack Lionette of Chilmark stepped up to collect his first-place lobsters, race organizer Hugh Weisman noted the “pretty amazing” time nine-year-old Jack had run: 19:58.

“Holy smokes,” someone in the crowd said. “Damn,” said another.

Jack, who also won his age division last year, said he was “definitely trying to break sub-20,” and had been “sprinting the whole way.” He credited part of his success to a pre-race dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, and ultimately has his sights set on the course record itself (14:38).

Though Jack was the youngest Vineyarder to cross the line first, Michael Schroeder, 19, of West Tisbury took the top overall spot for Islanders, finishing 11th with a time of 18:14.8. Emma Mushnick, 26, of Vineyard Haven, posted the fastest Vineyard time in the women’s race, running a 20:46.85 to take 61st overall and third in her age group.

This year’s field was the largest in race history, with more than 1,600 entrants completing the 5K course. Some were familiar faces, like the purple-shirted MacMaster clan from Pennsylvania. This year, 29 MacMasters took part in the day’s events.

“This year we’re stretching it into in laws,” Keegan Skidmore, 31, said before the race. Mr. Skidmore is himself a recent MacMaster in law, and did the family proud by placing seventh overall and second in his age group.

One group wore pink tutus and matching antennae-like headbands, which complemented the official black race shirts they wore.

“It’s our 10th year running it this year,” said Jessica Donahue. “Last year, when we were running it we decided we needed to do something special.”

But whether a competitor, a spectator or a volunteer, everyone at the Chilmark Road Race finds a way to make it their own.

Susan Brown of Edgartown hadn’t run the race since 1980.

“Today I am 70 years old, one month and one day,” she said. “My goal was to finish, and finish in under an hour. And I did it. I’m still standing.” Then she was off to collect her award, for placing third in her age group, before heading home to celebrate the milestone.

Nathalia Garroway, (22 months old) wearing a floppy sun hat and too-big race shirt, toddled across the finish line with her parents Christopher Garroway and Nadia Popova.

Mr. Garroway and Ms. Popova had intended to bring their two-month-old along as well, ultimately deciding it was too hot for the infant to be outside. But Nathalia was up to the challenge.

“She only stopped once to pick some flowers,” Mr. Garroway said.