- At the beach: Poetry in a tee (or two)

This pretty much sums it up:

- Mountains or beach? Mixed media assemblage

I originally planned to title this post "What's cookin'?" since Don was starting to play around with the welded trio of cake pans I found at Junkology.  As usual, he got ahead of me and had already started painting and placing components for "Beach or Mountains?" so I had to get him to back it up a bit for the photographic record.

And once he got going, things happened fast.

I absolutely love how he can envision something when there is nothing there to see (while I'm much more adept at tweaking something that already exists)

... taking a long-standing Ackert family interview question 

... then turning it into its own answer.

Also as usual, the details are crazy cool:

A knot of floodplain driftwood, the inside of a prickly pear cactus pad, and a bit of metal ...
Can't you just feel the moonshine?

Bits of Nags Head driftwood blowin' in the wind

Time is at the heart of the matter ...

.... and the answer is key

So "show it to your people, don't forget to sign your name."

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The beginning of a long story with many chapters (7)

We've collected ceramics forever it seems. Some pieces have been given to us, but most have been found wandering through galleries, art shows, and antique stores. Not having large wallets, we have a tendency to go for smaller pieces like bowls and mugs ... lots and lots of bowls and mugs!

But with Don's "good eye" in mind, this is the one that made the most sense to start with:

It's not signed, it's probably not old, and it was definitely not expensive (I think we paid $15). But it's one of many things we found in the miles of aisles at the Williamsburg Antique Mall off Lightfoot Road ... each held up in turn for inspection with the inevitable question, "What do you think?"

So reader beware ... there are a lot more stories where this came from.

- Try ... try again (redux): Harem cloth robe

Just about the time I finished the muslin robe (which resembled a hospital gown more than a robe), the harem cloth that Jude Hill recommended arrived from Dharma Trading Company. It was ever so much finer than the muslin. So I started over ...

and made some adjustments (narrower, longer, with some overlap in the front) having learned a few things the first time around.  

As with the first robe, I only seamed the shoulders and everything was done in running stitch with two strands of cotton floss. 

I have no illusions about how sturdy it will be (or rather, how sturdy it won't be), but it's not going to see a lot of heavy use. Besides, it only took a day to make, even though every stitch was done by hand. 

You might say my ugly duckling first effort turned into a swan the second time around ... which reminds me of a story.

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A modern day fairy tale (6)

Once upon a time there was a retired gentleman who thought he had no particular artistic talent. Nonetheless, he decided to try his hand at carving decoys.

His first efforts were somewhat blocky and he simply stained his little wooden ducks rather than attempt to paint the feathers.

As time went on, he read books, went to art shows, watched videos, and bought special tools. He learned to woodburn and paint each feather.  

Slowly but surely he realized that he did indeed have talent and his humble little ducklings grew to be beautiful swans. 

Swan decoy by Donald Bruce Ackert, Sr. aka Pop Pop

Now who does this remind me of ... ?

- Fish story: Mixed media assemblage

Don finished one of the folk art fish from this post several weeks ago, but since then it has been sitting on a table awaiting some other fish to keep it company on the wall. Until this past weekend, when Don put it on a bit of wood:

So the Bonefish --which is what we are calling it unless or until we can figure out what this metal is--

If you have any idea what this metal could be, please let me know!

is happily swimming on the tin top table that sits next to the grill.  As always, there are some cool details

The head is cut from some rusted, pressed tin (ceiling?) that we got at By the Bridge,
the eye is composed of a couple of pieces of metal (washer and bolt?)

The tail pieces came off an old screen door (By the Bridge again), white washed with milk paint,
then tied on with a bit of wire and a scrap of fabric (see Repurposed)

and we are now on the lookout for a cedar post to better serve as a base ... or not.

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The tale of a table (5)

My mom loved old stuff. And she loved raising money for St. Andrew's church in Williston Park, NY. She combined those two passions by running a thrift shop out of the church basement, chairing countless St. Nicholas bazaars, and running Attic Auctions.

The Attic Auctions were the most lucrative, eventually earning her (and my dad, who served as auctioneer) a Bishop's Medal of recognition. The concept was simple: ask parishioners to look in their attics and basements for unused treasures. The church auctioned the items and kept the cash, while the parishioners got a tax write off. Everybody won.

Since some of the items were sizable pieces of furniture, it wasn't unusual for bidders to pay for an item and come back to pick it up later. So it was with one vintage tin top table and the four maple chairs that accompanied it. Bought for $10, it sat in the church basement for weeks awaiting its new owners.

Who never came to get it ... at least not before we came on the scene, looking to scour  Mom and Dad's attic and basement for furniture to put in our first house at Wilson Circle. So Mom took us to the church and offered us the table and chairs for $10 ... to be refunded to the bidders, if they ever showed up.

Sold! to the furniture-poor newlyweds. It rode down to Virginia in the aforementioned U-Haul truck, traveled from house to house in Williamsburg, and made the downsizing cut when we moved to Texas.

It now sits out on the back porch next to the grill, overseeing the delectable cuts of chicken, pork and beef that Don cooks to a turn.

Which reminds me of another story ...