DAY 3: TO BE TRUE BLUE SHOW

A fountain at Tohono Chul Park.

I think this baby would look great in my front yard.

Today we went to the 'To Be True Blue' bead show at the Double Tree Inn in Tucson.   It was a good show with lots of vendors.  I got some nice gemstone beads that I'm quite happy about.  I have to try to go back before we leave though, because when we got there the electricity in the main ballroom wasn't working and it was too dark to see anything.  I saw some people that I know, including the always exuberant, Susan Lenart Kazmer.  Susan is a jewelry artist who works in mixed metals, found objects and resin.  Her work is like no one else's that I have ever seen.  She's also a great teacher and I'm going to be lucky enough to take one of her classes at the Bead and Button Show in June.  We also stopped to chat with Andrew Thornton from Green Girl Studios.  They do such nice work.  I especially like their shibuichi pieces, which are made by casting silver and copper together.  I love the patinas that they get on their pieces.

We had lunch at the Tohono Chul Park.  It's a 49 acre private, non-profit park in north Tucson.  It's located in the middle of urban sprawl and yet you'd never know it.  It's a beautiful place whose mission is to keep the park natural Sonoran desert so that people can escape the chaos of the city, even if it's just for a little while.  It really is a little oasis.

DAY 2: THE PUEBLO GEM AND MINERAL SHOW

A man from the Tohono O'odham Nation.

A traditional Tohono O'odham pendant.

Paul's thinking of a new career as a fortune teller.

Me, with a really, really big crystal.

Today, Paul and I went to a big show called the Pueblo Gem and Mineral Show.  It was the opening day of this particular show, so it was pretty crowded.  One vendor told us however that the I-10 construction had really cut down on the opening day traffic.  This show had things that I never even imagined existed.  We talked to one vendor that had bathroom sinks made of large slabs of polished fossils from Morrocco.  They were really beautiful.  I'd love to have one for our bathroom remodel.  There were giant crystals like those in the photos above, as well as 10 foot tall amethyst crystals that have been sawed in half.  I don't think the airline would let me carry that on.   We saw one giant smokey quartz crystal the size of a Volkswagon Beetle.  The price tag was 1oo,ooo dollars.  A little out of my price range.  I asked the vendor what was the likelihood that it will get sold.  She said that the odds were good, as last year at the same show they sold a larger one for 250,000 dollars.  Wow.

At this same show, we met a really nice man who is a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation here in Southern Arizona.  He was wearing a really interesting shell pendant and he was nice enough to tell me about it.  In ancient times, his people would trade with coastal groups and bring back shells.  They would make a resist of pitch made from pine sap which they would cook until it was thick and sticky.  The resist would be painted on the shells in traditional and meaningful patterns.  The one in the picture is meant to wish rain for the people.  In the meantime, fruit from the saguaro cactus was harvested and made into wine, which was then left to ferment until it became acidic.  The shells would then be soaked in the wine for days until the parts of the shell not protected by the pitch were etched.  The time required for etching depended on how much rain fell in the desert before the harvest of the fruit.  The amount of acidity in the fruit was effected by how wet the year had been.  We later met the man who made the piece in the photo and he told me that this etching process was nearly lost to time, but now he a couple other artists have revived it.  He will soon have a website and I will pass that on to you when he does.  It's amazing the things that you learn and the people that you meet when you stop to rest your feet.

TUCSON: DAY 1

Paul and Bria at Cafe Poca Cosa.

Paul skeptically contemplates his garnish.

Bria decides to sample the garnish, which unfortunately for her, is coated with chile powder.

Happy Anne.

The lovely Jenny Rice who was our server extraordinaire at Poca Cosa. 

We made it to Tucson with no air travel incidents and we even arrived early!  It's been a while since I wasn't delayed or had my luggage get lost.  It was refreshing.  We went out to dinner tonight to my favorite restaurant in Tucson, maybe anywhere, Cafe Poca Cosa.  Dinner was simply great, if you are ever in Tucson, you really should try it out.  Paul and I had great company as we were joined by friends, Anne Mitchell and Bria Date.  We were loud and silly and you might think Paul would be overwhelmed by our silliness, but he was a good sport as always.  One of the many things to love about him.  Tomorrow, we might hit a show or two (there are many to choose from!) and maybe head out to the San Xavier del Bac Mission.  I haven't been there since the renovations were complete and it is a really beautiful place to visit.

More photos tomorrow!

GEM SHOW

Well, I'm off to Tucson to see friends and to go to the Gem Show.  I know, I suck.  You'd be about the 10th person to tell me that just today.  You see, it's January in Iowa, so it's only natural that I'd suffer a little abuse.  I completely understand it.  

 I'm looking for good quality faceted gemstone beads for making earrings and necklaces to go with my silver and bronze pieces.  If I come back with stuff that I didn't intend to buy, I hope you will all ridicule me.  It's weird how that happens.  You lose all sense of self-control at one of these shows.  I stand around like a tourist with my mouth hanging open for the first half hour or so.  Then I sort of get it together.  I am always stunned by the seemingly infinite variety and beauty of objects from the natural world.  

I hope to post from the show.  Keep you fingers crossed for my self-control and my wallet.

DENYING THE ACCIDENT

Jackson Pollock, photographed by Hans Namuth in 1950.

'Mural' by Jackson Pollock from the permanent collection of the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

Today is the birth date of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.  Pollock was a wildly talented and highly experimental, abstract impressionist.  He was also a deeply troubled, extremely volatile, alcoholic.  He painted in many styles during his short life, abruptly abandoning them and moving on to new methods.  Pollock once in an interview was asked whether mistakes were hard to prevent due to his wild style of painting.  He replied thoughtfully that he "does not use the accident, I deny the accident".  This quote has stuck with me and I think it's a good ideal for all artists to embrace.

The painting above was commissioned by art patron Peggy Guggenheim, in 1943.  It was painted to hang in her New York apartment.  The mural is about 8 feet by 20 feet in size and until recently hung in the central gallery space in the University of Iowa's Museum of Art.  When I was in college, I would sit for hours on a bench staring at this painting.   There's something extremely captivating about it.  Though it is clearly an abstract painting, there is something very figural going on in it that I've never been able to put my finger on.  I always found sitting there with it very inspiring and I loved to think of it as my painting.  

The devastating floods in 2008 heavily damaged 5 university buildings on the arts campus to the tune of 250 million dollars.  This all happened pretty fast, but the Museum managed to get all but 10 works of art out before the river spilled over it's banks.  Their valiant effort saved the Pollock mural along with more than 12,000 works of art valued at half a billion dollars.  The insurer, Lloyd's of London came with big trucks and took it all away for safe keeping.  The museum will not return to it's lovely spot by the river, surely a wise move, but one that makes me sad.  It is not known where or when we will have our new museum, and so our collections remain in Chicago.  Recently it was announced that a small art museum in Davenport, Iowa will soon display some of the collections until we have a new home.  It will be nice to have it back in our home state.

There had been talk that the UI might sell the famous Pollock painting to cover some flood costs.  Tempting to be sure, as the painting is insured for 150 million dollars and would almost certainly bring much more at auction.  The director of the museum recently said in no uncertain terms that this would not be happening.  I'm glad.  Some things are worth keeping, even when it's hard to hold onto them.

JOHN UPDIKE 1932-2009

John Updike in 2006

There's a quote that goes something like, "If you want to understand a country, read it's novels".  I know this is a bit simplistic and yet, in a lot of ways it's true.  In the same way that novels such as 'Like Water For Chocolate' or 'The House of  Spirits' help define the zeitgeist of turn of the century Latin America, Updike defined the ethos of mid-century America.  John Updike died today in Massachusetts of lung cancer.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Even the Uglies seem to approve.

Ok, so it took me longer than I thought it would, but here it is.  I actually have a table to work at!  Which is a good thing, because I have a lot to do.  I still have some organizing to do, which I'm trying to figure out.  I have too many books and need to get rid of some (so I can get more!).  I also have a hard time with bead storage.  I have those little plastic containers that screw together and stack, which work to a degree.  But I still have trouble putting my hands on the exact bead I need sometimes.  Any storage suggestions?

I always feel great when I've organized a space in my house.  Not that that feeling always lasts long!  Inevitably, the clutter reaches critical mass, I have an organizational meltdown and I have to start all over again.  But man, do I feel powerful for a while.