Saturday, July 15 and 16: We visited Robert in Atlanta. We saw the Chocolate exhibit at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We also dined at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Pho 79, on Buford Hwy.
July 17--23: We stayed at a cabin at Givhans Ferry State Park in Ridgeville, SC (northwest of Charleston). Here Mark served his Artist in Residency that was sponsored by the SC State Park Service. In exchange for a FREE week-long stay at a cabin, the artist is expected to donate a piece of artwork that was inspired by his/her "residency" at the state park (within 60 days of his/her residency). During this week, we visted Audubon's Beidler Forest, located on the Four Holes Swamp. While there, we saw a few wildlife such as turtles, a gator, 2 water moccasin snakes, warblers, etc. Mark also kayaked the Edisto River one day and met a retired couple who was panning for fossils in the swamp. On Edisto Island, we visited the Serpentarium, which is a family-owned outdoor zoo exhibiting a variety of venomous and non-venomous snakes, fat alligators with big jowls and turtles. Ann Clamp, who comes from a family of herpetologists, did a 30-minute program on the different snakes. We didn't know that water moccasins are considered slow and clumsy!! But that doesn't mean you should go near these venomous snakes! We thank Park Ranger Steve Dowdey for providing us an informative and interesting stay at the park. Next year, Mark will definitely apply again to the program.
July 23--24: We left SC and went north on I-77 on our way to OH. The drive was very scenic going through hilly region of NC, VA and WV. We stayed overnight at Cedar Lakes, a WVDOE-sponsored camp in Ripley, WV.
July 24: We left WV and continued north on I-77 to Mentor, OH where Mark's mom lives. On our way, we decided to visit the campus of Kent State University, where Mark attended for 1 year back in 1981. Needless to say, lots have changed but we were able to see his old dorm, Verder Hall and the art building. We also visited the May 4 1970 memorial where the 4 students were killed by National Guards during an anti-war protest. Although Mark never took a clay class at KSU, we decided to check out the ceramics building anyway out of curiosity. Amazingly, we got to meet Kirk Mangus and Eva Kwong, who are well known artists in the academic clay world! We were very happy to be able to talk to them briefly and get a tour of the facilities.
July 24--today: We have been focusing on doing an oral history project with Mark's mom, Eva. We have recorded her speaking about her childhood experience during the Nazi regime in Austria. She also spoke about her parents' artistic talents. Mark's grandma was an artist and created figurative sculptures, drawings and children's books. His grandpa wrote poetry and was interested in photography. We hope to find some ways to exhibit his grandma's work in the future. Tomorrow we'll drive down to Mark's brother's home in Centerville to stay overnight. Then on Saturday, we'll head back to Tallahassee with an overnight stay with Seiko and Robert in Maryville, TN.
For Christmas, we had dinner at Ana and Ron's. The menu included oven-roasted turkey (marinated by Mama Chang) (a tradition that goes back at least 20 years), asparagus with hollandaise sauce, seasoned roasted potatoes, Alton Brown (Food Network chef) turkey dressing. Our good friend, Jessica, joined us for dinner.
For Christmas Eve, we were invited to the DeCarolis' home (neighbors of Ana and Ron) for real, home-cooked Vietnamese food! There were shrimp with vegetables, rice noodle with fish sauce, potato salad, fried rice, etc. Stan gave out baseball caps and everyone exchanged small gifts. Ana baked a delicious rum cake.
On Saturday, 12/23, Ana and Ron treated us to a gourmet meal at 32 East restaurant in downtown Delray. Afterwards, we viewed the city-sponsored 100-ft Christmas tree and strolled the main avenue, Atlantic Ave. It was packed with people and tourists!
We had a wonderful time with my family visiting us in Tallahassee this Thanksgiving holiday. They braved the drive up from Lake Worth, Palm Beach County, on the FL turnpike and I-75/I-10. While here, we visited the Black Dog Cafe/Lake Ella, Downtown Market, LeMoyne Art Foundation and the Tallahassee Flea Market where I met some of my students. Mark has his wares in the Crystal Holiday market at LeMoyne. We lunched at Gordo's and dined at Catfish Pad West on different days. For our Thanksgiving dinner, Ana made Shrimp Mozambique, Mom made mustard greens and pan-fried pompano fish and Mark baked an apple pie. The weather was fine and didn't get too cold for my parents.
This Veterans' Day weekend, we drove up to Atlanta to drop off Turtle Hill wares at Spruill Gallery (www.spruillarts.org) (4681 Ashford Dunwoody Rd in Dunwoody) for their Holiday Artist Market. Please stop by this gallery to do your holiday shopping and support local artists!
Yesterday, the Walkers (Carol was Mark's high school art teacher in Fairborn, OH) came to visit us. They had recently retired to Summerfield, south of Ocala. We enjoyed our time together chatting, visiting the Downtown Market and the Capital City Quilt exhibit at the Museum of FL History. We also lunched outdoor at Andrew's Restaurant. Earlier the Walkers had commissioned Mark for a porcelain platter and 10 fish dishes. Here is a picture of the Happy Hour frog platter. Thanks for your support, Carol and Dick!
Here is Mark decorating his extended cylinder--what else? but a scene from the Apalachicola National Forest.
Hooray! Givhans Gator made it through the firing without cracking apart! So now he'll be ready to be shipped off to Givhans Ferry State Park, SC. This is part of the agreement to serve as Artist in Residency with the SC State Park system. Pictured are Givhans Gator at bisque stage (orange) and final stage (reddish brown).
Here are some new bunny wares, including a newly designed Double Bunny bowl. Would Toba be proud of Mark? When Kent Griffin saw the double bunny bowl at the bisque stage, he laughed heartily and wanted to purchase it after it's finished. So if anyone out there who would also like a double bunny item, please let us know!
This cylinder was a demo began at a LeMoyne class. It's about 25 inches tall!
Mark has been working on his gator for his Artist in Residency at Givhans Ferry State Park, SC. It's a cute one!
Yippee! Mark has finished his design sketch/scroll (13x54") for a mural commissioned by FACE, a local arts organization for youths. The youngsters, along with community artist volunteers, will paint a mural on the warehouse building on the corner of Gaines and Lake Bradford Rd, probably around September or October of this year. The image depicts various frogs playing music, gardening, painting, etc. Look for it when you drive by!
Saturday, July 15 and 16: We visited Robert in Atlanta. We saw the Chocolate exhibit at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We also dined at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Pho 79, on Buford Hwy.
