We're still waiting out the rain somewhat while I blog and Mark catches up on his sleep, journal and poetry. He also solidifies some sketches for the upcoming Story Project at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts. This coffee shop only serves fair-trade coffee. The interior is brightly decorated with colorful murals and comfortable furnishings.
On Sunday, after visiting Cumberland Falls, we stopped at Somerset to eat at El Charro Mexican Restaurant. We enjoyed the festive interior of the restaurant, with brightly painted wooden furniture and a painterly mural.
Wow, we've finally made it to Louisville! Right now, we're relaxing at Heine Brothers Coffee shop, enjoying a maple scone and a cup of fair-trade coffee, while Stephanie and Perry are at work and their son, Vincent, is at school. This coffee shop is just 2 blocks from the Chang-Gregory home. The neighborhood reminds us of an old neighborhood in Pittsburgh or Cleveland. We left Atlanta yesterday and stopped by Cumberland Falls State Park in KY. Beautiful! This visit brought back memories of Mark's Boy Scout 50-mile trek through the Daniel Boone National Forest when he was young. This Thursday and Friday, I will conduct an ESL workshop at Stephanie's school in New Albany, IN, which is just right across the Ohio River/border. Mark will drive over to Cincinnati to visit his brother, Dave. Right now, it's raining hard in Louisville. We hope to do some sightseeing around this city tomorrow and Wednesday.
On our way north to Louisville for our spring break working vacation, we stayed two nights with the Harrar family. On Saturday, we delivered new Turtle Hill wares to our Atlanta gallery, Spruill Art Gallery (www.spruillarts.org), in Dunwoody. Mark had made new porcelain prana mugs and yunomis, along with 4 celadon yunomis and 2 latest version of the Heaven and Earth prana mugs. If you're in the area, please stop by the gallery! Many thanks to the Harrars who hosted our stay! They will have a new baby girl, Sofia, around April 4.
Yesterday afternoon, we had a pleasant visit with the Kozeliskis. Mr and Mrs Kozeliski are proud collectors of some of Mark's wares. In this photo, they have displayed two pieces from Mark's Heaven and Earth series--a wall-hanging platter and a vase. Doesn't this image look like it should be in a home magazine?! Many thanks for your support!
A customer had commissioned Mark for 2 gator mugs and since this was a long weekend, we decided to visit the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge to get some inspiration.
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!
