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Browsing the blog archives for January, 2006.
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    • RSS Life in the Hyphen

      • Book it July 25, 2010
        The library is my shrine. Because of the books that are there and because of the abject liberty of their access. But also because its a community place where the congregation gathers around ideas.
        dlucht
      • Latitude April 25, 2010
        I'm a proponent of Latitudinarianism. Amazing what you find out about yourself by reading history. And I was thinking that I thought of it first.
        dlucht
      • The Smell of Fresh Donuts January 21, 2010
        So the art theory that makes the most sense to me is this: the art that I make should have something about it that is the equivalent of a fresh donut. Something irresistible. Not that the process should involve actually making donuts since that would entail developing a separate business plan. And not that the work should really be in any sense a meal of emp […]
        dlucht

    • RSS Accidental Truths

      • Pray For Me August 24, 2010
        I’d lived in and around Chicago for nearly 15 years by the time September 11, 2001 came about. I worked in healthcare, managing a series of community health programs for a local chapter of a national nonprofit, all of them concentrated in the Hispanic and multicultural neighborhoods of Chicago’s west side. Most of my program’s [...]
        SGraves
      • Horsin’ Around July 12, 2010
        This is the beginning of a new series of horse paintings. Not only is it new in the sense that it’s a new painting, but I also decided to finally try the clayboard that I bought last year to see how it worked. It seems a lot like the watercolor canvas I got at the [...]
        SGraves
      • Special Talents July 10, 2010
        To give you one small update, I didn’t get awarded the featured artist for the up-coming Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital Arts Ability show which will be this Fall. I consider it an honor to have been invited to submit just the same. There have been other things, however, that have come along that have [...]
        SGraves

Wishes Times Two

Jan 23, 2006
Stefanie's Entries
Stefanie standing at the threshold... src="/images/weblog/17_Jan23_06weblog/IMG_5870sm.JPG" width="144" height="96" border="0">

Stefanie standing at the threshold…

Be careful what you wish for, as they say. That didn’t stop us from wishing for a piece of land in the hopes of building a house here in San Miguel. All came true in due course. And now our wall is going up around the property, looking enough like it belongs on some grand estate to make me wonder who we are. Indeed, that’s probably what our neighbors wonder.

Mixing cement by hand src="/images/weblog/17_Jan23_06weblog/IMG_5903sm.JPG" width="144" height="96" border="0">

Mixing cement by hand

Another part of our dream, another wish really, is to have a home base in Paducah, Kentucky, all the better for staging our art business to parts far and near around the country. We sent our proposal to the Urban Renewal Board last week for their February meeting. If we’ve crossed all our T’s and dotted all our I’s then we’ll have deed in hand for the empty lot we’ve requested. And we’ll have the right to build our second house. The first being our cozy casita down here in San Miguel, scheduled for construction to start within the next month. So what that means is that at some point this year, most likely the midpoint, we’ll have two separate constructions going on simultaneously. The gods must be crazy. Perhaps this is a test of our mettle or maybe it’s meant to be a comparison of the two processes. In San Miguel we’ll be our own contractors, a way of saving money and entirely do-able, we’ve learned, from building the wall. We hope to continue with our crew of five locals from our village of Alcocer when the casita begins. They’re steady, dependable workers and skilled craftsmen to boot. Paducah will be a different story, requiring a builder to do the honors of coordination and running the regulation/inspection gauntlet. We’ve already found our man, an easy-going but businesslike kind of guy who’s not intimidated by long distances and communicating his progress to us via e-mail. This will definitely be the year of the house.

Building the rock foundation for the wall

Building the rock foundation for the wall

In the meantime, we continue our preparations for art fairs in Florida during the months of February and March. This is our introduction into the Florida art scene and we’re filled with anticipation, though it requires another very long road trip north. Our confirmed schedule to date is as follows:

February 22 – 23, Marco Island Arts & Crafts Fair at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church – Stefanie;
February 25 – 26, The 16th Old Hyde Park Art Festival, Tampa, FL – Dave;
March 11 – 12, Springfest Festival of Fine Arts & Fine Crafts, Holmes Beach, FL – Stefanie

Dave takes the weekly orders for supplies

Dave takes the weekly orders for supplies

Stefanie enjoys the progress of the project

Stefanie enjoys the progress of the project

We’re still waiting for confirmation for fairs on the weekends of February 18 – 19 and March 4 – 5. Look for an update of our confirmed schedule on our website homepage.

The corner castillo being formed

The corner castillo being formed

Both the art business and our home building will require a magnitude of planning in this new year. We’re hoping for smooth sailing but know better than to believe that all will fit so neatly into our plans as scheduled. But we’re crazy enough to give it our best shot and wise enough, we hope, to build a wide margin of flexibility. Stay tuned for more high-flying adventures!

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