Open Studios Time - 2009

I’m exhausted! I spent most of last week getting ready for the first October weekend of the Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour. This is my 9th year, and you’d think everything would be second nature to me and very easy to set up. I say “ha”!

When I got to arts or crafts festivals, I go with just enough exhibit panels and pieces to get by. For the Open Studios Art Tour, I set up everything I have: tour panels (11 of them), old peg board panels (from my first shows), and the canopy. Plus, I have to trim the hedges, weed, pressure wash walkways and patios, and generally clean everything inside and outside. Yes, as you can see from the picture, I’m exhausted.

Before I got too exhausted, earlier in the week things started off with a bang with the Open Studios reception at the Santa Cruz Art League. The Art League hosts the Open Studios preview exhibit where people can get an idea of what all the artists do, and which ones they might like to go see. The place was packed, pieces sold, and a good time was had by all.  There was food, wine, and good entertainment, as well as all the artwork. The next picture is me by my exhibit piece, the Epinette des Vosges I call “Philip and Clement in the Confessional”.

The first weekend of Open Studios was for the artists in North Santa Cruz County, which is the area north of the yacht harbor. We had around the same number of people come through on Sunday as we did last year, but Saturday was fairly light.  There was a lot going on around the county on Saturday, and I think some people might have had event overload. This Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, is for the South County artists, and the following weekend, October 17 and 18, is the encore weekend, which is for all of us who signed up for it. This will be another chance for all of you who are in the area to stop in and see my art and studio. 

Since I have two weeks between the Open Studios openings of my studio to the public, I’m working on another antique instrument restoration project. (Can’t dirty up my work space until after Open Studios.) By the way, it’s not a zither this time. It’s a Kumalae Royal Hawaiian Ukulele.

This Kumalae uke is from around 1927-30 and was labeled and  sold at the big new pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which opened in 1927. It’s very similar to the Kumalae Style O model, but with three decorative rings around the soundhole instead of one. I believe this to be one of the first to be sold at the hotel, because the peg head still has the Kumalae Hawaii decal, and the label is oval with the Royal Hawaiian name and a picture of an outrigger canoe riding a wave,  with Diamond Head in the background. Later Royal Hawaiian ukes had a Royal Hawaiian decal on the head and a round more colorful label inside. Also, when I removed the back and looked under the label, which was partly loose, I saw a round area of glue where another label once was, probably a Kumalae label.

There’s lots of cracks to repair, and, unfortunately, a lot of big  globs of glue to remove that someone spilled all over the sides to  try to “fix” the side cracks. This is the second Kumalae uke I’ve worked on, and the first had pretty much the same types of cracks in most of the same places. It’ll take time, but it will be beautiful and playable again.

Anyway, that’s what I’m up to at this time. Soon I’ll be repairing an old copy of a Weissenborn guitar and getting it in good playing shape. Then, after Open Studios, it’s back to work to try to get several more new instruments and sound sculptures ready for the KPFA Craft & Music Fair in San Francisco December 12th and 13th.

Next time, I might have some very interesting news regarding my future in arts and crafts. Stay tuned.

Sausalito and Beyond

Most people take that final vacation of the Summer over Labor Day weekend. My “holiday” was an intense 10 to 12 hours a day from Friday through Monday setting up and showing my crafts to many of those vacationers and locals. The weather was great (perhaps a little too warm on Sunday), and the aisles were packed as were many of the artists’ booths. 

My booth was in a single row of booths in the side and back of the main area. It was, unfortunately, facing the sun a lot, so we got an umbrella to help shade the instruments. The upside was that it was far away from both the music venues, which made it easier to demonstrate. If I get juried in next year, I’ll request a booth facing away from the sun.

I’ve been home a few days, and I’m still exhausted. However, there’s no time to sit back and relax, the Open Studios Art Tour is only three weeks away, and I’ve got to get a few more pieces done for it. Plus, I’ll have to clean up my studio and yard the week before Open Studios.

On the Workbench

Today I really got back to making sawdust again. After selling so many dulcimers last year, then only completing one more for the shows I just did, then selling another in Sausalito, my stock is, once again, depleted.  I have to get cranking on my next one, the “White Lady.” The head carving is nearly done so I figured I’d better steam bend the sides and clamp them up to dry.

Steam bending is a process that took me years to master, and years more to learn to be patient. When I first started bending wood, I would boil it in a long pan on a pair of hot plates, then clamp the wet and pliable wood in a form until it dried. Now, I use a hot iron (top photo) to bend dampened wood. I still clamp it in a form (bottom photo) for a few days until the wood is totally dry. It take patience. Try to bend to fast and the wood can snap.

I’ve also been working on my Chapter House Portative Organ. Just before I left for Sausalito, I made all the 1” pins that the keys will press. These pins open the airways so each pipe will play. The next step is to do some carving on the fronts of the keys then install them.

I’ve also been carving the gothic-style decorations on the sides. I still have a lot of smoothing and sanding to do.

The pipes are working well, but not tuned yet. I also want to carve faces at the top of the front rank of pipes.

Today I also cut out 9 more spoon and spurtle blanks. My spoon stock is also low, and I need a few more for Open Studios. So enough writing, I need to head back to the studio and work, work, work!

Onward through the fog.