Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Poster Tour Part Two (Squared)


Thanks for reading along...patiently.

We finished poster touring (hopefully for good) a couple weeks ago, and this blog (as always) is terribly behind. So, brace yourselves for a big one as we attempt to cram far too many adventures into a single post.

San Angelo, TX

Pelts!

There! Over There!

Up 'N Over We Go


After the far west vastness of Texas felt properly explored, and we weathered torrential rains and meager sales, we thought we would be clever by driving straight to Oklahoma in one evening, so we could get to our next destination early the next morning.

Little did we know, the entire state had been recently candy coated by an ice storm, and apparently they don't know the magic of salt.


At first it was exciting and beautiful. I kept telling Ted how insane all the ice was and I would scream with delight when we'd drive under and icy tree and hear the branches jingle.

This was fun until we were ready to call it a night and had to drive across two towns for three hours until we found a hotel with any vacancies. Highlights of the ice truck through northern Texas and on into Oklahoma included, but by no means are limited to, finding things much like what is pictured below at the gas stations along the way.

We white knuckled through a night of Oklahoman icy back roads at thirty miles an hour, but the following morning only held about an hour drive to

Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park
Foyil, OK





Akin to most of the things we love, the Totem Pole Park was difficult to capture.


But this did not stop us from trying.








Unfortunately, due to the weather, the Fiddle House was closed. (Yes, besides creating a 90 foot concrete totem pole, and a half dozen other cement beauties scattered about the property, Ed hand made fiddles. Enough to build a wigwam inspired structure to house them all in).


Nevertheless, we rejoiced at having had yet another day well spent.


The respite/rejuvination of Ed Galloway's sculpture park was short lived as we stared a week of back to back to back sales at schools an average of four hours apart from one another. First stop,

Murray State
Murray, KY

A sculpture at Murray of a man reading, reading a fish at some angles apparently.


Next Stop, Lindsey Wilson University.

John B Begley Chapel. E. Faye Jones, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed this chapel inspired by the grain silos of rural Kentucky. Great acoustics in there.



LWC was good to us. They gave us student helpers, sandwiches and tator tots.


Tennessee Tech was our final destination of a two week stint of back to back sales, with four hour drives in the evenings between them.

By the time we arrived I was exhausted to the point of having poured orange juice (rather than hot water) onto the tea bag in my travel mug.

Fortunately, we were there in time to catch the work of Mary Francis Gaynier, on view in the gallery.

Unfortunately, the magnificence of her work was difficult to capture. But here are a few attempts anyways.
Manwich

Arachnophobia

Field Museum


On our way to our final sale in southern georgia, we had to make some crucial stops. First and foremost,

Village Pizza
Cabbagetown, GA


The last time we were in Georgia, our friend Lil' Ang introduced us to Village Pizza, and we have craved it ever since.

Well, hello vegan pizza by the slice!



Next, something I (Ted), didnt know i needed, but absolutely did and do. Six dollar mix tapes at the gas stations of Atlanta. The ATL! Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne were about all i could afford. They even spelled "Wayne" wrong as a proof of authenticity.


Finally, a pilgrammage to the land of St. EOM

Eddie Owens Martin Himself

(A small fraction of)Eddie's kit.



This Dog, perched above us, had an incredible case of ADD. It ran, full speed, across Pasaquan, the two hours+ we spent touring it.





Mandala room

Melissa transfixed by MANDALAS.



The janky electrical work of St. Eom. It seemed he was into the aesthetic value over the safety value. Kudos! (Held by our fearless/fantastic tour guide, Penny.)

A photo of a photo of Jarvis Cocker chillin inside the walls of Pasaquan.

Nose wall


The dog would stop briefly to say hi, and for this picture, bye. The Land of Pasaquan did not disappoint. oooof.

After soaking up as much as possible of the overwhelming vision/creation of St. EOM, we headed to our last sale in southern Georgia. Valdosta, Georgia was the site of our last sale...ever (again, we really hope so). Valdosta is almost Florida, so it would make sense for this sale to be outside. Starting late the first day, torrential rains the next and 30 degree weather the last made for nonsensical selling and by nonsensical, I mean painful, especially that last day. We would take turns going inside for warmth or stand in the sun and do jumping jacks. After getting lambasted in southern Georgia, it was time for familial healing/hang outs with Rich and Nicole in South Carolina before the long trek to the snowy north.

Severus lept for joy (or for his toy).

Schatszi remained stoic and vigilant.

Rich and Nicole. We love you

Boiled peanuts!

The Tragers took us to the hominy grill. Southern cooking at its best. truly.

Case in point, fried green tomato BLT with cheese grits and okra.

A vegan option to boot!

The sixteen hour drive to Pensylvania was made a bit more pleasant by stopping South of The Border.


Sheep!

Sheep Leap

Weiner Rest








America!...

For all the faults and embarassment one can find with this land of the free, there is equal if not more to be found to be extremely proud of. The deeper we dig into each state, the more treasures they reveal. Whether it be art, conversation, food or pine forests, our country is seemingly endless in its bounty of amazing/inspiring people places and things. and tastes.

With all of this love of country boiling up in him, Ted eventually exploded and turned into an eagle.

With the sixteen hour drive under our belts, we turned in the truck and were off to california in no time (well, some time for melissa, who got lay overed. But, to have a lay over anywhere, Chicago was time well spent).

3 comments:

J. Koonce said...

WANYE - maybe a cross b/t Wayne and Kanye? Lil Keezy? Hm.

Also, Weiner Rest was the best. Thanks for the good bloggin'

Ed Templeton said...

Sweet Melissa!!
We wish you and Ted were here in Ghent with us!!! Though it's freezing here and your finally back in Sunny California..
See you in a month and half!
Deanna

Anonymous said...

You're makin' us yokels look bad with all yur fancy travlin'

Teddy, missy, we love you guys, and are sorry we couldn't be at the birthday.

Love,

lames and sam