It’s always great to see a sign like this on the road… a sign that great things are in store!
This great mailbox is on Pottery Trail… seriously, i’m not making that up... as you’re driving down the road to Jeff Oestreich’s studio!

Don’t forget to “Spring Forward” tonight… and change your clock.
Remember to move your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed tonight.
It’s time to go back into Daylight Saving Time… or losing an hour of your Sunday?!
And wouldn’t it be more fun if you were changing the time on one of THESE clocks?!

Gotta love a good steampunk clock. And the whole “Steampunk Movement”
for that matter. Rusty. Crusty. Gears. Patterns. Layers. Details. Groovy cool.

While in Dover, Delaware recently for the “glitter gig” meeting, I had the chance to
tour the Dogfish Head Brewery. They’re one of the sponsors for another large event
we’re working on for this summer. I love factory tour. Love seeing how things are
made. And this time was no exception!

Dogfish Head Brewery is located in Milton, Delaware. Somewhere between Dover
and Rehoboth Beach. And when you pull up to their headquarters, the first impression
is a great one. Not only to they have an incredible treehouse in the front yard, but it’s
all made out of RUSTY METAL!!!… which you know it’s my favorite!!!

Once inside, you’re quickly greeted by a very friendly receptionist… and a lot of whimsical
artwork all over the place. And one pair of chatty blue jeans!!!

Your tour typically starts in the “Tasting Room” where you’re also surrounded by a lot
of Dogfish Head paraphernalia. Including these really great beer barrel tables – with
really great tops made from broken & recycled beer bottles!

And then the factory tour begins. You get to see where the beer is made!
I was amazed at how shiny & clean the entire place was. Now I know that it has to be
for health & safety reasons. But seriously…. shiny silver piping & vats everywhere!!!

Even the “hot-water-pressure-steaming-sanitizing” contraption is shiny…
and has a wonderfully whimsical name! Things are sure getting steamy in there!

Around every corner, there’s artwork, creativity & whimsy everywhere you look!
Including this incredible wall plastered with their own “branded” oval coasters…
creating their own Dogfish Head logo!

So not only to they have great “energy”… but it’s also refreshing to see how they value
artists and their artwork. All around the building, the walls are covered with artwork
created & submitted by local artisans who have sent them to Dogfish Head. Plus, every
year the folks at Dogfish Head commission an artist to create original posters for their
different branded beer flavors. Here are just four of them…

So there’s my quick visual tour. While the whole “beer thing” is completely lost on me…
I do still enjoy a good factory tour. But even more importantly, you know how I LOVE
creativity, whimsy and people who admire, appreciate and encourage the arts!!!

You know how I love my rust… and I REALLY wish these were mine!

1. Bicycles      2. Rusty Metal      3. Roadkill
And when all three of them come together… watch out!!!

A sad sight this morning on one of the breakwater piers… glad that’s not my bike!!!
I’m intrigued by the two, yes, count them two… Kryptonite locks. Neither of which worked?!!

So today I went to the “One Of A Kind Show” down at the Merchandise Mart
to shop with my friend Nancy… and to help my friend Sarah Chapman who is
exhibiting her incredible jewelry!!! So after checking out Sarah’s latest pieces and
catching up on the latest stories… Nancy & I head off to do a little shopping. With over
600 artists exhibiting, there is a LOT to see. So much of it is incredible!!! However…
there is always a handful of things that aren’t. We like to employ the secret code-word
“lovely” for those things we need to talk about “politely” while the artist is within
ear-shot. But all of my friends know what the secret code-word really means!

So, as we were shopping we saw many beautiful works of art. Many things I would like
to take home with me. But as a self-employed artist – I must show restraint. Until…

You know when you walk past an artist’s booth and it kind of takes your breath away?
When you see something that really connects with you on several levels? When you meet
the artist and they are the nicest, most sincere, bubbly & creative person which somehow
makes the artwork all that much better?! Well… there it was in Booth #7084.

So…
You know how I love rusty metal.
You know how I love “conglomerations” of things that create other things.
You know how I love recycling objects into new works of art.
Well… so does Tammy Roy of Stratford, Wisconsin at 180-Degrees Design!!!
And look what I got…

It’s a large bowl made out of metal tools and other fun stuff! Okay, so it’s not rusty… yet.
But it will be. Tammy told me a couple different options to speed along the rusting process!
I’m not quite sure where it’s going to go yet – but that doesn’t matter. I firmly believe that
if you see a piece of art you love, you should always buy it and find a place for it later.
And I’m still trying to convince my parents of that too…

This past weekend was the Hilly Hundred bike ride down in southern Indiana.
Traditionally my favorite bike ride of the entire year! It always seems like you’re in
good shape after riding all summer, the Fall foliage is always stunning and the route
always has a lot of hills! Hence the name… So once again, we drove down to Bloomington,
along with over 5,000 of my fellow bicycling fanatics, to rides some hills!
After I dusted off my bike…

This weekend was no disappointment. In fact, it was one of the best ever!!!
Generally the weather for the Hilly is cold, chilly and crisp. This year… it as hot!
Both days were up in the high 80’s – and we loved it. Plus, we had a new route on Saturday
covering new roads and new hills! Averaging about 5,000 feet of vertical climb each day,
we loved the challenge – and loved the downhills! In fact… my favorite might be rolling hills.
Get some momentum started and you can fly up & over the hills… so much fun!!!

Plus the colors were spectacular this weekend. Driving down to Bloomington, I was a little
concerned that the trees didn’t appear as though they had changed yet. A lot of green
between Chicago & Bloomington. But once we got there, down around Brown County
and the Morgan-Monroe State Park, the colors exploded for another stunning weekend!

On the new route Saturday, we also passed a road marked as a “special photo op.” Never
one to miss a good “photo op,” Chris and I quickly decided to follow the road to see what
was going on. And we found a beautiful trestle bridge – still functioning and wide spanning.
Apparently it still works and the train crosses slowly twice a day. And it is “allegedly” the
largest trestle bridge in North America, and the third largest in the world. Plus, it had
all of my favorite things… rusty metal, geometric repetition and Fall colors all around!

As we continued to pedal, the scenery continues to impress. I feel very lucky that I’ve
gotten to play outside two weekends in a row in perfect Fall splendor!!! Up & down
the hills – some long, some tall, some steep. With about 5,000 feet to PEDAL UP
each day, it takes a lot of focus & determination… and the guarantee of a wonderful
downhill ride. This weekend, my top speed downhill was 44.3 miles per hour! Yippee!!!

So once again, it was a wonderful Hilly Hundred. With the surprisingly warm weather
being a huge hit – and the spectacular Fall colors. A wonderful weekend of biking!…
A lot of hills. A lot of fun!

Amy and I continued our tour Monday afternoon. After our morning hiking
The Raven Trail, we stopped off at a small art gallery in Three Rivers, then met up
with one of Amy’s local artist friends at her home & studio “encampment.” She’s
one of the “Art Gypsies” – a small group of artists that Amy “plays with”
and does art shows around the area. Like a traveling band of gypsies – setting up
and selling art anywhere they can!

Debra Ketchum Jircik is a papercraft & ceramic artist. She’s an artist
through & through and you can sense it in her right away! Her home & studio
are located on an old camp area with several cabins on the lakefront. Each cabin
has been “converted” into their home, studio, workshop, guest cabins and more.
With incredible gardens and sculptural installations, I  loved our visit to her studio.
Check her out at “Circle Of Life Studio.”

Debbie not only makes great art, and lives a very “green” existence… she also loves RUST!!!
Which you know is one of my favorites too. So you know I loved it when I saw that she has
rust “installations” everywhere! Part of the fences, used as trellises, collections on walls
and everywhere else!!! As she put it… “rust never sleeps.” She’s built her own “rust chakra”…
and an incredible river rock labyrinth to walk through to meditate & contemplate.

We also met up with Wendy Powalisz who is a wonderful watercolor artist. Her colors,
techniques & style are not your typical watercolor paintings. Very striking. Very energetic.
In fact… this is the one that come home with me…

Another cool part of Wendy’s life is her “little cabin in the woods.” Literally.
She and her husband built their very own cabin on their 200-acre parcel of land.
They felled their own trees, made their own rock foundation, pump water every day,
use solar power for very basic electricity, wood fire for cooking & heat, no TV,
no computer… off the grid!

Another one of Amy’s friends, although she’s not an “official Gypsy” yet…
is Kathy Furda and her studio called Northern Light Glass. She does incredible
stained glass pieces that incorporate many different pieces, items and glass styles.
She also does glass bead jewelry with her own handmade glass beads & baubles.

Also, as previously mentioned, Katlyn Koester was Amy’s guest artist during the Art Tour.
Amy has been her “mentor” over the past few years – as she has now graduated from college
with her BFA in Ceramics. So Katlyn was “lucky” to have Amy and I “working with her”
all weekend to help inspire her, prod her, and motivate her to push herself as a ceramic artist.
Katlyn does not have a website… but hopefully she will soon!

At the end of the day, we met up with my student Pam and husband Pat for lunch.
Which of course for me had to start with a Wisconsin specialty… deep fried cheese curds!
Pay no attention to the dripping, greasy residue in the bottom of the basket!!!

As the summer comes to a close, the plants on my back porch are starting to suffer
and wither in the cooler Fall weather. But, it’s still great to see every morning as
my rusty farm gear “curtain” is getting covered by morning glories & cardinal flowers!
Okay… so it’s really more leaves, and not so much flowers… but it still looks nice!

Plus, a quick shot of the “other” side…
so you can see all of the BEAUTIFUL rust!!!

Another “addition” to my collection of cool rusty things!
You should know by now that I’m addicted to all things rusty… it’s the colors,
the textures, the patina, the aged-ness… all of it is very cool to me! So when I did
the Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival a few weekends ago… I scored big!!!

It was actually part of the Silent Auction. I noticed it when I was dropping off my vase
for the auction and was instantly smitten. And then I found out that the artist’s booth
was just a couple spaces down from mine. So I looked at all of her other really cool
rusty things – but was still in love with the piece that was part of the Silent Auction…
so I had my work cut out for me! Just to clarify… it’s a rusty shovel head that has been
cut with a beautiful pattern using a plasma torch. Still not sure where it’s going to hang,
but I am sure it will have a place of honor!!!

So here’s the story. I found out that one of the top bidders was my friend Amy Taylor.
One of the nicest metalsmiths out there who does this cool “hinged” jewelry. Love it.
Anyways, she was bidding throughout the day as her booth was right across the walkway.
Mine was all the way across the art fair. So I decided to “swoop in” at the very last moment
and try to “win” the auction. All was going well… 3 minutes… 2 minutes… 1 minute…
30 seconds… and I was going to be the last & top bidder. But then…

Up walks Amy’s fianceé Tom to do her final bidding. And I had to take him down!
I literally had to hold him in a headlock while I wrote my bid down “slowly” as to be
the final bid. I also found out that Amy had a “cap” on her bidding… but I was more than
ready to go higher. I was ready to buy one for full price at the artists booth, but it was the
design and the “broken off” section that I was drawn to. So I had to get this one… and I
was willing to pay for it. Amy’s “cap” was lower than mine… so Tom finally acquiesced
and the auction closed! And now I’m the proud owner of another piece of rust!!!

Check out Denice Bizot and her wonderful rusty artwork at… www.denicebizot.com