Linda & Opie's Burnt Offerings

Izzy... This ones for you!

 
you and gilby clarke. i can't believe you had short hair. it's usually half-way down your back!

It Was 17 Years Ago Today...

that the topping off ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio took place - and Opie was invited to be part of it. we had recently relocated here from New York City and Opie was on fire playing Conga Drums - and Tenor, Alto and Baritone Saxophones.

jerry lee lewis, opie and wally bryson - a magical moment. opie and wally are closer than brothers and are godfather's to each others daughters.

opie, joe vitale and wally - catching up with joe.

bobby womack - getting down!

opie, wally and gilby clarke - rockin' out!

wally, opie, and gilby - chillin' out!

wally and his double neck guitar was just too sexy for the stage!

all of the musicians who took part in it actually signed the last beam and they looked completely buff in their hard hats – and although I can’t find that particular picture – here’s the beam being set into place.

the Ohio musicians who came together for this were called The Cleveland All-Stars and it was a day to remember. the stage was electric with music legends like Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Womack, Joe Vitale from Crosby, Stills & Nash, Gilby Clarke from Guns N’ Roses, Dale Peters from the James Gang, Wally Bryson and Opie from the Raspberries … and so many, many more – way too numerous to mention!

and then like all good things, it was time to pack up and call it a day … but what a day it was!

were any of you there?

A New Year -- A New Start

What a month! I’ve actually heard it referred to as Snowpocalypse – Snowmaggedon & Snowzilla – and here in N.E. Ohio -- each title is right on the money.

 
Here's a sketch i did of our house -- enough snow already -- where's the sun!

Although, on a positive note, the weather has given us lots of time to do some much neglected things – like finally post our 2011 teaching schedule on our blog (it’s in the side bar – and eventually we’ll post it on our website as well)

I’ve also uploaded lots of photos to our flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/burntofferings/

I can’t even remember the last time it was updated – I know… my bad – but it’s looking good now, and best of all we’ve finally made some time to embrace some of things we love but never really have time for, and who knows, this may be the year I actually learn how to make a “real” link in a blog post!

As you can see from our teaching schedule, after June, we’re winding down a lot to finally pursue and explore several of our own artistic interests which we’re very excited about. We’re also thrilled to be back at Art and Soul – Hampton, Va. in Apr/May and we’ll still continue with our own studio workshops, but for this year at least, they will be on a very limited basis - so to make up for that, we’re teaching 2 very exciting workshops here in our own Cleveland and Chagrin Falls area in late May. One at the Morgan Conservatory, the other at Valley Art Center (see the sidebar for more information) so if you've ever wanted to take a workshop with us -- the time is now!

It seems as if we’ve been talking about taking a break for years, but now that flying has become such a major stress issue for me, and because stress seems to trigger my ear problem, we’ve finally decided that this IS the year to wind down and explore new frontiers. No more procrastination, no more excuses. And since we’re not getting any younger (contrary to what we may think on that subject!) - we’d like to see just what we’re personally capable of creating ... so it’s time to blow our own minds!

Opie plans on doing a lot more with photography (god knows he has enough cameras) as well as devoting more time to his music studio.

 

And speaking of music – our original CD – Strange Tales – is finally back in our Etsy Shop.

 
This music has been described as both Timeless and Haunting. We know you'll love it.

As for me, I’ve been immersed in teaching myself how to work with a graphic tablet to digitally enhance our original photography in several new and exciting ways. And even though i’m in the trial and error stages, i’m actually doing some pretty cool things so i’m very excited by it all. I truly believe there's a major perk to being self-taught – i never have to worry about breaking any “rules” (since i never learned any) – and nothing is off limits - because i don't know any better! can you say: Win-Win!

 
i did this digital sketch of opie in France wearing mis-matched shoes. He was obviously distracted but quite adorable. I’ve also been sketching and drawing more and even doing some monoprinting -- all of which I’d really love to continue to do on a regular basis - and since i LOVE to cook,  i’d like to blog a lot more about it and maybe share and/or exchange some recipes with you.

 
i did this pen and ink sketch while we were teaching in France - the whole experience was "highly prized" which just happens to be this months theme for the sketchbook challenge - which i'm seriously thinking about participating in. If you haven't heard about it yet - here's their blog link: http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/  so go check it out. And - on the subject of cooking - this pot roast was Saturday's dinner and quite delicious.

  

So lookout 2011 – it's a new year - a new game plan - and here we come!

 

Art and Soul Portland

what a fantastic venue this was. portland is a great city. very artsy and very "green". we fell in love with it!

our classes were a huge success and here's a few examples of student's work.

from collage a' trois (our metal collage class)

from simple metal jewelry: bent beaded and balled

and simple metal jewelry: sawn tabbed and snagged (where the jewelers saw rocked)

our students used a torch to heat things up

but glenny brought our bartender Clifford into class with his accordion. he played a song as opie and glenny did a dance (wish I had that picture) then opie heated things up (sans torch) with his rendition of "Lady of Spain". it was wild! 

 

in the city we actually discovered the horse of a different color

and everyone was ready to lend a helping hand

a visit to Powells book store was nirvana and the icing on the cake!

we can't wait to go back again next year. hope you can join us.
 

 
 
  
 

One World - One Heart 2009 Blog Giveaway

It's that time again for another fantastic blog give-a-way started by Lisa Oceandreamer 3 years ago!

Her original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way...This is more than wanting to win something.......that is only the means.......in the end it's about finding kindred spirits. Someone who may be fairly new to blogging, not sure how to navigate, find others and have others find them....Some are long time bloggers and in some cases well known in the art community. Whatever the case it brings all of them together...We are not solving the worlds problems nor are we curing anything nor are we changing the world. We are merely generating a closer community between humans through blogging."

How To Enter:

In celebration this year, we offering our original music CD - Strange Tales. 

Our giveaway is open to all! You can enter by just leaving your blog address or email addy on this post only in the comments area. Be sure that you leave the correct addy so we can reach you! The random drawing will end on February 10th so we can contact you for your mailing address and mail it by Feb. 12th, before we leave to teach in Mexico. It's a few days early, but we wanted to particiapte.

Good Luck - Have Fun - and let's build a stronger art community!

Opie's Music Studio

has just undergone a major transformation from analog to digital and while i'm not completely sure of what that actually means, miraculously a biz-illion wires have thankfully disappeared and order has once again been restored to the balance of the universe (at least in our music studio). i was really trying to upload a flash photo album into the sidebar that i just created using myslide, but somehow it only appeared as a post which i had to delete since i couldn't figure out how to move it, so this will have to suffice for now. there is so much to learn about all this, i feel as if my head will explode, but i'll plod along in my own time using the inspirational sites of some of the most talented artists we know as a guide.

BTW: we're making a list of blogs we love and read, so check them out when you have time.