Linda & Opie's Burnt Offerings

Face the World – Global Portrait Party: Eclipse Mill Edition

Opie and I will be heading back to the Mill soon. Our friend and neighbor Astrid Hiemer has organized the ‘Face the World – Global Portrait Party: Eclipse Mill Edition.’

 

The party will be at the gallery of the Eclipse Mill, in North Adams, MA on Sunday, May 6, from 2-5 pm.

 

Here, artists and non artists are being invited to participate.

 

The portrait party has taken on an additional national and international character and Astrid has already had responses from Boston, Germany and southern France, and -- the first jpeg has already arrived!

The portrait parties started in Toronto, Canada and are being planned globally with ‘Friend Me Projects’ (FMP) and are Facebook based.

 

Ours will be the first party held outside of Canada. All portraits will eventually be uploaded to the FMP-website.

Artists can also participate in other ways. Please ask Astrid, if you are interested to learn more, or read the attached articles at BerkshireFineArts.com.

 

Here are the direct links:

http://berkshirefinearts.com/04-01-2012_face-the-world-global-portrait-party-eclipse-mill-edition.htm

http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/01-22-2012_friend-me-portraits-and-projects-carole-freeman.htm

We are very excited to participate in this and hope you will join us in person if possible - or if not - then via email.

This is both very cool and lots of fun - so we hope you will participate!

 

Moving to the Berkshires...

For several years our hearts have been in the beautiful Berkshires and we knew it was just a matter of time before we bought our dream loft in a walkable artist community.  Happily that day has come!

The Eclipse Mill Artists Lofts are dedicated live/work lofts for artists only and home to a community of artists, living and working in a former textile mill in North Adams, Massachusetts. Our 4-story building houses painters, potters, textile artists, print-makers, musicians, ceramic artists, photographers, a dancer, writers, a paper maker, a book dealer specializing in art books, and two galleries.

We bought the Garden Loft which overlooks the Hoosic River - 3500 sq feet of absolute joy -  and the only loft on that level - so it's very private.  We're driving up tomorrow for the closing. For us, this is a dream come true and we're very excited to begin the next phase of our lives together.  Here's the view of our backyard garden area which is very peaceful.  I'm so blessed to always live near water!

With all of the illness and loss that has happened since last August, renovating and organizing this space is exactly what we needed to devote our full attention to.  The Universe is ALWAYS on time!

Lots of pics will follow and we hope you'll join us in our exciting new adventure as we proceed to turn a semi empty space into our new home and studio.

 

 

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?

Our Studio Destash-ing has Begun…..

We’ve already listed several items in our Etsy shop - and it’s off to great start. This is an excellent opportunity for all of you doll artists and mixed media artists to get some truly unique items from our personal stash.  Many are in boxed lots and all are priced to sell.   Here’s a sneak peek:

 
doll heads in boxed lots in two sizes and 1 ethnic lot in medium.

 
9 pair lot of vintage bowling pins (aka doll legs)

 
vintage watchmaker glass vials - lot of 50

 
zodiac chips (aka doll faces) - 1 of each of the 12 astrological signs

 
 
 
unique one-of-a-kind assemblage boxes

 
a brand new Print Gocco PLUS we’re including the out of print book: The New Gocco Guide.

Complete item descriptions and more pictures are on Etsy. *Several lots have sold and have been replaced with similar lots - all pictures have been updated as of this post.

And while this is NOT destash - for our lovers of Zentangle – in addition to new Zentangle products – we’ve put together what we believe is The perfect Sampler Kit.

 
It has everything! both Black and White 3.5” tiles - Black and White Artist Trading Cards 2.5” x 3.5” - a traditional archival black Micron pen and the new white Gelly Roll pen and more – so come take a peek!

In the meantime we wish you all a happy 4^th of July weekend – filled with creativity – laughter – yummy food – and great weather.

So Funny and Sadly So True

My girlfriend emailed this to me the other day and for some twisted reason i really found this funny and decided to share it with you.

To commemorate her birthday , actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan 's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. 

One of the musical numbers she performed was 'My Favorite Things'  from the legendary movie 'Sound Of Music'.   Here are the lyrics she used:  (Sing It!)  - If you sing it, its especially hysterical!!! 

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things. 

Cadillacs and cataracts ,and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things. 

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad, 
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad. 

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things. 

Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin', 
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things. 

When the joints ache, 
When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad. 

Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.

A Blast From The Past

does anyone remember coney island in N.Y.

well last night we went to our next town, Geneva-On-The Lake for a birthday dinner with close friends to a funky restaurant called The Sandy Chanty (our town isn't known for it's eateries). when patt the owner first opened it and was looking for storage space and took down a wall and discovered this gem... a functional shooting gallery from the 1930's coney island amusement park. what a rare find!

and boy did it bring back memories of our days in new york.

Geneva-On-The-Lake was quite the place back in the day and was called the Riviera of the Midwest where millionaires had summer homes. now it's just a funky kind of town and patt is a food historian chef who's food offerings include lobster lasagna and a desert made with tan and black ale ice cream topped with pralines. it's quite an experience to say the least and one i had to share with you.

happy sunday and happy father's day.

Funniest Birthday Wish Goes To...

anyone remember the deities, dada's & the chapel at artfest post in april?

well lelainia from the tattered edge did and here's the birthday wish she sent opie.

she gave her permission to post this and i couldn't resist!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPIE!!

*genuflects before the mighty one*

(sung to the mac davis tune of Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way".)

Oh lord it's hard to have birthdays

when you're perfect in every way...

it's hard to look in the mirror-

you're gettin' more grey hair each day!

We know you're another year older,

You're aging but what can you do?

Oh lord it's hard to have birthdays

so we'll sing happy birthday to you!!

Hope you have a god...oops! good one!

:) Lelainia

We're Back...Really!!!

what a month this has been. we've wanted to post but there has not been a week without one, two and even three doctor appointments for opie's mom. we've actually rescheduled our summer so we can be close to home and now that we are, we look forward to posting on a regular basis. we do want to thank all of you who emailed us privately, wondering if we fell off the face of the earth. we haven't but we did go down to the grand-daddy of all flea markets last weekend in the amish county about 2 hours away.

vendors were everywhere, with lots of interesting stuff. we left a little after 5am and got there a little before 7 and it was already difficult to get a parking space. we had some breakfast in the indoor

eatery with a biz-illion other early arrivals and then we hit the ground running and didn't stop for a good 6 hours.

fortunately, the amish think of everything, including wonderful homemade ice cream, made right on the spot in this set-up.

it runs on gasoline, as the amish do not use electricity. in the words of rachael ray... all we can say is YUM-O

the weather was fantastic, the exercise great and here's a peek at just a few of our finds.

we're already looking forward to

going back in sept. over the labor

day weekend. we try to go down

there at least twice a year. it always the best on a holiday weekend!

take a good look at this tin can, isn't it amazing.

i actually wept with joy imagining the DADA's that will be created from this.

oh sweet joy!!!

we'll more later - it feels good to be back and posting.

Happy Sunday...