Grandpa Dreams: Neighborhood Circus

Growing up in the 1950s, television was a new invention. I can remember when we didn’t have television, just the radio. The radio was tuned to a morning show that Dad and Mom listened to on WJR Detroit. The Michigan channels penetrated our airwaves in north central rural Ohio better than the stations 50 miles to the south in Columbus. Anyway, we got the weather, music, and a little news.

Living down Elm Street was friend Dicky Vail. The Vail’s had several boys and they had the first television set in the neighborhood. I used to go to their house to watch afternoon children’s shows that were broadcast from Columbus and elsewhere. Aunt Fran on WBNS began as Luci’s Toyshop. Fran Norris was the original host and she ended every program by painting a happy face on the palm of her hand and waving goodbye. If you looked at kids hands in the neighborhood in those days, there were a lot of stained happy faces on their palms.

We watched Howdy Doody, of course. That was the big show, but it happened to come on right at dinner time and I had to hurry home for that. I missed a lot of Howdy Doody until Dad decided to buy a television set.

I remember that we had to go to Marion, Ohio or someplace remote like that to find a television store. Dad wanted an RCA Victor television with a sizeable screen so that a family of four could watch comfortably. We entered the store where there was a wall of various TV sets. Dad picked one with a metal case that appeared to be sturdy. “Sturdy” was his criteria and it had to show a stable picture that was demonstrated by the salesman in the store who adjusted the antennae to make the picture reception just right.

OK, Dad forked over some sizeable amount to purchase the TV set. He had to carry it to the car and it was heavy. He put it into the trunk and drove ever so carefully home as to not damage the delicate cargo.

The next night he tried out the new TV set. It was on a table and plugged in with an antennae attached that they called “rabbit ears.” He was able to select a few channels to get some reception, but there was a lot of static. He messed with the antennae a lot to try to stabilized a bouncing picture. It didn’t work. He probably thought that television technology wasn’t very good as he now had to call the store and have a television repairman come out to see what was going wrong.

A TV repair man showed up in the evening as that was when Dad was available to meet him. He messed with the antennae and then declared that something else was wrong. He thought that maybe one of the tubes was bad probably damaged or shaken in transit.

He brought out his tube tester and proceeded to check them until he discovered the broken tube. He said that the tube would have to be replaced, and with that Dad learned that maintaining a television set was an on-going investment from the get-go. The guy replaced the tube and put the TV on a channel with a nice picture, declared victory and took off.

He would be back periodically to check the tubes.

Anyway, the story is that we discovered a new television show that was Flippo the Clown. Flippo captivated every child in north central Ohio, and their mothers too. He showed old movies and promoted drinking hot chocolate. He also promoted children conducting charitable events such as having circuses in the yard, charging admission, and sending the money to a charity.

Dicky Vail was the first kid that I knew to host a circus in his yard. He planned the event that included blowing up balloons and hanging them everywhere. He asked me if I wanted to participate, and I responded enthusiastically. I said I would come as a clown.

From that point forward, I discovered my calling in life.

Grandpa dreams: Campout in the yard

When I was a young boy of about 7 years, my Dad surprised me and asked if I wanted to sleep in the backyard in his hammock. He brought that hammock home with him from the Navy in WWII and in the summer when the weather was nice, he hung it between two sturdy trees.

Our yard was pretty big. The house faced Elm Street and Grandpa Oscar’s house was way in the back facing East North Street. An old apple orchard lay between them and some other things such as a chicken coop, a clothes line, Grandpa’s barn and Grandma’s garden. A limestone wall ran the length of the combined properties with a corn field and drive adjacent it. On the other property line was an empty lot and then another neighbor’s yard.

Being in the hammock in the shade, one could take a nap and feel pretty much away from everything until hunger came around.

Anyway, I told my Dad that I would love to sleep in the yard at night, and he arranged that with Mom. They brought out a sleeping bag and my pillow. I had my coonskin cap and a flashlight. Mom packed a piece of cheese and some crackers in case I got hungry, and she provided a thermos of water too. A boy with a flashlight lead to mischief, but I wasn’t motivated to play around because sleeping in the yard was serious business.

I was in the yard at about 8:30 at night when Mom, Dad, and brother said “Goodnight”.  I laid in the hammock and wasn’t sleepy. I looked at the stars in the sky and tried to find the moon. All was very quiet.

I could hear crickets chirping. As the sun disappeared deeply, it just got very dark out there and in those days people didn’t leave lights on. Grandpa’s lights went out and it was black in the southerly direction. My folks and brother went to bed and it was pitch black in their direction.

I was hanging with my head to the north, so to my right was Mr. Garverick’s old barn and the water tower. Mr. Garverick kept traps in his barn and it was spooky over there. Foxes lived in that direction and racoons too.

In fact, foxes could be about anywhere out there as there were lots of rabbits. Racoons would climb trees near our kitchen and we could see them at night with a flashlight. I thought about flashing the trees to see what was out there with me, but did I truly want to know?

I gave it a try and I saw something rustling in the trees. What if that thing wanted to visit the hammock? I wouldn’t like that. I put the flashlight out and began to dream about all of the animals that were probably out there with me. The woods wasn’t that far away, so deer and opossums and just about anything could be there.

I went into a dream state and thought about the “Indians” that used to live here in my backyard. I remembered the stories about wolves killing my great ancestor’s pigs not far from here. “The wolves are all gone, right,” I asked myself? That was a scary thought, but scary thoughts are what put me to sleep sometimes. I dreamt that I was outrunning a varmint as I fell into deep sleep.

Then, there was a very loud sound, something that I hear all of the time, but alone in the dark in a deep sleep the town clock chiming nine times was “alarming.” I sprang awake, counting the chimes, and realizing that this was going to happen again all night long.

I had another scary thought, “What if I need to get back into the house at night?” How would I find my way? I have my flashlight, but there is no pathway. I could take the alleyway to the street and then find my house. Right. I figured it out so I could fall asleep again.

I dreamt about using the flashlight to find my way back to the house to escape from varmints that I knew had me surrounded.

I fell asleep until the town clock began striking 10 times. How’s a fellow supposed to sleep with that clock going off all of the time? I anticipated with some excitement about counting the clock twelve times at midnight. That was something to look forward to. After that, it would only strike once, twice, and three times. I could sleep through that.

In fact, I arose for the midnight chimes and after that I went into a deep sleep again. The next thing that I remember was the warmth of the sun shining on the hammock. Mom stood at my head and asked gently, “Do you want to get up, Jimmy? Would you like some breakfast?”

I was reluctant to get out of the hammock, but after a hard night’s work defending the yard from varmints and counting the town clock, I was surely hungry.

Now, I dream about the day when I might help my grandsons campout in their yard someplace. I would suggest that they leave a string trail to their kitchen door in case they need to come in at night to escape the varmints.

Camping in the backyard

Grandparenting is a watershed moment

We used to call up and have “hangouts” with our daughter in the morning or at different times of the day pretty much with abandon. She had her hours when she was conducting class activities, but largely she was the “free bird” that she has always been. That is, an artist has a high degree of freedom. Being a “personal trainer,” our daughter also has much self-discipline. She has a highly regulated diet, and even through pregnancy, she maintained an exercise regimen.  

Next, the babies came, twin boys. Oh my, life changed in an instant with constant life-depending requirements for feeding, changing, sleeping, holding and comforting that all comes with motherhood. Caring for one child is half the challenge of caring for two, which my daughter and partner confront.

Being disciplined and prepared professionals, they were equipped with proper “equipment” including changing tables upstairs and downstairs. They had places to sit and special feeding apparatus, etc. The twin boys have lots of clothing thanks to the generosity of friends and family. There is a steady supply of diapers and the process of preparing bottles and such is remarkable.

However, aside from supplies, there is one thing out of which everyone runs, and that is time -- time to sleep.

When the boys are out of synchronization, there are no time-gaps in which Mom and Mum can recover.

As a grandparent, I was there for some holding support. My wife was there to provide auxiliary changing and holding support. Even than, two boys can easily outstrip the capacity of four loving adults to keep pace.

Whaaa!

When the boys go off with their little cries, love is at their service and in immediate reach, mostly.

Having the opportunity to hold a grandchild is brilliant. It is a luxurious event in life. I thought that if I could just hold these boys once, life would be fulfilled because someone would document the moment so that they boys could someday see that their grandpa, Jimpa, was there to take part.

Now, I don’t want to be greedy in life, but I surely want to see those boys again and again. Grandpa’s can never get too much of seeing grandsons, and can never run out of loving his daughter, grandsons and daughter-in-law.

Erased

Erased

By  James A. George

You awaken one day from what you thought was a dream, yet the lights came on and you discovered a secret that only a few people come to know. The dream state isn’t something detached or something that you switch on and off. Life is a continuous dream that is interrupted by people with their dreams, and it is constrained or otherwise affected by the living environment and things over which one has very little control. So, living people thrive in a world of colliding dreams.

In a dream you see a principal actor encountering all sorts of circumstances. While awake one day, someone who knows something about psychology or read an article about it tells you that the person you dream about the most is you. Oh yes, you are the hero, the victim, the lost, the adventurer, all of those things.

Sometimes in dreams you make contact with people who have died. Did they contact you or did you contact them? Do they come and go, or are they always present? Your awareness about spirits, the persons who have physically passed, has something to do with your developing capacity, your intellect, that enables you to engage in space and dimension that stretches the limits of natural sensors.

Do you believe in extrasensory perception?

A credentialed scientist friend once told me that when human chemistry stops, you are dead, and that is the end of it.

“But, what happens to all of that soulful energy that is present in human beings,” I asked?

The scientist answered with confidence, “Energy dissipates back into the universe in all directions.”

So much for the idea that energy is conserved. Soulful energy gets lost according to science.

Well, science itself is ever expanding and testing new ideas, right?

True is that a living person is a biological system with certain senses that enable interaction with other people and the environment in which they live. Living persons have the capacity to pass genes through reproductive mechanisms. Living persons share and exchange ideas through various artifacts that include speaking, writing, and creating images of all sorts. The artifacts of the living commingle with the artifacts of the dead and in that way energy from their creation is conserved and sometime multiplied on merit.

Like everything, what lives and what die and what persists and what is lost is subject to a great deal of chance. The best things are rescued and saved often by accident.

Thoughtless people bulldoze people and things and fail to recycle ideas, materials and assets as if they are in endless supply. More civilized people develop awareness about the value of humanity and devote more time and attention to appreciating living artifacts and to extending life to those things that should be preserved for future generations.

Just dreaming, and if I didn’t write this down, the thoughts would be erased.

Image on a plate by artist Molly Souders, hanging on the wall.

'Off the Wall' 3D clay exhibition at The Scope Gallery

The Scope Gallery is such a pleasant place to visit. When it is 80-90 degrees in the shade, it will be a pleasant 72 degrees in the Scope Gallery. It is bright and cheery too. Best of all, the work is a blast. Some of the work is quite sophisticated and reflects a long tradition in the craft. Other work just knocks the doors off from tradition and exudes modern creativity with a sense of humor. Check it out.

"Propelling themselves beyond their Scope, clay artists push wall art of into another dimension

Alexandria, Va., August 31, 2015-- Artists have achieved lift-off into another dimension at Scope Gallery as clay is launching artistry into the 3-D galaxy.

Walls have launched a ground-breaking generation of creative tiles, mirrors, plaques, sculpture and vases, pushing the boundaries of ceramic science. Earthbound artwork has been expelled from the kitchen and curio cabit, thrust forth to Kling-on to the vertical interiors of the domestic universe.

Figurative representations of angels and animals are presented in telescopic relief. Natural forms have been beamed up in the form of hanging vases, pockets and planters. Elephants and fish have survived thermal blasters, resulting in earthiness and hyper-organic results.

Clay collages show fragmented artistry juxtaposed against the contoured surface of thrown elements. Hanging tiles are brushpainted with flower and bird compositions and laced with dateless decorative elements of bamboo and beading. Dazzling platters, charming trivets and tasteful plates serve spacial frontiers of the domestic diningroom, livingroom and throughout a creative living space.

High-fire functional-ware can be stored on wall plate hangers between uses, to double as dishes and decorative elements. Ceramic wall art is stable and washable, ideal for humid and messy environments and remains relatively safe from the grasp of youngsters, goonies, gremlins or other household hazards.

A multi-dimensional mission has taken the brave Scope starfleet onto an odyssey to boldly go where no artist has gone before. Follow them as they explore infinite creativity and the expanse of unknown cosmic entities, for inspired celestial objects they will create, as once said by a short, green master."

Tracie Griffith

The "Off the Table, Onto the Walls" Ceramic Guild show at Scope Gallery runs August 31 to September 27, hours areMonday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Thursdays open until 9 p.m. The gallery is located at 105 North Union Street, ground floor Studio 19, Alexandria, VA. 22314. For further information, call Scope Gallery at 703-548-6288, visit www.torpedofactory.org/galleries/scope and 'Scope Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center' on Facebook

Puzzled smoked wall tile by Klaudia Levin of Silver Spring, Md

Textured hanging pocket by Linda Bernard of Laurel, Md. Photo by Guy Zoller

Raku-fired elephant tile by Heidi Schramm of Arlington, Va. Photo by Guy Zoller

Incised fish tile by Shirley Gromen of Arlington, Va.

Scroll hanging vase brush painted with squirrels and plum blossoms by Tracie Griffith of Reston, Va. Photo by Guy Zoller

Kicking off a new art season: Gallery Underground

Here is the best part of operating your own communications channel, you can pretty much do as you wish. Now, I will tell you that the best big show gallery for artists in Northern Virginia is probably Gallery Underground that features members of the Arlington Artists Alliance, many of whom have studios in the "Underground" in Crystal City. I love them, and artists so much that I started this channel and James George, Art Lover Facebook channel dedicated to writing about them.

I have been busy this summer writing and publishing some books and a journal article on other topics of my personal interest: Sustainable Economics and Politics. Interestingly, I have been welcomed into the world of academic and scholarly writers at Springer Publishing as well as Common Ground Publishing.

(University of Illinois) Common Ground just published a most esoteric paper titled: "Environmental Energy Strategy, An Induced Linguistic Ordered Weighted Averaging Approach to a Sustainable Economy," in the Journal of Sustainability in Economic, Social, and Cultural Context by James A. George and James A. Rodger. 

A textbook titled "Sustainable Economics: A Path For Regeneration" by James A. George and James A. Rodger (c) 2015 Springer is now into publication. That could be a blockbuster. Still, Springer has now entertained publishing "How to Select an American President by James A. George and James A. Rodger (c) 2015 Springer for publication ASAP. 

Now aside from writing, our daughter is having babies to be born in London soon. So, we will be globetrotting to become doting over "grandtwins" of which at least one is destined to become an artist while the other is destined to become a writer.


"SEPTEMBER SHOWS AT GALLERY UNDERGROUND


Focus Gallery: “Rain of My Soul,” Paintings by Nihal Kececi

Dates: September 1-26, 2015

Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, 5-8pm


Arlington, VA – In September, the Focus Gallery presents paintings by Nihal Kececi in an exhibit titled “Rain of my Soul.” The show explores both landscapes and cityscapes, as well as the artist’s transition between them. She notes: “After moving from Bethesda MD to Washington, DC, the theme in my paintings changed with my environment…in particular, I find pure beauty and magic in rain. The light that reflects off cars in traffic as raindrops hit the ground placed my mind and brush in a romantic place…I started to see the peace in chaos as light escaping the clouds gracefully hits the city.”



Main Gallery: SEPTEMBER Members Show

Dates: September 1-26, 2015

Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, 5-8pm



During September, Gallery Underground also features a new exhibit of members’ work in the Main Gallery, including sculpture, glass, ceramics, jewelry, watercolor, oil, acrylic and mixed media. Featured artist this month will be painter and Gallery member, Rebecca Croft. Also featured this month is the Artists Corner with interpretative artwork paying tribute to the renowned French artist, Henri Matisse.


For more information about events, visit www.galleryunderground.org


Located in the Crystal City Shops at 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202, this visual arts venue showcases the work of established and emerging regional artists. It is sponsored by the Arlington Artists Alliance (AAA), in partnership with the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID), and Vornado/Charles E. Smith."


Gallery Hours: M-F 10am - 6pm, Saturday 10am - 2pm. Metro accessible. Parking is available in metered spots on nearby streets and in public garages, which are free all day Saturdays and after 4pm on weekdays.


GALLERY UNDERGROUND

The Arlington Artists Alliance Gallery

Crystal City Shops @ 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202

info@galleryunderground.org

www.galleryunderground.org

571-483-0652

“Rain of My Soul,” Paintings by Nihal Kececi

Communities of Artists

Throughout the nation, there are communities of artists that appear in neighborhoods where conditions are right to host them. What are those conditions? Well, it begins with there being artists living and working in the vicinity. When there are a critical mass of artists who need space to work and space to exhibit their work, then leaders may emerge to organize attention to addressing these shared needs.

The broad need is for studio and gallery space. More specific needs center upon supporting specific types of arts. While painters may need studios, printers need printers, and ceramists need pottery equipment and kilns, for instance. There are many more painters than specialists such as potters and printmakers.

Of course, there is another consideration and that has to do with patrons. Where are they? Hopefully, patrons who support the arts by acquiring artwork live in areas that are accessible to art studios and galleries. Therein lies some challenges.

Often, economic developers favor encouraging artists to occupy real estate that is either in decline or underdeveloped. That space may not be in the most desirable locations. Therefore that may be contradictory to serving the needs or art patrons.

Both artists and art patrons often go with the flow in these matters because the attraction of artists and patrons produces a more desirable environment and therefore helps the community by enhancing potentially neglected or deficient property.

As an arts advocate who lives in Northern Virginia, I want to examine communities of artists and to report about their locations and profile their membership.

When a particular community has an open house or gallery and studio event, they typically do so at certain times. If they conduct an event on a weekday evening, for instance, that will constrain the hours and accessibility by the audience. Weekend events open the gallery and studios to a larger audience. Having weed day events expands the window of accessibility.

Social media and websites are a huge multiplier for marketing artists’ work and their credentials.

In the end, patrons must support artists by purchasing work to make it worthwhile for everyone. There is a caveat: Artists will keep making work, motivated by their passion, no matter what.