A copper turtle by Lynn Daniel.
We got it at Spanish Village in Balboa Park.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Canyon Road 2012, Part 1
Our walks up and down Canyon Road this year were very successful. Our most successful stop was at Winterowd Gallery, one of our favorite art galleries.
First, a funny story about Winterowd Gallery. Back in May I got an email from my sister Peggy telling me of an art gallery we should visit when we're in Santa Fe. Peggy told me that she had been to a talk by Destiny Allison, an artist "who is very passionate about her work in steel and about art in general." Peggy said that they went to Winterowd Gallery where Destiny's work is shown. Peggy thought that Destiny's sculpture fits our aesthetic. She also thought we'd be interested in glass sculpture by another artist, Alex Bernstein, who is represented by the gallery.
Well, yes, that's true! We have a piece by both Destiny Allison and Alex Gabriel Bernstein, both from Winterowd Gallery. Peggy knows our taste well!
Another funny story: While we were wandering through the gallery, Karla Winterowd, the owner of the gallery, was making calls to out-of-town clients inviting them to a reception they are having for Alex Gabriel Bernstein. Just as soon as she finished leaving a message on our phone back in California, there we were, right there in the gallery! Sadly, we won't be able to make it to the reception.
The first room of the gallery has an amazing installation by Sophia Dixon Dillo. We don't have the space for such a piece. But there were some of her boxes hanging in the same room that we were very intrigued by. We would have been happy with one that was hanging on the wall but Karla showed us more that were in their stock room. It was a hard choice but we took just this one from the stock room:
These boxes appear to glow. They pick up light from their surroundings and change dramatically when placed in different places. They're magical. This piece will surely move around the house. Be sure to read her description of the pieces on the left side of this page of her web site.
I said that we got a glass sculpture from Winterowd Gallery by Alex Gabriel Bernstein. Glass is one of our favorite mediums. We couldn't pass up this kiln-formed, cast glass piece by Karen Bexfield.
And from above.
Goodness! This appears to be the piece on the home page of Ms. Bexfield's web site! Cool! I love glass and this piece is amazing. I'm glad there are artists out there that can create such things.
Then there were some Mystical Tablets by J. D. Wellborn hanging in another room. These paintings "are achieved through a woven technique of layering delicate papers, with canvas, fiberglass material." There were several hanging on the wall and they had a couple of boxes filled with more. Karla sat us down on benches and hung each of them so we could see all the colors, designs, stones and whatnot the different pieces offered. She'd hang nine of them and we'd dismiss some for whatever reason and the ones we kept considering would be rearranged on the hangers. Up would go another batch. They'd get rearranged and ones we liked from the previous group would go up with what we liked from the new ones. Through the process of elimination that lasted at least a half hour we settled on this one. Too bad we didn't have a sofa swatch with us...we could have gone straight to one that matched.
If you need art and are in Santa Fe you should, as Peggy suggests, visit Winterowd Gallery. Tell them Charles and Jerry (and Peggy) sent you.
First, a funny story about Winterowd Gallery. Back in May I got an email from my sister Peggy telling me of an art gallery we should visit when we're in Santa Fe. Peggy told me that she had been to a talk by Destiny Allison, an artist "who is very passionate about her work in steel and about art in general." Peggy said that they went to Winterowd Gallery where Destiny's work is shown. Peggy thought that Destiny's sculpture fits our aesthetic. She also thought we'd be interested in glass sculpture by another artist, Alex Bernstein, who is represented by the gallery.
Well, yes, that's true! We have a piece by both Destiny Allison and Alex Gabriel Bernstein, both from Winterowd Gallery. Peggy knows our taste well!
Another funny story: While we were wandering through the gallery, Karla Winterowd, the owner of the gallery, was making calls to out-of-town clients inviting them to a reception they are having for Alex Gabriel Bernstein. Just as soon as she finished leaving a message on our phone back in California, there we were, right there in the gallery! Sadly, we won't be able to make it to the reception.
The first room of the gallery has an amazing installation by Sophia Dixon Dillo. We don't have the space for such a piece. But there were some of her boxes hanging in the same room that we were very intrigued by. We would have been happy with one that was hanging on the wall but Karla showed us more that were in their stock room. It was a hard choice but we took just this one from the stock room:
 |
| Untitled (2374) |
I said that we got a glass sculpture from Winterowd Gallery by Alex Gabriel Bernstein. Glass is one of our favorite mediums. We couldn't pass up this kiln-formed, cast glass piece by Karen Bexfield.
 |
| Prana |
 |
| Prana |
Then there were some Mystical Tablets by J. D. Wellborn hanging in another room. These paintings "are achieved through a woven technique of layering delicate papers, with canvas, fiberglass material." There were several hanging on the wall and they had a couple of boxes filled with more. Karla sat us down on benches and hung each of them so we could see all the colors, designs, stones and whatnot the different pieces offered. She'd hang nine of them and we'd dismiss some for whatever reason and the ones we kept considering would be rearranged on the hangers. Up would go another batch. They'd get rearranged and ones we liked from the previous group would go up with what we liked from the new ones. Through the process of elimination that lasted at least a half hour we settled on this one. Too bad we didn't have a sofa swatch with us...we could have gone straight to one that matched.
 |
| Mystical Tablet #916 |
Just call her Lazarus
Or would that be "Lazara" for a girl?
Our beloved Silvia, our espresso machine, died on Friday evening.
As usual, on Friday I turned on Silvia and gave her a brief priming. That is, I put the portafilter into the group head and turned on the pump for a few seconds. We then let her heat up while we ate supper.
After supper, as usual, I was going to run some hot water into the little espresso cups to preheat them. When I pressed the brew switch nothing happened. No hot water.
Silvia was hot but nothing happened when I pressed the brew switch. There was no light that shows that she's turned on. Did a circuit breaker blow? No, Rocky was on the same outlet and he ran.
Silvia was dead.
One of the reasons to get a machine like Silvia is that she's very serviceable. I didn't panic, she (probably) could be repaired.
I found a YouTube video that showed how to reset the circuit breaker that turns off Silvia's boiler in case it overheats. The problem with that is that the pump is supposed to keep working even if the circuit breaker has turned off the boiler. My problem was more severe but I opened up Silvia to see if the circuit breaker had been tripped.
It hadn't tripped. While I was poking around with the circuit breaker Jerry peeked in. He noticed a wire with burnt insulation. The wire was going to the main power switch. With that wire out of commission Silvia just can't run.
We seem to have discovered the problem.
Now all I needed was a new wire and the connectors. It turned out that my crimper had just the right connector for the power switch and to splice a wire onto Silvia's power cable.
But where is the wire?
I searched around the house and finally found an old power cord. Since the broken wire in Silvia was delivering power I figured the wires in the power cord would be enough to use. I dissected the power cord and it had three separate wires.
I took one of the wires and crimped a spade connector onto one end and crimped the other end onto the wire left in Silvia.
I reassembled Silvia and turned her on. No smoke!
She warmed up and we brewed some espresso. She worked! Just as before! Yay!
After brewing that first batch I opened her up again. The wire wasn't hot. I think we're back in business for another ten years!
I'm confidant that all that was wrong was that there was a rotten wire, not that there is something wrong with Silvia that caused the wire to disintegrate. I'm betting that it had been rotting for years and Friday was just the day it finally ran out of time.
Here's a picture of the wire that I cut out.
Our happy family, Rocky and Silvia, as good as new!
Our beloved Silvia, our espresso machine, died on Friday evening.
As usual, on Friday I turned on Silvia and gave her a brief priming. That is, I put the portafilter into the group head and turned on the pump for a few seconds. We then let her heat up while we ate supper.
After supper, as usual, I was going to run some hot water into the little espresso cups to preheat them. When I pressed the brew switch nothing happened. No hot water.
Silvia was hot but nothing happened when I pressed the brew switch. There was no light that shows that she's turned on. Did a circuit breaker blow? No, Rocky was on the same outlet and he ran.
Silvia was dead.
One of the reasons to get a machine like Silvia is that she's very serviceable. I didn't panic, she (probably) could be repaired.
I found a YouTube video that showed how to reset the circuit breaker that turns off Silvia's boiler in case it overheats. The problem with that is that the pump is supposed to keep working even if the circuit breaker has turned off the boiler. My problem was more severe but I opened up Silvia to see if the circuit breaker had been tripped.
It hadn't tripped. While I was poking around with the circuit breaker Jerry peeked in. He noticed a wire with burnt insulation. The wire was going to the main power switch. With that wire out of commission Silvia just can't run.
We seem to have discovered the problem.
Now all I needed was a new wire and the connectors. It turned out that my crimper had just the right connector for the power switch and to splice a wire onto Silvia's power cable.
But where is the wire?
I searched around the house and finally found an old power cord. Since the broken wire in Silvia was delivering power I figured the wires in the power cord would be enough to use. I dissected the power cord and it had three separate wires.
I took one of the wires and crimped a spade connector onto one end and crimped the other end onto the wire left in Silvia.
I reassembled Silvia and turned her on. No smoke!
She warmed up and we brewed some espresso. She worked! Just as before! Yay!
After brewing that first batch I opened her up again. The wire wasn't hot. I think we're back in business for another ten years!
I'm confidant that all that was wrong was that there was a rotten wire, not that there is something wrong with Silvia that caused the wire to disintegrate. I'm betting that it had been rotting for years and Friday was just the day it finally ran out of time.
Here's a picture of the wire that I cut out.
Here's my spliced-in wire (from the blue connector up and around to the power switch).
Our happy family, Rocky and Silvia, as good as new!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday
A pincushion from the Ta-Ma-Ya Crafts Cooperative Association.
We got this at the 2012 Indian Market.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday
A beaded turtle. We got this at the Balboa Park American Indian Culture Days Powwow earlier this year.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
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