Boardwalk Days part 47

 Last week I ordered some art supplies and was expecting them early this week, but I was surprised to return home on Saturday and see two packages on the porch. The big one I figured was the paper, and the small one the tubes of watercolor and brushes.  Brought them inside and was half right.  The big box was indeed the paper, but the small box held charcoal and pastels, items I did not order. And did not need. I certainly wasn't going to pay for them.  So I called the company, and explained the situation.  I was told to do what I wanted with the charcoal and pastels (probably not worth it to pay me to ship them back), and that the paint and brushes would be sent to me, probably going out on Monday.  I could wait that long, since I have no deadlines and two projects to work on.  I planned to start of the next Robert Johnson print when I went back to the Studio.

But then I got another small box  on Monday, same size as the one I had, from the art supply company, and it was the items I expected.  Well, maybe I'll work on the boardwalk print next, get it finished, then move on to the other one.  That was the new plan.  Still, I packed the wood block for the Johnson print, in case I wanted to start that one, especially as I didn't seem to have my practice color piece for the boardwalk print, with the colors mostly worked out.  Not at home, and not in my car.  There was a good chance it was already in the Studio, but I brought the other wood just in case.  For music I brought my Shonen Knife disc, mostly because over the weekend I got an email from Dave where he sent me a video of the band and had questions regarding a show they are scheduled to do later this year in his hometown of Seattle.  I had no answer for his question, so it will be up to him to do more research, or take his chances with the show.  You can read more about the band back in July of 2019 if you want.

So grabbing  all my stuff, I headed up to the Studio.  I found my practice color copy, and the proof I would use first, to test my color choices.  Opened up my small box to find it was the one with the charcoal, not the stuff I wanted and needed to color my boardwalk print.  Okay.  Well, I did have that piece of wood, so I copied the information from an older block in the series, drawing the box and lyric lines.  Would need to do it anyway.  Then I looked at the color test piece, the brushes and colors I had with me, and my practice proof on Japanese paper, the first one printed last fall.  Although I was lacking some of the things I expected to have today, I decided I could get started at least, and not waste the day. It was always my custom with this series to do warm and light colors first, then cools and darks later, which is how I learned to do watercolors in general.  So I did some of that.  Results are below:

This was just a start, and not even close to finished, but I wouldn't have anyway, even if I had brought my small box of paints and brushes.  For instance, I put down a first layer of color in lots of places, but plan to go over these with a second layer before I am done.  It is my goal to try to finish this first proof before the Open Studio in about two weeks, and get some drawing done on the Robert Johnson block, even if I don't quite finish it or start the cutting by then.   

More Studio Activity

 I wasn't satisfied with the proof I pulled yesterday of Love in Vain, so I decided to go back again today and try again.  I knew I was out of paper at the Studio, and the new paper won't arrive until next week, but I also knew I had 5 sheets of that paper down in the basement where I live, so before leaving home, I got myself a sheet of that paper.  Also brought two home burned discs, and started today with a collection of singles by the Zombies (all A and B sides of their history), something written about back in January of 2020

Removed yesterday's masking tape, and cut just a few bits of stray ink that I certainly didn't need.  I blotted the block yesterday, so there was just a hint of old ink on it, but it had dried enough that I could easily see the difference between yesterday's ink and today's new ink.  Didn't take long to put ink on the block and tape up the mistakes.  Then I put on my new sheet of print paper and started the process of hand rubbing.  I made sure to do the whole thing before lifting the sides to see what I had.  Of course, it needed more in spots, but nothing shifted.  This block has always had issues in the broad areas of solid black (low spots maybe). so I had to re-ink those areas a few times. But then I was done.  Results can be seen below:

This one is better than yesterday's proof, and suitable for the edition.  I will have to tear away some smudges later, but these don't affect the print.  Just a tiny bit of touch up, then I put it in the rack to dry.  Should be fine for the Open Studio, the next Print Fair, or wherever it may be needed.  Signing can wait a week or so for it to completely dry.  

I was done with the printing while the first disc was still playing, but it ended shortly after I began cleaning up, so I switched to a second disc, the self titled debut album from David Poe, written about back in July of 2020.  Cleaning went as usual, taking about half an hour. Then it was time to head for home. 

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that the print fair in Brooklyn began. It's too long a round trip, so I am not going, but I did look things up.  The website shows the scheduled exhibitors, with sample works.  I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but nothing on the website looks like my work.  Basic tickets are $15 per day, with special VIP and Collector tickets for considerably more, but I don't know what you get for that, except there was a welcome party last night.  The next three days are the main display, and all the programs.  If these are anything like other conventions I have been to, the programs will be demonstrations and/or lectures on various print related topics.  Tom is doing one on creating an Evil Print on Saturday, which is probably either a demonstration of cutting or printing (or maybe both), if it's anything like the events I have been hired for.  If it brings more people to see his display, that can't hurt me, but it may be a while before I hear anything. 

Studio Activity

 Yesterday I finally did something I have been meaning to do for a while- ordered some needed art supplies.  Of course I would prefer going to an actual store and looking through things, picking out what I need, but those days are gone, more a money problem for those in the art supply business and less about Covid, though it may have played a part.  But I had gone over what I had, and what I would need in the near and far future, looked up item numbers online, and selected what I needed.  I got Japanese paper for current and future boardwalk prints, western paper for the black and white prints, a few new watercolor brushes, and several tubes of specific watercolor paints that I will need.  Used up a whole gift card  in the process, so if I need anything else in 2025, it will have to come out of my pocket.  If I don't sell anything, than I don't need to buy anything, so it all works out.

I gathered some things I needed today and drove up to my Studio in Ocean Grove.  One thing I wanted to do was pull another proof of my Love in Vain print. Part of this is because we are having another Open Studio event in about two and a half weeks, and it would be good to have a clean copy of this print.  The last one I made is now in Brooklyn, others have been sold, leaving me with just the one I took out of a frame.  And this has been the most popular one in the Robert Johnson series.  It has been in three exhibitions now, sold a few copies, and singled out.  I don't know if I will sell any more of them at that event, but it couldn't hurt to have one to show.

However I was a little concerned when I got to the building.  There was a big sign by the driveway saying that the front lot was not available, and parking should be in the back. Yet, there were few cars in the front, and I had seen none in the back, which I pass on the way in.  So I pulled into a space in the front, and figured I'd ask inside what was up.  As it turned out, the sign was left from last night, a rehearsal that resulted in parking problems.  I was warned that tonight would be worse, with the actual production going on, but that wouldn't affect me- I planned to take care of my business and go home to lunch there.  I got the block in question, the one sheet of the right paper I had there, and pulled a proof.  Results are below:

The image is fine, and the lyrics are printed fine.   The light smudges at the edges of the paper are also not a problem, as I can tear those edges off.  On the other hand, that big smudge of dark ink by the upper left corner of the border is very noticeable, and not something I can just tear off.  After it dries, I can try to minimize that, but I may have to print another one.  Luckily I ordered extra paper, and that should arrive by early next week. 

I had also hoped to leave next month's rent check.  I had a blank check, a new envelope to put it in, but I couldn't remember the new amount for a month's rent, and this would be the first time I'd be writing a check for that amount.  And no one in the office knew what it was either.  Well, Molly rarely picks them up on time, so she may not even know if it's a few days late.  In Molly's absence, I could at least listen to music, today my Doug burned disc of albums by Hans Rotenberry & Brad Jones, and Alejandro Escovedo, written about on this blog back in June of 2022.

2025 Tournament of Art part 2

 I only had one school in this year's NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, and it didn't take long for them to be eliminated. That was University of Illinois, and this afternoon they lost to the University of Kentucky.  Not really a surprise, as Kentucky was a higher seed to begin with. U of I did not get blown out, only down by 5 at the half, but in the time I watched the game, they never took the lead.  

As a result of having no teams left active in this, and not even any in the NIT, I may not do an update next week. Maybe I'll report my whole results here when everything is over, but that won't be until we are a week into April. 

Brooklyn Update

 My cell phone rang late last night.  At that time I figured it wasn't likely a doctor's office or someone trying to sell me something, the people who usually call me that way.  Had to be Tom.  Sure enough, call from Missouri.  I can take that.  

As expected, it was Tom.  Good news though.  My prints arrived there safely, the box looked fine, and he liked the works.  His reason for calling was asking about biographical information.  I sent that to him last week attached to an email, and I wasn't sure what (if anything) was on my website, but whatever is there, it's probably out of date.  We went over the price of the prints as well- what he was seeking, and what I would settle for.  New information was that he was probably going to another print fair in Baltimore later this year, and he would like to have these prints there as well, if they don't sell. I told him I can print both if I need to, to replace those.  He also talked about what he wants for next year's show in Brooklyn.  I have it, but it's bigger, so shipping may be trickier.  I'll deal with that next year.  He also plans to talk me up at the print fair, and promises only good things.  

Just to make it easier, after I got off the phone with him, I sent all the attachments in all the formats again. But at this point it's all in his hands. I'm glad he got the work and he thinks it's worth showing, so I've done my part.  And some more prints may be started soon, if I like my ideas.

Studio Business

 Not ready to draw, or cut, or print right now, but I do need to make a block or two, so that was part of my mission today.  Wood is already there, but I keep my saw in my car, so I had to bring that in with me.  I had drawn a few lines on the piece of wood I had on my table on a previous visit, and used a cut block to draw one more.  I have vague ideas for a few more Robert Johnson prints, but the furthest along is a vertical, so I started by cutting out two of those.  Won't need the second piece right away, but the pieces are side by side on the large piece of wood, so in making one I made two.  Looked at both sides, to see where the knots were (can't cut any shapes there) and picked one for the next block.  Still not ready to actually draw it yet, but I might start working on things in my sketchbook.  My plan is to have something to begin drawing, or maybe even to cut, by the occasion of the Open Studio in about 3 weeks. 

And speaking of that, my other main mission was to find out when that will be.  The emailed minutes from the organizer gave one set of hours, the emailed newsletter from the office gave different hours, and the cards I saw a few days ago gave a third set.  And since Molly sent me an email saying that she might be interested in participating and wanting more details, I figured we should settle this.  So this morning I went to the office and spoke to Jeanne about it.  She gave me a 4th set of hours, but insisted they were the correct ones.  Made a note.  Also noticed that the cards left in our Studio were not the same as the ones I got upstairs.  The ones put under our door did not list the building events, but did have the names of the participating artists/studios, and was laid out for mailing, I was told at the request of one of the participants.  (back when I was doing postcards for shows, back layout was very important, as if other things occupied certain spaces, the post office will not deliver it) While I was still cleaning up sawdust in my space, Jeanne came to see me.  They decided to go with the hours on the cards. though participants are welcome to come earlier if they want.  I'll pass that all on the Molly later and she can decide what she wants to do.  (she's not listed among the artists, but that may be because she hasn't participated in one of these of late) 

Well, that was enough for me.  I finished sweeping up my sawdust, packed up my saw, took my new block and a few postcards with me, and headed for home.

St Joseph's Day 2025

 Whenever I hear a mention of March 19th, I always think about St Joseph's Day.  Of course, most people don't- the calendar I got from my insurance agent, most local bakeries, they only know about the other holiday on Monday, which makes no sense for a number of reasons.  But here at Studio Arrabbiata, we know and celebrate St Joseph's Day.  And why not?  Besides being the patron saint of Italy, St Joseph is also the patron saint of all wood workers (I qualify) and of bakers of desserts.  A strange combination, but it means we celebrate the holiday by eating a large zeppoli filled with cannoli cream.  No drunkenness or eating English meat for us. All the student printmakers from St Louis who were at Rutgers for the Southern Graphics convention didn't know it at first, but later they did because they were lucky enough to be there on a March 19th when I brought a box of the proper zeppole for the occasion, and the faculty who were expected to eat them all up in the city for the day. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to get one today, but then my speech therapist retrieved some boxes from Del Ponte's, an Italian bakery where they know all about St. Joseph, and I was given one to enjoy later.  See it below:

Looks and smells good, and I look forward to eating it tonight, or maybe just half and save half for breakfast tomorrow, as it is pretty big.  Then on the way home I stopped at a local supermarket I pass, and got a few more.  Probably not as good as the one I was given, but they will do for my parents.  Hope you enjoy this day as much as I do.

Art In Missouri

 Last week I sent my package of woodcuts to Park Hills, Missouri, which has a post office box that is in that way the home of Evil Prints, the outfit that is responsible for the art I will have displayed in Brooklyn next week.  The receipt I got from the post office around here said that delivery would be by Monday at 9 pm. I didn't necessarily believe this, and sure enough, when I tracked my package, it had not been delivered by that time.  Nor when I went to bed that night.  This morning after shower and dressing I checked again.  All they would say is that they had missed that deadline, but the package was in transit and would be delivered soon.  I checked again in the afternoon and found that it had finally reached its destination.  And they gave a new plan of having it delivered by Wednesday, so I guess they beat the new delivery date.  I called Tom and told him it was there at the post office, and he had 5 days to pick it up, before he planned to take a ride to the east coast.  

And that should end my part of this deal.  I have shipped the prints, sent e-mails with all the information he had requested, and now the rest is up to him.  I hope it all works out, but there is nothing more I can do at this point.  If all goes well, I will eventually hear how it went.  However, this is done, so it's time to work on something else.

Boardwalk Days part 46

 The next thing I have to finish is my latest boardwalk print, and I can't really color it until I order some new watercolors, but I can print a new proof now, . I have 3 sheets of the okawara left (need to order more of that as well) and I only need one for today.  

On my way into the building I noticed a large stack of postcards on the 1st floor table, which turned out to be for the upcoming Open Studio event.  A few days ago we got a weekly reminder of upcoming building events, and it listed that open studio, but then we got another email from a participant pointing out that the hours weren't correct. I went back and looked at the email from the organizer with his report on that meeting, and sure enough, these hours were not the same as the ones he put in his minutes.  And now we had this postcard, and sure enough, the hours mentioned there didn't match either of the two things I had before.  I think we have to get this worked out and soon.   Coming up with a project to work on there is easy, but I do have to know when to show up.  There's almost a month to go, so I'm not worried yet.  No names on the card, and nothing about the basement.  As long as they take care of things that day, I don't worry.

Meanwhile, I saw a whole pile of postcards that must have been shoved under the door of our space.  For now I put them up on one of the tables that Molly uses, since I guess they are for her.  She has missed the last bunch of events, so I have my doubts.  

Now printing time.  I saw various evidence that Molly has been there, but she wasn't there now, so that meant I could put on some music.  I started with a home burned disc, my collection of Morphine, from the first and last albums, written about on this blog back in December of 2019.  I had fixed a few issues on the block last time I was in, but pulled out a sheet of the right paper and my printing tools.  Inked up the block, which was a little tricky, because this is my old wood, and that thin stuff does tend to curl a little, and then some more when cut.  But I got it done, hand rubbed the proof, re-inked what needed it, and finally got my proof. Results are below:

Overall it seems to be a good one.  I'll let this dry a week or so before I try coloring it.  Won't be a problem, as I don't have all my water colors yet, and once I do get them, I want to practice first on the other proof I took on okawara, back last fall.  That older one is slightly different, so I will call that an artist proof. 

First disc done, I put on the one album I have from Pearl Jam, Vitalogy,  which I wrote about back in September of 2023 if you want to know more.  Cleaning up after inking always takes longer than when cleaning up after drawing or cutting, but that is the nature of cleaning up ink.  Anyway, I was happy with the results, so on my next visit I will do something about coming up with a new project.    

2025 NCAA Tournament of Art

 Tonight was the annual selection show for this year's NCAA Division I Men's basketball tournament.  There are officially 64 teams chosen, plus 4 more that have play-in games before the official first round.  It has been my practice to talk about my art schools that made that cut.  My art schools are places I have attended, exhibited at, have art collected by, been published by, or something of that nature.  I have been busy over the past 40 years since I started attending college at a Division I school, so this is typically a few to several.  However, this year I have only one.  I had hoped for more, with a school I have graduated from, exhibited at, and been collected by (and one of a very few that has been around since the start of the tournament without ever being selected) finishing 4th in their conference, but they lost their first round game there, and this is a conference that never gets anything but their automatic qualifying bid.  I do have a few schools of interest, which are related to my art schools, but I don't count those for this tournament- places like SIU-E (I graduated and exhibited at the main campus, as someone from a branch on a local military base once put it) Texas (I went to a week long print function and exhibited at another campus with it's own basketball team), VCU (which was once part of a school I attended, but had separated long before I was there).  So this year just one.

That would be University of Illinois, where I exhibited back in 1994.  This was an exchange exhibition with my own school, Southern Illinois University, where I exhibited my Fourth of July series for the first time.  This year they are a number 6 seed out of the Midwest bracket, a good team, but far from the best in their quarter of the bracket, so not expected to go too far.  However, I will report here what happens after the Sunday night game each weekend, for as long as they last.

Woodcuts in Brooklyn via Missouri

 Earlier today I shipped some woodcut prints to Tom Huck's Evil Prints, which he will haul to Brooklyn toward the end of the month, for a big print fair there.  This is the latest version of what is going on regarding our Robert Johnson project, which began back in the 90's when we were both students at Southern Illinois University.  I have exhibited these prints at places in Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, and sold a few along the way.  Our prints and many others were to be exhibited in Nashville at some point, but some lawyers put a stop to that before it could happen.  And maybe it still will happen, but for now we have this- at least some of these prints will be shown at the Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair at Powerhouse Arts in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, March 27th to 30th, 2025.  He tells me that at least one will be behind glass on a wall.  It's not worth it for me to travel there, but if he sends any photos, I'll post them here.

I don't know much about the facility, except that it's a former turbine hall from a power plant, decommissioned back in the 1950's, and had gone through a number of phases typical to artistic repurposed spaces (I've seen, been to, exhibited in, and worked in a lot of such spaces over the years all over New Jersey and New York) such as the place where I have my current Studio, which was a high school once upon a time.  Back in the day, Soho was an industrial neighborhood, by the 80's and early 90's was home to many galleries and studios, but now artists can't afford property there anymore.  This is the art life.  I would not be surprised if in my lifetime this former industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn (the space is right by the old canal) becomes too expensive for arts.

Meanwhile, I may do some more of these Robert Johnson prints, as I still have a few ideas, and people do seem to like them.  Plus it's possible that there will be another show in the future. I may as well be ready.

Boardwalk Days part 45

 

Now that I am done with all the proofing I need for the Brooklyn show, time to get back to my current piece, the latest boardwalk print.  When I last left off (the end of January) I had one decent proof on Japanese paper, and my color test using a rough proof on a heavy western paper.  I still need to order some more colors of watercolor to do what I want, but I do know I have a few sheets of that okawara in my Studio, so I can at least pull an improved proof on the right paper.  Started that process today.

Part of why I did that color test was to determine what colors I would use, and what some of these shapes I had drawn and cut were supposed to be.  Some go back over a decade, and coloring them meant some kind of commitment and decision making.  I looked at my block, the good black and white proof I had of it on the Japanese paper, and my color test to see what I had decided.  In the end, I made a few changes, mostly on and around the two seated figures I had drawn from a model recently.  But as long as I had some cutting tools with me, I removed all the bits of tape I had down from the last printing, and cleaned up those areas as well, taking out all the unintended bits of black ink, now dry.  I didn't need them then, so I certainly don't need them now, and the best way to make sure they don't pick up ink next time is to get rid of them  This is not to say that I won't get accidental bits of ink on the new and improved block, but that's a problem for next week.

While all this went on, I was listening to music, in this case a home burned disc of the two record vinyl version of the debut album from the Manic Street Preachers, Generation Terrorists.  This appears to be the one I burned from a cassette I taped at my friend Doug's place in Kentucky back in the early 90's.  My records show that I last had this in the Studio about a year ago, but the best write-up is probably one from June of 2022.  This version has a few songs and sound bits that didn't appear on the cd version that eventually came out in this country several months later.

About Those Animal Spirits

 Recently I have come across the term "animal spirits" in the news.  It's in connection with the stock market, and some of the wild drops that have occurred recently.  Looking online, it seems to be an economic term that relates to stock market approaches that are more instinctual than logical.  I never studied economics, but rather all my degrees are in art, so I come to it that way.

Back in 2012, the Belmar Arts Council decided to hold a show called "Animal Spirits", which had a theme of animals in art.  Any medium, as long as the art was built on animal imagery.  It's not a focus of my art, but I'm not against it either, and I like a good challenge.  My interpretation was to do a still life of bottles of alcohol with images of animals on the labels, literally animal spirits.  I seem to be the only one who did this, based on what I remember of the show.  Actually I ended up with two pieces in the exhibition, one of which (an older one) sold, so it was a good day.  My newer piece is below:

I haven't seen this one in a while, and hadn't thought about it recently, but obviously the frequent use of the term "animal spirits" brought it back to mind.  I don't think I've shown it since then, and considering the hundreds of prints I have made, this one from over a decade ago has not been a priority.  I'm not even sure where the block is right now.  But up until this time, I had assumed that the title was dreamed up by whoever decided to organize the show.  Now I have to wonder if the title came from this economic term and if someone knew that and decided to create a show with that title, even though the theme itself was more about animals.   My memory is that the show had a lot of dogs and cats.

Getting More Ready for Brooklyn

 I want to get my prints out to St. Louis on time for this Brooklyn show, having been given a deadline for getting the prints there, so I had a reason to get to the Studio this morning.  In the week since my last posting I have done a few things, including an editing of the artist statement I made for the last show at JSAC, since both that and the Brooklyn show feature prints form the current Johnson series.  However, the prints and the number of them is different, and for now the Nashville show is off, so I kept what still makes sense and deleted the rest.  A few words here and there to make it all flow, and I had a new accurate artist statement and biography.  Set that aside for now.

The reason for going to the Studio was to check on the drying process if all the recently printed Johnson proofs, and to make some decisions as to what is to be sent, plus to prepare such things for shipping.  For music I brought a home burned copy of two albums on one disc, Beatles for Sale, and  Help! from the Beatles.  The reason was simple- last night I caught part of the "Ringo and Friends at the Ryman" tv special, and the part I saw was heavy with songs from those two albums.  The format was simple enough, Ringo and various guests, mostly current country music stars, on stage at the Ryman (former home to the Grand Old Opry, now moved to more modern performance space, and on my one visit to Nashville I saw the outside of it) singing songs performed by Ringo with the Beatles or solo, or songs I didn't recognize, which I assumed were hits for the stars at other times, intercut with filmed bits talking about Ringo.  One thing I learned long ago was that Ringo keeps key and time better when he plays drums along with singing, but he will be 85 in a few months, and plays a lot less drums than he used to.  When he does play, he still sounds the same, but he doesn't do full sets these days, and I don't blame him.  (by the way, I wrote about this disc back in September of 2019 if you want to know more)

First step was to put on the music, then clear some space on my table.  A quick inspection showed that everything was dry.  From the first six prints in the series, I chose two for this show, as Tom had requested.  I went with Love in Vain from the first bunch done, a print that Tom had once mentioned that he particularly liked, and Terraplane Blues from the second set done, and one that got a good response in the last show, as well as being a print I like.  Both only had some ink smudges at the far ends, eliminated by tearing off a few inches of paper here and there, with the aid of my 42" metal ruler and straightedge.  Now both pieces of paper were the same size.  

I also used my ruler to tear down pieces of glassine paper to make folders to hold each proof, and placed the prints in each one.  These glassine folders and a piece of cardboard were put into an old plastic bag (once held this paper) and that packed between sheets of corrugated cardboard, fit to fill the box I will use to ship it.  So that's all done now.  I took all this home, where I used my old computer to create and print out a mailing label that will be used to send the box to St. Louis later this week.  Next up will be to provide titles and dimensions of the chosen works to send by e-mail out to St Louis, but that will wait a few days, until after the package is in the mail.

Getting Ready for Brooklyn

 I had spoken to Tom a few days ago, and today I began the process of getting ready to show some prints in his booth in Brooklyn later this month.  Tom said to pick any two from the set.  All are printed, but some are slightly flawed, smudges and stray ink around. And the most recently printed is not perfectly dry yet.  It may be in time.  So while I have an idea of what I want to send, what I do send may depend of what I can get to suitable condition.  I have a few days to decide, so early next week I guess.  Meanwhile I took all of them out of rack and looked them over.  I also went ahead and signed, titled, and numbered all of them.   

Tom said he wanted them sent flat, which I can do.  I will put each print in a folder of glassine paper, and pack them in one of boxes I received paper in last year.  Some of the same paper I used to make the prints, so I know they will fit, and the paper all arrived safely at my house, so for now I'll assume it can deliver the prints safely to Tom in the midwest.  Today I removed the labels from one box and moved the paper that was in it to the other paper box I have.  It was also an opportunity to see what paper I had, since I do want to place an order soon.  Below is a shot of one of the boxes:

It's even printed with the description, "SMALL PIZZA BOX" though it unfortunately has no pizza. The paper I received was in plastic bags and spacers made from corrugated cardboard cut to the right size, so I may use some of those as well.  The box will need more taping of course, but that will wait until I put something in it.  Address labels will be added as well.  But so far this looks like it will work.  The box may come back to me (Tom tells me he will try to sell them, and may keep one as an example, but he may need to send something back) so it may have to make a few trips.  

Mardi Gras 2025

 The day has arrived and I am ready for it. I made a batch of my jambalaya on Sunday, and there is just enough for a healthy portion for today's lunch.  I knew I could find suitable music on the internet, so pulled up favorite songs by CC Adcock, Rosie Ledet, Dewey Balfa and the Balfa Bros. among others.  (I like both traditional Cajun and Zydeco music to accompany my jambalaya and beer for the occasion.)  As I have said before on this blog, here at Studio Arrabbiata we have a devotion to all things spicy, and so that includes my cooking.  Actually, I don't find this jambalaya that spicy, not so much as the restaurant dish I based this on, but my mother tried some and found it tasty, but too spicy for my father to try.  More for me.  Photo is below:

I have read that some people will say no tomato in it (that would make it creole) but the restaurant I used to go to used it, and I had a can on my shelf, so it's in there.  Sometimes I put in some shrimp (in place of crawdads), but this year I had no shrimp handy, and I didn't want to get a whole bag just for a few plates, so I left it out.  (again, some don't include seafood at all, but my version sometimes has it) The only rule that I consider is that it is a rice dish and must include some pork (it's in the name after all), and this one meets all those rules.  Tomorrow begins Lent, and all the fun ends.

Jambalaya And Other Treats

 We are now in March, which led me to realize that I had things I had to do.  One was getting in touch with my contact in St Louis about his show in Brooklyn, and the other was that Mardi Gras is this week, which means making some jambalaya for the occasion.  Both can be dealt with today.

First up was the jambalaya.  It has been my custom in recent years to make a batch of jambalaya for Mardi Gras, which also marks to arrival of the Lenten season. I typically make a batch which is good for three meals, and do that on the Sunday before, a day I have plenty of time.  This means I am done eating it by Fat Tuesday itself, which works out well, as Wednesday and Friday of this week are meatless days, and I can't eat the stuff those days.  Preparations began long ago, with purchases made over the past few weeks, or some even last year.  Yesterday I bought some green bell peppers to include in it.  Color doesn't really make a difference for flavor, but I wanted green for color in the dish.  Also yesterday I took meats out the freezer, sausage and chicken left from last year, still frozen solid. Left those to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, and took them out at various times today.  I don't have an official recipe, but go from memory and imitations of a favorite local place (closed long ago) which I think is fine for a traditional dish like this.   Started making it in the late morning, and was ready to eat by early afternoon.  Also as is my custom, I washed it down with a cold beer, while listening to some zydeco music.  In this case it was Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers, songs from their first major label album- Beau Jacque Boogie, an album I know well as it came out during my last radio stint and it got regular play on my show.  It's on my shelf at home as a result.

The other thing I wanted to do today was start the process of getting in touch with Tom over this Brooklyn thing.  I had found online the dates of his show, and wanted to know when, where, and what he wanted my to send.  He had sent an email about it last year, so I replied to that, and then called the number in that mail.  To my surprise I got him on the second ring, and he said he was in the process of sending a response to my mail, but a direct conversation is even better.  He gave me a further update on the Robert Johnson show in Nashville, pretty much what I have written here before.  What it comes down to is too many people own pieces of Johnson and they wanted too much money to approve everything, and the gallery backed out.  Whatever will happen with it, Tom wants nothing to do with it.  However, he is still going to do print fairs, and is going to show people he knows and respects, and I am one of those.  He credits me with teaching him both about woodcuts and blues music, and I get a lot from him as a result.  

Over the phone he was able to give me all the information I need- two prints of my choosing, mail them flat, the address and deadline.  All can be done easily on my end, the toughest part deciding what to choose.  I'll start on that next week. No photos today, but I'll probably post one on Mardi Gras itself.  Meanwhile, a very productive day.