Check out our latest video on the Messy Suitcase YouTube channel — Crossing The Border (a.k.a. Why was Bob fretting?)
On the Road to Mexico
How do you get 3 people, 3 cats, 3 musical instruments and multiple suitcases and bags to Mexico to start a new life? You drive. 37 HOURS.
Vermont Open Studios 2019, Part 2
Meet the Artists
We visited the studios of about 13 artists during Fall Vermont Open Studios Tour weekend. We met artists who crafted using a large variety of media, including potters, wood workers, painters and a digital artist who combined computer art with oil, markers and other media. Below is a list of the artists we visited, grouped by type of art. I have included addresses, phone numbers and websites in case you have any interest in visiting their studios or purchasing their products. Meet some of the amazing artists we encountered!
Newfane 05345
(802) 365-7874
658 Orchard St
Brattleboro 05301
(802) 257-1030
Maya worked out of an unheated barn off the grid to create pottery for the home in earth tones.
WOOD
Rich’s turned bowls and vessels, often accented with sticks, were the highest quality we saw. His dragons were amazing, but alas, not for sale.
Shrewsbury 05738
(802) 492-2244
Gerry with his optician’s stand-turned-tool holder |
Gene Felder use a noisy lathe to turn his wood, preferring instead to create artistic bowls with hand tools.
GLASS
(This wasn’t part of the Open Studios Vermont circuit, but we dropped in and got a wonderful glass demonstration.)
METAL ART
Stragnell Art
Castleton 05735
(802) 468-2327
Vermont Rocks, Original Sports Sculpture
John, a triathlete, created unique pieces comprised of native rocks and stainless steel figures of athletes, including rock climbers, runners and fishermen.
Newfane VT 05345
(802) 380-9773
PASTELS
Brattleboro VT 05301
(802) 257-0951
DIGITAL ART
Vermont Open Studios 2019, Part 1
Incredible Artistry in the Green Mountain State
We recently spent a peak fall foliage weekend visiting artists’ studios and workshops around southern and central Vermont. The quality and variety of the craftsmanship that we discovered on Saturday, the first day, was so enthralling that we repeated the expedition in a new region on Sunday.
Open Studios Map and Guide |
The Tour
studios located in or close to their homes. Some were near downtown areas (Brattleboro) or even on the main street (Castleton), but many more were in remote areas, far off the beaten path. We drove many miles up narrow mountain roads and around bends, through gold-and- red dappled fields and past squawking wild turkeys, to find studios inside barns surrounded by trees and fields. These were places we never would have discovered on our own, but bright yellow “Vermont Open Studios” signs directed us to each new discovery and beckoned us in.
Diane Echlin’s studio |
Nature’s Turn’s studios |
Maya Zelkin’s off-the-grid studio |
Orchard Street Pottery studio in Brattleboro |
The Tools
Maya Zelkin’s handmade wood-fired kiln |
Sanford Stagnell’s Hammer Machine |
The Effort
Next up:
By Lisa Hamm-Greenawalt
Messy Suitcase Video: Why Guadalajara?
Beto (Bob) is developing his video editing skills, and working on putting the many videos he has made over the past year of traveling in Europe and then Mexico up onto the Messy Suitcase YouTube Channel!
After toting his GoPro all over Mexico, and now Vermont, plus the drives back and forth, he’s just learning how to edit the footage, so please be patient, and feel to comment with words of encouragement. Each video will get better, and they will be packed with fascinating info and our illuminating comments and observations.
We’ll hope you’ll follow our the Messy Suitcase YouTube Channel, and ring the bell to be notified as we put more videos up. We are also open to new ideas!
Enjoy the video Why Guadalajara?