MANZANITA ARTS EMPORIUM

Step into my parlor said the spider to the fly…I can’t help it. It’s what happens to me when I get my art fix.  I want to be part poet and part artist wannabe, all mixed up.  No flies here. Inside Manzanita Arts Emporium the bold work of Cate Culver greets you. Deep glorious colors. A small entrance draws you in to her powerful work.

Then the next long room; great wall space filled to capacity. Here I view wood cuts done by John Trinkle.

He made this table that retains the shape of the tree trunk, polished to enhance the natural grain.  Don’t miss the bottom shelf. Gorgeous.

I mentioned bold. This gallery is like something you’d see in San Francisco. Some hotelier will find Gary Rose’s pieces perfect for a lobby. This installation takes up about 10 feet in length.

Gary does smaller pieces suitable for the average home, too.  Again, the word powerful comes to mind.

In the next room is Monika Rose, busily editing a 500 page book…

…with her partner Joy Roberts. They are working on different chapters.

The Arts Emporium is a co-op owned gallery and office. Another partner, Connie Strawbridge is researching something on the computer. This is Calaveras County? Local talent? I’m impressed. I kept moving from room to room.

Giles Parrish does abstracts of women. Again, they are bold, engaging paintings.

I have to admit a bias for his work since I own a couple of his pieces.

Dimensional metal sculptures, catch the eye. Sizable pieces as well are from Wanda Macioszek and her husband Robert Santiford.

I detect the difference in style, but who does pine cones and who does quail, I do not know. They are all good.

Patty Payne horses are unique.

If you love a paint pony, this rendition is quite literal.

Another Cate Culver painting, but look at the copy cat quilt made by Linda Bass. A different kind of partnership, in art.

Kevin Brady is also a well-known area artist. This small rendition is the Frogs Last Supper.

You will find beautiful art cards. Also local writer’s books for sale.

Ceramics by James Aaron and others.

Another room in the building, is owned by another person I did not meet. There I spotted a Judy Caine Papais painting, an old friend whose work I know and admire. She has a rammed earth studio in the high country. Her work is well-known in the area, as is Monika Rose for her teaching writing, and publishing the work of local writers in prose, memoirs, and poetry. It has been her passion for, I’m guessing, 30 years. She is an amazing force for literary talent in this county. Connie Strawbridge came out of the Calaveras Arts Council Gallery and is now flying with a place on the street in Angels Camp,  Manzanita Arts Emporium.  She sells Giles Parrish’s work.

I like that there is much to choose from.

.

Under this display is an antique table for sale. We know that art and antiques are a splendid mix.

I’m blown away by what this small group is offering and by the quality of local talent. Manzanita Emporium offers a series of lectures and speakers, one coming about Navy aircraft carriers with Bob Rogers and Judy Laws. Another on social media by Brett Bunge. And in honor of Valentines Day, Romantic Poetry by Suzanne Murphy.

Check out their website at: http://manzapress.com/

BASILICA OF ST. JOHN, HAPPY HOUR AND THE EVIL EYE

We bused to the Basilica of St. John the Apostle of Jesus who is thought to have written the Book of Revelations and the Fourth Gospel of the Bible while in Ephesus. And, what happened to Mary after Jesus rose from the dead and left his legacy to the Apostles? Turkey has this amazing Christian and Moslem background. Mary’s house, where she lived near St. John’s Basilica, is close by but not very accessible. Usla told us it is very remote, very small despite it’s historic importance, and is always mobbed.

Unlike other ruins, this one was built of part marble and part warm brick and stone giving it great beauty. Emperor Justinian built it in the 6th Century over the original, humble, Church of St. John, and copied after a famous Church in Constantinople.

The outside walls were not meant to be a fortress nor impregnable. Flowers invade adding another layer of beauty.

Beautiful marble pieces lay about. I’d love to have a piece of carved marble in my yard.

A small, cross shaped pool is for baptizing the faithful, both adults and newborns.

 

St. John’s  tomb is here.

Noticeably located on a hill, The Basilica once dominated the city Skyline, seen behind Joel and Maria. The hill is a bit over two miles from the Ephesus ruins.

The frescoes were at one time exposed to rain and sun and are in terrible shape. They are roofed over and protected now, but restoration is a slow process.

.

 

History in layers can be seen in this part of he complex, various kinds of stone, brick and restorations. It was a lovely ruin, not quite as intimidating as the massive Ephesus.

Bused to the beautiful Kismit Hotel at Kusadsai Aydin, with lovely balconies overlooking the Agean Sea and our first hours-long stretch of free time. Gina suggested we all gather in the garden before dinner for Happy Hour. Several of us walked to a local supermarket and bought drinks and snacks for Happy Hour, rather than pay high prices at the bar.  Owen made a phone call and talked to his dad.

Gina, Joan B. and others over the two day stay here managed to get in a chilly swim on a private beech.

The Kistmit is an old historic hotel having hosted Kings, Queens, Presidents and many famous people over the years. Their pictures cover the lobby and hall walls. The lobby is also loaded with antiques like this bench.

Antiques like old phones, radios, film making equipment, brass coffee servers and so on decorate the common rooms.

.

The lobby is lighted by a beautiful rotunda.

Buffets in every hotel we stayed are munificent, and I began to realize and brag that I had eaten fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and yoghurt at every breakfast since arriving in Turkey. I love that combo.

Before leaving this lovely place, I took a picture of the God’s Eye at the entrance.

Decorating a marble pillar at the entrance is a God’s Eye Hanging. They are meant to ward off evil. Every building, shop, cafe, hotel, every home and business in Turkey has a God’s Eye. People wear them as earrings, necklaces, pin them on little children, attach them to fence posts,  book marks…everywhere you go, you see the God’s Eye. All pervasive,  some of them hang on five foot ropes and are as big as dinner plates.  After awhile you forget how unique they are. And, now, I could kick myself for not taking more pictures of God’s Eyes, a unique, cultural tradition in Turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CELEBRATING NEW BEGINNINGS

The goldrush town of Jamestown is near enough to Murphys to stroll and spend an hour or two. We walked the town and took some pictures. The light was bright and imposing and warming for a coldish November day. Casting long shadows on flagstones. When I moved to the motherlode, both ends of town still had remnants of their old boardwalk. Gone, now.

The town wasn’t exactly proud of its entrepreneur founder, but finally decided to recognize John James for whom the town is named. Something everyone smiles about now. At least he didn’t get run out of town with tar and feathers. (Double click the photo)

The town burned down in 1885 so the oldest buildings date from 1887.

This tree, the owner of the building behind it, told me  was in an old picture of when his building was being built in 1887.

It is an evergreen that I don’t recognize. He didn’t know either.

Don’t you just love that there was a time when people found it desirable and worth the time to make utilitarian objects, like door handles, so beautiful?

Jamestown is well known for its antique stores, there are many, and we poked around looking for a small table I would like to place next to my living room window. I found two I liked, but wasn’t bright enough to bring accurate measurements. They looked to be the right size?

One store had this line of hanging animal traps with the sign at the bottom unreadable until I loaded my pictures into the computer. Not much of a deterrent to theft if you can’t see it.

Economic recovery is slower in the mother lode than the cities. And we all worry about it. The Antiques stores are holding well, but several restaurants were gone. The Willow has been a landmark in Jamestown since before I arrived. I used to like their fondue, but I haven’t eaten there in years, and we didn’t stop for lunch because neighbor Jan was having a pot luck celebrating new beginnings, thanking her helpful friends.

It was afternoon of a day with a new moon, a new housemate for Jan, new opportunities for Leslie and…by chance, a new heart for a neighbor. The transplant was the day before yesterday.

Jan’s friend, Dixie, is a Wiccan believer and she lit a sage smoker and gave voice to a spell for all of us, for new beginnings, prosperity and good health.

I was wearing a necklace that assumes any shape you put it in. Leslie turned it into the ying/yang life sign for me.  Dixie read an invocation and we all said a prayer for our hospitalized neighbor. Heart transplants seem common, but when it happens to someone you know, you suddenly realize how miraculous it is. We also remembered the person who donated a heart that someone else may live. Amen!

 

 

POKING AROUND A CLOCK SHOP.

Siamese twins, the first identified world-wide, were born in Siam, the country we now know as Thailand. I picked up this cheapie little clock there with the twins and it fit perfectly over a couple of holes the previous owner left in the wood between two cupboard doors in the motor home. It hangs  above the dining table where I like to check the time at a glance. The problem is, the hands loosened and would jiggle loose at every nasty  bump in the road.

Memphis has seven clock shops and this one was just around the corner from where we are parked. Most towns have zero clock shops. It would make an interesting trek to visit each clock shop. (Jim doesn’t think so.)

I hold a childhood memory of a visit to a clock shop. It was dark, and mysterious to my unlearned mind. This one fit the bill. Kind of exotic with parts and pieces of clocks and other stuff around.

All different. Like artists, each craftsman leaves his mark by his work.

After I left, I regretted not looking closely, and finding something to bring home. This one is pretty.

Quirky and interesting.

I would have liked to bring this dog home, but there is no room in the motor home to carry her.

If you know someone who collects clocks, you know that person will collect other things. This old timey lamp complete with fringed shade is a beauty.

A festooned speaker phone with an Emmet Kelly clown holding a small timepiece. A great antique.

These are nice clocks compared to my little Siamese Twins. The road would be hard on such nice stuff, but I enjoyed poking around the clock shop.

I’m still in some pain and must take it easy, but we try to get out and do something. We made copies yesterday at Office Max and  I may return to the acupuncturist today. Sometimes, you must mix business with pleasure on the road.

You always know what time it is in this neighborhood.

The proprietor didn’t charge me to tighten the hands on my little clock. And, I can tell he did a better job than I did when I would try to tighten them. Back in service again. Thank You Sir!