pitt stop.*

today we started early with a greasy breakfast near pat and al's. we got the morning bum's rush because pat had some kind of meeting and al had to go review a film.

so we did some wandering, some puttering and visited our favorite catholic supply store, sacred heart of jesus. the reverend and i are by no means denominationally religious, but that does not mean that our interest in the artifacts of faith are purely ironic (our aesthetic whims must dip into ironic territory but i enjoy reverence just as much). we always pick up amazing little handmade icons, medallions and other objects made with care, hope and supplication. and the nuns who run the shop are very nice, too. i found out on this trip that they "live by providence" - a way of life that i feel half-immersed in myself most of the time. we also talked about adventure on the roads of america. apparently these ladies used to travel the countryside breaking down in every state only to "meet the nicest people and see the nicest things" during their car's collapse. kindreds for sure, in spite of other unshared ground.

speaking of the road, it had come time to hit it again. smell ya later, yinzers.

the jumbled city gave way to countryside as we decided to take our time and save our tolls for a while on the lincoln highway. we passed some familiar sights (the nudie bar was about to open but the sky was turning and we felt chicken) and one who's geography i had forgotten. why are our trips through pennsylvania always full of such contradictions?

i had seen that sign for the memorial before but had never followed it. the flight 93 memorial is an interesting example of collectivism in practice. a display of feelings that are personal, political, nationalist, self-indulgent, small, empassioned and/or confusing.

what could the significance of a hair elastic be? or a penny? or an elvis wallet? are these offerings motivated by actual connections with the event or object? or did the donor just feel the need to leave something? was it due to a swell of emotion or perceived social pressure? who knew the dead and who did not? the visual display is striking, important, but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. maybe that's appropriate.

we moved on, headed for our adoptive family in philadelphia - two pals, three kids (also pals), and five dogs were there to greet us with open arms, warm dinner and plenty of yapping. this was not a confusing experience by any stretch. tomorrow we make things, saturday we sell things and the rest is still falling into place. it's good to be home.

*title pun by aitor.

the south in the north?

i have to admit some general confusions about west virginia. even though the little slice that we drove through today must almost extend northwards to lake erie, the tourist shop flotsam seem to suggest that we are in the south. so do some billboards. and everyone has different accents than ohio cities that are only and hour and a half away. it's perplexing. but then, i was embarassingly old when i figured out that the mason-dixon is right under ohio.

we took advantage of today's brief trip through the south to stop at the cherokee trading post in triadelphia, west virginia. it's a roadside tourist shop akin to stuckey's and the like (minus the ubiquitous alligator heads). i was hoping to score some good post cards (done - see above) and browse some discount cowboy boots and moccasins (also accomplished - too bad that discount cowboy boots and moccasins are still too expensive for me). but i was extra elated to also stumble upon my best craft score of the trip. with all apologies to the indie craft community i know, this blew my mind:

if i were a worse person, i would steal this idea. i desperately want to. or, rather, i desperately wish that this combination of hill billy illustrative style and novelty had occurred to me first. this was never going to happen.

photo by rev. aitor

we arrived in pittsburgh with enough time to do a bit of wandering around on liberty street before meeting up with our friend al at the tail end of her handmade arcade planning meeting. we stumbled upon some classic pittsbugh window displays:

you should visit around easter when the easter bunny, little chicks and the city's strong catholic leanings blend into some very impressive mish mashes of bleeding saints and snuggly fauna.

the signage here is also amazing.

i got really into this barber shop as a whole complicated piece of arrangement of thoughts and colours:

after some food and drink from the church, we got to retire to our luxe digs-for-the-night chez pat and al. aside from other craft undertakings she makes for public consumption, al also quilts out of her impressive vintage fabric collection. i am in awe of her collection. plus, we get to sleep under part of it!

good night, yinz. sweet dreams.

ohio gothic.

typewriter shop sign - a vestigial clue towards businesses past.

worried about car odours? buy a watermelon tree like olivera does.

why aren't signs as big and impressive as they used to be? this one spoke volumes in scale.

thrift curation and treats from ohio.

these little miss septembers (caught in situ today at a columbus thrift shop) remind me of a current focus i feel myself developing - an eye for thrift curation. throughout this trip, i keep being struck by some very interesting choices in shelving thrift goods - colour matched displays of sundries, too many bunnies, and other decisions of likeness. here is another arrangement jaime pulled together at the crazy huge junk shop in indianapolis:

i feel that this particular new interest will persist throughout this trip if not beyond.

other than getting distracted by the beauty of thrift stores (yeah, i am sad that the septembers did not come into the station wagon with us, but i had to be strong), we went in to wholly craft to stock olivera up on wares for the cool people of ohio and pick up a couple of special goodies for our own cool selves.

i got this letterpress print and a small collection of vintage craft books.

olivera is very good at sourcing our vintage books, fabrics and supplies for the shop. her stock of old rarities is a unique feature of the shop and makes for very special bundles for shoppers to take home. and what deals!

columbus, rock city!

there's cheech up there displaying some very well formed visual tension with one of olivera's many velvet paintings. she was up to greet us as we got ready to go down to the shop for our all-day mother's day trunk show. it was great to spend a day in the shop, watch the way things run and chat with crafty...columbians?

as much of a treat as a day in the shop was, the true excitement came after we locked the doors and went out into the columbus evening. seth and olivera were all excited to see the new documentary 'anvil: the story of anvil' which opened here this weekend. it opened on friday but tonight's screening boasted a live performance afterward. the movie did not disappoint. it was funny, touching, and spoke deeply to the discrepancies between talents, will and success. and the post-film concert was amazing! all for eight dollars - and we were allowed to drink beers in the theatre. i will leave you with some photos of the performance and related headbangings. i made use of some new flash settings in these (as suggested to me by dave) so they get pretty strange. thanks for the new expermental territory, dave! and thank you, anvil, for keeping the dream alive.

naptown races.

after last night's active show and tell, jaime left me with two skeins of her lovely t-shirt yarn. i love the colours and would imagine that it is either cotton or a cotton/poly blend (you know, t-shirt stuff). what should i make with these?

after a luxurious sleep-in on the steer horn couch, we got ourselves together to go to the farmer's market. what a treat!

jerry and jaime got some herbs for their spring garden, while we limited ourselves to road supplies - some honey for my morning tea, lavender sachets to keep our suitcases and clothes from stinking like old plastic and some tea samples of a new puh-ehr tea i had never tried. yum!

our indy hosts then took us to white river architectural salvage, a sprawling and overwhelming junk shop where you can buy things like mounted moose heads, spoons and mantel pieces. or a new spire for you house, should you need it.

with something weird and awesome around every corner, i took way too many pictures. if you want to see more, check in here.

we got back to our typewriter sleeping quarters with enough time to pack up around the napping cats, for me to get schooled by jerry on the use of button hole attachments for straight stitching sewing machines, and for the two of us to go over some very exciting plans for a custom button bag that he is going to make for me. it feels pretty swanky to get to commission custom work,

we shoved off for ohio...

...and got in just as seth's band was getting off stage at the thristy ear. it was sad that we missed their set but all was not lost; olivera was there to greet us with drinks already poured so we sat back and watched the headliner, grace adele.

what a great welcome to columbus. tomorrow we have a trunk show all day at wholly craft. come on down!