Sewanee arts and nature touring

A wonderful 5 nights in Sewanee enjoying the beautiful spring ... arts, athletic competition, training, hiking, and a party at Ellis's place.

After waking up to and watching the Boston Marathon on Monday, we went to visit Ed C. at the Iona Arts Gallery.   Ed gave us a lengthy and generous tour.   He's wonderful fellow with a very interesting spiritual and mystic connection to his art.  We'll be seeing him again soon I expect.  A super artist and interesting person.

We also visited the University Gallery, named after Ed.   Lastly, we visited the fine art of nature on the bluff.

Artist Ed C., explains his work at IONA art barn

Roya at the University Gallery

KA Point

Return to the stage

Nice to be back on stage. The audience was very appreciative. I played Bach, a Handel Suite, lute music, Brazilian and Spanish.   For a kick I ended with Hudson's 'Delta' and Jerry Reed's 'Jerry's Breakdown'.    Standing O ... and I then played Lauro's 'El Maribino' for an encore.     It went pretty well and the Traphagen spruce guitar was loud, clear and colorful.

 Apprehensive about the trigger thumb release surgery on Tues, but it's supposed to be routine. Looking forward to playing more concerts soon.

Happy Easter

I framed the art piece Paul brought me from England.   It is a stained glass template from the church in Yelverton, England.  A watercolor and pencil painting/drawing of Mary and Joseph.  It fits nicely above my stairs.

I also built a 6' wide bookcase and moved some of my favorite books up here.  Been enjoying a book of Sewanee lore about teaching and nature, (despite it's glorification of hunting) ... "Wedding the Wild Particular" by R. Benson.

The view of the rain and fog was irresistible this afternoon.   It was in the low to mid 50ºs today, but I had a fire going and the sliding glass door open... hissing of the fire in one ear, patter of rain in the other.  A nice backdrop to learning this Handel suite which I'm just loving.

The sunset was spectacular.

I expect to move my webcam out beyond the trees to get an unobstructed view of the cove, and better timelapse videos.

Sky Castle art

On this 16th day of January, in the year of our Era, 2013; I hereby christen this noble dwelling, a grand observatory of sun, sky, nature, and the elements as:

Sewanee, Tennessee.

After 3 straight days of cold rain, my foray into the visual arts came to fruition today as I hung my art piece on my castle wall.  It is plywood with a nicely flamed wood grain which is highlighted by a two-tone semi transparent wood stain.   It is triple coated with spar varnish to withstand the elements.  The design is my own, inspired by some similar metal art that I had seen.  It is roughly 9' x 7'.  I thought I could hang it myself but I found it impossible.   Evan Jones came to my rescue, it took us just a few minutes to hang it.  

Long live Sky Castle.

The hearth at Sky Castle

I never get tired of looking at the ever changing fog and clouds in the land down hither.  It's magic. 

France? No...

This is a street in the Bluff Arts district in Chattanooga, by the Hunter Museum on the Tennessee River.

There are some really nice restaurants and cafes in the area.  We ate at Tony's Pasta shop.   They even have a gluten-free pasta menu.

Upon arriving there, there was a large family speaking Italian, I guess a good sign for an Italian restaurant.

Below, a statue of Icarus on the riverbank.  (cell photos, not so good).

Great town, even in the rain.

Helene Yelverton's 50th Annual Dance Recital

My beautiful mother celebrates 50 years as a dance teacher. Her studio is one of the most prestigious in upstate NY.

Article in the Binghamton Press.

Congrats to mom.

Pic 1 - Shelly, Mom, and Stephanie

Pic 2 - alumni student John and Mom on Broadway  

UPDATE:  John Kendrick - RIP

Snow sculpture monolith

Here at Bill's TN Paradise, I can't be happy just building an ordinary snowman...

No.... I have to craft a 15 foot tall sculptured snow MONOLITH.

As the snow has virtually melted around urban Murfreesboro, at 2:40pm, there is still plenty left on the ground at Bill's TN Paradise.

Manuel Barrueco with the Nashville Symphony

I hadn't seen Manuel in 4 or 5 years, since he played the Aranjuez Concerto with the Chattanooga Symphony.

This was the first solo guitar concerto that the Nashville Symphony has programmed in 13 years, very odd for a 'guitar town' like Nashville. The last performance of a guitar concerto with the NSO was circa 1995 when Christopher Parkening played the same concerto... and by all accounts, had a tough time with it .

Manuel again played the Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez... the most famous guitar concerto ever written. He played great, as usual, and I had an excellent seat to watch. If you haven't been in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center, you're missing one of the crown jewels of the Nashville arts scene. It was just awesome with table seating, food and wine for the patrons, it was a particularly nice night. It was a great program of Spanish and Latin American music. I really like Giancarlo, the new conductor/music director. Funny, but he told the audience a story of how he first heard the composer Alberto Ginestera's music - on a rock album by ELP: Brain Salad Surgery, exactly the same way I first heard this music as a young teenager!

Speaking from experience, I know the Aranjuez guitar concerto by Rodrigo can never be taken for granted, it is a hard piece that has 'taken down' many a great player. As a colleague of mine noted, the first movement is a gauntlet of technical challenges and it's 'easy to fall off the guitar.'

Manuel is a supremely controlled performer. It always seems like he's playing it a bit safe but he didn't take any short cuts. He could have slurred the scales in the last movement but he didn't, he ripped 'em. He kicked ass and got a standing ovation.

I had a long conversation with him afterward. He remarked that he had forgotten that he played with the NSO once before, early 80s. I asked him if he ever took 2 weeks off from the guitar, he said no, and his wife confirmed that fact. Maybe a week he said. He also said that he'd "like to take a year off. " I asked him about his hobbies. His wife said, turning the wine bottles in his collection.

I asked him about the Aranjuez concerto, what part scares him the most? He said it's different all the time. He mentioned discussing this with Pepe, that the relationship with this piece changes... sometimes some parts seem hard and sometimes they don't. It's kind of like any hard piece, you keep having to "plug the leaks." For me, starting the last movement always seemed the hardest. Manuel also mentioned that that there are many a great solo guitarists that don't necessarily make great concerto performers. Playing concertos with a full orchestra is a rare opportunity for most guitarists.

I've played several concertos in my career and that's not many, less than a dozen. Most recently with the TN Phil - the Fantasia Concerto by Rodrigo. Here's a clip.

Awesome multimedia installation at the Detroit Airport

All airports should be like this one. I was stunned by this display.

I walked very slowly through this tunnel 3 times, no moving sidewalks for me here, I wanted to drink it all in. What a trip!!

I recorded this video with my pocket digital cam. Watch the whole 2 minute movie, it's pretty cool.





The walls were lined with translucent glass by Fox Fire Glass. The lights and sound were designed by Mills/James Productions. Bravo!