Fiber, friends and McCartney

I do not know if we could have crammed more into five days of life than we did this long weekend but we certainly gave it a hell of a try. For a change of pace, for our regular November journey to Santa Monica there were no fires or floods or palm tree bending windstorms. Nothing biblical happened, what-so-ever. You know, we have been doing the Contemporary Crafts Market for about 19 years now and we have had I5 close right after we left the lunch stop because wild fires came right down to the highway, torrential rains break our booth and drench stock and of course once many years ago when the promoter added the little tent to the grounds of the Santa Monica Civic (before he learned to jackhammer the tent to the cement) my ex partner and I came back to set up on day one to find that all of our booth had blown away and the promoter and helpers had carried everything into the building for safety. You see, this is why this weekend was so full of great vibes for the promoter and artitst in general. Nothing biblical happened.

This time we had a buddy hang with us for the better part of three days and it was just energizing and fun. Tom Clark

of Pussycaps came up from Orange County and brought caps that he had crocheted from my yarns, which not only got him a little in-person exposure and also allowed people to see what he does with the yarn that most people do not see, simply because he gobbles it up. He shot some pictures of me and has them here. I got The Husband to make sure that we documented Tom's addition to the booth and so here he is crocheting away.

There were times when someone would put their hands on some skein or another that he had stacked on the "desk" and I was waiting for him to pounce, teasing that he would wrestle them for the yarn. Let's just say that there was a lot of charming going on and having him there as art in action was wonderful, especially because he is a crocheter. Here is his treasure box with several hats going at once.

I wanted to turn you on to an amazing artist, whose work just blew me away this weekend. Her name is Patricia C. Boyd and I think that you should take a peek at her beautiful and moving sculptures that emerge from the lowly gourd. They look great in the photos but in person they are so very inspirational.

Last bits for today.

We drove up from LA yesterday and with some sort of extra energy, The Husband almost single handedly unloaded the BAV (we did not want any of the moisture from the foggy load-out to stay in the bins) and then after a few hours of rest we got into the car and headed out again. Yup, just as the rain was beginning to fall here we were off to see out childhood idol, Paul McCartney. Well, I thought that it might be a dorky, hokey evening for all of us oldsters but I was quite wrong. Paul McCartney has more energy than any 30 year old and entertained us for over three hours...maybe I should rethink this vegetarian thing. :o) He is very charming and goofy and warm and sounds fabulous. He pulled out some things deep from his catalogue and showcased new tunes with equal skill. The show must have cost a fortune to mount but the band was tight and happy and McCartney made sure to give each member a chance to have some mic time, to introduce himself to the audience and make himself more than a side musician. It is McCartney's way. He is a very nice man and I hope that he got as much pleasure from the evening as he gave. It ended with Sargeant Pepper...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. Amen and thank you.

Comments

[LisaK]

Love the pictures. I really wanted to widen the view, pan around, then jump in. I wish I could have been there to see and feel everything. Thanks for sharing!

[Helle From Denmark]

He..wonder what Tom is hiding.....only pictures of him, from the side......how about one from the front, so we know who he is......or I KNOW!!!*GRIN* I am curious!!:-)) You sure looks like you are having fun......makes me envy you guys!:-)

[AlisonH]

Absolutely beautiful, Lisa, on all counts. Thanks for sharing. And darn, I wish I'd made it to that concert!

[Tom]

I had a ton of fun Lisa - thanks for including me. It was a great weekend being there with you and your hubby. And I have to second your thoughts about Patricia Boyd's gourd sculptures. They were absolutely beautiful and moving and I'm still trying to scheme a way to own one of them. It's been a long time since I've seen sculpture that had such a profound effect on me.

There were a lot of great artists at the show. It was nice to have some time to wander around and look at their work. It's inspiring to see what others are doing with their artistry and it encourages me to keep working on my own.

I thought it was an interesting combination to have you sitting there spinning and me standing there crocheting - almost a full circle when it comes to the process of taking fibers and working them to the point where people can wear them as clothing. I recall one woman standing next to me asking me about my crocheting and when I told her my grandma taught me to crochet when I was five she smiled big and said, "I knew there had to be a story."

People like stories - it makes things more real for them. I think they really enjoy seeing the creative process in action and tieing it into a story somehow. It was fun watching people respond to you as you spun and it was fascinating listening to you talking about your yarns and dying and knitting. I feel like I have a greater insight now into your creative process and it's made the yarns that I buy from you all the more meaningful to me.

I swear I try not to be greedy about your yarns but I've learned the hard way that buying one or two skeins of a lot will guarantee me frustration if the yarn runs out before the cap is finished. (You know how pitiful those emails can be, right?) For what it's worth, virtually all of your yarns end up in caps that end up on people's heads. My Pussy Caps with your yarns sell like hotcakes, so that means that pretty much all of the yarn I buy from you is out there being enjoyed by people all over the country rather than being stashed away in a closet somewhere.

It's all great fun and I love being able to share this adventure with you. Thanks again for a wonderful and relaxing weekend. As soon as I can get Richard to take a picture of me wrapped in my birthday blanket I'll post it on the blog so you can have a good laugh. (Lisa gave me a gorgeous Chule woven blanket for my b-day.)

[Jen]

So glad you had a great weekend and thanks for sharing the pictures!

We saw McCartney last month in NYC and I agree with all you said about him. Sir Paul greatly impressed us not only with his talent but his compassion, friendliness and humility.

[Sam]

Lisa, I'm late to the comment party, but so glad that you and Rod and Tom had such a wonderful time! I love the picture with his WIPs and your finished sweaters in the back. What a weekend! I'm sorry to have missed Paul when he was here. :-)