The Outspoken Artist

Accepting Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:31:00 +0000

I met with a new accountant this morning. It was time to get a real CPA to discuss the future of my business as well as dealing with the outfall of inheritance, selling off the family property and all the other complicated details that came with the passing of Edwin and Agnes last year.

The reality is that artists are going out of business in droves. NAIA has seen it's membership decline accordingly. As their volunteer treasurer, no one knows all of this better than I do. I also took the NAIA books to this same guy so there was nothing left off the table in terms of honesty about the art fair industry and the sales declines that have doomed this industry.

So after months of mental debate with myself and and worrying about keeping a corporation alive that cannot make a profit, I am at total peace with a huge decision. I am closing up Hurricane Art Metal, Inc. That legal entity needs to go away forever and my new CPA will help me make this happen. I think I might have cried over this if I had known way back when that it would end up like this, but now I just feel relief. I am never going to give up my art - it's a life, not a business. I will be starting the process immediately to begin anew with another business form and new business name but HAM, Inc. is gone. RIP.

Who Dat?

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:50:00 +0000

Our barn cat Lean has worked his way under the hen house.

The Center of the Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:35:00 +0000

Now We're Scared

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:52:00 +0000

The snow dams on the roof of the shop are slipping off. The power feed to the building has become encased in the ice and is threatening to get ripped off the side of the building. We've call the power company for emergency service and wait...

Why R U So Slow?

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:16:00 +0000

Turtle of the Day.

I was thinking deep thoughts in the middle of the night and gave thanks for the property I own and the many turtles I have found over the years. This one was especially beautiful. I also found an albino box turtle one year. I only saw it once so I expect it didn't live long.

I AM EXCITED!!

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:32:00 +0000

The Dixie Chicks are back - without Natalie Maines. Ok, I am not excited Natalie is setting this one out, but I'll take anything Martie and Em dish out. Cannot wait!!

www.courtyardhounds.com

River of Mud

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:38:00 +0000

The aftermath of two feet of snow is mud. Lots of mud - everywhere.

Memories of Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:22:00 +0000

The short dark days are getting to me now but I know in just over a week, the pendulum will swing and we will begin our planetary migration back to summer solstice. Here's a picture to remind you of the sweet smells of summer. I am unreasonably fond of morning glories. Most people consider them weeds, but I plant the seeds around my porch so the vines will creep up and spread their beautiful colors all along the posts and rails. Fortunately my efforts have made them regular enough that this purple variety has become self seeding. Now if I could get the beautiful white moon flowers with their heavenly scent to do the same thing....

Finished!!

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:50:00 +0000

Weekends and holidays often turn into work days in my life and that was the case over the Thanksgiving weekend. Due to illness, our family postponed the big meal until Saturday so I went over to my Dad's and did most of the preliminary wood working on the Torii Mailbox Sculpture. By Friday I was able to sand, stain and drill out the joining holes. Sunday was warm and gorgeous so it was the perfect day to finish up this project before the owners came home from their holiday trip. I am quite fulfilled with the end result and really would like to find some other customers around this area looking for a similar job.

I'm Coming Home

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Coming HomeFINAL - KB-1 from Sugarland Music on Vimeo.

This past July, Sugarland recorded a Christmas cd. The video shows the behind the scenes action to choreograph a new holiday tune for that effort. With an intense blues and gospel feel, this song is a triumph. Watch through to the end to get the entire performance as it was recorded live.

Expanding the Materials

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:42:00 +0000

When I moved from the world of working for non-profits to actually being one - the artist type - I also chose to leave behind a 15+ year career and love of architecture, drafting, carpentry and general construction. I am mostly self taught in those areas, but still managed to develop a career running a 16 person construction company with multi-million dollar budgets. The pinnacle of that effort was the design and construction of my own home. From the cinder blocks up, it was all my baby. Every system in the house - plumbing, wiring, window selections, chimney design - was all my creation. After 4 years of intense work on that project while working full time for the community, I was so burned out I walked away from the whole thing.

Now, after another 15 years, I am finally taking on an art project that will allow me to go back to the roots. I have designed a sculpture mailbox stand that resembles a Japanese Torii gate. It will have glass elements which are more contemporary than those ancient structures, but somehow it all does come together. Once we have the final site meeting early next week, I'll be buying some lumber and getting the old tools out. Glass and wood. Who would have thought it?

Making Waves

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:53:00 +0000

All this work on art fair change leaves me exhausted.

Art Fair Posters

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:38:00 +0000

The NAIA conference in Peoria, IL has concluded with a most incredible brainstorming session among the directors. The energy of having all these pros in the same room talking about what works for them and what they want to change was amazing. I was so proud to have the director from my local art fair show up at the conference. She is new to the show and will have to make a lot of changes to bring that shows' quality up, but she sure hit on a hot topic when she brought up show poster competitions. These guys are passionate about their posters and were very eager to share tips with a newby. The Winter Park, FL show also brought along a scrap book with 25 years worth of poster images. Very cool to see the evolution of that show in their posters.

I had the good fortune of having lunch on Thursday with Hyacinth Manning who created the Peoria show poster. The show is raffling the original art as a fund raiser after Hyacinth donated it to the Art Guild. What a wonderful woman. I love her poppies and wish her much luck in her sales this weekend. Good people are everywhere.

What's Old in New

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:43:00 +0000

We think it's vintage 1964, but the newly moved and re-felted pool table feels like a million bucks. Thanks Edwin and Agnes!!

News of the Weird

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Today is one of those days when the truly weird karma of the universe has all settled down on Charlottesville. Weirdo karma was alive and well when we returned the dogs I have been house sitting. The lawn boy was there and when I explained to him I had seen a large yellow jacket nest in the front yard Friday night, he freaked. So now, the front lawn is only mowed on one half. I bet Olga will love that when she gets back.

Stopping by the Food Lion on the way home was loads of fun. Today is also bumper sticker day, evidently. It's quite illuminating to see the sometimes contradictory messages plastered over the cars. Evidently real men love Jesus even if they are gay. Who would ever have thought that, given the truly hateful reception most religious people give gay men. The best part though is that Jesus evidently wants marijuana legalized because that will save our economy. I say yay for that - give all the right wingnuts some pot and maybe they will have less time to imagine the vast conspiracy behind the President wanting to keep kids in school and reading. Oh wait a minute - I forget - pot makes some people paranoid. Maybe those wingnuts are already stoners. That would explain a lot.

The guy at the check out counter seemed to think the mainstream media is in favor of the democrats getting re-elected next time. Thus they print the stories of Republican self destruction with glee. I cannot see that newspapers who can barely balance their books are really involved with something that nefarious. Maybe I am just a dumbass stoner.

And to make everything better on this day of no labor, I picked up the local coo-coo newspaper to enjoy over a couple of deadly hotdogs. These folks are sure the world is ending in 2012 and the alien crop circles in England are the immutable proof of that. If you don't believe crop circles are a form of alien language, you could head on down to Richmond next weekend for the Mayan fire ceremony with Eldor Don Carlos Barrios and the crystal skull named MAX. I know many Mayians kept skulls named MAX in their villages. It was the trendy thing to do back then. When you weren't busy killing virgins and drinking their blood you could have a chat with MAX and get the secrets to the universe. Of course MAX is the whole reason their society is alive and thriving today.

And lastly speaking of universal secrets - did you know that the H1N1 virus was developed by the government? Seems they have devised a nano techonological device to control our brains. When you get the flu vaccine you will immediately be under THEIR control and will no longer be a free and independent thinker. hmmm.......... Flu or mind control? Pick one if you can. I think I'll just get back in the kitchen and finish the batch of pepperoni rolls I'm baking and see if there is a sign from Jesus in the flour I spilled on the floor. Someone fire up a bowl - we're having a great time here in Gods' country.

Blank Slate

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:16:00 +0000

What a dream to have a client give you an open ended commission. I made some custom towel bars for these folks last year and now they want to have a combination of custom mailbox and sculptural stand. The box itself will require some research to find out about the postal regulations. The initial proposal is to echo the style of the house which is ultra-contemporary with cedar siding and a copper roof. I know Sharon likes bright shiny stuff from seeing their immense collection of art so however I decide to incorporate the copper work into this commission, I'll keep the bright finish with no patinas and a lacquer finish to maintain the glow. So much to think about.....

Crunch and Delmar

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:07:00 +0000

If trouble was a smell, you'd have to stay about 300 feet away from Crunch Thebeaux. It was scary just being near him. Some folks just have that shit-kicking aura right from childhood and after all the nasty things Crunch had done to the neighborhood kids, he really didn't have any friends except Delmar. Of course it all started with the frog stomping thing, which is what got him his nickname. As is usual with cruel people, Crunch definitely moved up to bigger targets.

In some ways, it really wasn't his fault. Redbones can either be good looking or really bad off. Crunch had the worst of those kinda genes and was just plain freaky looking. His hair wasn't any kind of normal color and it was big and wild looking. He also had those really pale eyes that aren't really blue or green or brown. To top it off, he looked like someone had thrown an old fence paint brush at him. He was spotted up good all over. Nobody had ever seen anything like Crunch and besides his behavior, he was just unforgettable.

Something weird happened in high school and nobody would ever talk about why Crunch got tossed out forever. There was some whispering about the Fishback girl who went away around that same time but nobody could imagine a pretty girl being the least bit interested in somebody like Crunch. Specially one like her.

After that, him and Delmar started hanging around together. Mostly I expect 'cause Delmar had a truck and Delmar's daddy had a still. We knew they was stealing hooch and given the stories about them down at the creek shooting up jars and cans, most people kinda assumed they was about half lit most of the time. The shotgun in the truck window made the situation even more scary. I reckon about 80% of the road signs in the county was shot up - mostly by the two of them.

I didn't know that about myself.......

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:08:00 +0000

The Tragic Tale of Whipley Dean

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:48:00 +0000

Whipley Dean was not really retarded. Everyone said that about him but it wasn't true. He was just unlucky and moved very slow. Some folks are like that. Especially down in the woods in the summer when the skeeters can carry away a possum by it's tail.

About 2 weeks ago, Whipley was up at the Brown Bag Diner just hanging in the parking lot. There was always someone to talk to or to mooch a hot dog from. Whipley could spend five hours at a time sitting over on the side curb and nobody thought much of it. Every now and then one of the regulars would give him a beer and that only made him even more slow. Five hours could drag into night and the truck lights came and went with Whipley still sitting on the curb.

When Ducky Dean would start worrying about Whipley and why he wasn't home for supper, she'd flap her way on down the road in those nasty flip flops just hollerin' and cussin'. She'd throw a bitch fit about people giving him free beer. Those old boys knew to get in their trucks and move out at the first flap of those shoes coming down the hill past the old Creasy place. It just wasn't worth listenin' to her crap even if she didn't wear a bra most of the time.

Ducky'd flap right up to Whipley just fussing and hollering about dinner and he'd slowly get up and follow her back up the hill. We could hear her ruckus echoing down the gravel road. Whipley just silently followed.

Some days it was like that and then some days you never even saw Whipley. We didn't know if he had rode down to the saw mill with Petey Boy or if Ducky had him tied up with her at the house.

On that particular day, Whipley had showed up just past noon. He was moving at his normal pace. And lord god it was hot. The flies were skimming across the asphalt in crazy spirals. They probably were about half brain dead from the glare and humidity. Whipley took up at his usual place over on the side curb in the only spot of shade. You had to wonder why he even bothered to come down the hill since it was still way too early to mooch a beer. Whipley and slow just went together, I guess. That meant waiting was just regular life.

*to be continued

Tractor Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:30:00 +0000

We ran into my younger sister and her son Christopher in the Food Lion produce aisle yesterday. There was a major thunderstorm going on at the time so there was little reason to hurry through the shopping chores. We took advantage of the situation and talked about Chris' buzz cut which he claimed was by his own hand. I'm not sure if he was proud or embarrassed at how short it was. He's got the same gene as my mom and I - under 25 and the grey hairs are already showing. I guess he'll make peace with it one way or another.

Things took a decidedly humorous turn when Chris reminded me of the time the chicken bit him when he was a kid. It wasn't a real bite - chickens peck - but this was apparently a very big impression about the dangerous chicken world for a little kid. I just had to laugh and told Joilyn about the really dangerous time out at our place when I let brother Billy ride the garden tractor. I alway treated Billy and Chris like real boys and gave them games and toys like guns and drums and boxes with locks. Stuff boys love. I decided Billy was old enough to learn the tractor at about ten only to watch in horror as he zoomed across our hilly orchard. His little butt was barely heavy enough to stay in the seat on those bumps and I was certain the child would get jettisoned off and land in a pile up against a tree. Needless to say I waved him back in and made it a short ride.

Joilyn stared at me in horror while we told this story. Evidently the boys never revealed the secret tractor ride or it's hair raising aspect. Her surprise didn't last long, though as she remembered the OTHER story about Billy and a tractor. Joilyn and Bob lived in a neighborhood for several years that had huge huge bare lawns. All new houses with acres of grass and no trees. Bob is like this - he went out and bought the biggest home size John Deere he could find and plunked down $10,000 for a lawn tractor. They brought it home and of course the boys were excited to have this new chore which I am sure Bob, in all his wisdom, knew would free him up for more golf time. Billy got on the brand new mega beast lawn tractor and immediately
drove it into their new back deck. The damage to the tractor and deck was well over $1,000.

As things go with sisters, we were in the middle of the grapes and tomatoes laughing our butts off over the tractor incidents. The other shoppers were staring. That seems to happen any time I get in public with my sisters. We just have a lot more fun than normal people do. Life is good.

The Wild Ones

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:43:00 +0000

We cannot get close to them or even think about touching them, but Kiki and Lean now own the black shed. When we captured Kiki and her kitten, Little Smokey, and got her spayed, we didn't realize Lean was out there in the woods and that they were siblings. Once Kiki got released back to the woods, Lean showed up and it was extremely clear that the two of them were from the same litter and are very bonded. He may have even been Little Smokey's dad. Who knows. They show up every night just after 5 and wait for a cup of crunchies. The next task will be to catch Lean and get him neutered. They may not live real long out there in the woods, but we're doing little things to try and reduce the feral cat colony and to improve the situation for these two.

Look Again?

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Frank Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:27:00 +0000

"Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it," - Barney Frank

WOW - just where my head is now.

What Else You Did Afterwards

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:30:00 +0000

The other people who were not involved... it was not fair to them for you to put them in the middle. I hope they forgive you.

Candle Sconces

noreply@blogger.com (Holly Olinger) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:18:00 +0000

October 2006

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photo credit: Amber LeeAnn Wixtrom

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