The Metal Artist Forum

Well this was the week end for the June art fair, The weather has been on the cool and damp, cloudy side. With heavy rains over Saturday night/Sunday morning. Only a couple of the tents/shelters were, slightly adjusted after it went thru, no major damage.

With the economy still circling the drain in the area, The number of total booth rentals was down slightly. Now by booth rentals I mean both the usual carnival/festival foods, and the art/craft works.
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Whats an art show with out a number of bounce houses to keep the kiddies busy!

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Only two short blocks in length, with some extra space in the center. It was the assorted mix of ceramics, beads jewelry, paintings, paper, and large head size and larger painted rocks. The young lady had a very large barefoot guy sprawled on a folding chair and milk crate with her. I guess to carry the object d 'art to the car if she sells any. It did look like he was keeping people from approaching the booth and stealing I mean buying any while I was in the area.

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Something new and in a different this year was this guy, Had some very nice looking old school style fishing lures. Not being a fisherman, I really don't know what they are using now a days.
Blue Water Bait Company
His name is Ron Cracchiolo
Being a carver, I will say they are first class work. They also come in nice wooden boxes.

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Dan McCann was new this year called the jungle enamelist since he lives in Belize (formerly British Honduras) Is is world renown for his switch plates and has somebody that blogs about collecting them. Had a very nice time chatting with him this morning. As he comes state side and does show shows and his wife and kids join him for the second half of the summer.
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Some of his switch plates are on this wall of his booth
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Some of his other work, from dishes, bowls and wall plagues
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Add his enameled inserts in Sterling Silver brooches, pendants and necklaces.
He does some very nice work. He doesn't have a web site, he can be contacted through his Thompson enamel distributorship google for the info. Or dmccannbelize@hotmail.com

Another new artist was Roland Paronish with his metal art
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Roland Metal Art

Another metal artist that has a wide and varied scope of what he sells along with custom work large to full size works they do. He is out of Carrolltown Pa.

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Tom & Jackie Crimboi the promoters of the show and others in the area
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Tom's work is always interesting, as in his use of the steel strap banding used as the head and tail feathers on some pieces.
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Clever use of horse shoes, making a flower pot holder out of them

Despite the weather and the economy most that I talked to were satisfied with the turn out and sales, covering the operating nut and some to move down the road on.

Nice...thanks for the trip report

Thanks for all the pictures. I haven't been to something like that in quite a while. I used to go to those for inspiration and the more I see of that, the more I work on my art. Nothing like a little "pick me up"! Spears.

Gosh, Mount Clemens! I have tenuous connections from long ago. I lived in E. Lansing in the 1950's and attended MSU. I dated a gal from Central Michigan U., Mount Clemens. My sister lived in Mount Clemens briefly. A buddy and I were majoring in anthropology and we visited an elderly Chippewa Indian near Mount Clemens (the Isabella Saginaw Chippewa Reservation). We were in his house and a little animal went scurrying through and ran outdoors. We asked what that animal was, and the old man said, "Muskrat." We asked him what it was doing in the house. He replied, "My pet."

In my home, Santa Fe, we have recently inaugurated a similar "fair" on the weekends in an area that was refurbished from the old railroad yard. On one side of the street, there is arts & crafts, and on the other, a farmers' market. Of course, Santa Fe is a tourist mecca, so we get lots of pedestrian traffic, especially on weekends.

Thanks Glen,
The guy, Roland I believe, has the railroad spike people down pat

(06-07-2010 12:05 PM)Tommy Katana Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks Glen,
The guy, Roland I believe, has the railroad spike people down pat

Yep, has 2 guys working for him and they are working all week etc. I believe the two other guys were at another show this same week end.

He said a semi load of materials every 5/6 weeks or so he does have a selection on his web site!

FTurley Wrote:I lived in E. Lansing in the 1950's and attended MSU. I dated a gal from Central Michigan U., Mount Clemens. My sister lived in Mount Clemens briefly..........

It has changed much since you were here, First and noticeable all the Hotels/Mineral baths are closed and burned down. There is one company that sells some kind of goo made with the mineral water. But I believe their well and company is located in Clinton Twp. Just across the city line, so technically we no longer have mineral wells. So the sulphur type smell is long gone.

Modern pumping methods and wells solved that problem, Plus the fact that people for a time quit believing in the hype and BS of the curative powers.

Somebody from Europe tried coming in and was going to open up an new spa. With outdoor hot tubs, and chilled tubs with a waterfall of the mineral water flowing. Most of the people on that end of the city and the politico's put a stop to that.

People claim that they still can smell it, and some say if you stick a shovel in the ground you can smell it! That's not true, it takes two or three shovel fulls before you smell anything. but perception is perception. The city has had the aired tested a number of times and zero.zero zero zero ppm.

We moved here after it was all gone, besides Al Capone, and all the famous people that came to take the baths as they said. Really came for the booze and broads as the police, judges and politico's were all part of the liqueur economy back then.

I think the the reservation is gone or so small now that it's in somebody's back yard. They tried pulling that land scam a number of years ago to swap some land and then buy the rest along the river for a casino. As the laws in Michigan allow for. It didn't work, They do stories about the holy ground, of one of the tribes along the river further inland from the lake, every couple of years. As a historical interest piece, we do have a large pow wow a couple times a year. At the event section of the trade center, near the e way.(large flea market, Gibraltar Trade Center there is another one GTC about 45 miles south of here next to the e way)

They charge admission to the non native peoples to watch the dances, and other ceremonies, along with selling the native handicrafts to keep the traditions alive.

Or so their PR person puts out in the papers and TV interviews. It is sort of disconcerting to have a person in war full headdress, and native grab referred to as the PR person, by the talking head/news person on the tube.

My neighbor is the last person in the county that has a legal muskrat trapping license. He has a number of trap lines, running in the ditches along the highways and along the ones by the air national guard base.
Price are climbing for the fur, and he and his kids eat the meat.

I does freak the passerby out as he dresses them on his front porch, hanging from overhang. and the deers in the tree in the front yard. since there is no back yard to the property. The people(do gooders) still call the sheriff that he is skinning dogs and cats etc.

Well, I better stop as It going to start sounding like Prairie home company.