ASHLAND OREGON - ISSUE I JUNE 23 2005

WARNING OLD MATERIAL YOU MAY  HAVE SEEN ALREADY.  

  Over the course of the summer I hope to post some of my old emails under the guise of the Ashland Avatar.  I am surprised by how much I have written and decided it might be nice to have it all in one place. So, it may be ancient history and you may well have read it all before but here it goes. 

Hello from the land of Shakespeare, well at least a venue that makes a point of producing his works.  The  Elizabethan Theatre just opened, the weather is improving and things are getting busy.  I was gifted with tickets to see Faustus, that's not the whole name but it will have to do as I can't actually remember the entire title.  It is a play by Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of William Shakespeare and one of those people who I am sure I was forced to study in high school.  But, in truth, all I remember is the name of Marlowe from English class (sorry Mrs Cuddback).   It's the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil.  That said, I am sure you can guess the rest.  The play itself wasn't anything to write home about but the costumes and staging were great fun.  Plenty of smoke and special effects, demons and the devil himself (he looked a bit like an early David Bowie).  The actor who played Mephistopheles, one of the Devil's minions was the best part.  You could see the wheels turning in his head and the glint in his eye.  Not really sleazy or evil but definitely amoral and taking great pleasure in the many tricks and subterfuges at which he excelled.  The weather held, there was no rain and the temperature stayed in the 60’s so it was pleasant  to sit under the stars and watch a play.  

The outdoor, or Elizabethan theatre, opens in early June which means the weather is not always that dependable.  I have heard the actors remark if the weather has turned bitter, cold and rainy it must be time for tech in the "Lizzie"; that being the first time they actually rehearse on the outdoor stage. There are two other theatres that are used by the Oregon Shakespeare Company.  The Bowmer is a fairly conventional house that holds roughly 600 souls.  The New Theatre,  however only holds 300 people or less, and can be configured in several ways.  We saw Richard I there a couple of years ago and it was stadium style.  The actors entered from either end and the audience was on either side.  They have also done productions in the round.  What you don't see is the conventional stage in front and rows of stadium seating.  

So, about the Artisans Market, you may ask.  We're back behind the “Plaza” sandwiched between the shops and the creek.  It's a fairly wide pedestrian plaza about a block long and lots of the restaurants have outdoor seating there.  At max I think it holds 40 vendors.  I guess it's still a little early so we haven't exceeded 30 yet.  Some people have actually remarked that there weren't many artists but then the weather hasn't been all that accommodating.  Last Saturday a number of vendors showed up but it started to rain and they left.  They were the smart ones; yours truly stuck it out and sold a great big zero.  Made up for it on Sunday though.  It's pretty much your typical art fair stuff, jewelry, pottery, stained glass and clothes.  Most of these people make a living at this, they truly amaze me.  They do Ashland all summer but then they go to other fairs throughout the state in the spring and fall.  Not to be rude but artisans is an apt descriptor, not a lot of "art" but what they do they do well.  Bill, one of the potters says he can't afford to make “art” he relies on volume.  I was looking at one of his vases and he was saying he can take the clay and create a vase in under two minutes.  And his costs are negligible.  He charge around $18 and he figures with clay, glazes and electricity for the kiln it may cost $1.50.  But you gotta sell a lot a $18 a pop to make a living. 

Trace, who makes hand carved wooden spoons, keeps his costs even lower.  All his wood is “found”.   If he sees someone chopping down a tree or an orchard being uprooted he offers to haul if away for free.  He also just goes walking in the forest and collects limbs.  He apparently does some really fancy carved stuff that goes for $75 - $100 but they don't sell here.  He sells to other gift shops or on the net.  He has made his living at this for 30+ years..  He's made bowls and breadboards, and periodically reinvents himself and makes something different.  The other week I told him I would buy one of his ladles if I sold enough.  In the end it was a slow day and I didn't have that many sales.  The next thing I know he's over at my booth looking through my greeting cards, selects four of them and trades me for the spoon.  This must be what barter is all about, I may learn some new skills before the end of the summer. 

So who are some of the other characters?  There's mean Miriam.  She and I started out on the wrong foot.  I parked my car in an area that is reserved for customers.  I am totally on board with that idea, we should walk a couple of blocks if it means our clientele can be closer but no one had clued me in on the restriction.  Well, it didn't take her too long to let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I was breaking the rules.  Perhaps it's not just me but me and cars that doesn't work for her.  Last week I pulled up too close to the wall when trying to get things out at the end of the day with the result that she couldn't get by my car on the right.  Now it's not as though there wasn't plenty of room on the left but, no, that was not acceptable (perhaps I broke another unwritten rule).  She just stood there glaring at me and insisted I move.   Guess I shouldn't feel like the lone ranger.  Poor Rob, the market manager,  had to move a great big almost boulder that she uses for her booth, for her because she was going to be late for yoga.  Come to think of it I have no earthly idea what she uses that rock for, but if yoga will help her temperament I’ll move the goddamn rock. 

There's Beverly who does massage and sells essential oils.  What a sweetheart.  She keeps telling me that things will pick up, the market's slow and that July and August are the best months.  She gives everyone pep talks and free mini massages.  Buck is a painter and he does those hideous (in my opinion) painting of dolphins and whales and all things metaphysical.  Actually he makes the paintings and then photographs them and makes prints. He insists that I should refer to my color stuff as “Giclee” because I use seven colors of ink.  What do I know, I’m just a photographer and as far as I’m concerned what I use is an inkjet printer.  But Giclee does sound rather grand; I may have to give it a try.  Guess I shouldn’t be too judgmental about his art; he’s been doing it for five years and makes money at it.  We have an ongoing competition to see who sells the most and I give him a bad time saying he needs to raise his prices because he can/does undercut my prices for the same size picture.   


Buck likes to tell me that he’s going to see to it that I have to set up my booth in the “VORTEX”, particularly when I am having a better day than he is.  The VORTEX is where he was several weeks ago when a big gust of wind came along, lifted his canopy up and over the wrought iron railings and dumped it into the creek.  There were prints and painting flying all over the place, who knows if we ever found them all.  Marcus and Bill got down in the creek with icy cold water above their knees and chased the canopy, which was floating merrily away upside down and legs in the air.  They retrieved it about 50 yards down stream just before it sailed into the bridge. Alaya and I followed and chased down prints and paintings.  It was an adventure with everyone hanging over the railing shouting directions and cheering us on.  I don’t know how much he lost but it kinda put a damper on things and we all packed up and went home early. 


My week seems to get eaten up with scanning new images, making prints and cutting mats.  I have this system down where every time I scan something or the printer is going I do chores around the house.  It took me the whole day today but I washed all the windows.  Guess I’m not much of a housekeeper, I realized in the midst of sending a print command and cleaning the next window that in the four years we have owned this place I have never washed the windows.  There’s a whole new world out there kind of like that ad they do for some kind of allergy medication, everything just got clearer.  Same thing works for vacuuming or washing floors.  Start the scanner going, start the vacuum.  Check back periodically to see what the progress is and keep on going.  I even got the front deck mopped.  I started out by sweeping it but it was still pretty gross.  I felt bad about just turning the hose on it and wasting all that water so . . .  I mopped it.  I’m sure the neighbors think I have lost it, but it looks good.  Although I do seem to be losing the battle with the spiders.  They must live under the deck and they make these woolly sort of webs.  Not nice neat architectural webs, messy, sticky, cottony sorts of webs.  I sweep them up, knock them down and generally do everything in my power to destroy them but within days they’re back.  They have even taken to attacking my rocking chair.  Went to sit down in it this morning, ready to enjoy a cup of coffee only to experience a tickling sensation all over the back of my neck. I turn to look and there’s this great big garden spider sitting between the slats of the chair staring at me.  Do spiders stare, who knows, but this one wasn’t budging.  I relented, she got the rocker, I sat in the green vinyl thing.  Got my own back later when I was washing widows though.  Spiders don’t like glass cleaner!