Flower? Horn?

Lots of classes from the Maine Media Workshops visit Elmer's Barn, a three level antique/junk/collectibles theme park close to Augusta, the state capital. There is a good video at https://youtu.be/8XeybrTPgAE that gives some of the flavor. It's the sort of place you cannot absorb on a single visit. I found this piece that looks like it could be an alien flower. Of course, it is a gramophone bell but I do not know why it is colored like this.        

STL DPB IN THE CREEPY MAINE WOODS

The classes here at the Maine Media Workshops have a pattern. We review the students' work from the previous afternoon, go through a presentation and discussion with the teacher and, after lunch, go out driving around the small towns and forests of Maine looking for interesting places to make images. I found this doll at Elmer's Antiques close to Augusta, the state capital. We can be overwhalmed by the visual details but this cousin of Chucky  got my attention.

De'Joneiro Jones

There was a Downtown St. Louis urban housing tour yesterday. It's interesting for us locals to see what's become of the commercial buildings that surround downtown, many of beautiful design, that became derelict. There are a lot of nice apartments and lofts now, but shooting apartment interiors doesn't enchant me.

Unless, of course, the person in a space makes it so. De'Joneiro Jones and I have run into one another before. He lives in the interestingly named Leather Trades Artist Lofts on Locust Street. I guess that was the original purpose of the building. Now it provides living and working space to artists and artisans. DJ, as people call him, is a painter and trades in antiques. I don't want to put his email address out here for all the spammers to copy but if you're interested in what he has to offer, e-mail me and I'll get it to you.

There are two examples here. Mrs. C and I know a smidge about South Asian art and, of course, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We think the statue represents a tara, a female Buddhist diety. However, the hand gestures of Buddhist figures are known as mudras and have specific meanings. I can't find these in any of the tables online. The lotus growing from the sole of the foot must mean something but I couldn't find any reference.  If someone out there knows more, please help me out.

The second picture shows a beautiful engraving of a bust of Andrew Carnegie, who endowed innumerable libraries in this country. DJ thinks the central branch of the St. Louis Public Library, just a short distance away, should buy it. I say it should get off its institutional butt and just do it.     

What's On Second

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Those of us old enough to remember Abbot and Costello know the classic baseball comedy skit Who's On First. Full original version here. Note the name of Lou Abbott's baseball team.

Birmingham has a variation on the theme, the store What's On Second (so named because it's on 2nd Avenue). Technically, you could call it an antique store but that term doesn't convey the ambiance. It's more of a warehouse of American cultural debris from the 20th century. It's got more junk than you could possibly imagine, all of it fascinating. These are but a few examples. By the way, the picture of Ozzie Osborne below was in a coffin. More of these tomorrow.