Hey
Folks!
Okay, okay… so I’m doing this show in
Marble Falls, Texas in April, when this guy who I have never seen before,
pokes his head into my booth and says, “Hey Virgil, time for a new
newsletter,” and keeps on walking. (Obviously one of my many, many
fans!) Fortunately, the little woman didn’t hear this as she has been
doggin’ me for some months now to do it… which, of course, saved me the
humility of hearing that caustic effervescent phrase, “See, I told you
so!” I keep telling her I was fixin’ to write a new one but things just
kept popping up, like “It’s snowing sideways,” or “the horse just blew
snot on my good shirt,” or; “I just swallowed my chew!” Once I get into
it though, I’m good to go. So here is the latest news from our home.
It has been mighty cold and dry here at
the Notevena Ranch, all the way into spring. We were still building fires in
the fireplace clear up into April. However, we have been well known and
documented to have had snowball fights in May! With the wind as an ice
inducer, the temperatures got as cold as a mother-in-law’s kiss. In fact, one
particular day, while I was putting up some hay, nature called and I had to
take a time out and embark on a search and find mission through insulated
coveralls and three layers of clothes to get to “Little Willy” who, with my
“Boys”, had migrated upward and were found hiding up underneath my lungs
trying to stay warm. At that point I felt like just peeing in one of my
pockets and worry about things later. With a physical body structure more
like Porter Wagner than John Candy, I tend not to generate much heat and it is
sometimes hard for me to stay warm. So when I finally made it back to the
house, I stripped down to my thermal underwear and stood by the fireplace to
get warm. The wife comes around the corner, not expecting me to be standing
there in the middle of the day almost totally naked, and said I looked like a
pipe cleaner with eyeballs. So much for thinking I’m still sexy!
That show in Texas I mentioned was the
first annual, which after 25 years in the art show business, and being on the
wise side of my fifth decade, you would think I would know better than to
attempt. In the past two years, we have added more gallery representation,
and reduced the amount of shows in our schedule, but… after being born and
raised around people who know what calf fries are and eat them anyway, my
shot-glass size brain says to sign up for this show anyway. So there I am…
4:45 in the morning… in the dark… trying to set up a 10’ x 20’ canopy in the
wind, rain, hail, and lightening. This was just another aspect of the artist
life that wasn’t in the brochure. It takes us about 4 ½ hours to completely
set up, so there wasn’t enough time to drag ourselves to the motel to freshen
up before the show started. Being of the cowboy/boy scout mentality, I always
carry an emergency kit made up of a dry set of clothes, bailing wire, a small
flask of pain killer, and a band aid for emotionally challenging events like
this one. So after added relief from such organizations as Starbucks and
Krispy Kremes, I made it through the day looking like a Texas politician but
feeling like a stick of jerky with a hat on. At least it wasn’t cold down
there in the hill country of Texas that time of year. I have been in shows
where I had to scrape snow off my canopy top before I could load it into the
truck. When something like that happens, I throw fashion to the wind, don my
hunting coveralls, which tend to have stains from a past elk hunt, and finish
the show looking like a popsicle in a Carhartt. It is times like this I know
God is testing me and I ask Him if He might consider lightening up a bit as I
am barely a C-student.
Em and I took a few days on both sides of
the show to look for gallery representation in some other towns in the area.
Fredericksburg is a nice looking German settlement with a lot of history. We
asked at the tourist info center where we might sample some authentic German
cuisine this town is known for and we were directed to a restaurant that is
supposed to have a good sampling of ethnic food. We were seated by a hostess
I didn’t pay much attention to, but when our “waitress” came to take our drink
order, I noticed she had more hair on her than big Frank Abell in my 8th
grade gym class. Remember when that was the first time we had ever seen
another guy naked except for our brother! He was the only one that lathered
up and shaved after an intense game of indoor co-ed badminton…he was the only
one that could! We all suggested that while he was at it he should shave his
back too! Anyway….that’s enough of a mental picture of our waitress.
After a (very light) “ethnic” lunch we
both agreed that we would dine for supper at an all “American” restaurant… you
know… where they serve chips and salsa for an appetizer, and combination
plates with enchiladas, quesadillas, beans and rice, and wash it all down with
good ole’ American beer… Corona Light!
The second leg of the trip took us to
downtown Austin Texas, where we visited a several galleries, one of which I
will be shipping my artwork to in the next few weeks. Art On 5th Gallery will
be representing my Original Music artwork soon. Em and I were looking for
galleries to
represent my musical paintings …. The other side of me! When we approached
the galleries, I balked at the door and told Emily that I couldn’t see how
this was going to work as I’m dressed in Wranglers with a western belt and a
trophy buckle with my shirt tucked in real nice and neat, wearing a camo ball
cap in John Deere green that advertises a company that harvests and sells bull
semen. (Why my cultured wife from Michigan State chose me out of a
virtual unlimited pool of qualified applicants I’ll never know.) But she
reminded me that we were in a red state… central Texas to be exact. Need
I say more? Despite my obvious lack of refinement, they loved my work
and were all looking forward to a long-lasting business relationship and a
nearby payday.
There are a couple non-profit
organizations up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that I donate to that are having
their annual fund raisers this spring. “Artists 4 Autism” has a one night
auction to raise money for autism awareness in children and adults. When my
daughter Trenna, who is 25 years old, realized we were going to stay with her
and her family, she called and said the one word she knows will hook me every
time…. “Daddy!”… instead of the usual un poetic “dad” Yeah… when I hear that,
I know to throw all my tools in the back of my SUV as she has just created a
job for me. Her and her husband just replaced the downstairs carpet with wood
flooring and had no idea that the entire baseboard has to come off because it
was initially installed to accommodate carpet. As anyone who has ever done a
little carpentry trim work knows, the baseboard was installed about 3/8” to
1/2” off the floor to allow for tucking of the carpet… and that now it is
going to have to be torn off and re-installed… and that you and your husband
are going to break, chip, scratch, and dent the baseboard and sheet rock
getting it off… and that you are going to have to probably buy new trim… and
that you don’t own saw horses, miter saws, air compressors, nail guns… and …
and…. So since I know how to do these things as a result of one of my past
lives, I was cleverly solicited with the promise of a hug and a kiss and a
platter of fried bluegills. I tried to play the tuff-love dad and said I just
didn’t have the time and then realized I might as well start packing because I
was already on a virtual guilt trip. Of course, baby girl won out, and now my
schmoozing, yes, I’m the artist, yeah, it’s Polo, no, I don’t line
dance-soiree, is turning into a working weekend.
The other fund raiser is held in the
Sandia Resort and Casino ballroom in North Albuquerque, and is called “The
Legacy Art” invitational. This auction/dinner is highlighted with dignitaries
such as Jane Seymour, Michael Horse, (Dances with Wolves), Suzy Bogguss, Hal
Ketchum, with Holly Dunn (“Daddy’s Hands”) and Lou Diamond Phillips, as MC’s.
( I just did some name dropping right there. How cool am I?) Friday and
Saturday nights in the lobby of the Nativo Lodge, where they put all us
“famous people” up for the weekend, is a jam session with some of us musically
inclined types. Regular participants are myself on keyboards, Robert David
Hall, the forensic doctor on the T.V. show C.S. I. (he also has his own band
in Hollywood), and a few other guitar pickers and last year Holly Dunn sat in
with us. Well, word has gotten around and Mike the benefit promoter has
officially dubbed us the “Legacy All-stars”. We are even getting our own
T-Shirts with our names and logo printed on them! Wow, that’s cooler than a
bucket of free beer. As for me personally, growing up a poor country boy, the
mere mention of free clothes gives me a full body shiver!
In June, we will be going back to the
lake house for the summer for some beach time, fishing, and just plain good
ole’ R & R… (I know I know… but some body has to step up to the plate!) This
year we are blessed even more in that all the kids and grandbabies will be
coming out for vacations too. Because of college and job locations, my son
Matt and I haven’t got to kill anything together for over 5 years now. We
used to hunt and fish together all the time he was growing up, but sometimes
life just gets in the way of type “A” personalities.
My oldest grandchild, Devin, will be four
years old in May and grandpa already has him lined out with fishing poles and
tackle. (Heck, I bought him a mule and a brand new saddle when he was only 7
months old. That’s pretty bad, isn’t it?) I’m sure that by the time he leaves
I will have succumbed to the rigors of baiting hooks, untangling fishing line,
loosing lures, un-hooking snags, bleeding from misguided casts, and the
perpetual onslaught of fish, duck, geese, swan, boat, lily pad, how come and
why not questions, Grandpa is going to be in the market for a sponge bath and
Jack Daniels I.V.
Before we leave, I have “honey-do”
projects I have to complete. When we moved here to New Mexico about 16 years
ago, one of the many things I had to do was trim and cut a few Juniper and
Pine trees, so grass could grow. As I was cutting up firewood, I noticed that
some of the logs would make great looking furniture, so I started making log
beds for the family as a hobby. The first one I made for the little woman was
a queen size, and now she says she wants a King size bed. I asked her why all
of a sudden after over 22 years of marriage she wants to change things up, so
she tells me she is simply tired of having this snowboard with a toe nail on
it coming at her in the middle of the night. She says she is done flying out
of the bed crying and wants to put some distance between us. That was a
pretty clear indictment, so in order to avert a mutiny on the high seas of
marital bliss; I will be in hot pursuit of the fabrication and completion of a
Juniper and elk antler love nest. (You can take the boy out of the country…
but!)
Well, that will do for now. The wife
just summoned me to appear immediately in the studio to produce some more
art. Speaking of work, allow me to leave you with these words of wisdom; “Why
not go out on a limb… isn’t that where the fruit is?”
Virgil
J
Past news click here!
