Ohio trip

I will be traveling to Ohio tomorrow, picking up my artwork on Thursday at the Butler Institute in Youngstown. I will be delivering the work from that exhibit to Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio where there will be an exhibit of my etchings in November and December. Returning to Alliance in December, there will be a closing reception and lecture on December 10th.

This weekend, I will be participating in the Cain Park Arts Festival in Cleveland. It is a unique outdoor show and one of the few that I am still pariticpating in. Denis Conley of Akron will provide me, once again, with a place to lay my head at night. There will also be other gallery visits during this trip, which will last about one week. Today, I will complete the framing and presentation of work, load my van, and tomorrow, I depart with the first stop being Graphic Chemical and Ink in Chicago. They provide me with many of the printmaking supplies and tools that I use. I have been their customer since the 1970s. They know me and I them. A few of my etchings are on the walls of their main room. The day's travels will end in Akron, Ohio tomorrow evening.

I ride my bicycle to my studio almost every day. There is a bicycle trail between Mount Horeb where I live and Blue Mounds. It is about six miles each way and is a wonderful way to start the day. I am greeted by robins and gold finches that dodge and weave ahead of me in the tunnel of the trail. Cardinals and Thrushes have no time for that nonsense and choose to make hasty exits to the surrounding forest. Rabbits and ground squirrels dart in front of me (I have never hit one) and an occasional deer appears in front of me as well(I have not hit one of them either).

The trail is an old train road bed. As I ride, I can envision the locomotive and freight cars making their way through this same tunnel in the past. I have seen the rails from this perspective on a couple of occasions. I remember being a teenager traveling through North Dakota and the rusty old van breaking down. Having nowhere to stay and no vehicle and heading west, I ended up staying (voluntarily) in a jail cell in Jamestown. The next day found me, after several hours of very bad luck attempting to hitch hike making my way to the freight yard. I remembered someone telling me that it was possible to catch a ride in box cars. The yard was huge. Avoiding the yard bulls (police), I inquired as to which track would take me to Seattle (a stepping stone to Alaska where I was headed). I found an empty box car with the door open and hopped on. The view was glorious. The trip was magical. It is not the recommended way for young men from Hibbing, Minnesota (or from anywhwere) to travel, but it worked, and my youthful spirit of adventure lead me to travel in this way.

Riding my bicycle to the studio, on this trail, reminds me frequently of this small, but exciting chapter in my youth.