The Not So Perfect Summer

In about 22.5 hours I will again be fully engaged in my daytime gig as an art teacher.  New students will come flooding into my classroom.  I dearly hope they bring with them the enthusiasm and energy necessary to light and kindle their creative spark.  I spent most of last week preparing my room for the onslaught and unfortunately it is still not ready.  That is the way it goes, one can only do what time and energy allow.

Usually I am able to approach each school year with fresh eyes and renewed spirits but this summer was a challenge to the heart.  June was devoted to my father-in-law whose failing health led to his passing from the struggle of life on the 27th.  I could write more about this but somehow this feels like private territory.  Suffice to say I was left feeling emotionally drained and if you've ever been there, you know your body follows your spirit.  I found myself, on more occasions than I care to admit, paralyzed by lethargy.  Mood and physical pain contribute to this state as my arthritic knees provide me with pain as a nearly constant companion.  Enough whining.  I did get off of my butt enough times to be productive in my favorite ways.

I spent a good deal of time at Fire Arts in downtown South Bend where I am a founding member of this non-profit devoted to promoting and producing sculpture and pottery.  This was the fourth or fifth year that I offered a summer studio camp for talented high school students.  Three students participated and I believe each had a very productive experience.  Penn Hs, Mishawaka HS and my school New Prairie HS were represented.  The kids will have an opening on August 23rd where they will display their creations.  Come on over to the Fire Arts Showroom at 305 E. Colfax between 5:30 and 8:00 pm to see their sculpture and pottery and share in their success.  As these students worked I guided them when needed but for the most part they worked independently which was the goal of the experience.  I used my mentoring time to create some fresh work of my own including functional ware and a couple of sculptural pieces.  I also made a series of proto-type porcelain guitar slides.  These were initially requested by a local guitarist.  I took his requests and worked from there.  I took some of these slides to the Troy Gillacamp last weekend and had just the right number to gift each player with their own Desrosiers slide. It was serendipitous that I had the right number of slides and that even though each was significantly different, each found an owner who liked that particular slide.  Richard really liked the one he picked out.  This has reaffirmed my decision to produce more of these slides.  They are not the easiest object to make but if I can settle in and get consistent results that could make them marketable. 
EVART 3.0
July was a month that brought two music experiences.  The first was the Non-Electric Music Festival in Evart, Mi,(formerly the Original Hammered Dulcimer Players FunFest).  John and I purchased a used mini pop-up camper to pull behind my Scion XB.  Our goal was to make this third year of attending the festival a comprehensive experience by camping in the midst of all the other devotees.  We had a great deal of difficulty getting started because of a dirty trick nature decided to pull on the day before departure.  We had set up the camper as a practice run and to air it out a bit before going.  A sudden wind storm kicked up while I was away getting the license plate for the camper.  I returned just in time to see the wind pummel the structure of the camper forcing pole fittings to contort and snap.  "The horror, the horror of it all." Clearly our departure would be delayed.  I almost immediately began camper triage.  I assessed the damage and it was extensive.  I essentially had to re-manufacture all of the poles.  This meant trying to source and gerry rig parts. I made many trips to the Lowe's, a marina in a nearby town, and ultimately worked into the wee hours.  Finally got it working again, next adventure was installing a wiring harness for the lights. This had its own set of challenges and frustrations and I still think I have a defective harness.  In the end we missed the opening day of the festival.  By the time we arrived most of the camping spaces were gobbled up.  Since our camper is so petite we were able to squeeze into a prime mini space and even had an electrical outlet to charge our phones etc.  This spot was fantastic because we were actually in the thick of the action.

I put aside my trepidation and participated in jam sessions this year.   I played in three different sessions, two Ole Timey and one Celtic.  The Celtic one was my favorite since I really love that genre.  I did not attempt to stand out although because I'm still trying to recognize keys by ear and sort out the best chords to play as a rhythm backup for the fiddlers who dominate the lead in both styles of music.

Our camping spot was located adjacent to a group of musicians who represent the center of a major solar system at Evart.  The festival is like a universe that has solar systems located throughout the fair grounds.  Each solar system has its own characteristics, dominated by a core group of players who know each other well and other musicians of varying skill levels, like myself, who are temporarily pulled into the orbit.  The core musicians are incredibly skilled and provide the driving force.   Saturday night is marathon jam night.  The solar system, located near us and under a canopy of festive lights,  literally jammed all night long. We fell asleep to the sound of dulcimers, fiddle, guitars, bass fiddle, tin whistle and bodhran and awakened to the same, albeit played much more quietly and with far fewer participants.  Warning!  Although the festival enforces a personally welcomed ban on alcoholic drinks and smoking, there are no quiet zones or quiet hours.  Bring your ear plugs if you can't sleep with the sound of music in the background.  I enjoyed it and found myself rocked to sleep by the surging rhythms. 

We had a week's reprieve before heading down to Bloomington, IN. for a workshop that John signed up for with mandolin maestro Jim Richter.  This workshop focused upon Blues and Rock mandolin technique, theory, and jamming.   John's actual class-time was on Saturday.  We arrived Friday late afternoon and checked into the Grant St. Inn, the B & B that hosted the workshop.  I can only say WOW what beautiful inn.  Our room was glorious and I spent hours using it as my guitar practice zone.  I was invited to participate in two jam sessions that started after dinner time and lasted into the wee hours.  These were informal sessions and I was pleasantly surprised to be included since I neither play mandolin and did not sign up for the workshop.   I was also the only woman present.  I guess mandolin workshops fit into Richard's "tupperware party for men" formula.  Sorry guys for breaking with tradition.

Once we returned to South Bend, I felt the urge to force myself to start painting the livingroom area that had been on my list for over two years.  I finished one wall area and started on the adjacent spaces, ran out of paint and now have run out of free time since school is starting. Hummm......hope it doesn't take me another two years to wrap this up.


August opened with one of my favorite activities: Richard Gilewitz's  Gillacamp!!!!  Another great weekend of immersion.  This was my fourth Troy, OH.  Gillacamp!!!!  Damn time flies when your having fun.  I count Gillacamps by the type of treats I bring.  First year it was coconut cookies, second year it was the first annual Gillanut cake(Richard's Bday is in August), third year Gillanut cake with John's image imprinted on the frosting, and this year Zombie Gillanut cake.  What the heck am I going to do for next year?????  Well besides that annual treat we spent serious time working tunes:  Last Steam Engine Train, Spanish Two Step, Yesterday, If I Fell(added spontaneously),  Both Sides Now, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and Steve Talbot on the Keddie Wye  We also spent time with some warm ups, and slide guitar using exercises from Richard's new "Slide Guide" course produced by TrueFire.com.  On Friday evening Richard also took out some time to add details to the music for "Dumonde Blonde".  I've been wanting to add this piece to my repertoire.  Gillacamp is pretty intense and even though I manage to keep up with what is thrown my way,  I realize I will always be the "least" experienced and proficient player in the core group.   This is a simple reality because my guitar buds, Leibert, John and Camille(when she can attend) have copious years of experience beyond my few years.  John has youth on his side and the reinforcement of musical background with his school band studies.  He has been playing out regularly and to say that he has family support in his endeavors is a huge understatement.   I need to remind myself at times that this is not a competition.  I play for intrinsic reasons, gaining pleasure from the challenge and expressive nature of music.  I always want to do better.  I come home from Gillacamp humbled and with more repertoire and skill targets for which to aim. 

I had the dreaded realization that as the beginning of school approached I did not feel renewed from summer break as I usually do.  The beginning of summer left me sucked dry for a bit.  Like a drought-drained well, my energy level is only now beginning to show signs of recovery.  Here's hoping that the students and their energy(positive) will dump some healthy buckets of spiritual water into my vessel.