Fancy News - New Fancy Mural!

Well, another white wall bites the dust. Here is a detail of a new piece of decorative artwork in a local home, a handsome mural with imaginary views by Edward Huse, including one of his favorite guardian animals perched on a bit-o-architecture. The photo is taken now, before the final coat of polyurethane mixed with magic dust, because it becomes difficult for the camera to photograph after.

The artist's steed is re-shoed - another fine job by Ferguson's Automotive

Yippee! No more clatter as we trundle across the patches and random staircases that we use for roadways here in Springfield, Vermont - New brake calipers up front for the RoadMaster!

You have to really look in this picture to appreciate it for the automotive splendor that it is, but the floor is a marvel of cleanliness and order at Ferguson's Automotive located in sunny downtown Windsor, Vermont, (just a little North East of the extinct volcano). The orderly state of the floor is merely a clear testament to the seriousness of their attention to detail here - if it isn't broke, don't fix it, but if it is, you can trust it to be well-cared for at Fergusons. El taller de Fergusons es un lugar ultra-professional, donde toman el tiempo para dar atencion a todo detalle.

Fancy News - Newly Acquired Vintage Image Capture Device

It is certainly curious and more than funny to see how things can sometimes look like junk until you really give them a cold hard look.
Recently, we came across an old camera at a tag sale that I finally bought for a couple of dollars for the hell of it. Initially, I found it so unattractive and almost cheasy-looking (it sports an absolutely absurd atomic image) that I didn't let myself really focus on it too closely, having at first glance written it off as a crummy slr wannabe from like 1960's Korea or Blaabistan or somewhere equally dreary. I was almost too repulsed to touch it. It did seem clean tho', and I thought some kid might love to have it for a first camera to either use, or to finish ruining completely while trying to learn how to use it. Well, it also dawned on me to try auctioning it off online or something since it was so clean and it had it's case and all - someone might love it to complement their Trabant kit or Mao suit - but to research it I had to pick it up and look at it. The first thing I did was to look at the lense for info, and my eyes popped, for such an oddball it had a 1:1.7 lens which I know means a better grade than what I ever had on an slr, so I looked it up in real ernest now, and found that it is a commonly available, old-but-excellent range finder type camera, who would have known?
It turns out that this machine is a fourth generation (circa 1973), G series, Yashica 35mm Rangefinder Electro 35, GSN, and it has quite a following out there, loads of stuff about it on the net.
This one is in it's original banged-up case but it is very clean and shows little wear and no damage that I can see beyond somebodies clumsy efforts to remove a ring from the lense assembly, (scratching the hell out of the black ring with the lens info imprinted on it in the process). They were probably trying to get in to remove some offensive flakes of debris visible under the first layer of glass inside the actual lens assembly, and without success since the cruft is still there to tell the story. The outside face of the lens seems clean and unscathed, so I have hopes for it's ability to deliver knock-out pics even with the floaters inside. Luckily, while the last custodial guardian of this edsel with killer glass not only failed to open the lens, he did remove the old battery, so that the battery compartment is clean. I am in the process of cobbling together the recommended Rube Goldberg styled battery arrangement to replace the out-of-production mercury-based battery that would have originally powered the simple little electromagnet-based computer thing that makes this such a handy instrument of expression and all-round image capture device.
I can't wait to try it out with some real film this Summer, I am reluctant to take the new dslr so this electro might do nicely (even with the odd bits of dander under the lens).

Fancy News: First Cut to be Thrashed Soon.

The first crop of silage is ready to harvest, here the work is being done - locally for local consumption

"Claudia Waite as Princess Turandot", etching by Edward Huse, 2007

Fancy News - one of my favorite prints just turned up for me - this is one of the prints that I made from my drawings rendered during the dress rehearsals for Puccini's Turandot, at Opera North last year, in Lebanon, New Hampshire. It was great fun, and Claudia Waite put on a captivating performance in her role as the Princess Turandot.
I will have versions of this available soon as: 1) a US Postage stamp from my zazzle.com account, and; 2) a poster or card from my redbubble.com account [links on the right].

Fancy News: Flowers at Last! (yes, months behind most of you there in the Southland, still ... )

these have begun to take over nicely.

Harper needs a good home.

I would like to see this dog adopted, her current owners will take care of getting her to the new owners themselves, it is indeed a painless adoption for someone ready for a great pet. Please send the url for more info to anyone that might be interested - harpergooddog.blogspot.com

a fine tractor

Hosta goes nuts

Hosta is at it's coolest when it is first bursting at amazing speeds from the Earth's outer debris layer.

Firemen in nearby Ascutney, Vermont, gassing up the beast

it's nice to see that you can still drive a gas-guzzler in matching outfits in this day and age.

Fancy News! Lucky Hay Wagon Makes Appearance in Jersey Girls' New Barn - can they be far behind?

Here the new barn is being made ready for the happy cows to come - in one shot the lucky hay wagon makes it's fortuitous appearance, and in another shot Don Queso is seen to wave hello to the crowds of spirits of 'cheeses-to-be' that already jostle about for space in the great new barn.

Fancy News; our Moose has made an appearance!

It may not be widely known, but our little Springfield, Vermont, besides having been elected the Official Home of the Simpsons, has the distinction of hosting a resident moose population, and last evening one of the younger members of that clan made an appearance in the public parking lot off of Mineral Street near the Comptu Falls.
It was a most pleasant visit at first. Now that it is Spring, neighbors are out and about - people and other creatures who haven't seen each other or been outside to enjoy nature at all in months. It was nice to see Moose come down to town and poke around with mild curiosity, at least until for some reason (unknown to man, or beast it turns out) a member of the Springfield police force decided to use the police cruiser as a communications device.
"You shouldn't do that officer!", offered neighbor Bob, but no, the officer proceeded to go through the complete Moose vocabulary offered by a small-town squad car, and when he was done the little moose came over and most deftly crushed the hood to the pavement with one smooth, almost elegant gesture - with an apparent ease and effortless grace that left all breathless with astonishment, and full of admiration for a critic of bad behavior that doesn't mind being forceful in the pursuit of decorum.

When cats garden

Fancy Cherry Blossom News from our Nation's Capitol

the obligatory cherry blossom picture, taken with the Sony DSLR and it's stock lens kit on April 2nd.

Fancy News from the Past

On my recent trip I barely budgeted enough time to take some photos of my old artwork in Washington, DC, but here is one - a leaded/stained glass entry transom window that I designed and made in about 1981 or so.

Fancy News, it is still Springtime in Vermont

Springtime in Vermont is a good time to get outside and say hello to neighbors.



Springtime in Vermont is a lot like Fallas, though not as well-attended. La Primavera en Vermont es muy parecido a las Fallas, pero sin botellón.




another bread shot, (I am still knocked out by the New York Times bread recipe).

Fancy News - home again, home again, jig, a jig-jig

Here in Springfield, Vermont, (Official Home of the Simpson's), the snow has melted enough for me to sweep the sidewalk, the solar collector is going full blast, and I am busy doing hand-built forms in clay for a primitive firing later in the Spring or in the Summer.
I continue to have great success with that recipe from the NYTimes for killer breads, the recipe that appeared last Fall.
Then there is the garden, it awakens suddenly and it's first words are to the birds of course, but it's second call is for me to come and groom and ready it for a Summer of fun! (LMAO/MPEC) Hay que ver, que enseguida llegan dias largos, por frio que siga siendo, el jardin llama desde el primer dia que llegan los pajaros, ni siquiera dirritido toda la nieve! Vale pues, no hay remedio, el jardin es un trabajo y hay que hacerlo y ya. Vuelto de Washington, y lleno de historias ...

Fancy News - it's Springtime in Vermont - sidewalk café in Brattleboro, can more public nudity be far behind?

You know it's Springtime when the people begin sprouting up in the sunshine!

FancyNews: a manipulated Moon image

a fine dreamscape of rowing in the dusk on a still evening, photo © by Edward Huse, 2008.

Fancy News: Last Moonrise of the Winter

Yesterday the turbulent skies guaranteed something to photograph, and when I saw the Moon shoot into view I knew what I had to do - the trusty Saab lept like a gazelle at my command, to fly up, up the hill to the transmitter and find a clear shot.
Moments later the snow shower that had been threatening to horn in finally caught up and ended the creamy blue sunset/moonrise. This is one of the resulting images captured on the digital slr which I like very much, the Sony Alpha 100, (handheld capture in raw file at automatic settings, cropped, but otherwise unadjusted).

Fancy news for real

Recently, my favorite client of all time and old friend down South in Washington called on me to come there and do some remedial decorative work in her little mansion in that city - the thought of a house repair that required cutting into a very elaborately developed mural in her home had us all bothered, but not much. After all, it gives us a fine chance to get together and run around and see the museums and have mild adventures motoring about the Nation's Capital.
You have to admit, a lush, lyrical, moody or misty decorative finish, or a full-blown mural, that results from the happy interaction between the patronesse or patron and the artist is a joy to live with, especially when the alternative is "eggshell white" out of the can.
Isn't it time for you to graduate from that "dorm room" look and dress up your crib, pad, pied a terre, flat, mansion or petit palaise with artwork or decorative treatments by Edward Huse?
Treat yourself today, send a plane ticket and a big check, and see your ordinary drywall turn into a unique and special setting for you and your family and friends.
Line forms to the right.

Fancy News - A Barn Raising!

"Barn Raising" - it sounds bucolic, old-timey, and fun. And it was - even if at the end it seemed more proper to call the event a canopy deployement rather than a barn raising since there was little timber framing, and none aloft, where the high arched components did however create a fine looking barrel vault that amazingly creates quite the "basilica/barn" effect. The aerodynamics of this kind of canopied service structure are so far more important a variable than it's weight, that it is more like a glider than a barn, so I hereby coin a new phrase analogous to "barn raising" and to be used in the same way: "barn mooring", which refers to the permanent assembly and fixed location of any inflated, canopy type, air-pressure-dependent, or otherwise aero-static barn or outbuilding, in deference to it's innate preference for flight.
Very interesting it was indeed to see it happen over the last few snowy weeks. This new cow barn has a lot of what is beautiful about a barn, even though it is so odd to see that kind of a big bubble structure in a pastoral setting - like a giant Bibelót lying in a field sleeping off a night of clubbing.
The work has all happened in cold weather. In particular, Chip told me that it was a bear just to sink the holes for the wooden beams that sit deep in the ground to anchor the structure. It has been a comparatively mild Winter, yet on any given day it has been as cold as it needs to be outside if you are working with your hands.
Above is a picture of the activity surrounding the creation of that new cow barn at Lisa's new W.A.W.W.E Farm Store the other day, that I took with the Sony digital DSLR A100k camera. I am still learning to use this image capture device, (but it is an easy study).
This barn will serve as a festive, convenient, and easy to maintain cow barn for Lisa's exquisite milk cows - for the famous Jersey Girls of Chester, Vermont, as a matter of fact.
The milk from these cows is like something you thought you had to take a time machine to find anymore.