Headed to Pena Blanca's 1st Annual Sunflower Festival

Well it's been over a month since my last road trip so I'm headed to Santa Fe, NM for a week to visit Family and to help a little bit with Pena Blanca's 1st Annual Sunflower Festival.  I was originally going to show my art at this Festival, but timing isn't going to work out for that.  Next Year!   This is actually a really big deal for "little" Pena Blanca, which is located between Santa Fe and Albuquerque in a small Valley where my mom lives - she's on the committee to help pull this off!

Patrice Harrison-Inglis who started this whole crazy, wonderful idea of planting Sunflowers in all the empty fields in this small town has an unbelievable entrepreneurial spirit.  She used to raise beautiful goats and processed the milk for wonderful cheese and yogurt. She did that for many years and did a wonderful job.

I love Patrices' spirit of never giving up and just "Going for It".  A little over a year ago she started with this crazy idea and in no time she had grants given to her to buy seed, people planting their fields with the seeds, a 1974 John Deere 3300 Grain Harvester Combine  purchased to process the sunflowers and lots of dirt to plant the seeds. These things take a few years to catch on, so hopefully next year all we be wiser and more committed to Rock It!  I'm looking forward to helping at the festival and seeing how it's all doing and hopefully I can get some great shots of the Sunflowers if they haven't faded by the time I get there!

Patrtice.... I don't know how you've pulled this off with only giving yourself 30 days before you decided you wanted to have an Festival.  Just shows you if you're determined.... anything can happen!  WAY TO GO!!!

Here's a little video they did regarding the project.

photo by Jim Baca

What a beautiful site!  I hope their faces are still shining up towards the sun by the time I get there!

I'll be checking back on all of you soon!

Barbed Wire Heart & Flowers

The end of a HOT HOT week hasn't produced what I'd like to get done, but I did brave the heat to play with the barbed wire I gathered a few weeks ago.  Truly just messing around with it - and since I love hearts I created a caged heart surrounded by many hand shaped hearts, just for fun.

Then I had to clean out the garage of all those dishes I gathered for the glass flowers I was making.  I don't think they will be something to add to what I sell since they are too fragile, a pain to transport and I've moved on from them..... so I just made a few more just for the heck of it.  The yard is filling up with beautiful sparkly flowers that will never die ~ even in this heat.

 This is what you do when you're brain is fried in the heat..... just stack them all up and you've got some crazy flower totem.

I'm outta this heat late next week for another adventure..... stay tuned.  :)

+++Birds+++

I've been jumping from one project to another these days.... working on shovels again - the inventory of those is almost down to Zero ~ still making crosses as my supply of scrap wood is found, barbed wire hearts, but also started making a few little bird sculptures for the garden, or up in a window, or on the stucco wall.  They're a work in progress as I find scrap pieces, bend rod and rummage thru the Junk pile.

Some have scrolls I made representing a branch.

Center one is on a car leaf spring.

 I found a lovely little forged candle holder at the thrift store

so I just embellished it with a few of my creations and sent it off to my Son.

 Candle Holder or flower.... you choose

Used lots of little pieces of Junk to create a little nest and pull some scrolls from a junk pile - needs to rust more and will add some little babies in the nest later.

 Another carrying a little barbed wire flower

115 in the Shade!

I've managed to make a few more crosses from the junk pile,

but I tell you the heat is gonna fry my brain...

115* today 

same tomorrow and sadly no cool breeze on the horizon anytime soon.

Put a fork in me ... I'm officially cooked

“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow.  So Do It. “ 

– Kurt Vonnegut

Eclectic Monkey Emporium

My friend Glenn (who more than supports my JUNK habit by selling me lots of fun and crazy items) runs the "Eclectic Monkey Emporium" in downtown Mesa, AZ.  I stopped by the other day to see what was new and had my name on it.... and man was I blown away!  He's is in the process of painting his store and it is over the top awesome.  It's basically made to look like it's melting in the Arizona Sun.  I think he's accomplished that vision for sure! It's just amazing what you can do with a flat wall and basically 4 colors of paint.  It's still a work in progress so as soon as it is all complete I'll update and even show you some of the cool collectibles he's got in the shop..... I keep pressing him to let me buy some that are behind the counter, but so far it's a no go.  I will however endeavor to wear him down!!!!