Candace and A Trip to Alaska with Mountain Heather

Mountain Heather's hats along with some others for sale at Spirit Mountain Artworks in 

Chitina, Alaska

"Are there any in my size?" Candace wonders.

Where's Kim?

Candace is looking for me at the Tanana Valley Farmers Market which I had ditched out on that day because of cool temps and wind.

Candace went on a fishing trip to Chitina where Heather went dip-netting for Copper River red salmon. I heard she didn't want to get her hands slimy so she stayed tucked away.

She doesn't mind posing with the filets though as they match her lovely hair.

A view of Mount Hayes from south of my home  in Delta on the Richardson Highway.

A view of the Alaska Range can be seen from

Mountain Heather's "off the grid" home that she shares with her husband, stepson and several dogs near Murphy Dome outside of Fairbanks. They're growing a fabulous garden up there in the hills that fills the freezer for a good part of the winter.  

Wild Irises in the evening glow of solstice.

Heather is  multi-talented. These are cabinets she designed on AutoCad for her family's cabinet shop Dreamworks Cabinetry where she also lends her skills.

I was in Arizona when my friend Heather heard about Candace's travel plans. She asked me if I thought it would be too boring for her to visit her. It worked out that she arrived here in time for some good fishing and Solstice.

 Heather's business is Mountain Heather Creations and she has made quite a business of it selling hats for every season that bear the outline appliqued mountains and sun or moon on  fleece or cotton. You can see her popular warm fleece hats sported on folks in Alaska almost anywhere you go.

Heather is one of my dearest friends that I met while doing some of my first shows when I started out on my lampworking and jewelry making forays. She was a bit of a veteran  by then and had a lot of tips for a new seller like me. I think our first show together was mid-winter (and -30 degrees F outside. That's -34 Celsius!) at bazaar at a school in North Pole. We didn't get much business and I've since learned that school bazaars are not the way to go for me. We did get a lot of time to visit and make a trade.  I traded a necklace for one of her hats. Both styles have been long discontinued by each of us.

She doesn't do as many shows anymore but prefers to wholesale to shops or sell through her website. You can view her Flickr photostream here. or become a fan of Mountain Heather on Facebook.

She has a special line of hats at the UAF (University of Alaska Fairbanks) Museum that feature the exact outline of the Alaska Range.  

Found Object Doll and the Midnight Sun

 I've had the elements of this doll on my work table for over a year now. It seems like with found object assemblages there is always the dilemma of how to connect the pieces. The materials aren't consistent enough from piece to piece and may not behave properly when you're trying to nail, staple or screw pieces together. A piece of very dried out wood that may have loads of character might just simply splinter as you're nailing or screwing into it. Or it turns out that your substrate really is a fiberboard that turns to dust and "wallers" out rendering your efforts useless. The familiarity of tried and true materials definitely make for less frustrating work. Such is the challenge of  art using thrift shop and found pieces.

She's no Candace-

 but the creation is all mine except for the polymer clay cabochon face.

I'm open to suggestions for a name  for this one.

 Her head is a polymer clay face glued to amber glued to a large vintage button and wired and fastened to the round piece of wood that I found at a dump site. I picked up the broken mirror and latch nearby. I had been trying to sell these rather dull vintage buttons as a set and they presented themselves to me on my worktable as viable arms. One leg is a metal bit that I picked up on the street and the  measuring tape is a garage sale find from a broken windup tape.

I took a picture of our favorite gal lounging in the wild irises  this weekend at 9:30 PM close to Solstice.

The ribbon that Corrine from Dosfishes adorned her cape matches perfectly!

Here she is at almost midnight among the black spruce trees at my friend Heather's place.

We'll be hearing about her adventures with Heather soon.

A Double Header

Not only am I double posting today  but I'm honoring two celebrations long distance. Yesterday was my folks 62nd anniversary and today is Father's day. I'm so grateful that these two events even get to be celebrated this week as my father experienced a heart attack while visiting me in Arizona last year just hours before we were to bring him to the airport to return to Maine.

He had to undergo a quadruple bypass and recovery before they would let him go home. It was a mixed blessing  as I was able to take care of my mom in a warm and sunny place in my own home while he was hospitalized. I'm happy to say he's alive and kicking still with my mom and enjoying some crab picking at our summer cottage in Maine today. Those two know how to live it up and celebrate I must say!

Ray & Jay ( yes, those are really their names!)

Are they too cute or what?!

I inherited that distinctive  Rogers nose from my Dad.

My Dad and little Kimmy at our cottage in Maine.

Dear old Dad ~ Visiting in Arizona

Ray & Jay    Kim & Dave

Where This Blogger Creates

I'm afraid I may be posting a day late on this "Where Bloggers Create Party".  We are in the furthest west time zone after all! These photos are mostly a repost of earlier pics. My studio has undergone some changes since most of these were from when I first set the rooms up last year.

one wall of the "glass lab"

Effetre glass rods

This is a pic from my Bisbee, Arizona glass studio since I have to have one at both of our homes.

The "Garaj Mahal"   Delta Junction, Alaska

I get two rooms for studio space upstairs.

I get a view of the Alaska Range from that window and if it's not too windy I do some work out on the deck and soak up the sun. (it's really summer here now!)

My lampworker's station~ torch, kiln, Zoozii presses, glass rods, digital controller and mandrels

The sewing and collage room

Storage for glass rods

Catch-all for various supplies and collections.

A Courtship

The letters of courtship of my great-grandfather have come into my possession and I have decided to share them with you. I'm thinking of doing them on a weekly installment. Every Wednesday I'll post some as they are quite lengthy. I'll divide them up into segments. One of the first letters is six pages long! These are not in his original hand which was had quite a flourish but typewritten copies. My mother wasn't ready for me to whisk the originals off to Alaska. She had won the typing service at a church auction and chose to have his letters typed up. 

Unfortunately I have no pictures of him and my great grandmother but I'm hoping that my mom will dig some out for me soon so I can post on another installment.

My great grandfather Clarence Hayward White became the head of the English Department of Colby College in Waterville, Maine and married Alice Heald that became a music teacher at the same college.

Click on the pictures to enlarge for ease of reading.

Here's how his great- great grandson impresses his gal these days.

My son and I did some scavenging at the dump in the nearby woods. 

Scores of cars and other wondrous piles of rusty objects are scattered through nearly an acre.

He found this car horn or blower, we're not sure which, and artfully fashioned it with some gold spray paint into a hanging flower vase  for his girlfriend.

I think he's less than thrilled at having his picture taken here.