MDRF Weekend the 5th...
In which there was no "Theme" for the weekend, so we made out own, of pictures and cute babies...but wait, that is what we do every weekend...
All of these pictures are in our Photo Gallery.
The weather was picture perfect, so we took lots. And had a bit of fun. The above picture is baby Anna, Eden, Leah, Heather, and Ellawyn, posing for the classic shot, on the bridge. They came for their annual visit. It was nice.
Ellawyn and I tried out her Red Riding Hood Cloak with our Big Bad Wolf Mask. It worked. She runs ahead, dashing from tree to column to trash can to bench, hiding behind each, I sniff along through the crowd looking for her. "Excuse me, have you seen a little girl in a red cloak?". Sometimes she just runs ahead and looks back over her shoulder. I say real loud, wearing the big bad wolf, "Come here little girl, I want talk to you!" She shouts back defiantly, "No, you big nasty wolf!" The crowd LOVES it. Shouts of "Run Red, Run!" followed us, lots of pictures taken and video, folks playing along, some getting a little too into it and threatening me, getting in my way so that I almost lost her in the crowd, but over all, big fun. Ellawyn's vocabulary word of the weekend was "bit", as in "this is called a bit". You should expect our bit more as the season goes on. I hope to take her through the pubs.
On Saturday, I wasn't feeling well at first and went to lay down in our trailer. I heard my friend and BOG Brother, Grant, the owner of the Sluice Mine and Rock Shop at MDRF. Grant had just driven in from a long trip back from the quartz crystal mines in Arkansas. I helped him unload the truck and later took this picture of Grant with the showpiece of his trip.
If you haven't visited the Rock Shop and Sluice Mine, you should. It located across from the Dragon Inn. Go by, see the crystal, buy a rock, say 'ello to Grant and Denise, the proprietors, tell 'em I sent ya.
Ellawyn had some friends to play with. One of the hair braiders brought her brood, a lovely cluster of kids. Ellawyn was playing Princesses with them and hiding under the signs.
I do have a son as well, as I have shown before. Here is Jared, doing the Bubble Guy thing. He is very good at the Bubble Cart and can often be found doing breaks there and when not on the "clock" loitering about. First the bubbles:
And here he is loitering. Watch for the hat about the festival site. It is a bit of a trade mark for him.
What is funny about that picture, is that it was taken by Jenn just as we were spying from above. Leah and I have a spot we like to sit, up above the crowd, and watch our cart. It's not really spying on the staff, although that is a benefit...;-) but more so, watching the scene. The bubble cart is "theater in the round" and we like to see how we can improve the presentation. That, and I love being up above the festival site, people watching. That is why I took this picture, so see if you can figure out where we were.
Time for a gratuitous cute baby picture. This time it's Abigail, daughter of Jenn and Sean and our Fairy God Daughter. This one was taken by Sean, and I think it was taken from last weekend, but I don't care, she is too cute for words.
Abigail is so adorable and I realize it not just me that thinks so. Here are some of the ladies of the court and town, along with the Lord Mayor, swooning over Abby.
Jenn also took this next series of our newest crew member, Blossom Fairy, bubbling for the kids.
Now for a bit more fun, I, FINALLY, got to go down the giant wooden slide at the festival. This slide is more than a bunch of fun. It is a work of masterful craftsmanship, hand created by one of the owners of the Festival, Mark Smith. In 12 years of working this show, I have always wanted to ride it, and Ellawyn and I did just that. And it was one of the best 10 seconds of my weekend. Here it is.
Wasn't that great?!?!?!
We did something really remarkable on Sunday. We got Ellawyn's face cast by Ann Curtis of Masquerade Life Casting. I have previously blogged about Ann when she did a three generations casting of Leah, her mother, and Ell. When Leah was pregnant, Ann did a cast of her bell, (Edit: This should have been "belly" but several friends comment on the appropriate nature of the typo) and then, this is where Ann works her true art, crafting it into a wonderful family heirloom with oak leaves, acorns, and a tiny monarch to symbolize the life within. Here it is.
We have long wanted to tell the rest of this story and do a cast of Ell's face. Until this year, she really was too little to do the face, and we neglected to have her butt cast. Yes, Ann casts baby bottoms. Seriously, go by the booth and you'll see. So now, Ell, being a Rennie kid and well used to new and unusual experiences said she was ready to have her face cast. And she was a rock steady star. I have had my face cast several times, and each was a bit disconcerting and a little frightening. I think Ell doesn't have the frame of reference that I have with stories of mummies and burial. So here she is getting her face Vaselined up.
It doesn't hurt that Ellawyn really trusts both Derek and Ann. They are good friends and she has spent alot of time around them and seen us get castings. Of note, you may have realized that Ann's art and ours are linked in a way. We have learned to make casting and offer the service to create custom fitted pieces of our leather mask making. Additionally, we must know how to make new molds and casting to work on for ourselves. So the relationship between us all is both professional as well as personal.
Here is a close up of Ell's face with the plaster bandages going on and Ann smoothing the corners of her mouth.
Here is a pair of videos we made of the process.
When the casting comes off, Ann places it on a tripod stand in a cubby with a light shining on it. The effect is startling to say the least. The shadows and play of light on the inside of the casting create a "hologram" of the face in 3D. If you look at this picture, you see that you are actually looking inside the casting, but....
After this, Ell quietly read a book out to Derek while Leah and I discussed what Ann was going to create from the casting.
We have decided on a monarch butterfly sculpture around the face, showing the emergence from the belly casting. I look forward to posting an image of the two together when they are finished.
On Monday, as we packed from the weekend, I finished up some painting on our on going project, our garden space. And took a few great pictures in the process. Here is a Tiny Tony, or perhaps a Silly Sinnus. That is, Cardinal Sinnus Vice, a friend and BOG Brother. Ann has made a casting of him and then a through a series of reduction casts, created small wall sculptures for sale. They are great.
And here is where it hangs, amongst the Green Men in my garden, you can spot it.
And I will leave you with a parting image of our laughing Green Man fountain, burbling away in his perpetual grin.
Kubiando!
All of these pictures are in our Photo Gallery.
The weather was picture perfect, so we took lots. And had a bit of fun. The above picture is baby Anna, Eden, Leah, Heather, and Ellawyn, posing for the classic shot, on the bridge. They came for their annual visit. It was nice.
Ellawyn and I tried out her Red Riding Hood Cloak with our Big Bad Wolf Mask. It worked. She runs ahead, dashing from tree to column to trash can to bench, hiding behind each, I sniff along through the crowd looking for her. "Excuse me, have you seen a little girl in a red cloak?". Sometimes she just runs ahead and looks back over her shoulder. I say real loud, wearing the big bad wolf, "Come here little girl, I want talk to you!" She shouts back defiantly, "No, you big nasty wolf!" The crowd LOVES it. Shouts of "Run Red, Run!" followed us, lots of pictures taken and video, folks playing along, some getting a little too into it and threatening me, getting in my way so that I almost lost her in the crowd, but over all, big fun. Ellawyn's vocabulary word of the weekend was "bit", as in "this is called a bit". You should expect our bit more as the season goes on. I hope to take her through the pubs.
On Saturday, I wasn't feeling well at first and went to lay down in our trailer. I heard my friend and BOG Brother, Grant, the owner of the Sluice Mine and Rock Shop at MDRF. Grant had just driven in from a long trip back from the quartz crystal mines in Arkansas. I helped him unload the truck and later took this picture of Grant with the showpiece of his trip.
If you haven't visited the Rock Shop and Sluice Mine, you should. It located across from the Dragon Inn. Go by, see the crystal, buy a rock, say 'ello to Grant and Denise, the proprietors, tell 'em I sent ya.
Ellawyn had some friends to play with. One of the hair braiders brought her brood, a lovely cluster of kids. Ellawyn was playing Princesses with them and hiding under the signs.
I do have a son as well, as I have shown before. Here is Jared, doing the Bubble Guy thing. He is very good at the Bubble Cart and can often be found doing breaks there and when not on the "clock" loitering about. First the bubbles:
And here he is loitering. Watch for the hat about the festival site. It is a bit of a trade mark for him.
What is funny about that picture, is that it was taken by Jenn just as we were spying from above. Leah and I have a spot we like to sit, up above the crowd, and watch our cart. It's not really spying on the staff, although that is a benefit...;-) but more so, watching the scene. The bubble cart is "theater in the round" and we like to see how we can improve the presentation. That, and I love being up above the festival site, people watching. That is why I took this picture, so see if you can figure out where we were.
Time for a gratuitous cute baby picture. This time it's Abigail, daughter of Jenn and Sean and our Fairy God Daughter. This one was taken by Sean, and I think it was taken from last weekend, but I don't care, she is too cute for words.
Abigail is so adorable and I realize it not just me that thinks so. Here are some of the ladies of the court and town, along with the Lord Mayor, swooning over Abby.
Jenn also took this next series of our newest crew member, Blossom Fairy, bubbling for the kids.
Now for a bit more fun, I, FINALLY, got to go down the giant wooden slide at the festival. This slide is more than a bunch of fun. It is a work of masterful craftsmanship, hand created by one of the owners of the Festival, Mark Smith. In 12 years of working this show, I have always wanted to ride it, and Ellawyn and I did just that. And it was one of the best 10 seconds of my weekend. Here it is.
Click to viewWasn't that great?!?!?!
We did something really remarkable on Sunday. We got Ellawyn's face cast by Ann Curtis of Masquerade Life Casting. I have previously blogged about Ann when she did a three generations casting of Leah, her mother, and Ell. When Leah was pregnant, Ann did a cast of her bell, (Edit: This should have been "belly" but several friends comment on the appropriate nature of the typo) and then, this is where Ann works her true art, crafting it into a wonderful family heirloom with oak leaves, acorns, and a tiny monarch to symbolize the life within. Here it is.
We have long wanted to tell the rest of this story and do a cast of Ell's face. Until this year, she really was too little to do the face, and we neglected to have her butt cast. Yes, Ann casts baby bottoms. Seriously, go by the booth and you'll see. So now, Ell, being a Rennie kid and well used to new and unusual experiences said she was ready to have her face cast. And she was a rock steady star. I have had my face cast several times, and each was a bit disconcerting and a little frightening. I think Ell doesn't have the frame of reference that I have with stories of mummies and burial. So here she is getting her face Vaselined up.
It doesn't hurt that Ellawyn really trusts both Derek and Ann. They are good friends and she has spent alot of time around them and seen us get castings. Of note, you may have realized that Ann's art and ours are linked in a way. We have learned to make casting and offer the service to create custom fitted pieces of our leather mask making. Additionally, we must know how to make new molds and casting to work on for ourselves. So the relationship between us all is both professional as well as personal.
Here is a close up of Ell's face with the plaster bandages going on and Ann smoothing the corners of her mouth.
Here is a pair of videos we made of the process.
When the casting comes off, Ann places it on a tripod stand in a cubby with a light shining on it. The effect is startling to say the least. The shadows and play of light on the inside of the casting create a "hologram" of the face in 3D. If you look at this picture, you see that you are actually looking inside the casting, but....
After this, Ell quietly read a book out to Derek while Leah and I discussed what Ann was going to create from the casting.
We have decided on a monarch butterfly sculpture around the face, showing the emergence from the belly casting. I look forward to posting an image of the two together when they are finished.
On Monday, as we packed from the weekend, I finished up some painting on our on going project, our garden space. And took a few great pictures in the process. Here is a Tiny Tony, or perhaps a Silly Sinnus. That is, Cardinal Sinnus Vice, a friend and BOG Brother. Ann has made a casting of him and then a through a series of reduction casts, created small wall sculptures for sale. They are great.
And here is where it hangs, amongst the Green Men in my garden, you can spot it.
And I will leave you with a parting image of our laughing Green Man fountain, burbling away in his perpetual grin.
Kubiando!