Playa Bike Bling

The first thing I got for my trip to Black Rock City (BRC) was a bicycle. It seems to be on the top of every Burner’s “Must Have” list. So, that was my first Burning Man supply item. And then, I learn I need to trick it out.

This is my first trip to Burning Man and this bike thing had me stumped. “Can’t I just write my name on it?” Apparently not. Even the Burning Man Survival Guide says, “… decorate your Bike and the more lights, the better.”

With no city lights in BRC, being seen after dark and seeing others is an issue. So I now have front lights that go bright to BRIGHT and a rear lights that flash white & red lights in 4 different combinations. I got LED spoke lights that turn the spinning wheels into light discs.

The lights take care of the night but not the daylight hours. I want to be able to spot my Huffy Beach Cruiser easily among the plethora of bikes on the Playa. I’m SURE I won’t have the ONLY green Huffy on the Playa.

I got my Craig’s List bike checked out for Playa-worthiness. The brakes work, the handle bar is now perpendicular to the wheel and frame. I replace the old sticky plastic seat. Who or what sat on that thing to get it that sticky? On second thought, I’d rather NOT know…. And I had a basket mounted up front.

I still have months to ponder a carrier over the back wheel & fender. Yeah! The bike has its original shiny chrome fenders! Cool! I have a bell and the lights I mentioned earlier. Still: not enough Playa Bling. I’m an artist. It should not be this difficult.

I took a virtual stroll through the 2010 Burning Man Year Book looking specifically at bicycles. They pretty much run the gamut from Ho-Hum Boring to Holy Crap Cool! Then it hit me: my art is recycled junk. I didn’t have to look any further than my studio, my own artwork!

I’d made a shower screen from tin can lids. I made a room divider from Tomato Juice cans. I use soda can tabs in my artwork. There must be a way to incorporate some of these materials.

I experimented with chainmail inserted in the frame opening. The attaching wire was more prominent than the chainmail itself. Reject.

I experimented with jump rings and soda can tabs attached to the handlebars and frame. It was not very visible and very boring. Reject.

And then I spotted the basket. There was the perfect place! I am proficient using an ice pick to poke holes in tin lids and make jump rings from scrap wire: the idea is to recycle. I embellished the lids with soda can tabs. I used a couple hundred tin can lids and even more tab tops. I attached tin can lids to the basket in a design pleasing only to me.

I took my newly decorated bike for a test spin. I thought I’d be jangling and clanging all over the place. I was surprised! It sounded more like falling rain. I was reminded of the Apache Burden Basket: they have leather fringes with a tin cone at the end of each fringe. They, too, sound like falling rain. I cannot sneak up on anyone day or night!

Now I’m rethinking that back carrier. Can I incorporate more tin can lids on the back of the bike? Hmmmm… You can never have enough bling!

While I’m obsessing about Burning Man, I‘m also offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWff. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

One Week Only: Black Rock City!

Black Rock City

For one week each year, Black Rock City is the third largest city in Nevada. The other 51 weeks, Black Rock City does not exist. Entry to the city is strictly controlled. If you do not have your “passport”, you cannot enter the city. I have my “passport”, (aka ticket). And I am excited to be going.

Black Rock City is the annual home of Burning Man and is considered one of the harshest environments in the US. Considering there are no utilities or other amenities, they may be right! Black Rock City (BRC) is about 4,000-feet in elevation, in the Nevada desert.

Phsssst. I live in the desert 52 weeks a year. I know desserts.

Palm Springs is at or below sea level, depending upon where one stands when measuring. It’s stinking hot here in August, day and night. It’s stinking hot in BRC, too. Only during the day: at night the temperatures can drop into the 40’s or even lower. THAT desert, I am not used to! Coping with a 60 to 80 degree temperature change is a challenge.

I’m a Burning Man Virgin: this will be my first Burn. If you are a Burner, please don’t laugh too loudly at my naiveté. Next year, I shall know better.

My friend, Joe, has gone home to Burning Man for years. He is my Mentor. “Wear fur,” he says. “FUR?” I ask incredulously. “I would worry about all the PETA people! And, I’m sure they are there!” “Faux fur…” “Oh……” Again, my naiveté For those cold nights on the Playa, one finds ways to express one’s self through creative dress. Faux Fur… Dress is art. Or, sometimes, it’s just a dress…

I shop on-line. If it’s not the local thrift store (read second-hand), I’m shopping on-line. Love Amazon.com! I found faux fur, burgundy & grey, 3-inch fur for $15.00 a yard AND that yard is 60 inches wide! I purchased 4 yards! That’s a lot of faux. Now I have to figure out what to make with all that fur. I’m thinking a cloak. I can use it as a blanket during the night, Sew……..

Four months ago, I was cleaning out my studio, getting rid of all those useless things I’ve been holding on to. I took my Singer Sewing Machine to the second-hand store since I’d not used it for over 20 years. Damn! WHAT was I thinking?!?!

While I’m obsessing about Burning Man, I‘m also offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWff. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

On the Road Again...

My husband, Doc, returned from a week in Puerto Vallarta yesterday. He had a wonderful time. I stayed home and I had a wonderful time. Doc spent his time on the beach, eating and bar hopping. I spent my time making art in my studio. I picked Doc up at LAX & we drove home to Palm Springs last night.

At the end of this week, we both fly off to Ft Lauderdale, FL. I was last there in 1958. Doc has never been. It will no doubt feel as if I’ve never been: I was eight years old then. Fifty-three years later, I’m sure my memories of Ft Lauderdale no longer reflect reality.

We are going to visit long time friends from Cleveland, OH. We met Gregg & Howard in Amsterdam twenty-one years ago. We’ve kept in touch through the years. Gregg & Howard travel to the west coast far more than we head east. It must be something about the snow. Yeah, I don’t do snow well.

Awhile back, Gregg & Howard bought a house in Ft Lauderdale with two other couples. I remember sitting on their patio as the six of them drew up legal a documents and hammered out their limited partnership agreement. This past December, Gregg reminded me that that was 12 years ago! 12 years ago!?!? Where does the time go?!?!?

Every year they invite us to spend time with them in Florida. There has always been a reason why not: all legitimate, although after the 6^th time, ANY reason sounds lame. I was either traveling for work or Doc couldn’t rearrange his schedule. It’s so embarrassing. We planned vacations 18 months ahead in those pre-retirement days.

I’m looking forward to this sojourn as a way of clearing my head. I’ve been working this past month on art projects for my synagogue. A week away will do me good. When I return, I can dive back into those synagogue projects with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

So, we’re flying to Ft Lauderdale to visit a week in their new/old vacation home and I’m looking forward to spending quality time with Gregg & Howard. I truly enjoy their company. I do hope it’s warm there. I am going with no pre-conceptions of Ft Lauderdale. Fifty-three years ago, I remember touring Thomas Edison’s laboratory.

Oh, wait! That’s in Ft Myers Sigh. Was it Ft Lauderdale I visited in 1958 or was it Ft Myers?

While I’m obsessing about a trip 53 years ago, I‘m offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWf. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Fired Up

This weekend has been busy, fun and productive. I took my husband to LAX and he flew off to Puerto Vallarta for an eight-day sojourn on a tropical beach. It’s his first vacation since 1982 without me. He’s only called once; I assume he’s having a good time

From LAX I drove into West Hollywood to friends Davi & Bracha. Since my move to Palm Springs, we don’t visit enough. Bracha, Davi & I are having a great visit, too!

Davi and I collaborated on a stained glass project for our synagogue. I saw Davi every week for 7 years as we built those windows. We are again collaborating on a project for our NEW synagogue building. I wrote briefly about it two weeks ago. We’re making doors for the new Ark, the Eternal Light for the new sanctuary and the Eternal Light for the smaller chapel.

We are also making markers for the Yarzeit Board (Memorial Board). Our new building will be the second Synagogue in California certified green. To reduce electrical use, we are making fused glass markers for the Yarzeit Board to be used instead of light bulbs. The glass for the markers come from the shards left over from the stained glass window.

Neither Davi nor I have ever taken a class in how to fuse glass. Ten years ago, we just bought a small fusing kiln and gave it a go. We received two pieces of advice when we purchased the kiln: 1. Use glass from the same manufacturer, and 2. Keep an eye on that kiln.

Sage advice. We have forgotten that advice on occasion to disastrous results. One time we set our work in the kiln, turned it on and got sidetracked. We were reminded of the kiln when we smelled the tabletop burning. The kiln was lost but the house was saved from certain disaster. We purchased another kiln AND a timer.

Another time we neglected to pay attention to the source of the glass we used. We fired the glass, let it cool and set it aside for another day. A week later, as we were having lunch in the studio, those pieces spontaneously exploded! We dove for cover thinking there was a drive-by shooting! Yeah, our studio was in that sort of neighborhood.

Today, we set up the kiln and turned it on, remembering to set the timer. Timer went off. We checked the kiln. Needed another minute or so. Then we got sidetracked and forgot about it. Fortunately, we remembered before we ruined the kiln. The 9 pieces in the kiln fused into one large blob but the kiln was saved.

Making these Yarzeit markers is addictive. The synagogue needs only 15 markers for any given week. We’re making 100 of these puppies. They are just too much fun to make! And we have been making art these past two days. I’m in heaven. Beats Puerto Vallarta.

I‘m offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWf. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Burning Man - Getting Ready

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about getting a ticket for Burning Man. I got the ticket at 8:45 PM after being booted out of the queue twice. I finally got back into line shortly after noon. There were more than 27, 000 persons in the queue ahead of me. Over eight hours later I had my ticket. The first hurdle was jumped.

My friend, Bill, a veteran Burner, gave me a copy of his Burning Man checklist. It has been a godsend! I studied that list crossing off items I don’t need, then I retyped and reformatted the list several times. I then panic and cross check it against Bills original list fearing I’d deleted something really important like that rubber mallet. Why the hell would I need a rubber mallet? Bill’s checklist comments are clearly inadequate on this detail.

I crossed off the extension cord for the RV. I am not getting a 30-foot RV for Burning Man. Perhaps next year but not this year. So I added a tent to my list with a checkmark in the “To Buy” column. I found a sale at Big 5 Sporting Goods. I picked up a 3-man tent for $40.00! It was more than 50% off and it’s a great tent! Score! I put a check mark in the “Have” column and dutifully record the cost in the “Cost” column.

A couple of days later, I’m telling my friend, Ron, about my incredible tent deal. “You got only one tent?” Ron asks. “One? I need more than one tent?” naively says the Burning Man Virgin. Seems you need a sealed tent INSIDE the main tent to sleep in. It’s about the only way to ensure dust free sleeping. That RV is looking good.

On Craig’s List, I had found a Huffy Beach Cruiser and it was my first acquisition: a single speed bicycle. It’s a woman’s bicycle but no one would hold that against a 62-year-old man, would they? After all, it is painted a manly forest green. With whitewall balloon tires. Another Burner veteran asked how I was planning to personalize it. What? I can’t just write my name on it??? With over 40,000 old bikes on the Playa, you need to be able to find yours without reading every one of them. Who knew? Something else to think about!

I’m actually having fun pulling together everything I need for my week in Black Rock City. Oh, and I need to figure out how to take a shower & get rid of the water after. You can’t just dump it on the ground. Damn! That RV is looking better and better!

While I’m obsessing about Burning Man, I‘m also offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWff. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Traveling Windows

Prototype for an Eternal Light

(A work in progress)

Six posts ago; I talked about my artistic endeavors with my synagogue. Four of us collaborated to build 12 stained glass windows for our humble temple. Those once ugly windows are now the focal point of our sanctuary.

Each of us developed a thumbnail design for the windows. We then worked together to draw a 1/3^rd scale cartoon of each to further develop the designs. When we sat down to critique the four designs, Davi’s design was clearly “it”. Davi’s design was perfect. It still is.

Davi Cheng, a member of the congregation, is the artist who designed our windows. At the time, Davi knew absolutely nothing about stained glass. I was the only one who had worked in stained glass and had to figure out how to translate her design into glass

We worked on the windows for the next seven years. I taught. Davi, Haim & Victoria learned hands on. These windows were a labor of love for us. We worked together nearly every weekend over the years. We laughed and we argued. We became fast friends. Seven years later, with our scars as proof, we were seasoned stained glass artists and our spiritual home had a stunning set of windows.

Shortly after completion of the 12 windows, our congregation began a search for a new building. We found and purchased a building two blocks west of our current building. Construction is nearing completion and we move to our new home in six weeks.

The 12 windows are moving to the new building too. Davi and I worked with the architects (Lewis/Schoeplein, Architects) to incorporate the windows into the new sanctuary. Marc and Toni have worked miracles with their design.

And now Davi and I are once again collaborating on creating art for our synagogue. We are building the doors for our new Ark. We are also building the Eternal Light to hang over the Ark. It’s another labor of love and I welcome the opportunity to hang with Davi in her studio.

We worked together last week developing our designs for the Eternal Light. We laughed and we argued. It was great! It feels good to be cutting glass again. Now, where did I put those Band-Aids???

I‘m offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWf. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

An Itch to Go

My husband retired 45 days ago. God help me!

Actually, Doc’s doing much better in retirement then I feared. He’s kept himself busy and is much less stressed than he was pre-retirement. He’s joined a gym/spa and has been going three days a week for water aerobics. After working out, he “takes the waters.” I had no idea what that meant. I assumed it had something to do with a high colonic. Apparently, not.

Pre-retirement, Doc kept talking about travel. He has visions of spending three months in Italy in a Tuscan villa, or renting a beach house in Ventura for the summer. He’s talked about a six month around the world tour. That’s this year. I have no idea what he wants to do next year.

Last time he talked about getting out of Palm Springs for the summer, I told him that was fine with me. “Really?” he asked. “You’d go away for a couple of months in the summer with me?” “Who said anything about ME going!” said I, “I love the summers in Palm Springs but I’ll come visit a couple of times where ever you go for the summer.” That won’t happen…. Doc won’t travel alone.

We’ve already scheduled trips for this year. We’re spending a week in Ft Lauderdale in March, two weeks in Northern California in April, then a month in Europe for July. I’m going to Black Rock City for 10 days in August/September and then we fly off to Cape Cod for a week in Mid September. That’s nine weeks of vacation already planned for 2011; tickets purchased, accommodations booked.

I put my foot down; said I’m not going on any more trips in 2011, I want to spend some time at home in the heat. If we’re going to travel, make it in the winter. And tropical: Tahiti, Australia, Costa Rica. You know, someplace WARM! I can even take the rain if it’s stinking hot outside. It’s nice sitting on the lanai in a sarong or a Mai Tai, watching the rain come down.

For the past several days, Doc has been on his computer & on the phone. Nothing unusual there. He’s a phonaholic, he’s always on the phone: but the phone AND the computer? Not so much. I knew he was up to something with those travel sites and airline schedules flashing across the screen.

If Doc hadn’t gone to Med School, he would have been a travel agent. Thankfully, he chose well. Perhaps he was tweaking one of our 373 flights booked for 2011? Or assisting another friend with travel plans? I know better than to ask. Besides, I’m maxed out with travel in 2011.

Doc came in into my studio excited & anxious to talk. He found a great deal on a week’s trip to Puerto Vallarta in early March he’s interested in. WHAT??? Then he asked did I mind if he & a buddy went without me? I think Doc is finally beginning to figure out he can vacation without me and, perhaps, still have a good time? Retirement IS good, no?

GO! Have a great time! I’ll be perfectly happy working in my studio.

I ‘m offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWf. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson