Pics of Trafford's Restaurant on Warren's Waterfront

Here are some views of the new restaurant I designed in Warren RI. The art on the walls is by both Paul and I.  There's a complete set to cruise on my flickr page here. And I've pasted a few highlights below. Try and get over there this summer if you can. Reserve a table upstairs for the best view and make sure you try Trafford's oysters or his lobster bolo sandwich.

Tuesday's Color Swatch

Puce
you are the cracked-face doll of the rainbow.
the dissonant hum your kimono wraps us in
has established you dear P, as an outlier


never the guest at the birthday parties, mexican fiestas or boat launches,
your porch view through dirty rose colored glasses,
attracts the other orphaned hues.


baby poo yellow, dirty tangerine, bondi blue and swamp green.
they are the awkward lambs of junior high school.
their beauty is whispered about in the corners of vintage dance halls. 


they will get their turn, content to tap their toes 
to the subtle beat that emanates from your
tea length gown


-Alyn Carlson


painting by Florine Stettheimer

Looking for Submissions

I recently came across a wonderful project called Dear Photograph. Take a picture from the past in the present. I'm getting together with my coast of Maine cousins this weekend in Nobleboro and may try to create one. I know just the pic if I can find it.

Pssssst... Trafford's is having a soft opening tonight

Yes, the much awaited (quiet) opening of Traffords happens tonight. Paul and I have been there the last few nights installing over thirty pieces of art and sampling some of the amazing food Trafford has dreamed up for the menu. It really is a spectacular place with three views of the water (upstairs and down), two bars, one on the waterside deck, lots of friendly zippy staff and of course the genius of the Kane family. Bill, Maggie, Trafford, Heather will take the lead with lots of help from part owner, Russ Gaudet and bar manager, Jeanne-Marie Manning. I'm always amazed at how talented the whole family is and all members pitch in. As his dad stained a bench, his uncle installed a bar tv, four year old William handed me a level just when I needed it last night. I promise lots of picks from Paul but if you want the real thing with a great sunset and an incredible bite or two, head over to 285 Water Street in Warren tonight.

Google Doodle Pride

You may have already had fun with this on Thursday and Friday but I'm a pretty proud mother in-law and need to post anyway. My daughter, Brin's husband, Alex Chen is the very bright man behind the interactive Les Paul Google Doodle everyone's been having fun with. If you haven't tried your rendition of Stairway to Heaven or Zippity Doo Dah you can go to the permanent spot it has here. Strum away, record it, share it with the world.

A great example of Alex and Brin's musical collaboration can be found on his Boy in Static album, Candy Cigarette. Young San Francisco is a song you'll find yourself humming after one listen. The little stars? Alex's niece Maya and my grandson Levi. I think it's only a matter of time before we're all singing Alex's songs as well as playing them.

Big Disappointment at MOMA

From  I Went To MOMA and...

Why the Muse Sometimes Hides

For Mother's Day Cam, Hill and Levi are stopping by for lunch in the backyard with the chickens and I. Maybe a walk at Destruction Brook Woods, too. Brin and Alex sent me love from Brooklyn with a Tove Jansson book, The True Deceiver. Scandinavia's most beloved childrens book author and illustrator, Tove has actually written more books for adults than children. The wisdom and magic of the Moomintrolls comes through just as elegantly in her novels and short stories for grown ups. Her writings give some of the best insights into nature, art, the artist's place in the world and where creativity comes from. A potent exerpt from "The Spring Tune" part of the Moomin series-
"It's the right evening for a tune, Snufkin thought. A new tune, one part expectation, two parts sadness, and the rest, just the delight of walking alone and liking it. As he settles in to compose, he is disturbed by a small creature, a "creep", which rustles out of the undergrowth, declares its admiration for the famous Snufkin, asks him a lot of questions and demands attention and comfort. Meanwhile, the tune, which until then was forming itself out of the noises of the forest and brook and the slow revelations of the season, disappears. Snufkin has to wait for it to come back".

My Cool Parents

I couldn't say this as a teenager, but I can now, my parents are pretty cool. Not giving away too much info, they're in their mid to late 70's and have a wonderful adventurous spirit. A good example of this is their latest investment in one of these cute little tear drop campers.  Always camping enthusiasts, they bought a "little guy" built by the Amish.  It may be hard for them to top the back to nature trips they took my 3 sisters and I on in the woods of Maine in the late 60's with that green leaky canvas tent. The uncool, teen angst filled trips make us middle aged sisters smile now. Here are some other examples of the tear drop found on VW Camper Van blog. 

Poem for Monday

I spent my Easter alone. A day without planned menus, no cooking, cleaning, family visits, and no devices. I spent a good part of it in the backyard with my chickens listening to their distant cousins in the trees. It was a present easier for Paul and our families to give me than one for me to accept for myself. Why do I struggle so much with the idea that being a alone is selfish?  I'm always looking for advice to live life as an artist. Here is a beauty that worked wonders for me this weekend.


How to be a Poet
(to remind myself)
-Wendell Berry
1.
Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill—more of each
than you have—inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.
2.
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
3.
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.

What I look forward to every year. Photos by Paul Clancy

A new app+my face=silly