Backroads Journal

Kansas Spirit in Greensburg

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:37:00 GMT

It seems like every week brings more news about some small town somewhere being devastated by a tornado. The words flow about heartbreak, neighbors helping neighbors, strength, faith and vows to rebuild. We hear Mike Seidel or Jim Cantore, from The Weather Channel, reporting the stories behind the scene about personal tragedy and hope. Those same reports were flowing out of Greensburg, Kansas nearly five years ago.

Greensburg was almost totally wiped off the map by a massive EF5 tornado and yet, we immediately heard those promises to rebuild and come back as a stronger community. After the Weather Channel trucks pull out and move on to the next natural disaster, what really happens in those hard-hit communities? With rural communities across the country struggling just to survive, how do you rebuild an entire town?

Heading out to meet our daughter and her family in Breckenridge for a snowy get-away, we purposefully took the southern route from Wichita through Pratt and Greensburg to check on the progress of the grand rebuild. Now, whoever linked the name “Greensburg” and the idea to rebuild as a new, energy efficient “Green Community” had some genius cells floating around in their head. From day two, even before the rubble had been cleared from the streets, creative energy and reconstruction funds have been flowing in and out of Greensburg.

It’s worth the drive from anywhere you might be to experience the energy and creative forces at work in Greensburg. We drove up and down the streets, still mostly barren of trees, fascinated by the variety of home designs, beautiful public buildings and the beginnings of a beautiful, new commercial district. A clean, new Kiowa County Memorial Hospital sits proudly under two huge, white wind turbines on the west edge of town. The flattened high school has been replaced by rambling, new, state-of-the-art school complex. Down the street from the school sits the Kiowa County Commons with city offices, historical museum, library and media center. There will soon be a new theater complex on Main Street. Even the Big Well is getting a fabulous, new make-over. Everywhere you look there are wind turbines, solar panels and innovative design.

I would expect an affluent, urban center to take the high road of energy efficiency in rebuilding, but conservative, rural Kansas Greensburg? How do you convince a small community to set the bar so high? Not only are they rebuilding, they are building a statement of Kansas values. Our motto, “Ad astra per aspera”, means “To the stars through difficulties”. Greensburg is doing that, as well as defining community spirit, love of the land and striving to better their situation. Greensburg is on its way back from the devastation of five years ago. They are building a better, stronger and “greener” community.

If you haven’t been that way for a while, take the drive out US 400 and visit Greensburg again. We need to encourage and congratulate the pride and spirit of Kansas that is at work in Greensburg.

For more information, go to: http://greensburgks.org/

Wandering into 2012

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:33:00 GMT

One more year is past and we are well into 2012. Looking back on last year I am overwhelmed by the incredible experiences I was able to enjoy. I set out in January of 2011 with a goal of publishing a book that put into words and images my life-long love of wandering the Flint Hills. That goal was accomplished in late October and the last three months have been a whirlwind of book signings, marketing calls and filling orders. The sales have gone well and I have been surprised by the number of people who have told me how much they enjoyed reading my book. For me the book was a labor of love and a personal statement from the heart, but it seems that there are many others who have the same feelings as I do. The notes and comments I have received make the efforts so worthwhile. When I began the project, I envisioned a book that would appeal to those who know and love the Flint Hills. I have been surprised and pleased at the number of people who have expressed a new interest in discovering the Flint Hills for themselves on the backroads.

Now, here I am sitting at the computer screen wondering what 2012 has in store. Where will this printmaking journey I have been on for 5 years take me this year? What I truly enjoy about my chosen pastime is that I never know where it will lead me. It seems that each year there is a new challenge or a new process to work out. The past year brought some incredible new experiences as we ventured into relief prints, the realm of publishing and book signing events. The year before last I was experimenting in solarplate printmaking. Before that I was learning the art of copperplate etching and trying my luck at some major out-of-state art fairs. This past year we stayed close to home doing Kansas art fairs and showings, but through the pages of my book we have been able to reach an ever widening circle of friends.

So, what is beyond the next bend in the road? Do you ever really know where the road is heading? My intention and my goal is to follow up the Flint Hills book with a companion book and prints extolling the beauty and experiences to be found on the rest of the Kansas backroads. We will be heading out to the four corners of the state to find what makes natural Kansas unique. Along the way, we will be expanding the number of outlets for the Backroads Press products and trying some new, as well as some tried and true, art festivals. We are bringing out a line of notecards based on the art of the book pages and looking at some lower price-point Giclee prints. I hope to expand the number of events we attend, whether it be art fairs, book signings or travel talks, but I am always looking around the bend for those new opportunities.

I hope to do a better job of adding journal entries on the web site and writing about the interesting and scenic places we find on our wanderings. This is planned to be a year of Kansas discovery. Maybe we will see you out on the road somewhere.

May your all of your journeys this year be happy and enlightening.
Stephen Perry
Backroads Press

A Walk on the Prairie

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:38:00 GMT

Pulling my wide-brimmed straw hat down low on my forehead to keep it from taking a flyer down the hill and throwing my daypack of supplies over one shoulder, I began my walk up the backcountry trail in search of Palmer Creek. It's located at the extreme north end of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
You see, my mind’s radar is always searching for scenic areas to explore and when a friend mentioned the picturesque, secluded little stream that runs through native tallgrass prairie on its way to join up with Fox Creek in Chase County, I had to put it on my list of places to explore. Normally, my exploring is done behind the wheel of my 4-Runner, but today it would be on foot.

My early morning drive put me on the hiking trail just before eight o’clock with the low sun at my back and the 20 mph Kansas breeze in my face. Writing this now in August, it’s hard to believe that I was actually thinking that I should have packed a jacket along with my Cliff Bars and water bottles. I had the luck to choose the last of the cool summer days in June before the string of 30-plus triple digit highs.

Rising in elevation from the Spring Creek Ranch headquarters, the Backcountry Trail is one of those trails that tests your determination. The path reaches its highest elevation in the first two miles but it’s well worth the effort. Stopping for water on the high ridge of the rolling Flint Hills, out of view of building or road, with only the sound of the wind in the grass and the prairie birds as companions, I stood there mesmerized by the view that reached out to the full 360 degree horizon.

Up close, the variety and texture of the grasses mixed with scattered wildflowers of all colors created a patchwork of details that gradually blended into the soft green rolling hills that most travelers that drive the Flint Hills are familiar seeing. Therein lies the difference between grassland and prairie. Stopping to look closely at the prairie at your feet will reveal much more diversity in species than ever will be seen from a car window rolling down the highway. The true prairie is a diverse ecosystem that has evolved over millions of years. Just standing there I felt a connection with all the grazers, tribes and pioneers who crossed over and lived off the prairie. It’s pretty heady stuff!

At the three mile point, the trail reaches the Scenic Overlook at elevation 1495 ft., some 225 feet higher than the headquarters. With Palmer Creek on my mind and everything downhill from the overlook, I took another swig of water and headed on north.

One of the surprises you find as you hike the hills is that every pasture and every hillside has its own variety of plants. Minute changes of sunlight, moisture and soil make-up have caused different plants to thrive and dominate over their counterparts. It’s an ever-changing canvas as you make your way from one pasture and hilltop to the next! The changing cloud patterns moving over your head and the changes on the rolling ground plane keep you moving ahead to see what is over the next ridge.

At the five mile mark I can see the trees lining the banks of Palmer Creek. It’s a mile downhill to reach the creek and another mile back up to where the path turns back toward home, but having come this far I need to complete the trek. As I head down the winding path toward the line of trees, it’s like I have entered a valley that has been untouched by man. The fertile soil which has washed off the hillside into the valley has given nourishment to the tall grasses and new varieties of wildflowers. The whole feeling of the area is a contrast to the vast, rolling hills seen from the ridgeline.

Massive Bur Oaks, Hackberries and Cottonwood trees line the rocky, clear-running stream. As I stand there taking it all in, five of the largest wild turkeys I have ever seen strut cautiously from their hiding spot to the next clump of undergrowth. In the muddy creek edges, deer tracks mingle with the hoof prints of the managed cattle herd. One shy Ornate Box Turtle scrambles in his slow motion way to get out of sight. I want to explore and find more about this hide-away, but time and my waning energy level remind me of the six mile walk I still have ahead of me.
I click off a few panorama shots as I make my way up the hillside and I am back on the path toward home.

As each segment of the trail back along the lower edge of the preserve unfolds, there are new views and new points of interest to occupy my mind, including views of the little Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse, but it’s hard to clear the images of the secluded Palmer Creek Valley.

I don’t know if it was just the effort and time commitment to get there or the feelings that I was in a place that has been virtually untouched by the hand of man, but the Palmer Creek Valley in the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Take a walk on the prairie, look at the grasses and the flowers at you feet, watch the clouds move across the sky and see the hills roll toward the far horizon… Do this once and you will understand my love for this land.

Find out more about the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve at: http://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm

Stephen Jones' Dream on the Upper Fox Creek

Wed, 09 May 2012 17:07:00 GMT

"Louisa, my love, it's a land where the grass grows so tall that you have to stand in the saddle to see the horizon. It's a land of milk and honey, of clear water springs and opportunity. I've heard the rail line has just opened the land for development and we can build our dream from the land itself."
Can't you just hear Stephen Jones trying to convince his wife on the merits of moving from their lucrative cattle ranch in Colorado to the Fox Creek Valley north of Strong City? It was in the year 1878 and news of the raid by Dull Knife and his band of Cheyenne, south of Fort Dodge, Kansas, was making the news.

His dream of prosperity in the tallgrass did bring them to the little valley on the Upper Fox where he built his vision into the 7,000 acre Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. Sturdy limestone, from the land just south of his home site, was quarried, cut and fashioned into a mansion and stone barn of no equal on the plains. Records show that 30 miles of hand-laid, 5' high stone walls once enclosed the property. Throughout the years of prosperity, drought, depression and a long list of owners, the vision of Stephen F. Jones has remained tall on the bluff overlooking the Fox, part of the land it rises from, part of a fairy tale dream.

We knew it as the Z-Bar Ranch, and the vision eighty-five years after its construction was no less striking with its maroon mansard a counterpoint to the olive green of the hillsides. Maybe it was the glow of young love that glamorized the vision as we traveled the winding two-lane road on our way back and forth from college in the late 60's, but we always watched in anticipation for that first glimpse. The dream that was once Stephen Jones' fueled our own dreams of someday buying and restoring a limestone house in the Flint Hills. We still talk about it to this day, though our dream has now changed to the thought of finding a little, previously restored, stone weekend home that will shorten the drive home from the Wildcat football games and be a family gathering spot.

We need to give thanks to the efforts of Nancy Kassebaum-Baker, Bob Dole and countless Flint Hills advocates, from the grassroots Save the Tallgrass Prairie organization of the 70's, of which I was a part, on to the National Park Trust, National Park Service and the Nature Conservancy. Due to their work and passion, the vision of Stephen Jones and the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch will remain as the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and forever stand on the bluff overlooking the Upper Fox Creek Valley as it did 130 years ago. Walk the hillside, tour the majestic home and springhouse, marvel at the 1881 cattle operation that required such a mammoth stone barn, hike the tallgrass prairie and experience a little of the dream yourself.

You can find all the information you need for your visit at: http://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm.
We also need to commend and support the efforts of Governor Brownback in promoting tourism in the Flint Hills. The Hills are our own National Treasure.

Drive the backroads, listen to the sounds of the wind in the grass, watch a sunset over the lush green hillside, rumble over a few public road, open range cattle guards and love this tallgrass prairie of ours.

Wandering Down the Road of Life

Wed, 09 May 2012 17:08:00 GMT

I’ve heard it said that your first memories can shape the rest of your life. It seems that mine have done just that. The earliest memory that I can place is looking out the window of my parents’ old Plymouth at the tree-lined river we were following on our way to my Grandpa Perry’s house. Now, here I am, fifty-some years later, sitting on my front porch looking at the same Little Arkansas River, just eight blocks away from that quaint, old Craftsman bungalow that housed my Granddad and his collection of Prairie Printmaker prints. I am now a printmaker myself, illustrating and writing about driving those tree-lined country roads. My wife and I live in a 1918 home decorated in the Craftsman style with that cherished Prairie Printmaker collection on the walls.

It's like my whole life has been shaped by those early days. Each summer we would load up the family station wagon with camping gear, buy our new vacation hats and head out for Colorado or some other distant location to see how far my Dad could drive and how much we could see in two weeks. Every vacation had its theme. Sometimes the theme would be to identify rock varieties. Sometimes we would try to name the wildflowers growing along the edge of the fields by the roadside tables where we would stop for our pimento cheese-spread sandwiches or figure out how to tell a Spruce from a Fir tree. No matter what the theme was for the trip, we would stop to read each and every historical marker along the way. You see, my Dad, the newspaper journalist and editorial writer, thought that vacations should be educational as well as fun.

Growing up in the days before the Interstate Highways, we would drive the two-lane roads, cruising through town after town, stopping often and seeing the land as diverse and always changing. Each town and county had its own character. Sitting in the back seat of the car, with no electronic diversions, I would look out the window and watch the landscape change. Now, as an adult, I spend my time driving the backroads of the country, making a life out of illustrating and interpreting the subtle variations of the scenic countryside. I think my Dad would be proud!

So here I am, the grandson of an art lover and print collector, the son of a newspaper writer and a student of the esthetic landscape, trying to define my own life and produce something that says who I am.

I fell in love with the Flint Hills while making my many trips back and forth to Kansas State University in Manhattan from Wichita. During the last year of my Landscape Architecture studies, we were able to create our own senior project. Mine became a character study of the Flint Hills, culminating in a self-designed book of sketches and writings, entitled “Limestone, Oak and Bluestem”, which was published by the Kansas Department of Economic Development in 1972. Now, after 39 years of landscape architecture, art fairs, illustrating, writing and driving backroads, I have decided to return to my roots with a book about my favorite part of the country.

I am in production of a graphic essay that expresses the thoughts and emotions experienced on some of my many wanderings in the Kansas Flint Hills. It will be illustrated with hand-colored photo-polymer gravure and relief prints, as well as some fun, little pen and inks.

I will be previewing some of the storylines in this journal through the summer. I plan to have the book and limited editions of the original Broadsides, prepared as art for the book, available in my Backroads Gallery and in bookstores and gift shops by September. Stay tuned! I am hoping that this project will define Backroads Press and the grown up version of that little guy looking out the window at the old, scenic river.

Wander

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:13:00 GMT

The theme for 2011 is "Wander".
Unfortunately, that’s a word that is not used much these days. When it is, it generally takes on a negative connotation, most often associated with aimless or lost.
Wander happens to be one of my favorite words. To me it has a positive connotation of following your curiosity and having an open mind to truly seeing new surroundings and experiencing new adventures. It’s turning off of the most direct route and onto the winding backroads to see what you can find out there.

More and more we are forced by electronics and time constraints to stay on track. The auto GPS, and now even our phones, direct us to take the quickest route to our destination. They don’t allow for impromptu detours. If we go off route to see some interesting site, we are chided by the electronic voices and quickly given the directions to get back on track.

I travel with a GPS, but I set it to track where I go rather than to tell me where to go. I would much rather have computer records of my wanderings and photo locations than to have a computer chip direct my experiences. When a GPS system is developed to direct me to the best sunset view with exact time of the greatest color, then I will start following its directions.

It does make me sad that young people are growing up fixated on electronics. From the cradle on they are plugged into soothing sound devices, earphones, games, DVD movie screens and smart phones. Their necks are becoming bent over and their minds are becoming trash receptacles rather than creative engines. They spend the day watching their little screens instead of looking up and experiencing the world around them. It’s ruining their postures as well as their minds.

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, we sat in the back seat of the car and looked out of the windows at the world. If we were lucky, we had a transistor radio to cut the wind sound from the open windows. We got bored, but we saw a lot of new things. The two-lane highways took us through new towns and past unique roadside attractions. Our world expanded on every trip we took.

I do understand the attraction to the electronics. With the Interstates, a drive to Minneapolis looks almost exactly like a drive to Dallas. You see the same Golden Arches and truck stops. The highway shoulders are mowed to the same six inch height. There’s uniformity in signage and highway design. From the Interstates, each unique region of the country that make travel an educational experience has been homogenized and pasteurized until there is no reason to look out the windows. Why go anywhere if it all looks the same?

I encourage you to try something new. Carve out some time on each trip to follow an interesting looking road. For an hour or for a day, turn off all electronics. Turn off the radio, the GPS, the phones and the movies. If the weather is good, turn off the AC and open the windows or at least the moonroof. Drive slowly and look at the homes, the farms and landscape. Talk about the differences between where you are and home. Stop at scenic views and historic markers. Look at the wildflowers, the trees and the grasses. Have lunch at a unique local eatery. Put the fun and adventure back into auto travel. Do this once and you will begin to crave the experience and will want to find more and more time to include some wandering into all of your travels.

Take some time to experience a new region. Wander some backroads. See what there is to see around the bend of a country road. Let’s enjoy traveling again!

The Value of Ten Minutes

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:35:00 GMT

What is the value of a minute? Of five minutes? Can ten minutes make a difference in a day?
Flying along the Kansas Turnpike at the usual 5 mph over the speed limit rush, returning from a doctor’s appointment in Kansas City, we were commenting about the profusion of yellow flowers along the side of the road being bent and shaken by the early fall gusting winds. Were they Sunflowers? They looked like they might be, but they seemed smaller and without dark centers. They didn’t look like Brown-eyed Susans. And then, some looked like merely yellow background plantings to the tall Bluestem grasses growing unmown in the steep cuts along the highway.

As we approached the Bazaar Cattle Pens exit, on the spur of the moment I quickly checked the rear-view and did a right-turn onto the access road to the corrals used only by the local ranchers to load and off-load cattle.

There before us, on both sides of the crumbling and narrow road, was the golden bounty we had been seeing flash by our windows. Masses of yellow flowers filled the sides of the road.

“There’s what they are. They’re yellow centered sunflowers.”
“Maybe it’s Compassplant. I think Rosinweed also kind of looks like that.”
“Oh, there are some with brown centers.” “Those are Prairie Sunflowers and Maximilion Sunflowers. Look how they grow up and around the fence posts. We need to get a picture.”
“What are those yellow ones back there?” “I think that’s Goldenrod. How are your allergies?”

“Those down in the pasture look different.”
“That’s Broomweed. Look how the yellow fades into the light green and brown of the prairie at it runs to the horizon. Look at those clouds. They look like white cotton piles in the light blue, dusty sky.”
“Can we drive over to see the cattle pens?”
“Wow, look at that view across the hills!”

Those ten minutes were enough to build our entire day around. As we carefully pulled back onto the highway, it was like a heavy weight had been lifted from our shoulders. We saw the flowers along the roadside with new eyes. The scenery flashing by had taken on new life. The car had been transformed from a means to the destination to a panoramic view of the journey. The rest of the trip I found myself driving slower so we wouldn’t miss anything. We arrived a little later but refreshed and much richer for the stop along the way to look at the flowers.

What’s the value of ten minutes? For us it turned a stressful, hurried day into a memory of a glorious, golden afternoon in the early fall of the Flint Hills. How much is that worth?

Adventure on the Art Fair Circuit

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:36:00 GMT

We just returned from a month of grand adventure. Last year we made a commitment to jump into the art fair circuit and were able to participate in a few local shows. With the addition of hand-tinted color added to the prints in my portfolio over the winter, I was pleased to have been accepted into some large and well-established shows including the 44th Annual Edina, Minnesota Art Fair, the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina, Kansas and the Downtown Omaha Summer Arts Festival. We will also return to Minneapolis in August for the Uptown Art Fair, an event that ranks second in that state for attendance. It is eclipsed only by the Minnesota State Fair and ranks in the top 10 art fairs in the country!

It’s an interesting life. We have become a couple of middle-class, retirement age, conservative carnival roadies. No two shows are the same. One thing you have to learn early is to be flexible and accept things as they come your way. The Edina, Minnesota show introduced us to the large urban art fair. I was one of over 300 artists who set up business along the streets and in parking lots of the retail center of Edina. In reality it is part of Minneapolis, just divided by a line on a map. We struggled to find unloading and loading space along with the grocery store patrons, whose parking lot we had taken over for the show, dealt with heat on Friday, constant rain on Saturday and a fairly low level of support from the community as a whole. I have to say that it was not the kind of experience that would keep one coming back, even with the pleasant surprise of winning an award of merit.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have the Smoky Hill River Festival! Set in Salina, Kansas, the three day event was supported and enjoyed by most of the 46,000 residents of the town. Kids and adults alike enjoyed entertainment by roving performance artists, families camped out all day just to experience the entire event, many unique food vendors kept the crowds fed, community leaders promoted downtown and riverbank improvements to anyone who would listen and the multiple stages, including one dedicated to only children’s entertainment, provided a musical background. The public as a whole supported and appreciated the artists that had been invited into their community and treated us like royalty. We participated in their first Bicentennial Festival in 1976, when it was held downtown, and exhibited there for several years following. It was a great festival then and it has only improved since. We were able to overlook the oppressive heat because sales were good, we were surrounded by incredible art and the crowd was friendly.

We just returned from the Omaha Summer Arts Festival where we endured 105 degree heat indexes while sitting in our booth on the street in downtown Omaha. We are starting to see a trend. Big city and big crowds don’t necessarily equate to big sales. Small town and appreciative crowds mean more sales. We will see if that holds true. We hope not, because we head back to Minneapolis for the Uptown Art Fair next month. If their statistics are correct, we will have the equivalent of the entire city of Wichita, Kansas walk by our booth during the three day show! We have high hopes!

I am working on several new prints specifically for Minneapolis. One will be a larger piece that I hope will be my best etching yet and move into a higher price point. The others will be a new style that is designed to be a lower price-point print. Another lesson learned is that you can’t rely on just moderate priced artwork. In order to engage the shopper, you have to have at least something in each price level.

We will post an update on our Uptown Art Fair experience in August. Check back with us. I have added some new prints to the Backroads Gallery since my last newsletter and will be adding more this month. I am also working on some exciting new changes to the Backroads Journal portion of the web site. Soon you will be able to share your stories of wandering the backroads with all of our fans. Along with the Backroads Forum, I will be adding some exclusive Backroads Traveler products so you can show your interest in driving the backroads of America to others. There are exciting things coming!

Check out our Backroads Events page for more information about the upcoming shows. We hope to see you at one of them. Stop by and say hi.

Sunday at the Emma Chase

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:38:00 GMT

On a whim we found ourselves seated at the locally famous, old fashioned, down home friendly Emma Chase Café in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, sipping our iced tea from a large canning jar. We had ordered our Chicken Finger Dinners from the three blackboard menu selections, fried chicken, chicken fingers and chicken fried steak and had time to look around in the gift shop and study the great historical vignette paintings adorning the walls of the storefront café in the county seat of Chase County, deep in the Flint Hills. We were reflecting on the great day and weekend we were having.

Our daughter had come from Denver for a sorority reunion at K-State with our little grand-daughter in tow, the women had spent a girls’ weekend in Manhattan and I met them there after the Artist’s Walk event, where I exhibited in Emporia.

The smoky haze from the spring prairie burns lay heavy in the valleys, great white plumes of smoke from the active burns rose like billowing thunderheads over the hills, the color compliments of lavender Redbud trees and bright green spring foliage accented the hillsides and the contrast between the burnt and unburnt grassland added a new dimension to the views. As if we needed some added color accents, throw in the bright, colorful biking attire of a hundred road racers going the opposite way on the Flint Hills Scenic Byway and you have a pretty good picture of our day.

We talk about driving up for the Friday evening concerts held on the sidewalk in front of the Emma Chase and take the detour drive down Main Street every time through Cottonwood Falls, but had never stopped for a Emma Chase Café meal until today. Our tender, home-made Chicken Fingers with fresh green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuit and apple butter were surpassed only by the pie and the friendly service!

We heartily recommend the Emma Chase to experience the hometown feel of a truly trendy little restaurant. You can join in the world issue discussions with the Literary Society every morning at 9am, ride your Harley up for Biker Breakfasts every 3rd Sunday, fly up on the 4th Saturdays and receive plane-to-restaurant taxi service, bring your lawn chairs for the music sessions on Friday evenings or just stop in for some great country comfort cooking.

We both agree that we have a new, favorite stop on our old, favorite drive. We have driven that Flint Hills drive in every season of the year and never gotten tired of it. Now we have one more reason to head up that way!

Wander a few country roads, stop to study the grasses and wildflowers, feel the sun and wind on your face and enjoy the day!

You can see a complete listing of events and catch up on the doin’s in Cottonwood Falls at the Emma Chase Café web site, http://www.emmachasecafe.com/.
For a detailed look at the Flint Hills Scenic Byway, with Cottonwood Falls as its midpoint anchor, just go to http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2095/.

South with the Snowbirds

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:38:00 GMT

Yesterday I spotted several bunches of Crocus with their bright, sunny yellow and lavender blooms popping up in the neighbor’s yard. I guess spring is just around the corner! We’ve been without snow for quite a while, but it’s been cold and grey most of the time. I think you will agree with me that the weather this winter has been unusually intense, cold and grey, and we’re all ready for some warm spring days.

This winter we thought we would head out to Florida to escape the cold, but nobody really mentions that winter in Florida is still winter! Escaping from 30 degrees to 50 degrees is not the escape I had in mind when we planned our drive to sunny Manasota Key, Florida. Timing our escape between winter storms, we headed for the Gulf Coast through the Dallas area, missing out on a visit with Nancy’s brother’s family in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. The hills of Arkansas are not where I want to drive icy roads!

The massive devastation caused by Katrina is still very evident all along the coast from New Orleans to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Vacant lots and battered trees sit right next to brand new hotels and casinos. It’s obvious where the priorities are for rebuilding. A highlight of Gulfport, Mississippi was the hotel video that was shot by storm chasers who rode out the hurricane in our beachfront hotel. The real-time video showed the storm surge rise from the parking lot outside the hotel to within one foot of the first floor ceiling in a matter of 30 minutes. Cars were seen being washed into the lobby. You begin to get a feeling of the power of nature when you look outside and realize that the hotel is sitting 15 to 20 feet above the level of the beach to begin with. Evacuation routes are prominently posted for good reason!

Skirting Pensacola, we followed US 98 along the coast through Fort Walton Beach to Destin, Florida. Having read about Destin in several travel magazines, we wanted to check out this destination beach town. The white sand beaches and beautiful golf courses would certainly beckon except for the 20 mph damp wind and 50 degree weather. It seems even the Snowbirds, who travel to Florida to escape the cold, were holed up inside. Even the perfect little town of Seaside, one of several planned communities along scenic Highway 30A, just east of Destin, was like a ghost town with only construction workers milling around.

When we travel, I try to scan the maps for interesting looking towns to visit. Apalachicola and Cedar Key, Florida were both that kind of town. Being isolated out away from major travel routes, I thought they might have a character all their own. I was right about that. Apalachicola is a major shrimp fishing and oyster farming and harvesting center which has a water-based lifeblood. Refrigerated dock buildings and oyster boats line the waterfront and fresh oyster bars line the streets. I totally enjoyed an appetizer of $9 per dozen oysters before my dinner, which also included fried oysters, that night. The independent oystermen of Apalachicola provide 90% of Florida’s oyster harvest and 10% of the country’s. The steady cold rain that day was keeping the oystermen at home, so, without many photo opportunities, we headed on to our next destination at Cedar Key.

Cedar Key has embraced the concept of old Florida. They enjoy being compared to Key West in the 60’s. Cedar Key is a loose, easy going, eclectic town of small galleries, restaurants, gift shops, a local history museum and charter boat operations set on a group of small islands surrounded by nature preserves. You won’t find any high rise hotels there, but you will find some unique, quality accommodations. Harbor Master Suites, a weathered looking, funky group of buildings sitting on piles above the bay, turned out to be our favorite night of the trip. The Corrigan’s Reef Suite was large, comfortable and had great views of both the sunrise and sunset over the bay.

As a Jimmy Buffett fan, I was drawn to Cedar Key by the mention of it in the song, “Incommunicado”. We didn’t find Travis McGee, but we did check out the legendary Island Hotel where Jimmy has been known to visit and serenade residents in the Neptune Bar and from the balcony above the street. We had no surprise visit from Jimmy, but we did enjoy a memorable dinner in their quaint restaurant surrounded by local celebrities, guests and the ghosts of the Island Hotel legend. The historic hotel was built as a General Store in 1859, but as early as 1884 had a restaurant with lodging upstairs. Through the years legends of the resident ghosts have given the Hotel a colorful story and unique publicity. I was skeptical of the stories, but upon being asked, our waitress told us of her “sighting”. We were glad we had booked our suite out over the bay.

Our journey continued south along the coast past the high rise hotels of Clearwater and St. Petersburg beaches, Sarasota and past Venice to Manasota Key, where we met my sister and her husband for several days of laid-back beach walking, shelling, reading and watching sunsets. The long trip home was punctuated by a stop in Natchez, Mississippi and a drive past the great old antebellum homes. We had visited Natchez for the Spring Pilgrimage about 15 years ago. If you haven’t been a part of the Pilgrimage, you are missing a wonderful glimpse back into history when cotton was king. Natchez boasts more antebellum structures than any city its size in the United States.

We love to travel, see new places and experience other parts of the country, but we loved arriving back home just as much. We just wish spring had arrived while we were gone!

You may walk, drive or fly, but never lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to toast a sunset along the way.

Links to the Harbor Master Suites, the Island Hotel and the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage are included below.
http://www.cedarkeyharbourmaster.com/
http://www.islandhotel-cedarkey.com/ghoststories.html
http://www.natchezpilgrimage.com/spring.htm

On the Edge of the Flint Hills

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:39:00 GMT

Gazing out over the rolling hills that fall off into the West Branch of the Fall River Valley, I truly feel like I’m one of the luckiest guys around. I have designed the perfect job to take advantage of both of my loves. Wandering the backroads of Butler County, looking for an interesting and creative subject for the Coutts Memorial Art Museum 2010 Gift Print, not only am I able to spend a great day driving the countryside, but then I also get to return to my studio and create an etching that will go out to 125 appreciative art patrons. Talk about a win-win! Having an excuse to wander the great outdoors and then come back home and be creative! I love it!

The Coutts Memorial Art Museum in El Dorado asked me to be the Gift Print Artist for 2010. It’s interesting that the Gift Prints of the Prairie Printmakers from the 1930’s and 40’s are what directed me into printmaking in the first place. My Grandfather’s collection of the Prairie Printmakers’ Gift Prints, which grace the walls of my home now, have always been a fascination of mine. I remember seeing those prints in my Grandfather’s bungalow home in the 1200 block of Woodrow in Wichita. My sister and I would go over there on Saturday nights and watch Lawrence Welk and Gunsmoke with Grandpa while our parents would go out for dinner. I guess the art that Grandpa was so fond of kind of settled into my brain as an old and familiar image of home and family.

When the time came for me to decide the direction of my artistic career, there was no doubt that I would go down the road of traditional printmaking. Being selected as a Gift Print Artist has closed the loop and connected me spiritually with the Prairie Printmakers and my Grandpa Edwin.

So, here I stand, the December wind in my hair, looking over the most magnificent Flint Hills vista I have seen yet. The eastern slope of the Flint Hills in Butler County has to be one of the great, hidden gems of our great state! Chase County seems gets all the Flint Hills publicity, but drive a few of the wandering gravel roads that cut through the ranches east of Flint Hills Road that runs from Rosalia north to Cassoday and you will fall in love with this area as I have.

I began the day at Leon and wandered northeast, up the North Branch of the Little Walnut. At Rosalia, Flint Hills Road takes you north to NE 20th Road. If you follow that east you will run into Ivanpah Road and one of the greatest drives in the Flint Hills. This open range, gravel road takes you along the edge of the hills as they fall off into the plains to the east. Every turn in the road brings new vistas and great photo opps. Following this road that roughly parallels Ivanpah Creek will take you into Greenwood County and to Township Road 32, where you can head north through the 777 Ranch and Shadow Valley Ranch properties. Be sure to watch for the wild mustang herds that grace the land on these ranches.

About 8 miles north on TR 32 the road takes a turn to the northwest back into Butler County and winds along Battle Creek as it rises back up the slope of the hills. As you reach the crest of the hill, stop by the side of the road, walk out into the Bluestem pasture to the north and gaze back down the way you have come. Not only will you see a great vista of the Flint Hills, you will also see the view that inspired the Coutts Art Museum’s 2010 Gift Print. The vista looks southeast down Battle Creek with the hills of Greenwood County in the distance.

As you stand in the Bluestem, listen to the sounds around you, feel the wind in your face, let the sun warm your back and learn to appreciate the rolling hills, impressive cloud formations and magnificent vistas of our great Flint Hills.

If you can drag yourself away from the view, following Battle Creek Road west will put you onto NE 135th Road and back to Flint Hills Road, just south of Cassoday. At Cassoday you can pick up K-177 that will take you back to US 54 and El Dorado or north to Matfield Green and Council Grove.

A note to the Backroad Travelers: As with any wandering through the countryside, remember that you are passing by and through someone else’s property. Always treat the land and property with respect, take only photos and memories, obey the No Trespassing signs and be friendly to those you pass. It could be their property! Also, a good set of tires will keep you from having to ask for help.

For the best backroad wandering maps, including the roads mentioned above, I recommend the Kansas Gazetteer. Go to http://www.amazon.com/Kansas-Atlas-Gazetteer-Delorme/dp/0899333427.

My Journey into Creativity (Cont.)

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:40:00 GMT

With the weather settling in to the dreary, monotone of grey skies and most of the fall color gone, I have made a commitment to concentrate on new art processes and images for a while. My goal is to master the product called Solarplate Copper, a photo-sensitive polymer coated plate. Information about the product can be found in my last journal article. As with most new products, there is a learning curve as new concepts are explored and processes are worked out.

The first challenge has been assembling the materials and equipment needed for the process. Using information found on-line, I built a UV light box for exposing the plates using six blacklight units found at Wal-Mart, assembled an exposure bed with glass cover, found some magnetic vinyl for holding the plates down while washing and inking and purchased Solarplate Copper plates from Daniel Smith Art Supplies, as well as some new water-based ink for the printing process. That was the easy part.

Since a home-made light box is not factory tested for output, I needed to go through a series of test exposures to find the right length of time to expose the plate to my art transparencies. Now, I’m not sure how many artists are the type to patiently try test strip after test strip until a perfect sample is obtained, but I know that I don’t have that kind of patience.

By reading the web information, I narrowed the expected times down to about 60 seconds for an aquatint screen, to give a small dot pattern to tonal areas, and five minutes for the art transparency. I figure adjustments can be made on the exposure times as I go. Without getting too technical, a double exposure with the aquatint screen before the art allows the art to contain tones and large dark areas. Without the screen, tone and dark areas would have open bite which would hold ink only along the outlines of the area. The dots keep the ink from being wiped out of the wide, shallow tonal areas.

After a quick test exposure confirmed my timing was relatively accurate, I jumped right in to an experimental image. The first full-size trial was from a photo of our home on a Football Weekend. I modified the photo in Photoshop, converting it to black and white, posterizing and fading the edges with the dissolve brush. Using my inkjet printer, I printed the image on a transparency and exposed the solar plate to the aquatint screen and then to the transparency image. The plate was then developed by washing in a water stream and brushing with a soft bristle brush. The inked and printed image is shown here. In the detail photo you can see the soft, grainy effect that the aquatint screen gives to the image. I prefer more of a crisp, line-type image, but I’m sure there will be a need for the aquatint toning and softness of this process.

The next print is of a weathered looking Seed Cleaning building found in Leon, Kansas on my recent Butler County drive. A pen and ink illustration of the old structure was scanned and brought into Photoshop where some of the sky and ground texture was added and photograined to be a dot pattern. The image was again printed on a transparency and the solar plate exposed and developed. The resulting print was taken one step farther with the application of watercolor washes to add depth and interest. This is the process that most closely works with my style of etching images. I think I have found a winner of a product.

These are only two of the many options for image preparation using the Solarplate Copper. I will be experimenting with adding text to the backgrounds as well. I am impressed with the versatility of the product and will be using it for many of my new prints. In the next three to four months I need to produce a dozen or so new images to expand the interest base of my portfolio as we move to more of an upper Midwest art fair base. I love the images from the prairie, but it’s difficult to make a living as an artist on the Kansas art fair circuit. Watch for more farm country, nature and universal-type images to be added to my gallery in the coming year.

With Christmas approaching, I want to wish you all a merry Holiday Season and a creative and productive New Year!

My Journey into Creativity

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:41:00 GMT

The days have gotten shorter, the wind that now comes unhindered across the plains carries a crisp, dampness that chills the bones and our thoughts now lean toward those projects and gatherings that give us an excuse to stay inside for a while. We have tailgated and cheered, raked and bagged, driven the backroads and fulfilled our souls with another spectacular fall season of color. For myself, now it’s time to step back and evaluate the accomplishments of the year and make some decisions and course corrections where needed. After all, what is life but a journey that requires us to make decisions on the course we will take in order to arrive at our destination of choice.

My personal journey this year has taken me back down some of the roads that I once explored as a young man. Thirty years later, a little worse-for-wear, but hopefully, a little wiser, I am back into peddling artwork at art and craft shows around the state. With the state of the economy and the attitudes of those we see at the shows, the term for our efforts is more showing than peddling. But, even with the economy in shambles and dispositions to match, I have decided to chart a new route that will take me on a journey of new discovery and creativity. I am going to broaden my base of interest, take my printmaking to a higher level and explore the art fair possibilities in a wider region. The new year will be a year of exploration, creativity and energy!

In order to poke my creativity, I have looked into and decided to try a method of printmaking using the product called Solarplate Copper. Developed by Dan Weldon in the 1970’s, but just now becoming popular in the printmaking community, this product is extremely versatile, easy to use and non-toxic. It consists of a thin steel plate coated with a light-sensitive polymer. Artwork prepared on a transparency is placed over the plate and exposed to light. Where the UV light hits the plate, the polymer hardens. Unexposed polymer stays soft and water-soluble. A water rinse washes away the soft areas, leaving a printing plate that can be used for relief printing, etching-type line work printing or aquatint, depending on the art and preparation. What I was most interested in was the almost unlimited creativity and freedom in preparing the art transparency. It’s possible to combine drawing, photography and written words all into one process.

In the next few weeks, I plan to experiment with different methods of art preparation and punch the creative energy up a bit. I will take you along, the best I can, and share some of the joys and frustrations as I try some new printmaking techniques.

With Thanksgiving coming this week, I am reminded of all of the things that I am thankful for and am able to experience. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season with lots of family and friends around.

For more information about solar plate printmaking, check out: http://www.solarplate.com.
For information about the Solarplate Copper product available through Daniel Smith Art Supplies, go to: /http://www.danielsmith.com/content--id-43.

A Door County Anniversary

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:41:00 GMT

A defining moment, maybe? A memory to tuck into the back of your mind to brighten those common everyday times, probably! A perfect evening of a perfect day watching the sun disappear into the waters of Green Bay from Sunset Park with my favorite person by my side, definitely!
You might think I’m being overly sentimental, and just maybe I am. Nancy and I were enjoying our 40th Anniversary trip to Door County, Wisconsin, where we had planned a couple of days to just enjoy being together.

The day of our anniversary began with a creative, country inn breakfast at the White Lace Inn in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Now, before I go any farther, you have to understand the little joke we have shared over the years about this inn. Years ago, we sent some friends to stay at the White Lace Inn, which we had read about but had only driven by, with the description of it as the big white inn up on the hill. Our friends had a great time at the inn, but told us later that it wasn’t white at all, but pink and it really wasn’t up on a hill. Now that confounded us, but driving by the next time through Sturgeon Bay confirmed the fact that it was not the inn that we had both pictured in our minds. For years we wondered where the inn was that we both had imagined to be the White Lace. It wasn’t until probably ten years later, driving through Eureka Springs, Arkansas, that we happened to see a big, white house sitting up on a hill. We both looked at each other and said, “That's it!” For some reason we had remembered the big white house on the hill from an earlier trip to Eureka Springs and had mentally placed the tag of White Lace Inn on it. Different inn, different town, but we had finally solved the long running dilemma and on this trip to Door County we had decided to book a night at the White Lace to experience it for ourselves. It was everything we had expected!

After a tasty breakfast at the inn, we drove north up the Door County peninsula stopping at our favorite gallery, the Edgewood Orchard Gallery, just off Highway 42, south of Fish Creek at the Peninsula Players Road. Edgewood Orchard Gallery is just a great place to spend some time and a lot of money, if you are in the buying mood. We go to be uplifted and to enjoy the artwork and setting. Since our last visit, the owners have opened a sculpture path in the woods next to their gallery compound.

A few more stops along the way, including antique browsing and buying cherry preserves at an orchard store, put us into Fish Creek for a late lunch on the patio of the Gibraltar Grill, more shops and on to the White Gull Inn, our favorite, for a Champagne toast and Wisconsin cheese before the famous Fish Boil. We always schedule one night to include the fish boil, even though one of us, and that wouldn’t be me, doesn’t care for fish! Our family doesn’t quite understand, but it’s the boiled potatoes swimming in butter that accompany the fish and the Door County cherry pie ala mode that Nancy goes for. We actually were surprised this year when our waitress only charged us for a vegetarian meal for Nancy. We had never asked if that was an option!

Our anniversary came to a close with a sunset and twilight carriage ride in Ephraim that was included in the White Gull Inn’s Romance Package and a final stroll down to Sunset Park after dark for some star gazing.

Our second day on the peninsula was spent relaxing, making the rounds of several of our favorite shops and galleries, having lunch at Wilson’s, the ultimate ice cream parlor, strolling the docks, trying to photograph seabirds and watching the spectacle at Sunset Park before returning to the White Gull for their Candlelight Dinner.

This trip was special, as all of our trips to Door County are, but this one was filled with memories of 40 years ago, wondering how the time passed so quickly and celebrating all the blessings we have shared.

Leaving Door County, we picked up some deli sandwiches at the Fish Creek Market to enjoy at one of the roadside parks along the way and headed up the backroads to Bayfield, Wisconsin and the Apostle Islands for some wandering along the edge of Lake Superior with my sister and her husband. We’ll take you along as we bring you that article and others to come.

For more information about experiencing Door County, Wisconsin, go to www.doorcounty.com for a comprehensive guide to the peninsula.
Go to www.edgewoodorchard.com to see the art selection and learn about the Edgewood Orchard Gallery. Also, check out the Gibraltar Grill, www.gibraltargrill.com, and Wilson’s, www.wilsonsicecream.com.
As always, we recommend the White Gull Inn. Go to www.whitegullinn.com.
Enjoy a romantic stay at the White Lace Inn. Find it at www.whitelaceinn.com.

Driving Through Down Home Missouri

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:42:00 GMT

If you are looking for the heartland of America, you can find a representational sample of it in North Central Missouri. Rolling fields, small scattered farms, neat Amish communities and the feeling that life just moves a little slower are some of the qualities of this part of the country.
I had read an article about State Highway 6 across upper Missouri through Kirksville in a book a few years ago, but had never managed to follow that route until last week on our trip up through Missouri and Illinois to the Chicago area and eventually Wisconsin. We took leave of I-35 just north of Cameron, Missouri and picked up State Highway 6 in Altamont.

We were immediately struck by the beauty of the landscape and rolling farm fields. You forget how much more in touch with the land that you are while driving two-lane roads after a session of Interstate traveling. The feeling of being connected to the land as the road rolls up and over hills and winds through small valleys is refreshing. The scenery is more interesting, the signage more curious and the whole pace of travel more relaxed.

Part of the experience of backroad traveling is taking the side loops through the small towns and villages along the way. Gallatin has some interesting history, mostly revolving around the trial and eventual acquittal of Frank James, one of the brothers of Jessie James. It’s worth the side loop to see the Rotary Jail and County Courthouse where the trial took place.

As you travel east from Gallatin, you begin seeing evidence of the Amish in the simple and well-tended farms. As you approach Jamesport, you might be aware of the possibility of sharing the road with the familiar black buggies that frequent the roads around that community. Jamesport has embraced the Amish way of life. You will find it a friendly, rural community with craft stores, antique shops and equine related businesses. If you have time, a few of the country roads between Jamesport and Chillicothe will provide a wealth of the scenic country life.

Small towns like Trenton, Galt, Humphrey and Reger follow as you head east across the state. Each has its own interest and qualities, but as we approached Novinger the more wooded hillsides began having a different appearance. Now being from Kansas helps, but it was easy to recognize the signs of tornado damage. The trees around the little town of Novinger had definitely been shredded and tossed about. There was much evidence in and around that little town that Mother Nature had come calling.

Kirksville, our stop for the night, turned out to be gem of a town. From the campus of Northeast Missouri State University, the redeveloped downtown district and historic courthouse square to the friendly, helpful residents and an excellent restaurant, Kirksville is a great place to overnight. The information we read about the brewpub, Il Spazio, mentioned their ambitious menu, so we tried it for a late dinner. For a small town restaurant, we have to say that we were duly impressed by the menu selection and the creative cooking. The brewpub label is a little misleading since they have stopped brewing their own beer, but it’s still a great place to end a day of driving and enjoy a fine meal.

Missouri Highway 6 is one of those classic roads that causes you to begin noticing the countryside again, instead of staring monotonously at four lanes of concrete. You need to add a few hours more, but it totally beats driving Interstate 70 across Missouri and a few side loops through some of the small towns can entertain and break up the long drive. It’s refreshing to see the true heartland of America up close.

The Il Spazio web site was down when I checked, but try http://www.yelp.com/biz/il-spazio-kirksville for a map and review.
Reviews of the Holiday Inn Express we stayed at can be found at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g44550-d96412-Reviews-Holiday_Inn_Express_Kirksville-Kirksville_Missouri.html.