Jersey Wild III

 Hotrods!

After a fine day of ornament-making frivolity, it was time for other hijinks. After all, I had been in New Jersey for all of two days--there was still much to do, and see.

Luckily, on the same day that I had finished teaching a soft cloth ornament workshop, there was also a car show in town. So after my students had packed and carted off their newly birthed cloth ornaments, I went out into the fine sunlight, to see some old cars (and old cottages).

This car show is not a new thing, and it's annual arrival into town plays Pied Piper to a whole slew of different types of folks. They flock in droves: the young and curious, the young-at-heart car enthusiasts, rowdy bikers, families of all shades and striped.

The cars line the middle of town, proudly polished and showing off their fine pedigrees. I'll be honest: I didn't know what I was looking at, half the time, but I was impressed. All sorts of fine old historical automobiles shared space with muscle cars and bikes, slick hot rods, cute and curious chuggers, and strange contraptions on wheels.

Look at these wheels!

Shiny!

Yellow VW trveling van. My wandering heart was in love!

I walked the streets, sort of proud of this little place. I know it wasn't my town, but the bright charm and interesting events around here make for an interesting stay, even to a temporary foreigner, like me. I wandered 'round, like those slurping cold drinks and chomping on ice cream, gawking at the pretty cars, and perusing the magical little shops in town.

19th century building that now houses the antique store Finder Keepers

The lovely little cottage that is Endless Treaures

In the middle of town was this funny VW beetle. The idea was part of a fundraiser. You paid $5 and got to paint a little bit on it. The money funds the local theater...

Seems like a clever idea!

In the meantime, I had one more class to teach, a red hot scorcher to take place the next day. It was a wood burning class, of course. I had been a pyrographer (or wood burner) for a couple of years, and had created  and sold wood spoons, boxes, plates, and ornaments. To be able to teach this strange, pyromaniac habit to others was something new to me, but I had some excellent (and humorous!) students.

To be fair, this was really done through a favor of the cottage neighbor of my hostess. Holly's next door business neighbor (and friend) Mary and her husband Rich own the Pinelands Folk Music And Basketry Center. Inside are amazing mountain music instruments, baskets that Mary weaves herself, gourds, gems, crystals, and all manner of native or primitive objects. This place makes my heart sing.  Mary is a kind and creative soul--heck, most of the shop owners here are friendly and helpful. They pay for brunch, pay for my classes, talk to me in an encouraging manner.

I also meet her son, a fellow vagabond like myself. Stephen is as lean as a wire, and he travels 'round, making and teaching basket making to people in various places. It's noble, carrying on his parents' legacy, and it's a thing of wonder to know that I'm not alone in my strange wanderlust lifestyle. He tells me about his Memorial Day plans of going out with friends to train-hop from Philadelphia to Virginia. My eyes, widen, incredulous. "You mean like the hobos in other eras?"
"Yep," he says simply, guilelessly. I realize, then, that he probably has an honest love for this type of radical living and even I have to admit, I'm not sure I'd pull of that risky and illegal stunt. He may actually out-vagabond ME.

The class I am teaching consists of Mary, her friend Ronnie, and Rosemary, an enthusiastic local. Since it is rainy, we decide to hold it indoors in Mary's work studio, to avoid fumes in Holly's immaculately kept store. While the subject matter might seem unnerving, anyone can be a proper wood-and-fire-starter. It really is just about the right kind of wood, burning tool, and hand/wrist  technique.

My charges were enthusiastic enough. After basic instruction, it was time to get to practicing. Confession: the wood we were using was probably more rough hewn than useful for our class, but we all dove right in. 

Mry, rocking the wood burning...

Rosemary gives it her best shot.

Ronnie, wood burning  a tree design.

Some cool and lovely work came out of that session, and even though a fire tool seems like a daunting thing to use, it made me proud to see everyone giving it the old college try!

Ronnie's finished tree burning....

Soon enough, the class was finished. It would be time to go. I had spent an amazing four days at this place, locked away in it's own little magical world.

Holly was kind enough to send me away with a sweet care package--they included wood pieces, a mug, and other fine things from Jersey Made. The knife there, was a gift from my uber-vagabond friend Stephen. Apparently when not train-hopping, he give knives to girls as gifts, in this case, a handmade knife with a wooden hilt. I couldn't help but blush and laugh... and realize that my charmed life has weird edges. I can't help but smile--I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you, Jersey Made!

What a grand Jersey adventure...I strongly suggest you see these fine artists and vendors--support local businesses and fine creations when you can!

But my travels were nowhere near finished! I was about to see a fine author, farmer, and fellow Vagabond, in a mountain tale as fabled and fun as the beekeeping class I would be teaching there!
TOMORROW: Cold Antler Farm in Upstate New York!

Jersey Wild, Part II

It had been pouring rain, on the second day of my trip to New Jersey. Indeed, it had been a long, strange, almost dangerous trip until this point, though it had also shown glimmers of being stunningly beautiful as well.

The rain did not dampen my mood--there was much to do and see in this enchanted little town where I was staying, and its people were wonderful characters, as well. This place, as with most small towns, boasted a close knit group of people. Holly Doyle, my hostess, might as well have been the unofficial Mayor of the place: she either stopped, or was stopped by, everyone in the street. She knew everyone, it seemed, and always had a funny or kind thing to say about them.

Many of the class attendants were such friends, or had been a part of one of the other prolific classes that were offered up at Jersey Made, the wonderful store and art space that Holly owned. In that little shop, surrounded by whimsical, wonderful, and clever items handmade by Jersey residents, those little classes chugged along, with strange and fun touches for the next few days as part of my stay.

My first night was spent teaching "Outside Of The Box Living." It was a study on how to live outside the conventional norms. As dubious as that may sound, there are actually techniques to living the life you want, away from corporate jobs, nine-to-five schedules, big house payments, and general forms of this form of strange, "capitalist slavery."  I was heartened to see a young lady, not yet out of high school, another traveling type, and an older woman show interest in this class. Really, there are many ways to be clever and creative in one's way of life. I hoped they'd walked away with some form of cool new way of seeing life, and I was humbled they had managed to come out to see me on my first day of teaching classes...


The next day was a bit of celebration, as my class was to be held on the same day as that of a planned exhibition car show, set to headline the middle of the town. To prepare, Holly gathered up several fellow shop owners and had helium balloons posted at the front of each shop. The inside of her store suddenly became a large, festive, showroom....

Lovely balloons color up the ceiling...

A bevvy of attendants help with balloon decor...bck (l-r): Mary of Pinelands Folk Music and Basketry Center and Rachel, a local and one of my class attendees.
Front: Tess of Earth Angels shop, and Holly my host.

Once that was done, our official class was underway. I was there that day to teach a class on how to make a stuffed cloth ornament. The whole thing would involve sewing stuffing, and painting a specific cat ornament. Luckily, my students were creative, fun people willing to try something a little different. It was quite a fun day!

One of my class attendees, Rachel, started on her ornament...here she is cutting out the pattern from cloth...

Rachel, rocking the sewing skills....

Her stuffed cat doll ornament is ready to paint...

She and fellow ornament workshop-er Jennifer then proceeded to paint their ornament dolls, with some intruction....

While fun, the painting did take some time. At one point, I excused myelf to the bathroom, telling the students to "try to keep from getting paint on yourselves" before I got back. Which apparently, was the wrong thing to say. When I got back...well, you might notice some shenanigans...notice the cat whiskers on these two??

Lot of laughs, learning, and painting later, we have our finished ornaments!

I loved teaching this class! What fun and great people.

Our hostess, Holly (pictured in the middle of the above pic) was kind enough to field soap and art sales on my behalf while I taught. My "students" are a classically trained violinist and spinner (Rachel) and one of the shop artists (Jennifer) who also brought by the sweetest baby tutus she had made. It was wonderful knowing fellow artists were supporting my funny little classes.

And my Jersey stories STILL weren't over!
TOMORROW: Wild Cars and Woodwork...