Mayflies, Stoneflies and Dragonflies

Sophie's new drawings of aquatic insects.

Pale Morning Dun

Luna Moth

Trico

Green Darner

Perla Stonefly

Pale Evening Dun

There's a little river town nearby that's sort of got it figured out, I think. Once a year, this little town gets together to have a picnic, in honor of, and to celebrate, a tiny little brook trout creek.from the Mill Stream Associations http://millstreamassociation.com/?p=35 website:"Its primary goal is to be the guardian of the “Mill Stream,” protecting it and its brook trout against any potential hazard caused by water quality degradation, public use issues and/or development. They had the foresight to recognize what a unique resource the Mill Stream is and sought to spread the word through community outreach and education"I can't think of anything better to celebrate, can you?

And so, despite not being from there, Sophie and I were fortunate enough to be invited (again - I think this is the 3rd year I've done this...) to be part of the celebration by displaying our artwork.

Pour a SIP...On the way home, we agreed that ice cream was in order. I had worked at a little greasy spoon some 20 years ago in nearby Afton, and I remembered that there was an ice cream shoppe right next door. We headed on down.But alas, Lerk's is no more:

How many hours I had sweated over that tiny cast iron grill is anyone's guess. I had spent a steamy summer in college one year, churning out stacks of greasy, gooey cheeseburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches 5 nights a week every week, for what seemed a never ending line of over weight, wind-blown, sun-burned tourists coming off the river.

But now she's all locked up. I guess with all the memories of the place what they are, I should be happy, but I somewhere inside I guess I was hoping to see the place still in business.

2009 Creative Drive Wrap-Up

Trout Lily Studios was once again a stop on The Creative Drive, 2009 being our 5th year . Along with my woodcuts, my daughter had great fun exhibiting her colored pencil drawings of butterflies and moths.

Local photographer Don Blegen joined us this year. Don's outdoor photos (which have appeared in outdoor magazines like Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and Wiscosnin Natural Resources over the years) went very well with my prints.

The River Chocolate Company supplied gormet chocolates and, my friend Jeff Pierce from Great Ciao supplied artisan cheeses to gnosh on. I took the opprotunity to serve my home-made Plum wine and Black Currant Port, which apparently were well recieved(!)


I'm afraid I've callously led my daughter over the edge: she made a good chunk of change off her prints and cards, and can't wait to blow it with a trip to the art store. Beats working at Dairy Queen, IMHO...

Here's some photos my good friend Bob Weisner took:

the un-assuming "studio". A machine shed built about 1917 or so:



inside - ProPanels are the best.





The spread: 3 artisan cheeses (a locally made Emmenthalier, a wedge of Trumpeter Meadow, and my favorite, a chunk of raw milk Blue), fried Spanish Almonds, Spanish Fig and Apricot breads. And of course, wine (the commercial Smoking Loon Savignon Blanc didn't get opened...)



and at 5:00 Sunday, we turned out the lights, shut the door, and Eli and I went fishing