This and that

 My stay here in Ohio is coming to an end.  This time next week, I'll be back into mountain life at 8,000ft above sea level. 
  This winter is going to be a bit different than last winter.  This winter, I'm staying in a large Bed & Breakfast that is owned by a friend, Mingus (my dog) will have a fenced area.
   Another difference, I have a means to make money that doesn't mean getting a job.   With a combo of selling my photography, selling off some camping gear, selling my '66 Vespa, and selling a good amount of Beer Signs/Lights/Mirrors (given to me by Dad), I should be able to stay afloat. 
  There are a few leads on shops in Estes that might carry my cards.  I'm bring back with me a new card rack in case this happens.  Always good to have a fixture to lend a shop.
  And yet another difference is that this winter, I have a good friend to hang out with who's not only into photography, and watching movies, but, is a film maker, as well as having the same level of humor as myself.  Jerimiah, the cat in the Day of the Dead Images from November..  He's my bud.  We've got some ideas on photo shoots, plans for a long distance 50cc scooter ride (possibly to Vegas from Estes), and a wild dream about riding scooters across Vietnam like the guys on the UK Top Gear did. 
  Finally, the last difference is I have some new guy to meet when I get back.  I had all but blown off the guy a few months back, and strangely, thru The Residents facebook page, I accidentally contacted him again.  I say accidentally, because the person I contacted had a profile photo of something other than his/her actual self.  Found out a few days later that it was him.  Ah... the universe working in strange ways.
 

  I'm leaving early in the morning in a few days.  Staying in Lincoln.  To Estes the next day.  We'll see what happens along the way.



 

More Cemeteries of Ohio

  When I'm on a roll.. why stop?  I've expanded the cemetery shoots.  It's a tour now, and it's nice to be studying the differences between them.

  Couple days ago, it was the Massillon Cemetery in Massillon, Ohio.

The property is small in comparison to the McKinnley Cemetery, but, it's in wonderful condition.

Talked a bit to the grounds keeper's daughter who told us they lived on site for 5 years.  Not the home is beyond compare, which is a shame because it's a Gothic Dream.

Drove around the property some getting an idea of what I wanted to capture, and swung around to the front area again, but this time came from a different access,  and saw something I did not expect...

 

What I didn't expect was her.  She's hanging onto the cross, and the cross reads "To they Cross, Simply I Cling".  What got me about this memorial, is about 10 years ago, I was shooting in cemeteries down in New Orleans, and I spent a great deal of time photographing this gal:

Same monument.   Same saying.  Now, my New Olreans gal is close to lifesize.  I had to climb up onto the monument to get this angle, and the gal from Ohio I stood right next to at ground level.  

The elements may have worn down the Ohio gal some, or perhaps its older.. but she seems more worn down than my New Orleans gal.  And I had been thinking about the NO Gal a lot lately.  How did she look after the floods?  Been thinking I need to get back down there and do another cemetery tour..  and then I stumble upon the Ohio gal!   Exciting find for this Massillon, Ohio cemetery!

Yesterday the sun was out, so I had to go outside.  I almost went to the same place again to do a reshoot, until I decided to get online and do a "Gothic Cemetery" search of Ohio.  I knew there are some in Cleveland, but didn't want to drive that far.  What I came upon was the Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio.  About 20 min from the homestead, and off I went.

When I pulled into this property, it was obvious that this was a wealthy persons cemetery.  There were about a dozen serious Mausoleums right off the bat.  

I saw examples of decorations I had never seen before, as well as styles of mausoleums I have not seen before.  It was a very well kept cemetery.. even nicer than the Massillon Cememetery.. but this one was much bigger.  Probably half the size of the Canton Cemetery.

 

Some of the design work on the doors of the Mausoleums were much more ornate than any I have seen before.

 

I don't know who's going to answer the door once you use this knocker,  and I don't think I want to stick around to find out.

And with that my tour of Ohio Gothic Cemeteries is over for this winter.  Maybe next year I'll hit up the ones in Cleveland that everyone keeps telling me to go to.

If you know of a cemetery that has examples of Gothic monuments, contact me about the locations, and I'll hit them up while on the road.  

If you want to see more images from my cemetery tour, check out my Facebook Page, The Photo Vagabond.  I'll have everything up on TPV website in a week or so.  Just faster to put things up on Facebook.  :)

The Shows are over...

The Last Minute Market was a beautiful venue!  Apparently I was lucky to be on the 2nd floor, as it was pretty chilly down there on the 1st.  Toasty warm up stairs.


I had a wall I could nail into, and a panel of awesomely dirty glass windows that put good amount of light on my display. 

I did OK.  Made booth fee, and then some, and well, that's all you can ask for really.  From what I heard, it was busier last year, but this year it was split up between 2 floors.


It was fun seeing some of the same vendors over and over again.  Reminds me of when I did flea markets and Dead Shows.  Made some vendor friends, and a couple of them, I might just see up in Colorado this summer!

It's been a fun season of shows overall.  Will I be back next year?  Who knows..  maybe somewhere else.

Last Minute Market... the last show of the season.

At 6am this morning I was poised to unload my truck, and set up shop here at the Old Screw Factory, which now houses Cleveland Handmade, and is home to the Last Minute Market.

We had to be set up by 9am, as they have an early bird shopping thing.  For $5 you can come here early and get first pick of the stuff available.

Me, I'm just waiting for the crowd to show up for regular shopping.  This is the spendy show.  $95 for the day.  So far, I got a free poster, a glass of OJ, and a Muffin.  We'll see if I make booth fee.

It seems that people are starting to make their way up here.  3 floors of stuff to see in this giant warehouse.

SELL MORTIMER, SELL!!!

The other day...

While visiting the homeland, there are usually friends from my past who I want to see or hang with.


On this trip, I reconnected with one of my partners in crime.  Jeff and I used to romp around Ohio together, going on road trips, and getting into trouble.
Jeff met me at Fiddlestix, and I really had no idea where we would hang out.  Both of us are not ones to sit in a bar, and just talk.. so, I decided to drive us to one of our haunts, The Westlawn Cemetery, OR... the McKinley Monument.


In high school we would end up there after dark with other cohorts, and run around playing hide and seek, smoke weed, and do stuff we just shouldn't be doing.. like being in the cemetery after dark.  We'd climb monuments, and hang out.



Being back there with Jeff was interesting to say the least.

He had not been there in years, and was surprised by the amount of vandalism.

We never destroyed stuff while there as kids.

  At that time, all of already had a respect for art and the like, so it never dawned on us to knock heads off the statues..



Both of us cut your photography teeth in the cemetery.

Jeff also got his climbing bug there.  Over the years both of us have returned here to re-examine things, and that was what today was about.

The best part was hanging with an old friend who knows you very well.  It was as tho we had just seen each other last week, even tho it had been 6 years.

  

I'm showing.. I'm showing...

So I did that Beachland Ballroom Rock and Roll Fleamarket.  Wasn't the best show ever, as attendance was pretty low.  I was a bit disappointed that Cleveland would have such a poor turn out for music swap.  I was thinking "Austin" and figured the audio geeks would be out in full force.  Not so much.

Right this very moment, I am sitting at the Bazaar Bizarre Art/Craft show.  Day 2.  Day 1 was fantastic!  People were buying cards 4 and 5 at a time.


Today, the weather is being an Ohioan.  By that, I mean it's dark, gloomy, and a real pisser out there.  Attendance today is lower than a normal Sunday 2nd Day should be because of... snow.

This goes on until 6pm today, but the vendors are already doing their shopping and it's just after 4pm.  Time to BARTER!!!

I was glad to have this wall space, and it was cool to drive nails into it, so I went all out and used all the fixures.  Next year, I'll bring more spinning racks, and hang more matted enlargements on the wall.

People are already packing up...  pansies!!  It's JUST SNOWING OUT!   that's alright.. more money for me after these guys vanish.  Give till it hurts dammit!

Next week, the last show of the season.. The Last Minute Market in Lakewood.  Haven't done it yet, but I've been told it's a good one, and I should do well.

It's been a long time..

The roaming bug set in late August.  The photo bug goes right along with that.

Baldpate Inn

Pursued the interest of shooting inside the Baldpate Inn, in Estes Park.  The place is chock full of crazy antiques!

Jerimiah riding Eve.

I was already looking forward to hitting the road in Nov.  It was decided that a mini-road trip would be embarked on to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos.  My partner in crime, Jerimiah was into my idea of going to Longmont for the DDLM festivities, and we would dress the part.

Children of the Corn (me)

Till death...

When we arrived to the Festival, we discovered we were the only ones dressed to impress.  It was a good time regardless, and had a fun getting our photos taken with kids.  On the way back to Estes, I mentioned it would be cool to get some more miles out of our outfits, and suggested going to "Memories Old Time Portraits" and get our pictures taken.  And so we did.    A few weeks later, it was time to leave Colorado, and head for Ohio to spend the holidays with the family, and partake in a bunch of art shows.

First show was Bazaar Bizarre Cleveland EAST.  2 day show.  It was located in the American Craft Center on Larchmere in Estes Cleveland.  Other than the fact that we had NO HEAT, and wearing gloves, hat, and coat inside sucked, the show was alright overall.  Met some cool people.  A guy from American Greetings approached me, and told me about opportunities to sell stock photos to them, and I'm hoping to hear back from him.

Bazaar Bizzare EAST

Prosperity Holiday Art Show

The second show of the weekend was on 40th St E, and put on the gals of Prosperity Jewelry.  It's sort of a friends by invite thing, and is always a good time!  Definately my favorite show to do, as it's more relaxed and easy to run.  Everyone there is there to have a good time, drink free beer, and spend money on good art!  This weekend I continue the vending with: The Beachland Ballroom Rock and Roll Flea Market!  See my Facebook page for more info!




   Then earlier this week, I mentioned to my mother that someone at Prosperity recommended a Salvage Yard full of vintage automobiles and truck.  Mom offered to go along for the ride, and the sun was out... so off we went.  Sorry, can't let the location of this one go so easily.. as it's a gold mine for images!!

Finally, on the way to the Bone Yard, I had mom stop at a real Bone Yard and got some interesting shots around a particular Mausoleum.

 

To see more images, go to the website, and see NEW GALLARY!

More to come!