OK, geez. After an embarrassingly long time of trying to have a website of my own, not-doing-so-well, trying again, still not doing so well, trying yet again but this time a different approach, and still not doing so well... I think I have found It. The Way. The Way that I can A) maintain an online shop, B) keep new goods coming, and C) have a life, all at the same time, and without having to 1) learn HTML and keep up on all of its constant revisions and updates and new doohickeys, 2) rent and keep a domain name, 3) rent web-hosting, 4) rent and maintain a checkout/payment system, or 5) develop a brand and independent marketing strategy (!). The answer? Etsy.com. Although I guess I still have to do #5.
Many thanks to my friend Steph for pushing me in that direction for so long, and thanks also to my old buddy Tracy for the final push. Here I am: www.tedfleming.etsy.com ...check it out!
So let's get up to speed. I like to work in a variety of media- I'm an artist, after all, not some single-minded specialist. Some Muse or other will tug at my ear or knock on my head with an idea, and pretty soon something is taking shape, it just can't be helped. Just two weeks ago, an old (old!) 1x12 that had been half-buried in the yard when we bought this place, told me it was actually a shaker-style bench (no screws, nails, or glue) waiting to happen. It just needed a little help, it said, so I grabbed my saws and chisels, and now it's serving as a prop on stage for Skyview High School's production of Our Town. It'll be back on our front porch again after that. I must say, I'm a real novice at woodworking, but my first mortise-and-tenon joints work just fine. Aya.
Right now, I'm doing a lot of sketching and drawing- card designs, t-shirt designs, set design ideas (for Bye Bye, Birdie), and ruminating on a couple of design problems, one in terms of shoemaking, the other in terms of block printing: how can I evoke [this particular texture]. Among other things. I juggle design problems while I drive, ride my bike, hike, garden, clean, wait in line at the grocery store, ...whatever, and the pieces eventually fall into place. Oh sure, sometimes I have to apply a little force, or spend some time concentrating on a particular problem, but usually, I'm juggling. Not everything I try, works, but that's why I juggle.
Today is the 25th of October, St Crispin's Day (patron saint of shoemakers). Thanks for reading.
On this day in 1415, sorely outnumbered English troops defeated the French at Agincourt.
In 1825, Johann Strauss ("Blue Danube Waltz," etc) was born.
In 1838, Georges Bizet (Carmen, etc) was born.
In 1881, Pablo Picasso was born.
In 1917, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky seized power in Moscow, from the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky, who had assumed power in July, indirectly following the abdication of Nicholas II in March. Yes, it was a mess. Nicholas had turned power over to his brother Michael, but all hope was already lost for the Romanovs, even by the earlier 1905 uprising. Michael hoped to hold an election, with “universal suffrage,” in which of course he would be elected leader of Russia, of course, but the dice had been rolled long ago. Historians differ as to whether Michael was ever actually Tsar. If he was, it would have been for only a day.
In 1972, Eddie Merckx rides 30 miles in an hour on his bike.
In 2002, Senator Paul Wellstone (D) was killed in a light-aircraft accident under mysterious circumstances in the midst of a hotly contested election.
And of course, in 2005, then-Vice President Dick Cheney was revealed to have been the leak of Top Secret information regarding the identity of a deep-cover CIA operative.
