Larry @ Artisan

2010-04-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Blog Take 3...
Still in the process of sorting out where this thing will be going. In the meantime, here's a couple of poems from a while back (NOT that long ago) and a photo I took at Bybee Pottery in (where else?) Bybee, Kentucky. It's the oldest continually operating pottery west of the Alleghenies.

The Potter's Hands

I was watching a potter at his wheel
and I wondered how the clay must feel
about it all.

Is the art in the reformation and reshaping
or the freeness of form
that exists within the clay?
Are the potter's hands deftly drawing out
the fullness of what the clay can be
or are his fingers setting limits
on what the clay will ever be?

The clay, I'm sure, isn't ambivalent
about all the prodding and poking
and spinning it is going through.
Perhaps, it's perfectly content to be
a piece of clay for eternity,
(nothing's more and everything's less).
And, also just perhaps, shaping things
to the way we'd like see them being
(kiln door just opened)
is one of mankind's
half-baked ideas after all.

a grown-up lullaby
and when you sleep,
dream of contented things
of happy times in sheltering arms
when the world is warm,
the music soothing
and everything you need is self-contained.

and when you dream,
understand the joy you give.
the ways you please
and the way you make
the world a happier place
by simply being part.

and before you sleep,
please think of me,
for just a moment or maybe two.
and should you wake,
before the morn
and need a hug or just an ear,
I'll be there,
if only as I dream.

2010-04-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome

to Blog

Edition #2

As I start this, the second edition of THE BLOG, (sounds like a 50s horror movie, doesn’t it?), I’m still not sure where this thing is going. Writing the first one did make it quite clear that I truly miss just writing for the adventure of writing. This is something that I’ve not done for several years. And, honestly, I am sneaking into it. What follows are some poems that I wrote a while back and have edited for this endeavor. Let me know what you think.

As I said, where this thing is going, I’m not sure. But, I can guarantee you there will be a mixture of business, opinions (I’ve been known to have one or two) and more “adventurous” writings!

Enjoy (I hope).

Larry

Elizabeth
You've met Elizabeth
The tall woman
who wears white cotton dresses
and lives on the road to Sweetwater.

She heals, you know.
Practices soulistic medicine
with a cup of tea
on her front porch swing
and spikes of columbines
that glow in the softened light
of early evening.

Elizabeth talks to strangers
as they walk up Sweetwater Road.
Always asks if they are doing well
and if they have time
for a cup of tea
or a columbine.

Love and sharing your life,
she explained as I filled
her ancient china cup,
is the secret of soulistic medicine.

Fortunately, for all of us
who travel the Sweetwater Road,
Elizabeth could never
keep a secret.

Percale Waltz
Would you like to dance with me
and do the percale waltz
until dawn when the morning sun
sends the band out for coffee and
cheese Danish so we can sleep until
noon when the band starts its second set
and the evening begs us stay?

Would you like to dance with me
and do the percale waltz,
making love in three-quarter time
as the rhythm of our hearts,
unabashed and unashamed, mark
the tempo of our joy as they beat
so close, almost touching,
in the gentle comfort of the dark?

Dance with me and we'll discover
how Fred and Ginger aren't the only ones
who know the magic of swaying, swooning
such sweet delight as we do
the percale waltz all through the night.

To Jenny…
I always said her last name wrong.
One too many syllables
and too many consonants in a row.
But she was tall
and lean
and I loved her.

She liked horses and slow dancing
and reading poetry to me
by the fireside light
throughout the Summer.
We kissed only to say goodbye
when the summer was over,
long after all the boats
were out of the water
and when gray clouds
hid behind scarlet and orange
maple leaves.

But we've always loved each other.

I ran into her at an airport
half a continent away
and I learned she still likes
horses and slow dancing
and reading poetry to me
by the bedside light.

IBM* Compatible
(*It's Basically Magic)
Software problems, my dear?
Golly sakes alive.
Could it be some memory
has taken away your drive?
Perhaps your RAM's not to speed
or his tired or floppy,
at 5.5, isn’t all you need.

Let me try to monitor,
in a strictly diagnostic way,
what your sweet computer
is trying hard to say.
Problem's not your software
or even in your mouse.
All programs have potential
if you're careful not to douse.

Let me read your software
for a night or even two.
I'll find every key stroke
your computer needs to do.
And should you need my hardware,
once I've pressed your keys,
if we become binary,
I'll do my best to please.

Knitting, Classes and Other Musings...

2010-04-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

Those of you, if any, who read this posting are about to encounter a rare treat that happens probably several thousand times a day ... a first blog posting!

Not really being sure about the politics, protocol and etiquette of such endeavors, I am going to start out with a little background about me, why I'm writing this blog and just let my fingers decide whatever direction this vehicle takes.

First About Me

My name is Larry Hart. Currently, I am General Manager of Artisán Knitworks ... a incredibly cool fiber shop located in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. We sell what I think is certainly the best selection of hand-painted yarns and artist-made buttons in the Midwest ... it is certainly in the top handful of shops like it in the country. My wife, Sandra Van Burkleo, is the creative force behind the store, although I have contributed much more than I could have ever imagined when we started it a little over three years ago. We also offer a few trillion (a modest exaggeration) vintage buttons along with contemporary and vintage costume jewelry. Speaking of jewelry, the hidden gem of Artisán Knitworks are handcrafted sweaters of our own design. They are gorgeous and made only by professional knitters and crocheters in the US and Canada. The other thing that, from the start, has set us apart is our emphasis on developing the fiber crafts. That's the reason we have guest teachers such as Sally Melville, Jean Frost, Laura Bryant and many other name guest teachers several times a year. (More about this later, I'm sure.)

Before starting this venture, I was a professional writer in one form or another. Started out as a reporter ... steady work, but lousy pay. Then I went over to the ad agency side ... great pay, but occasionally trying work. Along the way, I've added in photography (I'm actually better than most), customer service/customer satisfaction consultant, trainer/training developer and few other things along the way of making a living as a writer.

This Brings Me To...

... why I'm embarking on the world of being a blogger. The most basic of reasons is that I miss writing for little more than the sake of writing. I write ads, press release and such as part of Artisán Knitworks, but these are always business focused. While, I am certain, there will be business mentioned from time to time, if not frequently, in this blog, the main objective is to just write and see where things go.

I suppose that if this blog is to be freewheeling and only semi-directed, I shouldn't over analyze how I am going to approach it. So, here comes the first "meat" of the blog.

As I wrote a few lines back, one Artisán Knitworks main business objectives is to bring quality fiber education to this area. (Here's an example: our upcoming weekend with Laura Bryant:http://02d4439.netsolhost.com/links.html). As an admittedly "knit-one curse-two" knitter and someone who spent years loving to learn and to train, I am somewhat taken surprised by the reluctance of some Detroit-area fiber folk to embrace this sort of high-level learning experience with the same zeal as do people in other areas of the country ... including small towns and big cities.

Don't get me wrong, the classes are generally quiet successful, yet they don't seem to generate the level of enthusiasm that similar classes do in other parts of the country. I've put on my "marketing hat" and did some basic research. Content and hours are comparable and the "tuitions" are often less than other areas. (Based on conversations with some "name" fiber teachers, this isn't simply limited to one shop or a group of shops ... it seems to be endemic to the southeast Michigan area.)

Now, all this isn't really a complaint. More of a puzzlement. And puzzles like this puzzle me. What I'd like is to have the input of fellow fiber folk. Why doesn't the greater Detroit area respond with the same glee to such events as other areas of the country? And how can we glee people up?

After all: fiber is fun!

Larry