Kelley Caspari

Head over to Sarah Young’s fabulous food blog to read my guest post with recipe for Kelley’s Cucumber-Raisin Ice Cream Dream!

Yes, I had a dream about ice cream, several years ago. Cucumber-raisin ice cream. Martin Lersch over at Khymos, one of my favorite food related stops on the web due to its chemistry bent, decided to host another installment of TGRWT (They Go Really Well Together), a kind of come-all-who-may challenge to pair foods with shared flavones in a unique recipe. This challenge is all about raisins, and he offered up an entire chart of food pairing options, one of which happens to be cucumber! I knew I had to join in to try to recreate my years old dream.

I met Sarah through a mutual friend just about the time I was getting excited about how much ice cream I was going to have to make and eat to develop the recipe, and she immediately and generously offered up her blog as the venue for my results. Her blog focuses on healthy vegetarian eating, and if you explore a bit you’ll find a lot to like. Thank you Sarah!

So much has been happening that this blog slipped through the cracks. That Won’t Do! So, this is a quick update on how things are going and what’s interesting right now.

I last wrote just before displaying ‘Blind’ and ‘Lure’ for the first time at the World Science Fiction Convention in Reno. The sculptures were well received, especially by my fellow sculptors — a real compliment. The next convention I’ll be at is the World Fantasy Convention in San Diego at the end of this month. World Fantasy is a smaller convention – less than 1000 people – but I like its intimate atmosphere. The art show is juried, so I’m excited to be in it!

In August I took a 4-day intensive class in improv at Bay Area Theater Sports in San Francisco. Next time you are there, check them out, either to see a show or take a class – I promise you won’t be sorry!  improv.org

The picture above is one I took while sailing in Long Beach, CA with my good friends Erik and Kate. The wind was good and the rented boat in questionable condition. The sail ripped from one side to the other, but we still managed to put one edge in the water and whiz along smartly.

Getting ‘Blind’ and ‘Lure’ sculpted, funded, bronzed and displayed was my primary New Years Resolution, so the other important thing I did in September was take stock and think about next steps.  Now that it’s October, I’m focused on getting those Kickstarter incentives finished up. I’m a slow writer, so it’s going to take some time, but I’m looking forward to settling into a rhythm and putting word after word.

That’s what life’s all about, isn’t it?

The World Science Fiction Convention starts tomorrow and I’m hanging out with my Uncle Nick and Aunt Leona about an hour south of Reno getting prepared.

Last week was wonderfully hectic – I performed improv on stage for the first time! – and so I didn’t get a chance to write a post about the photo shoot on Wednesday. I was in San Francisco, and was very lucky because Annaliese Moyer, an excellent photographer, happened to be in town – a rarity! I took some video footage of her photographing ‘Blind’ and ‘Lure’ which I’ll post when I get a chance to edit it. In the meantime, above are the photos we took for the postcards.

More soon!

Above is a picture of Lady, Kendall Mingey’s right hand girl, next to the molds they made for ‘Lure’ and ‘Blind’. Lady is an indispensable assistant in the mold-making process (or so she assures me). The molds are designed to replicate my sculptures in wax as many times as I like.

Into these pink beauties wax was poured and out came some very nice wax versions of the sculptures. I’ve been driving out to Calcagno Foundry, located in the poorly — but perhaps appropriately — named town of Boring, OR, every week day since last Wednesday to work on them.

I’d forgotten how different working with micro-crystalline wax is from clay. I’m out of practice! Textures in particular, are difficult to replicate. I was thankful to have so much advice and expert help in that department.

At this point the wax versions are all cleaned up and fitted to the bases. Today the foundry began dipping them in a slurry that will become the first layer of the next mold.

It’s funny how home-y the foundry feels. What’s funny about it is that I don’t even like the sounds and smells; the obnoxious whine of the grinder, the thump of the compressor driving hissing and clacking air-powered tools, the caustic smells of naptha and molten micro-crystalline wax all drive me outside. Whenever possible I do my work sitting on a stool just outside of the open garage door in the fresh air where the noise is more diffuse. All the same, the atmosphere is comforting.

Nicki Calcagno tells me several other clients have said the same thing. She thinks it’s because it’s a family owned and run business, which certainly is a part of it, but I think maybe it’s something that people who frequent studios and workshops come to find reassuring — the particular smells and sounds of the tools used to make their work.

The work on Blind and Lure is moving along well. I met with the mold-maker, Kendall, and she pointed out a few areas that needed adjustment for technical reasons. I took care of those, and now the sculptures are in her hands. I felt a mix of panic and relief letting the clays go. No more changing them! They are in their final form, whether I like it or not (I mostly do).

Kendall’s job is to make a re-usable rubber mold of each sculpture. After that, the next step is to cast wax into the rubber molds, and when that happens, I’ll be back at the Calcagno Foundry to fit the wax versions to the stone bases I found at the stone yard.

I got to wander through the drizzle and mud at Smith Stone about a week ago and picked out 11 stones that look like they might make nice bases. Considering the rainy day, it was tons of fun, in part because the owner, Lou Smith likes artists and has a great smile. I’m excited about getting the waxes done, however, because my trunk is full of rocks, which doesn’t help the gas mileage!

I have no pictures of the process at the moment, but I will leave you with a picture of a print of a painting by a wonderful artist named Omar Rayyan. I’m planning on hanging it prominently in my new apartment – yes, I moved last week! If you’ve never heard of him, I encourage you to check out his website studiorayyan.com

Meet Rosco, the Calcagno Foundry shop dog. I met him yesterday when I took “Blind” and “Lure” to his bronze casting foundry. We won’t get started on the actual casting process until next week or so, but it feels good to have them that much closer to the next step.

In the category of news, Renovation, the World Science Fiction convention in Reno this August, have put up a page for me in the Artist Showcase! There are lots of other artists worth checking out there, too, especially if you are interested in fantasy.

With a unanimous vote from a jury of three, “Lure” became the official name for the  sculpture formerly referred to as “The Siren and the Sailor”. Congratulations to Keith Baker for coming up with it!

Thanks go to everyone who participated in the contest. I had so much fun reading the thoughts behind the names submitted, and it was lovely to hear from your creative side. The contest worked out so well, I will probably do this again. And I will, of course, post a picture of the sculpture Keith will receive, as soon as it is finished.