I had vowed that I would go to Tucson, but only when I had $$$$ in
my pocket, instead I had $. However, I went courtesy of Metalwerx
(thank you Karen) and Rio Grande (thank you Andrea, Jessica, Mark,
Valerie, and on, and on_). If you ever get the invitation to be the
guest of either, accept immediately, both organizations are truly
class acts.
To pay my way, I sat the Metalwerx booth and did a demo of my gold
repousse technique for Catalog In Motion. I was able to meet so many
lovely people both at the booth and at the demo. I got to further
many fronts of education, including Ganoksin. Thankfully, that kept
me from going out into the Great World Of Gems, and losing my shirt
(and trousers). The couple of half days out there at the gem shows
thoroughly bedazzled me. I hope to go back and back again.
A great thrill was seeing so many of the people I know, and know of,
wearing the silver orchids that I made for Ganoksin. Soon, they will
be available on line. We are working to bring them out on the orchid
web site and will give a great hurrah when they will be available.
They were debuted at the Metalwerx booth and at the Orchid Dinner.
What an affair! Sam, Pat, Kenneth, and many more people contributed
to a jolly and inspiring event. Hanuman spoke with eloquence. I was
gratified to see two pages of bids on a set of 5 of my silver
orchids on silent auction. Look for them again at MJSA in New York
(and come to the Orchid Dinner on Monday, March 1st). And, look for
them once again at SNAG, St Petersburg, FL.
The most fun, however, was going to the Grand Canyon with Karen
Christians, Ton, and Hanuman. We took a slow train up and back with
much hoky cowboy music, train robberies, and cowboy talk. Ton is a
dear, quite, and smart guy. More than once he saved us from getting
hopelessly lost. Haunuman has a very naughty sense of humor. He was
able to make Karen blush at least twice (quite a feat). A tireless
worker, Haunuman was late to bed and up early in the morning working
on his laptop. He and Ton are now my new and well loved friends.
Finally, a thanks to Michael Sturlin and his wife Paparat. Such an
elegant couple. We were treated to a very fine Thai supper cooked by
Paparat (who teaches cooking professionally) on our return from the
Grand Canyon. Ton and Hanuman were both unhappy with American
Tourist Food (Karen and I suffered as well). We all ate to busting
while Michael, Paparat, Ton and Hanuman chatted away in animated
Thai. A great end to a very fine adventure.
Sumner