rod
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Hello, Colleagues!
I have been in remote regions in Europe, and mostly off-line, so not posting on the forums, nor have I been reading them, yet you have been on my mind, as I wandered, photographing in good and bad weather in France, later heading north through Paris, and on to England and Scotland.
On my picasa site:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rodcameron2/
you may see slide show albums, one called "Scrolling through Europe, 2010" where I tried to choose photos that may inspire your engraving muse with design elements in stone and metal. For North Americans who have not traveled in Europe, you would be surprised how much public ornamentation surrounds you. There is inspiration everywhere, particularly when you look up. With only a 'point and shoot' camera, for convenience, and sometimes having to work fast with difficult light conditions, you will see that the photos are not always ideal, so I apologize for this, nonetheless, a poor exposure may still inspire some new idea for you?
Here is a short summary: best wishes! Rod
Just a short note to all, to let you know that I am now back at my Mendocino workshop. I have been in Europe since the beginning of June. My original plan was to first take some time to walk the remote paths and kayak the Dordogne River in France's "Perigord Region" to toughen up the body,
(http://www.francemonthly.com/n/0603/index.php)
and afterwards to take part in a music week in the medieval mountain town of Barga, in Tuscany.
A Scottish family wedding prevailed over the Barga Music Week, so I withdrew and apparently missed a wonderful event there:
http://www.barganews.com/2010/06/21/barga-school-of-scottish-music-song-and-dance/
After a non-stop year and a half of other work related commitments, I was looking forward to living rough in France, but did not quite realize how rough it would be. On the outward flight, the airline lost my rucksack. It got to Bordeaux the following day, but sat there for a week before they delivered it to me. By that time, I was in truly 'homeless' condition, with only one tee shirt, so given a wide berth by the public in general. Good weather in the first few days changed suddenly to the wildest and wettest storms I have ever seen in France. Storms continued for weeks, and I was in the eye of weather pattern. Some 30 people died in the floods, my favourite rivers burst their banks, and all walking took place in and out of very heavy storms. The pattern of this weather went over an extended region, all the way to Provence:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1287287/Flash-floods-France-claim-20-lives.html
Washed-out, rough trails sent me falling down a gully and getting banged up, but I got out of it on my own, and recovered. Between heavy thunderstorms, there were brief gaps in the clouds, and I mean brief, sometime five minutes. When they occurred, I shot off pictures as fast as I could, a bit of sun coming in through the thick clouds made for dramatic skies, and sometimes a rainbow or two. My daily clothing was a waterproof "Gortex" hooded jacket and pants. Temperatures were mild, so soaked bare feet in mountain sandals were not a problem.
I eventually bailed out, pardon the pun, from rain soaked Les Eyzies de Tayac, and took the train up to Paris, just as the weather improved. My colleague and good friend, Philippe Alain Dupré, and family hosted me for a few days. I got caught up in his music projects, and examined some very early original crumhorns he has acquired from Spain. They are in splendid playing condition, and date from the early 1500's.
It was then time to take the 'under-channel' EuroStar train to London, where I did some photography of engraved silver at the V and A Museum, afterwards a great overnight visit at Robert Bigio's house. He is working on a flute book which will be published by Tony Bingham, and I will give no information other than it will be splendid. Robert kindly arranged for Tony Bingham to join us for a grand meal in a Greek restaurant on the warmest day of the year in London, afterwards we visited with Rachel Brown and husband. She recently recorded the Telemann Fantasias on a flute I made her at my Scottish workshop.
It was then time to travel north to York, meet up with my family, and attend my nephew, Neville's wedding to his lovely Celia. Weather was very nice in the ancient wall city of York. The wedding took place in a small convent chapel, and later we all walked to the National Railway Museum ....
http://www.nrm.org.uk/
where the reception took place, surrounded by the Queen's carriages, and many a familiar steam locomotive.
With only a few days remaining, I was anxious to see two comrades from my early days on Greenland mountaineering expeditions. Many have now passed on, and over the years we have remained bonded as our numbers dwindle. I was the baby of the expedition in 1958 and again in 1960, so others are now in their 80's. We shared stories and sang songs, washed down with a dram or two.
With air tickets allowing significant baggage, I took the advantage of uplifting flute wood from my workshop at Hamish Moore's farm steading in the Scottish Highlands. With Kathleen assisting in every way possible, we eventually paid some addition charges, and arrived in San Francisco with about 350 pounds of wood, and no problems at Customs !
best wishes!
Rod
I have been in remote regions in Europe, and mostly off-line, so not posting on the forums, nor have I been reading them, yet you have been on my mind, as I wandered, photographing in good and bad weather in France, later heading north through Paris, and on to England and Scotland.
On my picasa site:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rodcameron2/
you may see slide show albums, one called "Scrolling through Europe, 2010" where I tried to choose photos that may inspire your engraving muse with design elements in stone and metal. For North Americans who have not traveled in Europe, you would be surprised how much public ornamentation surrounds you. There is inspiration everywhere, particularly when you look up. With only a 'point and shoot' camera, for convenience, and sometimes having to work fast with difficult light conditions, you will see that the photos are not always ideal, so I apologize for this, nonetheless, a poor exposure may still inspire some new idea for you?
Here is a short summary: best wishes! Rod
Just a short note to all, to let you know that I am now back at my Mendocino workshop. I have been in Europe since the beginning of June. My original plan was to first take some time to walk the remote paths and kayak the Dordogne River in France's "Perigord Region" to toughen up the body,
(http://www.francemonthly.com/n/0603/index.php)
and afterwards to take part in a music week in the medieval mountain town of Barga, in Tuscany.
A Scottish family wedding prevailed over the Barga Music Week, so I withdrew and apparently missed a wonderful event there:
http://www.barganews.com/2010/06/21/barga-school-of-scottish-music-song-and-dance/
After a non-stop year and a half of other work related commitments, I was looking forward to living rough in France, but did not quite realize how rough it would be. On the outward flight, the airline lost my rucksack. It got to Bordeaux the following day, but sat there for a week before they delivered it to me. By that time, I was in truly 'homeless' condition, with only one tee shirt, so given a wide berth by the public in general. Good weather in the first few days changed suddenly to the wildest and wettest storms I have ever seen in France. Storms continued for weeks, and I was in the eye of weather pattern. Some 30 people died in the floods, my favourite rivers burst their banks, and all walking took place in and out of very heavy storms. The pattern of this weather went over an extended region, all the way to Provence:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1287287/Flash-floods-France-claim-20-lives.html
Washed-out, rough trails sent me falling down a gully and getting banged up, but I got out of it on my own, and recovered. Between heavy thunderstorms, there were brief gaps in the clouds, and I mean brief, sometime five minutes. When they occurred, I shot off pictures as fast as I could, a bit of sun coming in through the thick clouds made for dramatic skies, and sometimes a rainbow or two. My daily clothing was a waterproof "Gortex" hooded jacket and pants. Temperatures were mild, so soaked bare feet in mountain sandals were not a problem.
I eventually bailed out, pardon the pun, from rain soaked Les Eyzies de Tayac, and took the train up to Paris, just as the weather improved. My colleague and good friend, Philippe Alain Dupré, and family hosted me for a few days. I got caught up in his music projects, and examined some very early original crumhorns he has acquired from Spain. They are in splendid playing condition, and date from the early 1500's.
It was then time to take the 'under-channel' EuroStar train to London, where I did some photography of engraved silver at the V and A Museum, afterwards a great overnight visit at Robert Bigio's house. He is working on a flute book which will be published by Tony Bingham, and I will give no information other than it will be splendid. Robert kindly arranged for Tony Bingham to join us for a grand meal in a Greek restaurant on the warmest day of the year in London, afterwards we visited with Rachel Brown and husband. She recently recorded the Telemann Fantasias on a flute I made her at my Scottish workshop.
It was then time to travel north to York, meet up with my family, and attend my nephew, Neville's wedding to his lovely Celia. Weather was very nice in the ancient wall city of York. The wedding took place in a small convent chapel, and later we all walked to the National Railway Museum ....
http://www.nrm.org.uk/
where the reception took place, surrounded by the Queen's carriages, and many a familiar steam locomotive.
With only a few days remaining, I was anxious to see two comrades from my early days on Greenland mountaineering expeditions. Many have now passed on, and over the years we have remained bonded as our numbers dwindle. I was the baby of the expedition in 1958 and again in 1960, so others are now in their 80's. We shared stories and sang songs, washed down with a dram or two.
With air tickets allowing significant baggage, I took the advantage of uplifting flute wood from my workshop at Hamish Moore's farm steading in the Scottish Highlands. With Kathleen assisting in every way possible, we eventually paid some addition charges, and arrived in San Francisco with about 350 pounds of wood, and no problems at Customs !
best wishes!
Rod
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