Wednesday, October 1, 2014

September Flying Carpet 2014

Goodbye Fanta Se Summer

Goodbye Fiesta
and it's fairy tale queen


and its occasionally Skanky Lowriders


and Lisa Law's  
"Make Love Not War" truck Silver


and the Pet Parade's
Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy


Goodbye Farmer's Market
Tomato Extravaganza


and the aphrodisiac smell 
of roasting green chili


Goodbye exquisite garden mornings



 and Hello Autumn!!!!


Sunday, August 31, 2014

August Flying Carpet 2014

In full regalia at Indian Market,
The Flying Carpet 
fell in love with the Best of Show Navajo Rug by Lola Cody,
(a tall 13 foot gorgeously woven stunner)


reveled in the delight of old friendships
with Richard Zane Smith and his wife Carol


ogled the Bedecked Shoppers in their Marathon Exploits
 (wished it could purchase Marcus Amerman's beaded postcard!)


envied The Coolness Factor
of The Dudes and The Clowns

 
 tried to fathom the depths
of layers of meaning


admired the Dentalium Shell Beauties


and wondered about the stories
the Old Timers could tell


Alas, the Navajo Rug has gone home with another...
The jingle beads and rattles are silenced...
the pickups have roared off into the sunset...
and The Flying Carpet is left with only Technicolor memories

Thursday, July 31, 2014

July Flying Carpet 2014

When the Flying Carpet was but a few short threads, 
the dream of being an artist loomed large in the imagination.

How many of you Carpeteers out there 
tried to emulate those “Can You Draw This?”profiles 
or loved a new box of 48 Crayolas so much 
you almost couldn’t bear to use them?

Now that I am a fully woven 
(although at present somewhat threadbare) 
carpet with years of experience, 

I submit to you my recent masterpieces for your consideration:
Paint By Numbers Santa Fe Folk Art Market Smiles 2014 # 1-7
I hope they paint a smile on your face.








In memory of John Gnagy
"You Are An Artist"

Monday, June 30, 2014

June Flying Carpet 2014

In June the Flying Carpet
was still picturing the wonders of Mexico City and Oaxaca.

Footless and fancy-free
how the Flying Carpet wished
it could:

wind up the spiral staircase 
of the Carrillo Gill home
 in the process of disintegration



slide down the curving bannister 
of Freda's home and Diego's home
separated by the famous bridge



pour like molten lava
down this extravagant staircase
in Mexico City


ascend like an angel
at the
Casa de Los Azulejos


 "Shop till you drop"
at the top of this heavenly staircase 
in Oaxaca


immerse in a sea of color
at the
Centro de las Artes de San Agustin



The genius of design in Mexico...
transcendent...

Saturday, May 31, 2014

May Flying Carpet 2014

By the end of May, the competition was fierce 
for The Flying Carpet’s Semi-Annual 
Most Unforgettable Passenger award.
The Mad Hatter hopped aboard on Easter Sunday at Penland 
and we headed for 
Wonderland.
 
 
Leonardo da Vinci made a cameo appearance 
in Chicago in April 
long enough to paint The Last Supper 
despite heavy turbulence 
(and you know what a perfectionist he can be) 
(Thanks to Eugenie for this photo)

 
The competition picked up 
when we picked up Javier Cortés 
at the corner of Filomeno Mata & Madero 
in Mexico City in May. 
He deftly loaded his assemblage shoe shine stand 
and polished everyone’s shoes to boot.
 

Freda and Diego also joined us briefly in Mexico City in May 
but Freda could not stand 
wearing the same outfit for more than 1/2 hour, 
so the Flying Carpet had to take them home.
 

Saint’s Day at Yanhuitlàn, Oaxaca upped the ante in May 
with its Dancing Devils, twirling Señoritas and engraved tuba.
 
 
Diana The Huntress tried to board, 
but there was not enough uplift 
and she had to remain 
at the Laguila Flea Market in Mexico City
 
 
Whew! How exhausting!



Special thanks to Frances Miller, 
my indefatigable Mexico Companion, 
whose “Up close and personal” photographic style 
inspired many of these photos. 
Thanks also for this "unforgettable"
Dances With Devils photo.
 


Wednesday, April 30, 2014

April Flying Carpet 2014

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” 
says the Flying Carpet. 
The friends and strangers in April in Chicago 
were exponentially kind.

They welcomed The Carpet into their “believe it or not” homes... 


Other friends sleep under a wall sized painting by Henry Darger 
of The Vivian Girls and their never ending escapades. 
The Carpet wonders if it impacts their dreams. 
Outlandish juxtapositions of made and found... 
beasties and beings... 
the quintessential eye... 
the roads converging...


Other friends live in a white church... 
the arched paintings ascending over cozy... 
the kitchen aromas are incense... 
the pillows are appliquéd with souvenir patches from everywhere... 
a great team


She spied some decoys made out of tin cans. 
“If you don’t sell them to me, I’ll steal them!” 
says this bejeweled maximilist... 
an Emery Blagdon healing machine whirling over her head...
uncountable Adam and Eves


The Birthday Girl with her superb sense of design 
permeating everything her hand touches... 
passion and intensity... 
and her friend of wisdom writing memoirs of long ago Shanghai... 
simplicity and depth...

A pilgrimage to Intuit...
to the reconstruction of Henry Darger’s one room home.
It felt like a shrine to loneliness...
the translator of The Realms of the Unreal...







 The city... an exquisite geometry on a grey day...













celebrating the joy of birthdays and “Last Suppers”
and delicious long friendships
gratitude