Tiny Bug on Basil
This is the smallest dang grasshopper type bug I have ever seen. It was hanging out on the basil this morning. I should probably get a longer macro lens; my guess is that those of you who look at this site on your phones are out of luck. Love the green though.
Farnham’s Again
Peter and I made the first trip of the summer to Farnham’s yesterday. The fried clams are really the best we have found anywhere. I also had a bowl of the chowder which was very good.
Hummingbird
The hummingbirds have been draining the feeders this year. They are very territorial and are always chasing each other around. I had forgotten just how noisy they are. They “cheep” in a manner not too different from the chipmunks.
Willard Suitcase #16 and News
This is not a suitcase per se, but Henry L.’s possessions were in this cardboard box. As I continue this project, I occasionally come across different ways the museum has preserved the items. This box was not wrapped like the others, but was in an archival box of its own.
I was particularly moved by this box.
Sometimes I don’t know what to write about these remnants of someone’s life.
As usual, I have obscured his surname here.
The quality of the his artificial foot and leg was amazing. I am not sure when it was made as there was no date of Henry’s admission on the tag attached to the shoe.
The parts on the brace above were machined beautifully.
Thanks to you all for following the project. And now for some really great news. I have signed a contract with the Exploratorium in San Francisco to have a large number of the suitcase photos in an exhibit to be called “The Changing Face of What is Normal”. One third of the exhibit will deal with mental health issues and my work will be a part of that component. I am so excited and proud to be involved in this. There will be a formal opening on 19 April, 2013 in their new space at Pier 15 in the Embarcadero and it looks like I will be doing an artist’s talk a few days after that. My friend, the poet Karen Miller will also be involved. She has been working with many of the same cases and her poems are amazing and evocative. So I will look forward to seeing some of you next April in San Francisco. Again thanks for all the feedback and support.
Transit of Venus
Cris and I took the Pearl for a walk early this evening and we stumbled upon an interesting crowd at the UMASS Sunwheel. It dawned on me pretty quickly that it had something to do with the “Transit of Venus“.
Some of the UMASS astronomy people were handing out these cool little eclipse viewers. Cris had a hard time seeing the dot, but I was able to pick it out at about the 1 o’clock position on the sun. (If you click the link above and look at the Wikipedia page, Venus was in a similar position.)
It is so great to live in a community where you can come across gatherings like this one, and it was so nice that the rainy weather cleared out just at the right time.
Giulio Cesare
I had some work at Princeton yesterday and as I was shooting some panoramas in the fine arts building I saw this guy sitting alone on a table in a hallway. He is about only 3 inches tall and still looked like he had total control of his realm. I wonder if this is what Caesar really looked like. He has a very commanding presence.
Waterloo, NY
Waterloo, NY is an interesting little town. It is not too far from Willard and I have passed through it a lot since it lies on one of the main routes between the Thruway and Ithaca. There was a Masonic Lodge on this corner (Virginia and Williams Streets) which was torn down in 2007. When that building came down, this sign became visible again.
I walked up to the brick to get a closer look and it is in very good condition. It is a complete shame that the Masonic building had to be razed, but at least something interesting came out of its destruction.
Willard Suitcase #15
It has been too long since I have posted a suitcase here. I have been very busy shooting and have also been feeling a bit rushed about mailing out the rewards for the kickstarter backers. It has been a long and interesting process, and helps me feel the connection that I have with all of you who have supported the project.
This suitcase belonged to Thelma R.
She had a very interesting collection of items.
Many of them were of a religious nature.
I especially like to come across miniature dogs and Thelma had three. I really like the way these Scotties looked up at me while I was working.
There is usually one anomalous item in each case and in this one it was this small figurine. It didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of her things.
One of the envelopes was full of photographic negatives. There were no prints but most of the shots were of friends and I presume, family.
This is one of several small banks that I have seen. I like the lock painted on the front; the real access to the money was from the bottom.
I wasn’t sure what was contained in these envelopes as they were all sealed, but the word curl makes it a bit obvious. I held one up to my lights and it looked and felt like a lock of hair. Thelma’s surname was not Sullivan, but that name appeared in most of the papers and books in her suitcase.
This is the only recording that I have found in a suitcase. I really like the design of the label, and the record seemed in perfect condition.
I have obscured the last several letters of her name here. This piece of paper was in one of her notebooks, and tells a bit of a story about her origins.
The post mark on this card looks to be 1943 or 1945. One of the labels in the case says that she came to Willard on 9 July, 1946, so she would have been in her early 20s when she received this.
Many of the cases have day books or diaries, but in every instance but one, they all have only a few entries. On the first day of the new year Thelma found a penny in Camillus and wrote about it.
Her next comment came almost 3 weeks later, and only one more entry followed this one.
Thanks again to Craig Williams and the New York State Museum for granting me access to the suitcases, and thank you all for following this project.
Albert Bierstadt
I have always liked this painting. Bierstadt was apparently quite the operator. / I’ve been in DC the past few days and had the chance to spend a few hours at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is the best museum in a city full of great museums. It shares the old patent office building with the National Portrait Gallery which in itself is pretty cool. While there I got the chance to see some of the people that Peter Carroll and I worked with on the Lunder Conservation Center project, and had a really nice visit. / Back to Massachusetts tomorrow and will mail out the next level of rewards for the suitcase backers.
John Wilson Painting
I love this painting. John had given it to me in December, but since it needed to be taken off the stretchers for transport back to the States I wasn’t able to get it until Peter and I were back in the UK in March. We rolled it into a big cardboard tube and I was able to carry it onto the plane. Michelle at Hope and Feathers did a fantastic job restretching it and built a great frame. I was so happy to pick it up yesterday. It looks great in the living room.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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