There is a hole in my sidewalk

THERE'S A HOLE IN MY SIDEWALK
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
By Portia Nelson

Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost .... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit ... but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter Four

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter Five
I walk down another street.

Not so Secret Selfie

Ever find yourself in a precarious situation?  That's exactly what happened to me last night.  We were invited to co-host an after hours chef's dinner at the Leonardo.   After taking a few photos of the event I stepped out  to capture a picture of the bottle with the amazing multi floor designer cobweb they'd strung by the escalators.  One photo led to another as I wondered through magical rooms and amazing exhibits.

Some time later my heart stopped.  The thought crossed my mind, "should I be wondering through a closed museum by myself"? and oh no, I don't have my phone.   What if the dinner is over, everyone assumes I've left, and I'm locked in the museum?

Luckily I wasn't.  This photo was taken in the infinity room shortly before my epiphany.   I thought I was perfectly staged,  for the caption "An eternity of 4-Play" as I placed the bottle on the doll, then on the floor.   Note to self, when you take photos in a room with mirror, you're just gonna end up with a selfie.

Be Thankful for your Mystery Team

Today I am so present to "Progress is a Team Sport" and grateful for the team I didn't know I was playing with.  So honored....

 

We got a mysterious call from a man in Mississipi.  He was driving with his wife listening to SERIUS The Highway when he heard our ad on the radio.  "Our Ad? We haven't placed any ads."  The caller said he heard a woman talking about Jack Wagon Wheat and it sounded so good he wanted to know where he could get some.  We were perplexed.  How did we get on SERIUS radio? and what was said to cause someone to track us down, call, and press us for beer?

The mystery was partly revealed when we got a text with the picture you see on the left.  It's our friends from Elume Lighting showroom in Park City.  They were on a road trip to Nashville, took someone of their favorite beer with them, and somehow ended up on the Radio doing a plug for us.  

The blessings don't end there.

We're expanding distribution to Southern Utah.  Our local distributor made an introduction and next thing we know, we are going into Cedar City, St. George, Bryce Canyon, Kanab, and Beaver.  The beautiful photo you see above, courtesy of Scott Roddenberg Photography I am especially grateful for.  It's hard to make the grand announcement when you don't have or can't find the right photo. 

 

I sit here and feel gratefulness for the people in my life, for unexpected surprises, for generosity.  We work hard, we strive for excellence, we brew our best.... but we can only do so much.  Thank you Team.

 

 

Raining Inside

We walked into the brewery on a rainy day to a roof leak.  The building we moved into is an old meat processing plant and the dilapidated bottler we bought is over 20 yrs old and unserviceable.. I'd have to admit it was a bit of a let down.  One more thing to fix. 

I'm always on the prowl for images to share with our "fans" so with camera in hand I began to walk around the machine.  A glimmer of light caught my eye and I was instantly mesmerized.  The rain drops on the bottler were forming the most beautiful landscapes, textures, and reflections.  It was magical.

First in Line, A Tradition Full of Craft Beer Love

The energy at the gate was magnetic.    The line of beer fans was 10 lanes deep and wrapped around the grounds as far as my eye could see.   Thousands of enthusiastic beer fans got up early to be one of the “first in line”.

First in line is about tradition, it’s about hanging with friends, it’s about anticipation, it’s about passion.   Mountain Brewer’s festival  is in it’s 20th year and it’s fans that have created their own set of traditions.  I found organizers,  volunteers,  brewers, and fans that had been coming to the event for over 18 years.


An Oddessy

Mountain Brewers is no ordinary festival.    It’s roots date back to the pre-craft beer boom.   Shades of Pale’s own, Trent Fargher, remembers first attending the festival as a beer enthusiast,  14 years ago.  He drove 8 hours from Dillon, Colorado, to Park City, Utah at a friend’s invitation to join him on a flight to Idaho.  Mike Conte, owner of Mtn Timber Furniture and long time friend, planned to fly in to the festival in his private plane.    Trent recalls a festival of approx 10 craft breweries and 500 attendees;  a small event by today’s standards but extraordinary for it’s time.

Beer Enthusiasts, You Rock!

Particularly impressive, is the event’s organization and efficiency.  Even more impressive is that this is a

100% volunteer endeavor that grew out of a home brew club.   Beer enthusiasts, you rock!   Back at the gate, stood several  thousand people eagerly awaiting entry.   Organizer Lisa Lambic, shared with me in an interview,  she expected a smooth and speedy check in.    The volunteer set up at the gate was extensive.   Entry was comprised of 5 lanes with 2 ticket checkers a piece for a total of 10 entry points. Tickets were pre- sold on the web and same day ticket sales began early at a ticket booth near the gate.   To further expedite the process, ticket checkers were armed with electronic swipe guns.  Wow!

I stepped through the gate to have a chat with some of the fans first in line.   I discovered a happy and
excited crowd even though they’d been standing in the sun several hours.   For many, the day started with a group breakfast a local restaurant then carpooling to the Rodeo grounds to hang with their best buds.  Angel Street, a group of musicians, made the trek from Utah on their motorcycles.  One thing that was shared, enthusiasm, joy, camaraderie,  and a passion for beer.
As opening time neared, the energy and anticipation began to build.   “10 minutes,  5 minutes,  2 minutes”,  I heard someone yell.   At 12:00pm on the dot a loud bell began to ring immediately followed by the roar of the crowd.

Can’t wait for next year.
Alexandra

If you'd like to find out more about the event, follow this link to hear an interview with organizer, Lisa Lambic. 

Bitchen Botanicals

Ever been confronted with a problem you're not quite sure how to solve? Crazy way to unwind isn't it?  You look at it and look at it and look at it and turn it around and look at it some more.  Such has been my relationship with hop art.  I've been obsessed with drawing hops.  I"m not quite sure why.  I chuck it up to unexplained obsessions.

QUITE UGLY

Hop cones are not the most attractive botanicals, yet I'm insanely attracted to them.   The hop plant is quite unassuming, the vineyard's ugly duckling.   The hope cones are green.  Yes, green.   Hop farms look like fields of  giant leafy bushes that rise in tall V shapes.   These massive plants are held up with wires and hide the beautiful hillsides that would make up the stunning panoramas one is used to admiring in vineyard landscapes.

International Artist Magazine wrote about a most dreaded artist problem; greens don't sell.  People apparently don't like to look at too much green.   For the past year I have been painting hops, attempting to add color, shape, and variation to a plant that's added so much to my lfie.   While the exercise has wrought some interesting results, the basic problem still loomed before me.   It's difficult to stray from the not "quite ugly" hop painting.

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN

While admiring vintage wine posters an idea flashed before my eyes.  Why not incorporate more character, life, color, and a vintage feel into my hop paintings?   I've loved the elegance, playfulness, and artistic beauty found in vintage art  particularly from 1920's France, art deco and wpa.

Le Hop Mistress, Biere Celebebration is the first, of what I intend to be a study of vintage art.  Part of me wishes I'd come up with some amazing new discovery, a completely new technique.  For now, I am quite content to be a student, and spend some time with my old favorites.  I realize there is really nothing new under the sun.  Many of our bright ideas are a compilation of old ideas blended into one new creation.  

LE HOP MISTRESS

Why Le Hop Mistress you may ask? Well, anything French is quite romantic, and I love the idea of hero worship; glorifying beer and all the wonders of life with beer in it.   The image is obviously a female and a hop.  I though the title Hop Mistress would be fitting.   Not so long ago, I was honored with the title, Mistress of the Hop, by the Tasting Nitch, a beer blog headed up by American living in France.  So, Cheers to you, Nichole.   Thank you for the lovely write up and your work a champion of beer in wine country.  

Here again I am faced with 2 more cliches; "what a small world this is", and "life comes around full circle".

Le Hop Mistress series is dedicated to all the wonderful women who love beer, and the men who appreciate them.

Photos: Where Beer and Art Collide

Kudos to ex-National Geographic photographer Carla Boecklin  for another exceptional showing at

our most recent Barley's Angel's event.   She's a kindred spirit, creative soul, and adventurer.   After meeting the love of her life on a shoot in the Amazon, Carla left National Geographic to begin a new life with Victor in our home town of Park City, Utah.  We're lucky to have her.  Yes, this is a plug for her.  If you are ever in need of an exceptional photographer, give Carla a call.  Fly her in if you need to.  She's worth it. 

The Art of Beer

This was the theme of Barley's Angels chapter last get together.     In keeping with the theme, we held the event at an art Gallery, and invited Squatters Brewing and Shades of Pale to speak on the creative process behind the beer labels.  Pictured on the right are Angels Jenn Deppe and Amber Mills feeding Shades of Pale Publican a bottle of cold beer.

Women are Art.   Women Love Beer.  Beer is Art.  This was truly an event where Beer and Art collide.   I'll be posting the rest of the photos on the Barley's Angels and Shades of Pale websites.   But here is a few more favorites:

 A big thank you to our hosts and Arch Angel:   Evergreen Gallery

If you haven't yet been to our Barley's Angels Facebook Page, come out visit, and connect.  We'd love to have you join the sisterhood.

Alexandra