Huntington Museum of Art

A  recent Saturday visit that “The Meandering Chair” and I made turned out to be the most demanding of any of our trips. It all started out innocently enough, as the reason for our visit was their annual book sale, which I came to find out, is taken very seriously by a number of people as is demonstrated by the fact that we had to arrive almost an hour early just to get an advantageous position in line. It was lucky for my daughter Emma that I just happen to have a chair with me at all times.

Well, the chair and I waited there for the sale to start, but once we got in there we quickly decided that the dog eat dog atmosphere of diving for books really wasn’t for us and we decided to go exploring. First we decided to go and investigate some of the sculptures on the grounds of the museum.

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I’ve been told that Emma is making me a grandson

The chair seems to enjoy getting up close and personal with art

Not quite sure what to think of this one

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I must have missed the gentle oak trail

After a quick stroll about the grounds we took off on the nature trail that runs behind the museum. Now the Huntington Museum sits at the top of a hill on the edge of Huntington, and the nature trail basically runs to the bottom of that hill, and in places is quite steep. It was no sweat for the chair as it gets carried every where it goes, but it turned into a workout for me and provided another of those moments where I begin to question my sanity. I rather enjoyed the jogger who happened by that didn’t even look twice, as if seeing some guy walking down a steep wooded path with a dining chair, was an everyday occurrence. I would have asked for his photo but there were these two rather large dogs accompanying him who seemed to be having more of an issue with my presence than him.

I really do enjoy this trail and think that it is one of these little known places that more people should see. A few years ago, a local stone carver named Earl Gray spent the summer carving stones in the hillside there. I am a fan of Earl’s work, and one thing that makes the trail so much fun is that there is nothing that tells you where these carvings are so that you basically just come upon them, and sometimes if you are not paying attention, you just might miss them.

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One of my favorites

One of those you might miss seeing

Pondering our next move

A squeeze for a guy carrying a chair

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After making it back to the top of the hill, and cooling down a bit, we went into the museum and received permission to go and visit another piece of celebrity art. I’m speaking of the Dale Chihuly sculpture that graces the museums conservatory.

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Having some fun with the foliage, while we waited for the women to finish their shopping.

It’s just a pleasant space with exotic plants and Koi and the glass sculpture. We stayed in there for awhile. We didn’t end up buying any books but we had a good day at the museum anyway.

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At the Entrance

I recently had a delivery to make in Charlottesville, Virginia, and since Tamarack was right on the way, I decided that a visit from the “Meandering” chair was in order. Metaphorically speaking, going there with the chair I sort of felt like saying, chair, I’ve been a part of this since before it began, [would that be BT?] and participated in seeing it become a reality. Tamarack, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it is a facility started and operated by the state of West Virginia to showcase and market the “best” of what WV has to offer. It was an idea that originated with the office of former governor Gaston Caperton, and the building is named in his honor. It is, in my opinion, an outstanding idea and facility, and one that many other states have only hoped to emulate.

Tamarack showcases the work of 1,200 WV artisans,writers, specialty food producers, performers, and visual artists. It also contributes over $18 million dollars a year to the economy of the state. In it’s 14 year existence there have been over 6 million visitors. It’s just an all around fun place to visit and they also have a great place to eat with food prepared by the staff of the Greenbrier resort.

Once we made it inside, we ran into my friends Greg and Tish Westman, who are two of the artists in residence at Tamarack. The Westmans are string instrument makers who primarily focus on bowed psalteries. They are also musicians and have a group called Psaltrio that recently performed on Mountain Stage.

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The “Meandering” chair visiting with some Dora chairs. Would that be a gaggle of chairs or?

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This is just weird. Not really sure what I was thinking here, but that is me with a 14 year old photo of me

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I also wanted to introduce the chair to another friend of mine, blacksmith/artist Jeff Fetty, but for the time being, an image of him was going to have to do.

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Mr. Fetty in his younger hairier days

Some of Jeff’s work at the entrance

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Cheryl Hartley

Before we got back on the road we were fortunate to talk Cheryl Hartley, the general manager of Tamarack, into posing with the chair for our story. Cheryl has been responsible for keeping Tamarack running for the past 10 years, and believe me, It hasn’t always been easy. But that’s a story for another time.

We ended up spending more time at Tamarack then I had intended and really needed to be heading down the road, but if you’re ever in the vicinity of Beckley, WV, and Tamarack, be sure to stop in.

When I was 12, my dad built me a beautiful cherry writing desk for Christmas.  And for the following 18 years, I had to use a blue metal folding chair to sit at it, because I was never given a chair to go with it. 

It’s okay though, because one day when visiting my dad’s shop, I discovered that the Meander chairs fit me perfectly.  (When you are 5’2” you get used to never sitting with your feet on the ground).    And I convinced my dad that I needed my very own for my desk.  (I might have reminded him about the blue metal folding chair).   I picked out my own upholstery, designed by my favorite fabric designer and I am guessing one of the more unique fabrics his upholsterers have worked with.  It’s hot pink and orange and I love it.  I was very excited to see how it looked in my living room. 

My desk had actually been living at my parents house since I left for college but when I bought my own house I requested that my dad bring me my desk and my new chair.  He showed up on a Saturday with the desk in the back of his truck, his chair in the cab of the truck, and my chair…..back at the woodshop, because he forgot it. 

And that is how I came to host the original Meander chair for the weekend.  It was loaned to me with strict instructions not to let my cats wreck it. But they were allowed to sit on it. First one cat sat on it: 

She was very excited, it’s a famous chair

Then another cat sat on it: 

Then the chair got to visit with some other chairs.  (I think this might be some serious diversity in chair world, by the way). 

 
The chair had to leave the  next day because it had some people to meet at Mountain Stage, so we swapped it out with my real chair on Sunday.  The desk and chair are great additions to my living room.  The Meader chair might be famous, but my chair is hot pink. 

Hyperlink the blue words above to:

http://www.annamariahorner.com

The Chair Gracing the Entrance

 This past Sunday, the “Meandering” chair and I received an invitation to attend another taping of Mountain Stage, which this week was at the Clay Center in Charleston.  I believe I mentioned in my last entry how much I enjoy this show, so I didn’t need to be asked twice and as far as the chair is concerned, well , it pretty much just goes where I tell it to.  We arrived a bit early to get some photos of the outside of the Clay Center because as well as being an attractive building, there are also some interesting sculptures gracing the front of the building.  The most conspicuous piece is by the renowned metal sculptor Albert Paley. To say that it has been controversial would be an understatement. I hate to say it, but Charleston is not always the most enlightened place when it comes to the arts. I don’t even want to go into some of the things that I have read about this piece, but I for one rather enjoy it. It also turned out to be a great background for the chair and either no one was paying any attention to what I was doing out there, or they’re not real protective of their sculpture.

An Attempt to get it all in, plus the chair

Enjoying the view

Getting up close and personal

Joining In

      By now we had had our fun playing with the sculptures and it was time to think about going to work. I had two goals for this show. One was to try and finish getting all of the members of the Mt. Stage band [I had 2 to go] to pose with the chair and the other was to get the legendary Judy Collins to do the same.  I was able to get Ryan Kennedy, the newest member of the band to pose for a picture but unfortunately I still have one band member to go as regular bassist Steve Hill was absent on Sunday. Judy, I was warned, might not be easy to get, as she would pretty much come in, do her set, and be on her way. As luck would have it, she did come in a few minutes before the show and I was able to catch her back stage, and she graciously agreed to pose with the chair.  I’d have to say that at this point that she is the most famous person to grace the chair.

Ryan, bass players don't sit down, Kennedy

Judy looking lovely

     Now that I had accomplished my goals for the day, all that was left to do was sit back and enjoy the show. But, as is often the case with Mt. Stage,  there were some artists on the show [Mary Gauthier and Serena Ryder ] that I was not familiar with, that I ended up enjoying tremendously, and as an added benefit they were happy to pose with the chair.

Mary Gauthier with Julie Adams

Serena Ryder As Mary put it, "she's got more energy than I ever had"

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Adam Harris AGAIN? [Adam, I'm afraid were going to have to cut you off

We Take a Break To Enjoy the View on the Way Up

     About a week or so ago, the chair and I went on our first road trip together.  I had a couple of deliveries to make in Pennsylvania and I decided that this would be a good opportunity to go and visit our primary lumber supplier, Irion Lumber. www.irionlumber.com.  Irion is owned and operated by Lou and Wanda Irion.  I actually met Lou and Wanda  a number of years ago at The Appalachian String Band and Music festival [gee, I wonder if the chair would be up for a visit  to that?] at Clifftop WV. Lou had been nice enough to extend an invitiation to visit their home and since that time has proceeded on a regular basis to hassle me about coming up. So, like I said, the timing seemed right for a visit, all except for the fact that my wife Glenda couldn’t go this time, and truth be known, I much prefer her company over that of a chair, but hopefully there will be another time. That is, if we didn’t wear out our welcome this time.  But, I digress. Irions have a beautiful place, and a great business. As far as lumber suppliers go, I’ll put them up against anyone.  The day I arrived, Lou was being treated for lyme disease and was a feeling bit under the weather, so a tour of the lumber yard fell to their yard manager Myron Yoder, who was a great tour guide.  To back up for a minute. Irions lumber yard is on their farm a few miles outside of a small town in Pennsylvania. It’s really a pretty place, wooded rolling hills interspersed with hay fields, pastures, a couple of ponds , and gardens and fruit trees thrown in.  Then there is the lumber yard. I didn’t count how many different buildings there are, but for a lover of wood it was a fantasy land. Myron led me from building to building, throwing open sliding doors, that revealed the treasures stored within. Irion keeps alot of lumber in flitch cut “sets”. That is that the boards are stored in sets as the came out of the log.  I can’t even remember all that we looked at, but I couldn’t pass up purchasing some special pieces while I was there and ended up buying some nice curly walnut, along with a couple of different types of figured cherry, mahogany , and maple.  After touring the yard, and gathering up my purchases, Lou found the energy to give me a tour of the place as we fed the pigs and horses. We then enjoyed a lovely meal on their front deck with the added company of their son and daughter in law, and a good friend of theirs that saws a bit of the lumber that they sell. All in all, it was an enjoyable trip and I am hoping that Glenda and I will be able to visit there sometime in the not too distant future. 

One of Those Bins of Lumber

A Nice Set of Walnut Boards

Lou, Demonstrating How Much He likes Posing For Pictures

He Really Does Smile Now and Again

The Lumber I Purchased

A Nice Place To Work

Waiting For The Party To Start

The Residence

A Cordwood Sauna Some of Wanda's Handiwork

Max Greeley Max probably sawed the wood for the chair http://rawood.net/

An example of Lou's workmanship and some pretty fair looking lumber

 

This is the story of the third day of our adventures, that being the chair and I.  I am involved with this project to build a youth camp on a nearby reservoir, Mud River Lake. They dammed up Mud River, and named it Mud River Lake. Pretty original huh? and catchy too. Anyway, the camp is really a nice place, and I decided it would be a fun addition to this story to take the chair for a ride in my canoe. I built my canoe with some help from my friend Rick, and it is one of my favorite possessions. It’s made out of white cedar, coated in fiberglass,  with cherry trim and caned seats woven by me.

Handling with Care

What's going on with Rick's Hand?

I have to admit that it was at about this time I was starting to have some second thoughts as to the wisdom of this idea.  I mean, fun’s fun, but taking a rather expensive dining chair out in a canoe might be construed by some to be a little bit nuts.  I know my daughter Emma feels that way about it.  I’ve never let other’s perceptions of my sanity stop me before, so I proceeded to load the chair into my canoe for a short ride about the lake. 

We're off

Me being clever pretending my paddle is a guitar and serenading the chair

Returning to the Dock

My Friend Rick and the Chair relaxing on the dock

The second trip, the chair and I made, was to Festivall, in Charleston, West Virginia. http://www.festivallcharleston.com/ Festivall is a 10 day celebration of music and art and a variety of other activities. One project that they did this year was to create these 4 foot tall letters, spelling out Festival, and give them to nine different artists to have them do something with them.   

Giant Red "T"

The chair and I visit the "T"

As you can see here, my contribution was the letter “T” which I painted red and then took a carving gouge to. I had not seen all of the letters together in one place, so it seemed like it might be fun to go see them and see if I could talk somebody into taking my picture with the giant “T”.  I thought that the whole idea was a lot of fun and several of the other letters were pretty cool.

"FESTIVALL'

 So , here I am, wandering around in this crowd of people carrying a dining chair. I have to admit, that at first, I was just a bit self conscious and felt more than a little silly.  There are advantages in having your own chair at an event like this though. For example, I came across a band playing on a stage set up in the street and decided to listen for a bit, which only involved finding a place to set my chair there on the sidewalk.  Then I started to run into some folks that I know and was able to persuade them to let me take their picture sitting in the chair. Actually, the persuading part wasn’t all that hard, as once I explained what I was up to, [ what is it I am up to again?] people were eager to be involved.
The first person I ran into was Ron Sowell. Ron is a musician and the leader of the Mountain Stage radio show band. http://www.mountainstage.org/ Mountain Stage is a great radio show, that is recorded live in Charleston, and is one of our favorite things to go to.  Shortly after running into Ron, I ran into Larry Groce who is the host, artistic director, and one of the founders of Mountain Stage. He is also the director of FESTIVALL.

Ron Sowell

Larry Groce

After that, I got on a roll and found several other folks that were willing to have their picture taken in the chair.  One was Adam Harris who is the announcer for mountain Stage, and in this instance the chair was able to get it’s picture taken on stage.  Another one that I thought was fun was Lori McKinney, of the band Option 22,http://www.option22.net/fr_home.cfm who posed sitting at her drum set. They were the band I stopped to listen to there on the street.

All in all, it turned out to be a fun day. Turns out that carrying a chair around is a fun way to meet people. Who would have thought it? Stay tuned for more of the travels of the Wandering Chair. Next, the chair and I go canoeing.

Adam Harris

Lori McKinney