WOODCUTTING AT EVIL PRINTS STUDIO

Just started my woodcutting class taught by the famous Tom Huck!!
Here is his blog if you'd like to read more....

THE GUILLOTINE!

So far we had to pick out a design...(of course I picked Bender, duh!) and transfer the art onto a board. Next time I won't pick such a DETAILED design for my very first one...ugh! I didn't know I would be redrawing it 3 times! I will also be bringing transfer paper....shhhh

My First Step



There weren't too many students so we all get a lot of attention and Tom is very entertaining w/ his stories while we are all working. There is even an eleven year old in the class! She is really a cute and cool kid.





There were a lot of other cool ideas and I can't wait to see what they will look like carved out!
Hopefully I don't cut off a finger!







Our tunes were delivered by the new addition to the studio...A JUKEBOX!

Today we got up early and headed over to the Missouri Botanical Garden to do our yearly shopping at the 2 art shows there.
First we went to the Shaw Art Fair...
SHAW ART FAIR

Chloe even had some of her artwork on display...we were VERY PROUD of her!!!!


We have a couple of favorite artists there and this year we met a lot more!
We got this great owl bowl from Jennifer Falter of SPRINGFIELD POTTERY


Jennifer Falter
416 S Campbell Avenue
Springfield, MO 65804
417-864-4677
info@springfieldpottery.com
springfieldpottery.com

Christina Smith was there and had a lot of her beautiful bird art on display...
CHRISTINA SMITH

Ken Larson was there with his incredible clay Ravens....he was very nice and explained to us the difference between Ravens and Crows. Ravens have a pointed tail and are larger while crows have a rounded off tail.
LARSON CLAYWORKS
We also got to meet Thomas Wargin who is this amazing sculpture. His stuff was out of this world!
THOMAS WARGIN



The weather was PERFECT and there were a lot of people out. There were also a lot of dogs to photograph...





MORE LATER...

CLICKER TRAINING - KAREN PRYOR VISIT

Went to the Karen Pryor Q-A last night and now we're all very motivated to start clickin' away.
She is here in MO to promote her newest book...

REACHING THE ANIMAL MIND

I just got the book today so want to start reading it straight away! I read "Don't Shoot the Dog" some years ago and I was very pleased to hear of this new book.

Karen is a wonderful speaker and has done so much with her life and has really opened up a lot of people's eyes when it comes to positive reinforcement.

Now the Humane So. of Mo will be using her clicker methods to help calm the shelter animals and the Greater St. Louis Training Club will be switching their classes over to clicker training by January.

THE MAP ROOM

Last night, after work, Jim and I headed over to The Map Room for the very first time.

Neighborhood: Benton Park
1901 Withnell Avenue
St Louis, MO 63118

(314) 776-3515
www.themaproomstl.com



We met up with friends of ours (Jenn, Brett, Matt, Jeff, Robyn and Terry) and had initially planned on seeing a movie out on their patio, but mother nature had other ideas and there was a rain delay.
We all settled down in one of the many cozy nooks there. The place is just wonderful, like a good friend's family room (with a lot of extra tables)very charming. There are sofas, loveseats, settees, etc...all over, with books to read and even board games to occupy an entire evening.
We did check out the patio and it's also wonderful. There is plenty of space and an enormous tree growing right in the center. They have free movies out there every Saturday night (unless it rains) and they are the old "talkies" so I'm sure they will be a real treat.









The drink menu for this cafe is very imaginative offering a wide variety of concoctions most of which can be ordered "spiked". We ordered the White Sangria, made with melons and the Spiked Ice Tea of the day (spiked with Absolut, and cherry liqueur). Later we went back to get a large Chai Latte that was AMAZING and my new favorite drink. They served it to us "Americano" size which is only 1.00 more for double the amount! What a deal!



We were a little hungry so we ordered the "Picnic Basket" where we got 2 cheeses, sausage, fruit, olives, nuts and bread....all for only $12.00! Try to swing that deal in France.



There were all sorts of wonderful pastries and muffins and a fantastic array of beautiful desserts.







If you'd like to see the rest of the photos that I got that evening...you can check them out here at the bottom of this album...

MY FLICKR ALBUM - VARIOUS RESTAURANTS

We will definitely be going back all the time!!!

ZAKI'S PHOTO SHOOT

We met up with Zaki the 5 month old Chinese Shar-Pei and his owner Richelle for his very first photo shoot on Sunday (09-13-09).

We took a few photos in our yard after he got to run all over the place with Bender (lots of fun).
After we all got in the car to head over to Soulard to find some cool urban textures.
We took a few in front of the brick SMILE sign and a few in front of Ferraros on their patio.

Jim and Chloe' came along to help as puppy wranglers and Chloe' got some really amazing shots as well. It was pretty cool getting shots from two angles at once like that.

Here is a link to his album...

http://cryrolfe.zenfolio.com/p747799634

MEHTA-NAES PARTY

Went to an engagement party for a client's sister. I have never really even been to one before. This was held at the Annex behind Squires Restaurant.
They had a pretty good turnout and I got lots of great couple shots. It was pretty dark in there so the closeups turned out nice, but getting in the entire room was a little trickier for me.
There were also these annoying lights on the walls that always seemed to end up in the background of every photo....ugh!

The food turned out to be excellent! Everything looked really good too....especially the yummy cakes made by the mother of the bride to be.

To see the rest of the photos visit this link....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cryrolfephotography/sets/72157622063414111/

NEW TO BLOGGING...

Hi guys...

This is my very first post and I'm pretty new to blogging.
Don't really have much to say just yet....mostly just wanted another place to post the photos that I've been working on lately.