Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Add this stranger-than-fiction story to the annals of Weird NJ. From The Star Ledger:
A bruin with a sweet tooth smashed its way into a minivan in Vernon early this morning to gobble up a bag of Halloween candy inside, then took the vehicle for a "joyride," police said.But this was no typical bear break-in.An officer patrolling Highland Lakes at 2 a.m. found a 2004 Mazda minivan parked on a road shoulder with a front passenger side window smashed out.
The "obvious signs" that this was a bear burglary included paw prints, gobs of drool, claw marks and a large quantity of black bear hair, police said.
The van was a stickshift, and the bear apparently dislodged the parking brake while noshing on leftover Halloween treats. The vehicle rolled out of a driveway and about 40 feet down the road before stopping, police said.Aside from drool and hair, all that was left were a bunch of empty candy wrappers inside and outside the van.
In a tongue-in-cheek press release titled, "Black Bear Goes For a Joyride," police also said that the patrolman "followed the candy wrapper trail into the woods, but was unable to locate the defendant black bear."
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Not nearly as interesting... In the past few weeks I have put aside my Pro Fab paints and have been painting and screening with thickened dyes. Today I had a few hours in the studio and played with some resists. Here is the fabric just after I printed it with my new favorite MX color - butterscotch. Mmmm.
It looked yummy, but after I had steamed and washed it, the color had become less vivid. Well, this just means I need to go back in and add another layer. Do I need an excuse? In my last post I talked about discharging by throwing the fabric into the steamer. Here is a piece that was so dark, you couldn't see the writing. Now, of course, it is too pale. Monday, when I was discharging, I had only one of my screens in the studio so I used it on everything. Well, at least there will be some underlying family resemblance - LOL. I won't bore you with the rest of them.
Tomorrow I hope to spend most of the day in the studio again. I now have a copy machine over there, which I found on Craig's List for a song. Next is my Thermofax.The good news is that more artists are moving into our building. Tom Nussbaum, a sculptor and printmaker, is taking the space and subdividing it - so across the hall, there will ultimately be 4 or 5 more artists. Hooray!
Vinny, the guy in the other space on our floor, was evicted for non-payment of rent. Sidebar: he told us he had a video business. Once he was leaving, we found out what kinds of videos he was making in there -- and I have to say, we all got a big chuckle out of it, after the fact. No wonder he was always there working late at night! You should see some of the items that came out of there - LOL.
