We would meet with other friends and have a pot luck dinner once a week in one of our homes in Tampa, FL. That's how I met Ken Baxter (on left.) He and his wife, Joanne, made the macrame that is on display (photo below) at the Winter Park Art Festival. Yes, macrame was considered an art! Anyway, after moving to Tallahassee, I met Charlie DeFilippo, (on right in photo) and we drove down to the Winter Park Art Festival and ran into Ken and Joanne. (Winter Park is near Orlando, FL)
Anyway, Charlie taught me several things, Tai Chi and pottery making. We partnered up with another friend in a business venture, "Pottery, Poetry and Person." I gave about a year to managing this co-op store featuring "pottery, books, and other crafts," while learning more about making pots. My friend, Martha Curie was the source of the New Age books portion of the store. I'm happy to have stayed in touch with her over 40 years.
I think I still have one plate which I made and carved in a Mimbres design at that time.
Ken introduced me to his guru, Amrit Desai, who did Kripalu Yoga, in which you move from one pose to another in a flowing style. I went to several of his workshops and greatly enjoyed the meditative yoga movement.
After I moved to Tallahassee, Ken asked to to help bring Amrit Desai to speak in Tallahassee the first time.
Charlie and I were partnered in a relationship also for several years until he moved to New Mexico and I didn't see him again. I think highly of him still, and hope he is well.
I'm adding this photo, and bit of my biography, to Sepia Saturday this week. (There are various bloggers who list their names at the bottom of that page, in case you want to see more!)
My photo of these men who influenced me may have been taken just as they were first meeting. They are actually looking at each other, and if you think about it, how often do you see that in conversational photos?
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| In full profile, looking to the left is the Danish author Herman Bang, featured in this 1880 Cabinet Card |
I guess that's true, once people know a photo is being taken, they turn toward the camera.
ReplyDeleteYou reminded me of a family photo i took once ( and have since lost!)of 6 family members all looking in 6 different directions,none looking at either each other or the camera.6 !!! That must be some sort of World Record!
ReplyDeleteYes it's nice to see Ken & Charlie talking to each other rather than 'talking'to the camera.
It's ironic ,but although far more photos are taken these days, we are much more knowing & self-aware ( and self-promotional).My heart dies a little everytime I see a group taking a selfie:smiling broadly for the camera:then the smiles immediately vanishing the moment the shot has been taken....
"Arts and crafts and handsome dudes! What more could you ask?!! :) "
ReplyDeleteFrom La Nightingale...but the comment disappeared before I could publish it. So here it is anyway!
And how lucky you are to have a photo of them together!!! And actually looking at each other, too!
ReplyDeleteYou're right! Men talking to each other are invariably looking off to the side. I used to see this a lot at campouts my folks went to in their RV. The men would always stand around the engines of the rigs talking while the women were putting their chairs in a circle.
ReplyDeleteNice that you've kept in touch with your friends for so long.