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Image: King Me (from story 13), in private collection
Copyright: Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission
‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ Book project: Third of the 37 stories/images for preview before the Kickstarter Launch on March 4th.
Slide Three: ‘Birdbath’
After several days of gorgeous “made for beach weather”, I left Ocracoke on a much cooler, gray, overcast day. I drove the van onto another Ferry, headed to Cedar Island, and while just 16 miles away, the ride took an hour to reach its destination. It was my intent, if possible to take as many off roads as I could while still taking into consideration drive time and the ultimate fixed completion date of the Journey to Ukazoo. As much as I wanted to hug the coastline, I started with a coastal drive till I arrived at Wilmington, North Carolina. Then I altered my route to I-95, a main interstate highway, for the rest of the drive to my next stop in Savannah, Georgia.
This stop was chosen to not just for its tourist merits but for friends, originally met in Baltimore, Maryland, that had since relocated to Savannah. I contacted Judy and Bob before I left so I was expected. With an offer to stay at their place, I passed up a Bed & Breakfast opportunity.
For this stop, I spent a few days in pure tourist mode, visiting Savannahs historical district, parks, shops, and in complete awe of the many, some expansive and hundreds of years old, ‘live oak’ trees covered with Spanish moss. The botany aspect is a ‘live oak’ is named “live” because it is an evergreen oak (keeps its leaves) rather than a deciduous (loses its leaves every year) tree as most oaks are.
Then there is the music, lots of music. I was able to listen to some excellent folk music, hosted by the Savannah Folk Music Society, in an acoustical rich church one evening. The next day was a visit to hear the musically renown Savannah’s World-Famous Crabettes. A treat, given that Judy was one of the members and the Crabettes also included the talents of one member who plays a mean slide whistle and trombone kazoo.
During the tail end of my stay, I dropped down into a more relaxed fashion and took to wandering the outlining neighborhoods. One area I drifted into was of an antique flavor, weathered, moss covered brick border walls, pitted cast iron gates, large screened-in porches, workable stutters, gingerbread trim and well-manicured lawns. Up ahead, the quiet I had grown accustom to during my meandering, started to evolve into a sense of excitement coupled with bursts of chirping sounds.
As I grew closer I came upon the front yard of a stately residence that was host to the LXIV National Bird Olympics. As I made my way pass numerous onlookers and a vast array of birds in attendance, I stopped to take this picture of the Free Style diving event that was in progress. Finding a clear spot on the lawn, I sat to watch a varied collection sizes, species, and colors of birds lining up to take their turn to dive from a tree’s branch into a waterfilled birdbath. After having watched a few dives, I felt that on this one particular dive that I just witnessed, I disagreed with the judges scores. It was my opinion that this wonderfully executed triple flip warranted a much higher score than the 7.5 he was rewarded with. A 9.5 would have been more reasonable, without a doubt!
Expressing my mild displeasure of this score to a couple of nearby feathered bystanders, they and a few more their friends, after introductions, of course, offered a few short but very informative lessons on how a triple flip was to be performed. They preceded to acquaint me with other types of dives I might observe and the different qualities the judges were looking for. My lessons included the finer points about “Beak Angle” “Wing Tilt” “Tail Feather Spread” and the all-important “Branch Bounce Vibration”. At the end of all this informational chirping, I sorely realized I lacked the required Birds Eye view needed to offer a truly educated opinion. It was best to just relax and enjoy.
I stayed a while longer and witnessed some fabulous dives but after watching all the diving activity I became a little famished. With a casual glance, I noticed all they had for sale at the local ‘food’ booths were no less than 22 different varieties of seed and 16 varieties of insects. Nothing against seed and insects, mind you, but I left to find something a little more substantial.
Tonight, I pack up and in the morning, I will say my fond farewells with hopes of visiting again.
Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Tradmark Ukazoo Books with permission.
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‘At the Beach’
‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ book project:
A preview of the second of 37 stories included in the soon to be published Book. Kickstarter Launch in March!
Slide Two – ‘At the Beach’ – June 10, 2013
As I drove, I now had to develop a mindset that this was the first of many daylong drives encompassing 9 months on my way to Ukazoo. At the end of the day I had been on the road almost 9 hours, seven and a half hours of drive time plus stops. I made it to the Swan Quarter Ferry within 45 minutes of the last Ferry to Ocracoke Island, which departed at 4:30 pm. The Ferry ride took a little over three hours and even with not having to do any driving with the boat ride, I was still very worn out by days end.
With this first leg of the journey, I had mapped out the first three stops and called ahead for reservations based on my intended day of arrival and on my length of stays. After that I would need to pour over maps and brochures I had collected for this trip and rely on tapping into ‘Google’ on my phone for any assistance in finding additional places to stay in future planned and unplanned stops.
I also wanted to, at the very least, have my first stay-overs be at a Bed & Breakfast if possible. I make no secret, I love the experience of a Bed & Breakfast. Awakening to the smells of fresh juices, fruits, and cooked foods bathed with the personalities of the hosts, coupled with the menagerie of guests from different parts of the country and around the globe, meeting, exchanging stories of places of origin, their current trip experiences, and anecdotes from life’s memories is one of my highlights of these, sometimes sparse, opportunities to travel.
This first inn in my Journey to Ukazoo, fulfilled those expectations.
Given the forecast of several days of warm sunny weather and besides the usual around the town sightseeing, relaxing for a while on the beach and maybe going for a swim seemed a wonderful option. Not forgetting to pack the bathing suit, compact beach chair, sunscreen, and bath towel, I made my way to water’s edge. I choose to visit a beach to the ocean side of the island rather than the bay side, with calm to no winds, the ocean waters proved tranquil to bathe and relax by after the long drive.
Over the course of the next few days I had made daily visits to the beach, some days more crowded with bathers than others. Today was a day of light populace. Camped not far and within earshot was a sizable gathering of family members, some I had met earlier in the week, spread out on a connected grouping of four large blankets. There were the usual suspects, beach chairs occupied with readers of books, ear buds for those lost-in-music aficionados, bodies stretched out to welcome the sun’s rays and of course the water devotees.
Given the interesting makeup of this extended family and proximity, I became the casual observer.
Of all the observations, the more interesting story-line developed at water’s edge.
This shot was taken of a little fellow named Sherman, getting ready to test the slowly churning break of waves ending just short of his toe. Even though his older brothers and sisters as well as several other nearby kids, who were already in the water, were urging Sherman to join them, he was reluctant to go in. Being more content with playing in the sand, an occasional sand castle here and there, Sherman appeared to be not overly fond of cold water and sporting an over active imagination, even more afraid of any alligators that might be lurking in the shallow depths of the ocean.
His parents, on several occasions, at other beaches as well as today, pointed out, with words and books, that alligators do not live in the ocean and besides, they assured him, they haven’t seen any since they arrived.
The fact that his family had only been there for only 3 days now and recalling a story they told about finding him in a Cabbage patch as a baby, and Easter bunnies made and delivered candy, didn’t offer Sherman any great reassurance on the absence of alligators. So, after testing the water, he turned and slowly went back to building his sandcastle. Too cold seemed to be a good enough reason and repeatedly denied to his brothers and sisters spiteful accusations, that alligators had anything to do with his reluctance to join them.
Yes, there was a silent chuckle on my part, but to this day, as I packed up to head back to the Inn, I swear I thought I heard a few long-tailed swishes in the water behind me.
‘A Walk in the Park’
‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ Book project:
Besides the five 16 x 20 inch oil paintings displayed at the Ukazoo Art exhibit, there were four paintings in the 22 inch realm. Of two that were 22 x 22 inches, ‘A Walk in the Park’ was one of those paintings.
To the book project, spent the morning where I get my digital scanning done. Two fold. Getting some images adjusted in size to match others I have on the Kickstarter Story page. Second, working to get a fairly accurate quote for all the scanning and layouts to be done if the Kickstarter goal is met and the book proceeds to publishing. This needs to be worked in to other costs (Publishing and materials) to establish the total dollar goal needed.
With a raise in postal rates, another stop at the post office to finalize mailing/shipping cost to be added to Kickstarter Rewards section.
Image: ‘A Walk in the Park’
Text and Image: Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission.
‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ Book project:
Following ‘Journey’s’ 37 text and image portion and the 8 images and notations of the ‘Snapshots and Memorabilia’ section of ‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ book project, there was the Ukazoo Art Exhibit itself. The primary focal point of the exhibit were 9 oil paintings. Five of the 9 were 16 x 20 inch, oil on board. This was one of those paintings.
To the book project, a bout of sickness put some of the artwork items on delay but I did continue progress on the computer with a few Kickstarter worksheets. Completed the Profile page. Adding or revising items in the Rewards section and same can be said for the Story page, adding text and selected images.
Made appointment to get three border art strips digitally scanned so I can finalize the Story page.
Image: ‘The Couple’ in Private collection
Oil of board, 20” x 16”
Text and Image: Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission.
Following the ‘Journey’s’ 37 text and image portion of the ‘to be published’ book, the next section featured is titled ‘Snapshots and Memorabilia’. Highlighting letters, pictures, and items received in the mail from people I met during the Journey to Ukazoo. Eight images and notes were part of this section. Shown here is one of those images.
As for the present Journey to Ukazoo Book project, The filming for the Kickstarter submission video was delayed as I needed to rework the storyboard to keep the descriptive discussion within a 2 minute format.
Border artwork is now being transferred to Bristol paper, inked in, and watercolors added. I want at least 8 of the 74 border images ready for the video.
Image: ‘Blue Sphere, Green Man’ – in Private Collection
Oil on board
Text and Image: Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission.
Continuing to highlight the ‘Journey’ text & art in the Body portion of the Book, all the stops along my trek across the country and back again route were in the U.S except one. With my previous stop, Dec.16/22, 2013, being in upstate New York, I choose to venture into Canada. With passbook in hand, Stop #30 of the 37 stories/image took me to Saguenay, Quebec during the Christmas holidays. Considering the season and the image, the story became a tongue and cheek version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
As for the present Journey to Ukazoo Book project, my focus has been on getting the video storyboard worked out for filming my submission video to Kickstarter. At the same time I am combining the 2 minute descriptive dialog of the video with additional text to flesh out the more informative portion of the ‘Kickstarter’ ‘Story’ profile worksheet. Both of these descriptions will be visible on the Kickstarter site once the funding campaign is launched in March.
Image: ‘Strolling Lawn Vases’ – in Private Collection
Watercolor, Pen & Ink
Text and Image: Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission.
Continuing to address the three components for creation of this book. After the First, the ’Frontmatter’ which I wrote about in the previous Ukazoo Book Posts, the second component of this book is the ’Body’.
The ‘Body’ is divided into three parts – The Journey, Snapshots & Memorabilia, and the Art Exhibit.
The first part, ‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ consists of 37 images matched to 37 one page stories/vignettes.
The 2013 on-line posting goal was to create one story each week corresponding with a selected art image and journey location.
I chose Niagara Falls for the location using this image.
As for the present Art Exhibit Book project, my past holiday weeks have been working on email/mailing lists and designing/ordering a postcard to make friends and family, who are infrequent or have no social media presence, aware of this project. They are being send today.
Also had to break out the carpenter tools to work on a backdrop to the drafting table for staging the video used for the introduction on the ’Kickstarter’ site.
If you have not done so, please ‘Like’ the Craig L Haupt Art page and by helping with this Ukazoo Book project by ‘Sharing’ these Monday Posts, you will secure a place in the Ukazoo Book acknowledgement section.
Image: ‘But the May Says….’ in Private Collection
Oil on Board, 18” x 18”
Text and Image: Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission.
‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ Book Project #4
As I mentioned, for this 2013/14 ‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ Art/Story project, I chose places to stop based on odd names of places, places I was familiar with, and art images that matched up with specific names of places. There were a few places that the Artwork I chose to include in this fictitious journey required I find a certain location to match the art image narrative and build the story from that.
This image is one. Having the narrative set on a planet in space I had to seek out a location that contained an observatory so that I could look through a telescope. For this story, the place I chose was the Mount Wilson Observatory located in the Angeles National Forest, California. This place, image, and story is #15 of the 37 stories.
As for the present Art Exhibit Book project and the ‘Frontmatter’ potion of the book, this past week I revisited the Preface for one of numerous proof reads I will indulge in over the next few months. I also picked up the digital scan for the location and route based Map and inserted it into the Map/locations page.
Continuing to work on the Front cover design. A bit slow going but this ‘snails pace’ has worked to my flavor by allowing me to make several item additions and a few adjustments to others before inking and watercolor is applied to those areas.
There is now a gathering of items to be used as props for photographs to be used in the back cover design.
Spent an evening brainstorming with several members of an Art group I participate in regarding the different reward levels to be used in the Kickstarter Crowdfunding Campaign come March.
Image: ‘Spaceburger’
Watercolor, pen & ink, 10” x 10”
Text and Image: Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission.
‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ Book Project #3
As ‘The Journey to Ukazoo’ project began to unfold, I chose a starting point of June 3, 2013 and with selecting Monday as a once a week posting day, it was 37 weeks till the Solo Exhibition. I laid out a U.S. map and started deciding on 37 stops that took me across the U.S. and back to Ukazoo Bookstore. First choices were cities/towns with unusual names as well as a few places I was familiar with. As I looked at routes and names of cities/towns I came across a few whose names fit art images I planned to use for this project. For the image posted above I happened to find a place in Washington State that seemed an appropriate match-‘Cape Disappointment’. In ’The Journey to Ukazoo’ this place, image, and story is #19.
As for the present Art Exhibit Book project and the ‘Frontmatter’ potion of the book. Facing the ‘Preface’ page will be a U.S. and lower Canada map (there is one stop in Canada) with a list of all the city/town stops and respective States. Online I found a blank U.S. map with only State abbreviations and opening a copy/pasted copy in ‘Paint’, entered in all the cities/towns. Next step was printing it out and draw in the travel route.
It is now being digitally scanned so I can transfer it to the PDF file ‘Map’ page in the book.
There is also additional scanning being done this week for rough drafts of border art and combining other art images for future ‘Journey’ posts.
Image: ‘Day at the Beach’
Watercolor, pen & ink, 5” x 7”
Text and Image: Copyright Craig L Haupt
Ukazoo: Trademark Ukazoo Books with permission.
Craig L Haupt 