And On Those Shores They Did Dance

It was a lovely day on Saturday to return to San Damiano to see what the wood sculptors at the Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival had come up with. If Michelangelo was correct in his (arboreally adjusted) assertion "Every log has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it" then I was surely in for a treat. And so I jumped on my bike and headed out after my morning coffee and making sure Willow was properly fed & watered.

Starkweather Creek looked lovely from the Ivy Street bridge.

Back in my old neighborhood I spied a mama mallard and her brood in the runoff reservoir just off of Walter Street. It brought back some good memories as I had walked and biked by there quite often when I lived in Eastmorland. I saw all manner of creatures there as I passed by over the years - mallards, muskrats, blue herons, et al.

When I stopped in at the wood sculpture festival last weekend, the artists were mainly wielding chainsaws and doing the rough cuts on their logs, giving only the broadest of outlines to the statues within. But now there were some completed sculptures, a few getting stain applied, and the remaining still having the finishing touches put on them.

The bear and mouse dancing was simply lovely.

Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!!

San Damiano is such a lovely spot.

At least some of the works from the last festival ended up on display at Olbrich Park and Garver Feed Mill and I am hoping the same will happen to this year's works.

The Dixon Green Space was serene and all aglow on my ride home.

Every log of wood has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it

Last weekend I was pleased to discover that my bicycle's tires could still hold air as I inflated them for the first time in many a moon. While I'd taken a ride last summer, I believe, it had been a while since I rode with any sort of frequency and I was looking to get back into the swing of things. My first venture on two wheels of 2026 would be to the Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival over at San Damiano in Monona. I'd attended back in 2024 and now realize that I never wrote about my visit.

Harry Whitehorse was born up in Black River Falls in 1927. He served in the Navy during World War II and settled in the Madison area afterwards. He ran an auto body shop in Monona and pursued his passion for creating art, including wood sculpture.

The festival involves artists from around the globe each being given a ginormous log and transforming it into a sculpture over the course of several days on the shores of Lake Monona. This year they came from such faraway places as Poland, Puerto Rico, Germany, Argentina, Green Bay, and Madison. The theme for 2026 is dancing and I am keen to see what these artists come up with.

Here are some scenes from the opening day of sculpting. Chainsaws were the order of the day as the artists were doing the rough shaping of the logs. The finer, more detailed work would come later.

The sculptors had eye protection but we observers didn't. More than once a breeze off the lake blew the sawdust into my face.

I was surprised to see a face emerging already on this log.

It was a lovely day out with plenty of sun and not too hot. There were craft vendors and food trucks.

As I did back in 2024, I bought some cards by Christopher Sweet, a Ho-Chunk artist from Baraboo.

Here the artist from Germany contemplates how best to discover and uncover the statue in the log.

I was told that this was this fellow's first time sculpting from wood of this size. Until now he'd done only small-scale stuff. Oh, he's from Green Bay.

Some of the sculptures from the 2024 festival were put on display at Olbrich Gardens, Garver Feed Mill, and perhaps elsewhere. I'm not sure if these are permanent displays or not. One of the pieces from a couple years back was on display Saturday at the park.

And here's one that I spied at Garver back in the spring.

I hope that they get put on display around town and become fixtures like Sid Boyum's works are.

After grabbing a bite to eat, I head over to Working Draft Beer to sample their rauch hefeweizen. I also had a small pour (I was biking) of their English summer ale.

It was very tasty and reminded me of the Wainwright Gold I had in the UK last year. And here is that lovely beer which I had with my Sunday roast at The Old Crown in Birmingham. It's an inn that supposedly dates back to 1368 and I had two wonderful meals there in the warm, medievalish atmosphere.

The folks at Working Draft did a really nice job in capturing that light, doughy malt taste that predominated in the beers I had over there. Not a 100% exact match but really gosh darn close. Thank you Clint and company.

Having been refreshed by the power of delicious beer, I met a friend at the garden plot that she co-works with a friend of hers.

Swiss chard, basil, tomatoes, and more. I went home with a bundles of fresh dill. Mmm...

I hope to make a return trip to San Damiano this weekend to see the sculptures in their final form.

Canine art

In Stoughton...

In Stoughton their utility boxes get rosemaled.

Just some photos

A look at high rises, whole and in-progress, looming over State Street.

Some fine woodcut art.

My friend's hound Wolfy and his gal pal Coco.

Finally, here's my brother. I commemorated the 11th(!) anniversary of his death recently. It's still hard to believe he's been gone that long and I still miss him greatly. I really wish I had him to help me go through this divorce as his pantagruelian disposition would be a great comfort right now.

The bright side of life

Despite Piper's death and a large cat-shaped hole in my heart, life goes on and there really are many wonderful things in mine. Sometimes it is difficult to enjoy them or even recognize they exist when I get bogged down in my sweetpea's absence. For instance, it was very difficult to come home from work that first day after her death. I walked in the door and tearfully stared at the couch waiting for her to walk around the corner and jump on it to patiently wait for me to give her a pill pocket.

It gets better a little every day but I still miss her greatly. 

I baked a loaf of rye bread recently.

I used some insta-sourdough dust. 

It was nice to finally give this stuff a go as I had bought a packet last year when I was still living with my wife but never used it while in the grip of divorce miasma.

It turned out well with a nice rye flavor and a good tangy zip to it.

Look what arrived a couple days ago! 

I simply adore this picture. Winter! A kindly cat! Birds!

This was a gift given to me maybe a week or so before Piper passed. I need to get it framed so that it can sit on my desk.

Another recent gift was some coffee from Puerto Rico. 

Very tasty stuff. Very roasty and a bit nutty.

I hung my print of Grabby.

One of Piper to follow.

Lastly, for now, I'll mention that Shemekia Copeland put on a great show last week. 

Lousy picture, I know. One thing I love about her is how positive she is. In addition to catchy melodies and booty-shakin' grooves, her songs are often about hope and being kind to one another. She certainly recognizes hardships in life but she emphasizes beauty.

She mentioned that she'll be back here in Madison this summer at one of our numerous festivals.