just a little more

In between inshore fishing and getting married in 1982 ,we opened a little craft shop on Lincoln Street in Lunenburg because of a product I saw and wanted and being the tight wad I am ,decided to make my own "Kitchen Witch" from found fabric in the attic of the old home where we lived in Feltzen South .We ended up selling these to everyone we knew , I saw one just last Summer at a friend's house ,my it has done well for being so old, must have been a good product, it was great to see it and we were flooded back with those memories . So with these Kitchen Witch's we thought, why not open a little store, so off we go on our next adventure, " The Copper Doll House". Our rent was only $50.00 a month back then, in Lunenburg Nova Scotia (World Heritage site today), our shop was once the old coffin shop in the town, it was very long and narrow and was beside a Photographic shop,the well known "Knickles Studio" where the walls were covered with old Photos of Lunenburg Days gone by, wooden boats and iron men . We became good friends with the owner, he and his wife stood for us at our wedding. One morning we arrived for work to the sound of a power saw, the owner woke that morning and decided to take the wall out from between our shops to make almost a little strip mall type of thing, another time, Chuck , this gentleman and a furniture store owner from directly across the street were seen by a tourist in a motor home, the three of them, one head above the other with a BB gun aimed at the roof of the furniture store , getting ready to shoot at Pigeons who were trying to nest in his building, I often wondered what those poor Tourists thought and whether they kept going or stopped for a visit.
Oh, the fun we had back then, us being the youngest of that group of store owner's and us being the only craft shop in town . Chuck for a bit went back to Sea ,while I kept the Shop going.
On one occasion he arrived home late in the evening and then we were living in Martins Brook in a wonderful old Cape Cod house again on the Ocean outside of Lunenburg, this house was huge, much bigger then what we needed , so I had a side room full of these life size Characters ready for a show I was doing, Chuck got up in the middle of the night and went downstairs and started to shortcut through this room to the kitchen, well the scream I believe woke everyone in Blue Rocks on the other side of the Harbor, I'm glad he didn't have a gun for when he put the light on and wasn't expecting anyone in the room, and the room was full of these life size sculptures just hanging out, he at first glance thought the room was full of people.
We use to have a life size Fisherman Fred sitting outside our shop and if I had a penny for every time someone had their picture taken with Fred, we took Fred to a show we were doing once and while we were packing up someone stole Fred, the local cops were friends of ours and that was funny them calling all over and looking for Fred, when a radio call came in from one of the officers saying Fred was last seen being drug across the ball field , we never did see Fred again, I hope he had a good life.
We were living off the land big time back then and everyday was an adventure, we would take trips to Cross Island to sleep over in an old abandoned Island Homestead one of only two houses on the Island , one time we took friends and being young and not as on the ball as we might be today , here we are four people who all smoked back then, arrive on the Island to find candles waiting at the house for us to use and yes not one of us smokers thought to bring a lighter or match, rubbing two sticks together does not work, oh what a trip that was, and we all had cigarette's and no fire. And to top everything, no flashlight. Chuck wonders why I can't go overnight anywhere since then without everything but the kitchen sink with me.
I spoke briefly before about sleeping on a rock which jutted out into the ocean while we lived in Feltzen South , this rock we discovered was and still is a wonderful piece of History, all over this rock are carvings of tall ship drawings and names and dates of what we assume were lovers who spent many long leisurely hours lounging on the edge of the water looking out unto to Lunenburg harbor watching the ships sail in and out. There was a deep crack in the rock and at one end we would have our fire and we actually slept in this crack, I would love to see if we both would fit in that crack today. We would wake in the morning with wet sleeping bags from the ocean and dew and maybe this is why our arthritis is bad today, one does learn the hard way, but my it was fun .
One evening we had friends over for a mug up on our rock, we were roasting chicken, all of a sudden we saw flashlights coming across the waters edge which was very rocky, when we stood to look we heard voices telling us to drop everything, it was the Fisheries Officers who saw our bonfire from across the harbor in Lunenburg and they thought maybe we were poaching Lobster which was out of season, well after they saw our chicken and we all had a good laugh, we all became friend's and added them to our mix of interesting people we knew and years later Chuck ended up working with some of these men.
We didn't have running water or electricity in Feltzen South , we did have a phone and one day it rang and Chuck's ex wife said she was sending their oldest daughter to Lunenburg to live with us, fine we said but we did have to tell her not to bother bringing anything electrical that needed to be plugged in , thinking really that she may change her mind, she arrived with a suitcase full of everything electrical.
We had to teach her all about getting water from the well , getting heat from putting wood in the stove, my if I had pictures of how small and thick the ice hole was in that well that one winter , we kept an axe near the well for chopping through the ice to get the bucket in for water, we had of course no refrigeration and used what we called a cold cupboard in the house or the well . I would make powered milk and was always telling Chuck and Michele ,me being the nag Mother of the house to put the lid back on the milk pitcher, OK now get ready for this one, Chuck one morning came down from our above the kitchen bedroom loft area and I heard him gag, he went to take a drink from the container I might add and to his surprise there was a dead mouse floating just inches from his nose, have I mentioned learning lessons the hard way?
We once went sledding with friends and told Michele to put wood in the fire and check a very large crock of homemade beans that were in the oven of the wood stove while we were gone, we arrived back to burnt beans and smoke in the kitchen so thick Michele had to keep her head low so she could continue reading her book, did I mention that back then, not so today, Michele was very much a city girl, and just overlooked the fact the beans were burnt and the fire was going out, she scrubbed that crock for weeks finally we planted something in it.
We were doing silk screening back then ,still do ,we bought 100 cheap white t shirts from a gentleman , we had plans to dye the t shirts green and silk screen "Mash" on them, now remember all we have is kerosene lamps and a wood stove. It was getting dark this evening we were dyeing these shirts when company came by, everyone loved to visit us there, always something going on down by the sea, well this couple helped us dye those shirts that evening and after much evening joy juice ,jugs of "Golden Glow" , we all woke the next morning with 100 green dyed t shirts hanging from the kitchen beams and we were green for weeks. I wish I would have kept one of those shirts , we did for sometime but you know how it is.

getting ready for the season

well it is Thursday..Wow!! what a week. A dear friend passed away,does knock one off one's pins ,so to speak, yet work needs to get done so i am burning it at both ends today. This Summer my plan is to be in downtown Liverpool demonstrating and selling, spending wonderful moments with old friends and making new, and of course selling to whom ever wants to buy. So today I have prepared many painting surfaces , unlike canvas work needs done before I can even think of painting . One piece in particular I am preparing is a great found piece of river boat with the oar lock still attached , pieces like this are hard to find and very unique and special, I will attach photos as I work on this painting for you to look at, which I do have a plan for already, you will have to come back to see what it is at a later date.

I have been needle felting many dogs in the past weeks and have a plan to do a scene with a dog walker and a few little doggy friends . Today after I get my outside work done I hope to start needle felted cats, again I will attach photos when I have some.

Already I have been commissioned to do favorite pets for folks ,so keep this in mind ,or maybe their is one in the litter that reminds you of a beloved past pet.

one commission I finished recently was of a couple on vacation , attached photo.

so off I go, break time is over.

getting on with life by Deb

So after some wonderful years in Lunenburg inshore fishing ,we decided to get married and in 1985 our son(Clay ) was born and we then bought a hobby farm in Charleston on the Medway River where we raised a fine young man as well took in Foster Children and grew our own food with gardens and animals. Swam in the fresh River water ,with our pigs and cattle looking on,still there drips the salt of the Sea in our veins, all that fresh water not being able to wash it out.

During those years we kept creating and developed a new creation called "Sea People" hand sculpted clay heads and recycled materials ...We travelled all over the Maritimes doing shows and selling and teaching our son life lessons.

After Clay left the nest we decided to sell the farm and downsize to Liverpool where we are today with a Gallery "The Wardroom" in our home.

When we are not creating in art we make our own music, we surround ourselves with different instruments , many drums being our favorites. The wooden drum is a Africian Tongue Drum given to us by a Dear Artist Friend Jim Walsh from St. Martins N.B.

Over the years I ,Deb have become known for my paintings on found fishing boat pieces, Maritime scenes of fishing Villages , wharfs, boats anything to do with our fishing heritage and just recently have taken on a new passion Needle felting, sculptures of character's of People and animals made from raw wool roving with a barbed needle, as well as small rug hooking and other forms of art.

While Chuck still toils away at his paying job for another few Months , before retiring, we then will continue working together creating. Chuck does driftwood furniture , copper reproduction copper candle lamps , painting etc.

setting the stage for today

We decided to marry and our son Clay was born in 1985 .We then bought a hobby farm on the Medway River where for 23 years we swam in the Fresh water, raised our son ,Fostered Children in need ,grew our own food with gardens and animals and enjoyed a wonderful hard working life, and never did the salt leave our veins during those wonderful years on the Medway.

We created a figurine called "Sea People" during that time, traveling all over selling and doing shows , teaching our son life lessons .

After our son (Clay) left the nest we decided to sell the Farm and down size to the nearby Town of Liverpool, this is where we are today.

In recent years I (Deb)took up painting on found fishing boat pieces , Maritime scenes ,Fishing Villages ,wharfs ,buoys ,fishing boats anything to do with the Sea and our fishing heritage, still with that salt dripping from my veins.

While my husband Chuck still toils away at his paying job for another few Months before retiring then to help me here in the Studio/Gallery ,I am hard at it painting up a storm ,and now have just recently taken up another what has become a passion "Needle Felting" working with raw wool roving and creating sculptures with a barbed needle. Doing characters of People and Animals. Also I do small rug hooking as well as many other Art forms.

Chuck builds driftwood furniture and does copper reproduction candle lamps ,we work in many different mediums.

When not doing Art, Music fills our hearts, we are drummers , and are surrounded with different instruments ,guitar, Audoharp, dulcimer , you might say we march to our own drums and have no problem entertaining ourselves . Life can be too short.

Nova Scotian Coastal Creations

Welcome , we are a couple (soul mates) who met in 1978 on the Shores of Lunenburg Nova Scotia and have not looked back from that day. Our same interests in art and music has brought us together creating from that day forward.

After dating on a camping trip on the cliffs above the caves of the Ovens Natural Park in Nova Scotia ,where we lived that first summer until the Autumn winds began to blow ,we then moved to a Little Fishing Village (Feltzen South )where we went inshore fishing for a time and that was the foundation for the beginning of an interesting life together.

Once we started creating together we have not looked back ,which brings us today where we live in Liverpool Nova Scotia where we have an in home Gallery "The Wardroom ".

We slept together on the rocks at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean back then most nights ,taking in the fresh salt air and spray of the waves crashing at our feet, I believe there is where the salt embedded into our veins and then is when we became known as "The Sea People"

www.seapeople-art.com

This is our first Post , but we will be back with some exciting items and stories to share.