Found my way through Poulsbo right to Don Kott’s place in Suquamish Reservation. Met Don through Michael and his ex-wife Rimma. Don invited me to visit, camp out on his property for an undetermined time. The Ford 250 had plenty of power to pull RV up the grassy knoll to a spot under a tree that looked flat enough. I got her leveled and set up in half an hour. Dons’ modest house serves him well with its segmented areas. A nice art studio area for painting, drawing, and computer. Living room has a welcoming rustic cabin feeling. Pottery and art aplenty. A small and adequate kitchen dining room area, and two baths. The upper floor has a bedroom and full bath which he has offered as my guest bath. Don is a warm enthusiastic personality and his excitement is contagious.
He delivers one story after another in detail about his years of experience fishing, sailing, painting, wives, girlfriends, and hippie life in the 60-70s. He’s a great example to me at this time of how to move forward. Dons attitude is direct, amiable, and refreshing. Free spirited and generous. He gave me a copy of his memoirs entitled The Sea is for Sailing. His wall is covered with his illustrations of vessels which demonstrate his knowledge and passion for marine.
In the afternoon I met with friend David Harrison. He built an art studio at his mothers house on the north east side of Poulsbo. David and brother Dan are taking care of mother, Ann who is facing declining health. His new studio has 4 skylights, about 15’ x 20’, lots of storage around back and a place to work outside. The surrounding area ‘s well planted with shrubs and garden.
Met David while plein air painting from a bluff in Discovery Park over 20 years ago.
Over the years we’ve had many adventures centered on plein air painting.
David is an accomplished watercolorist. I’ve picked up some great tips from him over the years.
We’ve met on trips to Southwest America, Paris and Cinque Terra. We have many likes in common: French Impressionists, Fauvists, Jazz, Jethro Tull, watercolor, and free-thinking. We do disagree on politics so that is a touchy area! Ann pulled out a photo album. As we thumbed through I was getting a bit teary. There were pictures of us in Italy. Young, vibrant. David so handsome with his dark full head of hair. I was shocked at how good looking I was! Always thought I was fat and homely. Damn I shoulda worked it!!! Maybe not, I got into enough trouble as it was. That’s another blog. David is always respectful and kind. He genuinely likes people. I’m not so sure about people. I’ve invited him over to my camp to check out my rig.
This is the perfect place for the dogs since the yard is large and fenced. There are two friendly goats on one side. I carefully watch the dogs for aggressive signals and surprisingly they show mild interest. If those goats were dogs they’d be lunging to tear them apart. I need to find some local trails to walk dogs and walk my body.
He delivers one story after another in detail about his years of experience fishing, sailing, painting, wives, girlfriends, and hippie life in the 60-70s. He’s a great example to me at this time of how to move forward. Dons attitude is direct, amiable, and refreshing. Free spirited and generous. He gave me a copy of his memoirs entitled The Sea is for Sailing. His wall is covered with his illustrations of vessels which demonstrate his knowledge and passion for marine.
In the afternoon I met with friend David Harrison. He built an art studio at his mothers house on the north east side of Poulsbo. David and brother Dan are taking care of mother, Ann who is facing declining health. His new studio has 4 skylights, about 15’ x 20’, lots of storage around back and a place to work outside. The surrounding area ‘s well planted with shrubs and garden.
Met David while plein air painting from a bluff in Discovery Park over 20 years ago.
Over the years we’ve had many adventures centered on plein air painting.
David is an accomplished watercolorist. I’ve picked up some great tips from him over the years.
We’ve met on trips to Southwest America, Paris and Cinque Terra. We have many likes in common: French Impressionists, Fauvists, Jazz, Jethro Tull, watercolor, and free-thinking. We do disagree on politics so that is a touchy area! Ann pulled out a photo album. As we thumbed through I was getting a bit teary. There were pictures of us in Italy. Young, vibrant. David so handsome with his dark full head of hair. I was shocked at how good looking I was! Always thought I was fat and homely. Damn I shoulda worked it!!! Maybe not, I got into enough trouble as it was. That’s another blog. David is always respectful and kind. He genuinely likes people. I’m not so sure about people. I’ve invited him over to my camp to check out my rig.
This is the perfect place for the dogs since the yard is large and fenced. There are two friendly goats on one side. I carefully watch the dogs for aggressive signals and surprisingly they show mild interest. If those goats were dogs they’d be lunging to tear them apart. I need to find some local trails to walk dogs and walk my body.
Went with Don to do errands in his sporty red convertible. He made a reference to the old man/red sports car stereotype, shrugged it off with a hearty laugh. Very pleasant ride through Poulsbo and some history narrative from Don. Poulsbo oyster beds are gone due to pollution. Nordic fishing heritage is also gone now except for the tourist oriented branding. Poulsbo is now catching tourists instead of fish. Stopped into Bobland. Bobland is an intriguing creative expression created by Bob and friends in the seventies. It’s a meadow set in the forest with installations of deteriorating art pieces sprawling along an obscure pathway. There are mirror mosaic faces, giant concrete bones protruding from the earth, fertility symbols, tall stacks of abstract forms, fish forms, and more strange unrelated chaos for a mind to assimilate. Robin, caretaker and artist invited me to contribute to his “billboard” with a message or drawing. He has an installation onsite called “Extents”. Funny and thought provoking signs placed in the forest. One example says “Yikes, and Whew”. Don explained that the original intention of Bobland is that all the artworks would dissolve back into the earth. It appears to be on it’s way as there is a feeling of discovering a lost civilization. We got back to Dons place and I loaded up the crock pot for a fabulous pot roast dinner. We ate well and enjoyed a few glasses of red wine.
David stopped by for a visit to check out my rig. He met Don and enjoyed hearing Don’s fishin’ stories. Turns out David worked a few months on a boat “The Tempest” which at a different time Don captained. David commented on Dons’ book collection, pointing out the Beat writers. I realize that would be a perfect read for me now, so am going to revisit Jack Kerowac, Allan Ginsburg, Ken Kesey, and the rest of gang. Also available in the Don Kots library is Jack London. So many marine titles its mind boggling. This place is a treasure chest! Maybe this is a good time to start smoking. Its never too late to start smoking.
Walked with David over to Bobland and he was bubbling with boyish enthusiasm. David left wanting to know more about Bobland. Since he’s local maybe he’ll return for another dose . It’s about 10 pm so I read from Dons’ fascinating memoirs before hitting the sack.
Still planning to get the ladder and scrub down the RV as I didn't get that done today. Two months of dirt is starting to show.
David stopped by for a visit to check out my rig. He met Don and enjoyed hearing Don’s fishin’ stories. Turns out David worked a few months on a boat “The Tempest” which at a different time Don captained. David commented on Dons’ book collection, pointing out the Beat writers. I realize that would be a perfect read for me now, so am going to revisit Jack Kerowac, Allan Ginsburg, Ken Kesey, and the rest of gang. Also available in the Don Kots library is Jack London. So many marine titles its mind boggling. This place is a treasure chest! Maybe this is a good time to start smoking. Its never too late to start smoking.
Walked with David over to Bobland and he was bubbling with boyish enthusiasm. David left wanting to know more about Bobland. Since he’s local maybe he’ll return for another dose . It’s about 10 pm so I read from Dons’ fascinating memoirs before hitting the sack.
Still planning to get the ladder and scrub down the RV as I didn't get that done today. Two months of dirt is starting to show.
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