Website Back Up

Thanks to my good friend Rick Telep, www.ebenjaminsmith is now back up and running. He completely redid it and I think it's fantastic - very easy to use and slick looking.

Recent Paintings

Here are some recent (and a few not-so-recent) paintings that I've been working on. Some are from my time in Prague and some are from Appleton Farms, where I now work. I should have a real website up and running in a few weeks, but thought I'd just throw these up here in the meantime. The website will be at ebenjaminsmith.com, try it sometime in August.

On Cottage

After months of hearing about my students going 'on cottage' every weekend, I was lucky enough to be invited to a 2-cottage, horse-back riding and meat consume-a-thon. Me and Pete gave our houses a good name by downing plate after plate of goulash, steaks, homemade sausage, chlebicek (little open-faced ham and potato-salad sandwiches), cakes, tiramisou, etc. And I think we drank some beer too. A bit, a bit.
The hospitality we experienced was amazing and we felt immediately comfortable, even around tables of strangers who spoke little or no English. I learned more Czech over the weekend than I did the whole time I've been here. I learned to say 'I love your cooking' and 'I have a monkey' (slang for 'I've been drinking.)
We brought a guitar and harmonicas and played them some American songs and heard some Czech songs, played by Honza and his dad and sang with gusto by all Czech's in the room. Honza is a fantastic musician and shamed us by knowing more lyrics to 'Mr. Tambourine Man' than me or Pete.
We ended the weekend with Ales and his girlfriend Denisa at her flat on Sunday over more goulash, steaks and detailed plans for their visit (with Honza) to the U.S.
Maybe the best weekend I've had since I've been here.
Click 'older posts' at the bottom for more pics.

Drawings from the first warm day of Spring

O little red bird, come to my window sill...

Winter's Come and Gone - Gillian Welch

Oh little red bird
Come to my window sill
Been so lonesome
Shaking that morning chill
Oh little red bird
Open your mouth and say
Been so lonesome
Just about flown away

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

Oh little blue bird
Pearly feather breast
Five cold nickels all I got left
Oh little blue bird
What am I gonna do
Five cold nickels
Ain't gonna see me through

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

Oh little black bird
On my wire line
Dark as trouble
In this heart of mine
Poor little black bird
Sings a worried song
Dark as trouble
'Til winter's come and gone

Steve and Rachel bring me a huge tub of peanut butter. (And stay for 10 days' visit.)

On March 8th I went to the airport and sat in the wrong terminal (and there are only two) for a few hours before meeting Steve and Rachel who flew in for 10 days of goulash sampling and wandering through the streets of Prague. They were really into checking out the city on foot and even talked me into jumping on an overnight train to Krakow with them (didn't take much). Side note; sleeping cars are awesome. If you see Steve, ask him about how all the gadgets work. Anyways, they were appropriately excited about the piles of cheap clothing for sale at the train station and we spent a good 2 hours up to our elbows in leopard-print tights and woolly military pants. But the best parts of their visit were just sitting around in my apartment, chatting, eating good food and sipping local beer. Whenever I think about what I miss most back home, it's just that; good conversations with good people, preferably over a meal, with the promise of more to follow. What sucked was when they left and I didn't know when the next time that would all happen. Maybe sooner than later. Check back for details.
(click older posts at the bottom of the page to see more pics from S&R's visit.)