Welcome

Ahoy Matey, and Welcome to REPTIRE, an intermittent ‘ship’s blog’, chronicling the slow rise in the South Easterly skies of Reptire Designs; a studio that designs and crafts always artful, and sometimes useful THINGAMABOBS from old Indian Cucachou, aka ReTired Rubber.

Down Below, Ye shall find a permanent 'flagship post' marking the Maiden Voyage of Reptire Designs.

And below that, in the ‘hull’, can be found more recent posts chronicling the daring new adventures of Reptire Designs, dashed with small bits of whimsy, spotted pickerel, local color, and lizard lore..

In fact, on the right, in pale purple, ye shall find the Captain's Log’s Table of Previous Posts, which ye can peruse by year, month, and title to ye hearts content.

If ye haven't gotchyer sea legs yet, My Pretty, Ye can take a gander at our website at www.reptiredesigns.com, to get a proper Landlubber's Introduction.

Thanks for stopping in, I do hope you enjoy your visit aboard this ship! HARHARHARHAR.......

Sincerely, Travius Von Cohnifus

Captain, Founder, Indentured Servant, Rubber Alligator Wrestlor Extraordinaire a' this here ship.

enter the treadknot

Welcome
On September 26th, 2006, I launched my tire art/design business, Reptire Designs, with a solo exhibition of my artwork in The Green Gallery at The Scrap Exchange Center for Creative Reuse, in Durham, NC. For many reasons, it was a night that I will always remember, and I am grateful to Laxmi (my girlfriend at the time) and Edie (my mother, still) for dutifully documenting while I shmoozed, so that I may now shmare a taste of the evening with anyone who was not able to attend...



On a cool but lively autumn night-before-Center Fest, a stream of friends and curious strangers trickled (like pebbles through a rain stick) through the forest of odds and ends (that roost at night in The Scrap Exchange), out into the warm light of the back savanna, a scene utterly glopped with bizarre rubbery hybrids. Tentative and curious, the visitors craned their necks, nibbled, pecked, stood back, moved in closer. From the walls, glassy mirror eyes gazed back through black unblinking eyelids, while beneath the visitor's feet, in a steamy drainage cistern, a mortal drama unfolded. Primordial forms, with no eyes at all, sat puckered on stoops. A cascade of glittering steal droplets formed a curtain, to which clung a colony of tiny tire knotlettes.

Vito D., a long-time collabator down from the Asheville area, caressed the warming air with his Strange Little Folk music. I bobbed and I flit, and at an increasing clip-someone must have opened the faucet a bit....for soon I was swooning, I just about lost it! As the evening progressed, to my delight and amazement, 'family' from Durham, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Hillsboro, Siler City, Asheville, and Fresno all made it! From the Cohn Clan to the Steudel Clan to the CFS Clan; from the WWC Clan to the Duke Ac Pub Clan to the SAF Clan; from the Bike Shop Clan to the Ninth St. Clan to the Scrap Clan... and every one in between, guys, they were all appearing before my stunned, blinking eyes. While I spun and I splayed, Vito now played-CHURNED- up a torrent of gritty ditties; while a staff volunteer (Brandon's a photographer, I swear) whipped up pitchers of Mango Lassies. And The 'Scrap Exchange girls' worked the door, the counter, and the floor, going "cha-CHING!", cha-CHING!","cha-CHING!".!.



By the end of the night, hundreds of friends, acquaintances and had-been-strangers had poured in, poured over the work, and partaken in, what was for me and my art, a monumental communal feast. And on top of it all, I got to place many of my preemies in hands that I love and trust, and in several instances, hands that fit them like gloves. What a privilage to be able to connect with people this way. Heading into the turbid seas of small business, I can confidently say that if I drown tomorrow, I am at least blessed today with the memory of (as Vito later put it) one authentically good Durham night.



Thanks to all of you who were there; in body and/or spirit.





Reclaimed-wood Builder and Reptire Collector Howard Staab enjoying magwi knot at the Scrap Exchange

Reclaimed-wood Builder and Reptire Collector Howard Staab enjoying magwi knot at the Scrap Exchange
I can't think of anything more rewarding for an artist than to see someone interacting with their artwork. Photo by Laxmi Haynes

Sammy and Dannette contemplate

Sammy and Dannette contemplate
Photograph by Laxmi Haynes

Cascade Colony of Knotlets

Cascade Colony of Knotlets
They would go with your jacket, would they not Claire?

Laxmi Resplendent

Laxmi Resplendent

Mavis In The Mist

Mavis In The Mist
Photograph by Laxmi Haynes

Tire Amazement

Tire Amazement
Photograph by Edie Cohn

Monday, May 16, 2011

Haw River Festival 2011



I got to return to the Haw River Festival again this year, to adorn its willing participants with the occassional skink thumb, or tree frog snack wrap.

It was a lot of fun!
Last year was great, but a little exhausting. So this time around, I decided to bring in some reinforcements. So I invited in a few choice Guest Artists who I knew had both the skillz and flava for this special event. This allowed me to enjoy working at a little bit more relaxed of a pace, and I also got to enjoy the creativity of these fellow Artists, as we celebrated the Native Denezins of the Haw.



I was blessed first with the talents of Chatham's own Charity Alston, who has been festooning faces at Pittsboro's 1st Sunday event for many years (among other places).




I was also blessed with the talents of Suzette, a really great face painter I had met at the festival last year!
She whipped up some really nice designs, incorporating some native flora, such as this tiger lilly.
Suzette with her Tiger Lilly
Though I didn't get to add a lot of new designs this year, as I had hoped, I did get to make some good matches this year.





My friend Brooksie requested a talisman of my choosing. Said she needed alittle pick me up. Wow, being entrusted with this creative task actually really got my juices flowing. I had a lot of fun with this one, and hope I did her right.
Brooksie


My toughest customer of the day was this man, a Pint Sized Herpetologist.



With the conviction of a Father of a teenage girl in a Used Car Lot, he demanded a poison dart frog, which was to have shiny black skin, bearing blue spots, a yellowish abdomen, and red eyes, and on the double! 

It was my first poison dart frog...had he been a true pygmy, I probably would have wound up a poison dart shishkabob....to appease him, I gave his frog a tasty dragon fly snack on the other cheek, gratis. A guys gotta do...

One of my more satisfying works was for this young feller. 
Tough guy Talisman.
I don't know, I think I see a tattoo materializing..

And once Little Bro saw how cool his Big Bro looked with his, well, you know, he HAD to have one too! (only he wanted his with just yellow stripes!)




Two Brothers Skinks
Check out the pride evident in Little Bro's expression, of Juvenile Awe, and Brotherhood...
This is the stuff...


I got a little bit entranced by the stone wall which formed both the rich and majestic back drop of this painting session, as well as the foundation of the Saxapahaw Post Office.

Skink Scape

This wall was in fact adorned with its own live a squirmy embellishments, a raucous bunch of skinks had made this Tunisian Palace their home and playground. Last year, a sole skink "Hugo" had provided a perfect specimine for delighted and watching eyes. However, it seems Hugo had not felt adequetly compensated for his wildlife modeling services last year, and I would say was not on his best behavior this time around!

Skinks Gone Bad
Well, I guess if We get to celebrate the wildlife of the Haw... I guess maybe this is just how they celebrate up here in Saxapahaw...hey, its a party!

And here is a skink couple, looking pretty amorous. Who would have ever guessed that skinks were capable of such post-coital tenderness...makes me rethink the skink to be honest with you..




I did get a request for a new creature that I had never heard of before...and thus was born, friends, the first and only TIGER SNAKE in known existance....







But not for long!

Because once that thing hit the ground....well it was not 20 minutes before the second ever Tiger Snake was paged into existance. This one was customized with a green stripe, for a very special fellow, none other than the Son Of A Very Dear Friend, Jimmy/Cosmo Magoo!



Cosmo's Tiger Snake



I also had a little Reptire action going at the festival

For one, I made a donation of the Lovely Lady Alligatory Knot, that I had prepared for the Haw River Assembly's live auction at the festival.



I regret that I missed the Reverend Gary Phillips spinning this bugger, but I was gratified to hear that 
A) it was planted by a dear old friend, Ken Moore, with some bamboo like plant, which I am sure suited it rather exquisitely, as Ken has a great and very artistic eye.
and 
B) It sold to some one who was reportedly very excited to have one it!

I would love to find out who this is, and meet this person some day. If anyone has any clues, please contact me at traviscohn@gmail.com. Thanks.

One satisfying result of this, I believe, is that, as I was sitting there, painting a salamander on someone's cheek, I heard a woman's voice from behind me inform a friend that "This is a treadknot", in a very expert like tone!
I had to turn around, a little bit baffled. Who was this new Reptire Design expert? It was not until after I had gone home that I realized that Gary and Germane must have done an excellent job of spinning this planter, because they had created a new expert in the field! (This was quite a suprising, and gratifying, and maybe defining moment for me).

Another gratifying moment was when I realized that the new Gallery in Saxapahaw was started by a woman whom I had met last year. She had mentioned her ambition/dream to start such a gallery for local artists, and to be honest, I hadn't take her dream very seriously.
Well, I stand corrected. One year later, this lovely, stately, and very well situated gallery stands in defiance of my pessimism, and fully stocked with a rich collection of outstanding art made from local greats, filled with splendor. Saxapahaw seems to have a streak of defying the odds.
From a gas station that serves out of this world Gormet food (which is also very much 'of this world'- locally grown, and now, not only this gallery, but also that night the grand opening of a Grand Ballroom?!!! What are these people thinking?!!! And yet, they are thriving. Here is to Saxapahaw. Shine On, You Crazy Diamond"! 
And even nicer, everyone seemed to be really chill at this festival this year.

I traded this Gentle Giant one of my treadknots for some wicked strands of his 'Dragon Maille' chain-maille, which felt like a good trade, of kith celtic knot-work. A very nice and friendly guy, Father of Tough Customer.


Some Merry Olde Souls I encountered

In fact, fortunately for me, my toughest customer also turned out to be my best, and most satisfied customer.

A seemingly satisfied customer


Charity Alston: Pillar of Strength, Grace, and Bad Ass Lassitude


SPECIAL THANKS TO CHARITY ALSTON FOR HER CONSISTENT, STEADFAST HELP WITH THIS EVENT. One of my very favorite persons I've had the pleasure to meet and work with in Chatham County, I don't think Charity quite realized what she was getting into when she signed on for this one (with a giant bamboo balistrade to assemble). And yet, she was down for it all, always a step ahead of me, and seemed genuinely glad to be there, which I appreciated. I'm so glad we got to spend this time together, Love Ya Baby Doll.


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