Creative pursuits welcomed the holiday season at Think Long Island First

Yesterday, holidays officially started at Think Long Island First with the Small Business Saturday events.

Modest but enthusiastic group of guests and artists gathered around our table to decorate majolica ornaments under the guidance of potter Sue Adler, tie impressive bows and gift wrap in eco-friendly fashion as introduced by Kristi Halpern, Jolanta Zamecka, and Ewa Rumprecht respectively, and benefit from the expert knowledge of Feng Shui presented by Sharon LaMonica.

Award winning Long Island limericks were read by one of the judges, poet Joan Digby. Evening ended with holiday poetry reading and music cum historical commentary by fiddler Eric Marten, and his limber jack and beating straws playing wife Trudy.

Painter Yvonne Dagger and wood carver Don Dailey provided live demonstrations throughout the day. 



We want to thank All Artists who made the day so special and All Guests who graced us with their company.

Happy Holidays!

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Small Business Saturday at your small local shop

We will be kicking off the holiday season with the Small Business Saturday - a day filled with creative pursuits. Please join us on November 24th between 11 am and 5 pm. We guarantee you will be well entertained, you may even leave as a soon-to-be-published author!

11 am Holiday ornaments – decorate your own
Potter Sue Adler brings majolica holiday ornaments ready for your decorating touches. Materials fee will be collected. Ornaments will be ready for pick up 2 weeks after the event.

12 pm Eco-friendly gift wrapping
Reuse, reuse, reuse - Jolanta Zamecka and Ewa Rumprecht gift wrap with minimal environmental impact. Guests are encouraged to share their own ideas and projects.

1 pm Quilts – what makes them special
Quilter Sherry Phelps, third generation quilter, presents her family heirlooms as well as her own work and explains what makes a successful quilt.

2 pm Feng Shui, crystals, stones
Jeweler Sharon LaMonica introduces the basic concepts of Feng Shui and speaks about properties of crystals and stones. Perfect chance to adjust your energy or relaxation level.

3 pm Decorate with ribbons
Kristi Halpern creates festive decorations with ribbons. She guides you on a quest for a perfect ribbon for any decorating project.

4 pm Holiday poetry reading
Bring your own or your favorite holiday poem and read it to guests. Selected poems will be published by the Prehensile Pencil Publications, ready for purchase before the holidays.

For the greater pleasure of the company fiddler Eric Marten will accompany the poems with old holiday tunes while his wife, Trudy, introduces the limber jack.

Throughout the day, guests will have a chance to observe painter Yvonne Dagger and wood carver Don Dailey work their holiday magic with brushes and knives, respectively.

Please review the event's Press Release for more information.

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"Lazy rhythm ... rumination ... August morning", Long Island Poem for a quiet summer Sunday

Joan Digby with Snowball

Watching Snowball Graze
Joan Digby

Watching Snowball graze,
I catch the lazy rhythm
of his rumination.
Stepping through the field
he buries his soft nose in grass
tasting the menu of an August morning.

Dew still hovers on the clover,
most succulent of flowers in the field.
I think of landscape gardeners
with their "Weed-Be-Gone,"
poisoners of a horse's richest fare.
They know nothing - he everything
about his pastoral land.

Tethered to his halter
I wander as his pupil,
learning to avoid the bitter plantain,
leave the blue cornflowers to adorn the fence
and bees to drink the roses.

Watching Snowball graze,
I catch the lazy rhythm
of sunlight spreading on the meadow,
feeling no urgency to leave this place
where the swishing of his long melodic tale
sings promise of a radiant day.

'Watching Snowball Graze' by Joan Digby from Snowball Caught a Bug published by Joan's own The Feral Press. Reprinted with author's permission.
Book is illustrated by Mollie Eckelberry.

Snowball, a pony from the North Shore Equestrian Center of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, received quite some attention - C.W. Post published a story on Snowball - HORSE SENSE: ENGLISH PROFESSOR GIVES SPECIAL CARE TO PONY AT C.W. POST, which included the poem we have printed here.

Horses, though represented in various publications: I Rolled Today or Snowball Caught a Bug and important in her life and teaching - Joan had her class not only write poems on horses but also attend horse hair pottery making with Sue Adler, were not the sole topic of Joan's verses. She has a great affinity to camels, thus collection Camels and other Mammals, cats A Clowder of Cats and Oystermania CSI. She even wrote tennis poems Marks on the Surface: tennis poems'. With her husband, John Digby, poet and collage artist, she co-edited books on food & drink in poetry: 'Food for thought: an anthology of writings inspired by food' and 'Inspired by drink: an anthology'.

Joan runs the C.W. Post Poetry Center of Long Island University, established 1974. The Center organizes Poetry Awards Nights, Poetry Appreciation Day readings, and promotes a wide range of emerging and established poetry by local, domestic, and international artists.

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Previous Long Island Poem for Sunday - Seaside vignette, Long Island Poem for a beach perfect Sunday

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"O the horseman's joys!", horses at Think Long Island First

In the past we have presented birds in the works of the Long Island artists. We have seen the dog drawings from Mollie Eckelberry's collection. Today, horses.

"O the horseman's and horsewoman's joys! / The saddle, the gallop, the pressure upon the seat, the cool gurgling / by the ears and hair." Walt Whitman rhapsodized in 'A Song of Joys'. And so do many Long Island artists who celebrate horses in their art.

Joel Kanaravogel, wire sculpture

Joel Kanarvogel of Woodbury created a wire sculpture of a team of four horses with front legs high in the air.
Joel, a horse lover and Triple Crown aficionado since his early years in the Catskill Mountains, said: "I grew up with the smell of horses which I love to this day. I love the fluidity of motion of horses and how they gracefully run and prance and stride, and how they flick their tails when they are happy."

Regan Tausch, painting

Many paintings by Bayville folk artist Regan Tausch include peaceful scenes of horses pulling carriages, horses pulling sleighs in winter scenes, horses grazing in the pastures, horses watching the world through the Dutch doors of well kept stables, or horses muzzling each other contentedly. Regan was an avid rider in her earlier days.

Mollie Eckelberry, note cards

Mollie Eckelberry not only rode and drew horses but also authored an equestrian memoir 'Vest Pocket Farm' - a good read, overflowing with her love and respect for the animal. Mollie's first encounter with a runaway horse at a tender age of three made her want to draw nothing but stick horses. Horses are still a great part of her daily life in Muttontown.

AnnMarie Levin, note cards

We carry AnnMarie Levin's note card sets with beautiful horse prints in brown, green, and navy.
Horses are the favorite subject of the young Oyster Bay artist. She commented: "I have been riding horses since the age of 5, and have a lovely gelding named Lysander who inspires me everyday."

Sue Adler, horse hair vase

Sue Adler, Locust Valley potter and equestrian, specializes in horse hair pottery. She applies an old American Indian technique where strands of hair from horse's tail are draped and burned over a hot surface of a pot. The end result - a classic shape of white clay with subtle color accents, enveloped in a net of random black lines - is beautiful in its contrasts.

Frank Cammarata, paper cut

Holbrook's Frank Cammarata brought us a paper cutout of a grazing horse. Black paper, white background.

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Mother's Day gifts

Mother's Day is approaching. Consider a meaningful, locally handcrafted gift. We have plenty of choices for you. Here are a few samples.

Mother and Baby Lamb Drawing by Susan Gaber	Beautifully scented soaps by Susan Linares in an ebonized bowl by Harry Wicks
Horse hair vase with red banding by Sue Adler In the background a trivet made from recycled cork by Wayne Jeno	Eye/sun catching crystals by Sharon LaMonica
Small jewelry box by Janet Bruce	Elegant cheese plate by Donna Ferrara
Serving dish with butterfly motives by Gina Mars	Colorful, hand-made glass beads by Gea Hines
All photos by Agata and Tom Behrens

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Valentine's Day Contest - Winners Are Announced

"To you my heart I must resign \ O choose me for your Valentine!" wrote Lt. Col. Simcoe to Sally Townsend in 1779, in the first recorded Valentine in America. We did not have to refer to heart only to help us select winners of our "Show the Love Valentine's Day Art Competition".

The esteemed jury of three Long Island artists: photographer Alan Henriksen, painter Susie Gach Peelle, and wood turner Harry Wicks met at Think Long Island First today to judge the contest entries, on creativity and execution.

Judges at work. From left: Susie Gach Peelle, Harry Wicks, Alan Henriksen	Judges tallying scores. From left: Alan Henriksen, Susie Gach Peelle, Harry Wicks

And the winners are:
In Adult section
1st Place - Don Dailey
for Hearts and Vines, cherry wood carved love spoon

2nd Place - Anne Breitstein
for October Evening, West Neck Beach, watercolor

3rd Place - Sue Adler
for Happy Hearts, ceramic

In Young Adult section
1st Place - Kelley Marco
for Time Line of Love, ink and acrylic

Don Dailey Hearts and Vines 1st Place Adult Section	Kelley Marco Life Line of Love 1st Place Young Adult Section
Anne Breitstein October Evening, West Neck Beach 2nd Place Adult Section	Sue Adler Happy Hearts 3rd Place Adult Section

We still have Popular Vote Awards to choose, so please stop by the store between Friday and Saturday and cast your vote.

Award ceremony takes place at Think Long Island First at 36 Audrey Avenue, Oyster Bay, NY, on Sunday, February 12th between 2-3 pm.

Thank you to All Contestants for participation and congratulations to the winners!

"Show the Love Valentine Competition" coincides with the first annual Valentine's Fair in Oyster Bay, Celebrating America's First Valentine, and all things love..., organized by Raynham Hall Museum, Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce, and a group of other local businesses. Please see a list of all the festivities taking place in town during the Valentine's Day weekend.

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Sue Adler and her horse hair pottery

Sue Adler in her studio.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Sue Adler first came across the horse hair pottery at a class given by her teacher, Sea Cliff potter Donna Ferrara. Horse hair pottery is created by a unique process of heating a stoneware pot in a kiln to over 1000F, taking it out of the kiln when it's very hot, and draping long single strands of horse hair over it. Hair instantly carbonizes when it touches the super hot pot and leaves distinct black pattern on the wall.



Sue always had a curiosity about pottery but has not tried it until she found Donna's ad in PennySaver. She had already practiced her hand at watercolor, drawing, and quilting. AAS degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design from Farmingdale State College did not come amiss in the attuning of her eye to shape and beauty. Pottery had proven to be as interesting as expected and she delved into it with a passion.

Pot heated to 1000F draped with
horse hair.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Sue continued taking classes with Donna for 5-6 years, attended pottery workshops, joined Long Island Craft Guild and Potters Counsel. Her father found a potter's wheel at a garage sale thus laying a foundation for Sue's own studio. Over the years she organized her comfortable workspace, lined the walls with shelves storing pots at their many different stages of production. She built herself a raku kiln out of a galvanized garbage can, then acquired a large kiln and a small raku kiln for 2-3 pieces. The latter was a great addition, it enabled her to fire at any time of the year (with her first garbage can kiln she was limited to summer months when thermal shock was less of the issue) and allowed her to work on a small batch of pots, important when working on custom orders, not a small chunk of Sue's orders.

Horse hair pot with blue banding.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

The chance encounter with the horse hair pottery was a godsend. It enabled her to celebrate horses through pottery. Ever since she first seriously rode one at the age of 15 her life revolved around them. At 17 she bought her own horse, she trained and looked after horses, she successfully competed in the lady side saddle division in the National Horse Show at the Madison Square Garden and at the Hampton Classic. She now works full time as a horse farm manager.

Horse hair pottery.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

With her first horse hair pots she made gifts to her friends. Eventually she build a following in the industry. Many horse lovers want to have a meaningful memento of their beloved animals - a beautiful, carefully handcrafted pot with the permanent imprint of the tail hair. Sue is touched every time she is asked to make a custom pot.

You can find more information about Sue on her website http://sueadlerpottery.homestead.com/. She also has her own YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/adlesk54.

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Birds at Think Long Island First

Today is the 226th birthday of John James Audubon. This prompted us to look for works represending birds in our store. We found quite a few.

Rooster by Christina Kneer. Matted photograph on paper.	Kingfisher by Bob Schiff. Wood carving.
Hello Spring by Cathy Nichols. Print on wood panel.	Sand Pipers by Don Dailey. Wood carving.
Feather pins by Mike Denaro. Wood carving.	Bird by Mollie Eckelberry. Printed card, hand colored.
Rooster by Jewelry 10. Ceramic pin.	Shovel bird by Tom Malloy. Metal sculpture.
Bird feeder by Sue Adler. Clay feeder with leather hanger.	Chicks by Gerry Corrigan. Matted photograph on paper.

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