A Lowell Davis Day
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Day 14: April 30, 2018 A Lowell Davis Day Comment via blog |
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After verifying that the sheriff was still on the job and the chairs were
back where they belongs, Debbie Dee and I headed down to the Pancake Hut
for breakfast. It's been about two years since I've been in Carthage and
resident artist Lowell Davis has been busy while I was gone. Debbie
promised to markup a map with all the new installations, but that wouldn't
be necessary for the one in front of the restaurant. I snapped it on the
way in. As we ate, the plan changed from a marked up map to a guided tour
and maybe, after we'd seen all the new stuff, a visit to
Red Oak II. Then,
just as this plan was starting to firm up, in walks the man himself.
He spoke with several of the other people in the restaurant before accepting Debbie's invitation to join us. He pulled a chair up to our booth and a three way conversation took hold as we ate. When it came time to leave, I asked Lowell if he would allow a photograph and he graciously agreed. A restaurant employee accepted the task of taking a picture of Lowell's artwork, Lowell, me, and Debby. |
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Debbie started the tour by showing me the new in town Lowell Davis
installations.
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The lady (partially) in red in the previous panel was originally part of
an installation at the edge of town, but was deemed too risque by some.
She is now displayed in the window of
Cherry's
Emporium on the town square. The event space in the rear is where the
2016 JHA conference banquet was held. Doorways have been opened between
the Emporium and three or four other shops to create a sort of
"on-the-square mini-mall"
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Five more relatively new Lowell Davis art pieces. All are wonderful
examples of his whimsy and unique mix of found and created bits but the
last one is my favorite.
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At Red Oak II, we made one pass in the truck before stopping. Debbie was
chauffeuring me in the Boot's pickup so I wouldn't run over someone while
gawking. There are quite a few new things in the town including the
twin-de-engined airplane and Marshall Hooker's fort to go with the already
there Marshall Hooker's Jail. Despite the sign,
the gallery wasn't actually open but we did find Lowell on the other side
of the house, and I got to meet his wife, Rose. Debbie and Rose went in
the house to plot a plant buying excursion while Lowell and I sat at a
table discussing history, health, neighbors, etc. I took no photos of
Lowell as we talked, but only pointed the camera at the starling hanging
around the peak of the house. The last two shots are of Red Oak II from an
unfamiliar to me perspective. The cows are real although the look like
something Davis might have created and placed there.
It's really great to see so many new Lowell Davis creations around Carthage, but Lowell's moving a little slower these days. Debbie had mentioned it before he showed up at breakfast and Lowell himself commented on his health. But, even though he has a little less spring in his steps, he still has, as I noted after our first meeting, "more twinkle in his eye than most Christmas trees". |
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We targeted more art on the way back to the Boots. The first picture is of
the Crapduster which was the first Lowell Davis piece I ever saw and one
I've photographed several times. We hadn't really targeted it but I
couldn't resist taking a shot while we waited for traffic at the
intersection. The other two are new although I'd already seen the truck --
sorta. I saw it while headed south last night, but I was anxious to get to
the Boots so didn't even think about stopping until I was almost even with
it. I initially thought it just an old truck but as I passed I spotted the
chickens poking out of the trailer and knew that Davis had something to do
with it. I'm glad I got back here today.
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Not only did I spend the morning shooting Lowell Davis art installations
and chatting with the artist, he instigated a back-track. At breakfast, he
spoke about a piece he had done for a company in Jasper. Jasper is about
ten miles in the wrong direction from Carthage, but the more he described
the place, the more I knew I ought to go. So, after Debbie returned me to
my car, that's where I headed. The company in question is
Frontier
Equestrian which was established in California in 1993, moved to the
Jasper area several years ago, and more recently set up their headquarters
in the heart of town. Their business is mostly internet and mail order
but, with a pair of horses and the Lowell Davis piece marking the front of
the building, their presence is quite a bit more noticeable. Inside, rows
of new and used carriages and all sorts of equestrian gear, make it look
like a museum. Most of that stuff is inventory but there are a few museum
like items such as a carriage from Queen Elizabeth's coronation and an
unusual tandem pedal cart. The Lowell Davis piece is centered around a
real sorghum mill which, if I understood him
correctly, he once owned then sold during the great liquidation and found
again to build this installation.
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Then it was back through Carthage and onward. I'd been kind of excited to
learn that the 66
Drive-In would be operating while I was in Carthage but decidedly less
so when I heard that it had been filled to overflowing on Friday and
Saturday and that people were lining up at 3:30 for the Sunday show. I
settled for a Monday pause in the drive way.
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I've entered Kansas several times over that span on the left. It carries
Front Street and Route 66. This is the first time I've entered on the
level on Clark Street or the Jefferson Highway. A completely new view of
Galena results. The familiar Cars on the Route is up ahead and the less
familiar Bordello Antiques is on the left. A fantastic ghost sign that I
didn't even know existed is on the right.
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Kansas famously contains just 13 miles of Historic Route 66. There were
multiple alignments of the Jefferson Highway through the state, including
those that spend almost all of their time south of Kansas City in Kansas
rather than Missouri. The route I'm following, spends 17.5 of its miles in
Kansas. I found the first stretch of Kansas gravel just beyond Galena.
There would be a total of 5.9 miles meaning that just over a third of my
travel in Kansas was on unpaved roads. I paused briefly at
the monument to the vanished town of Treece
before moving on to Oklahoma.
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Residences in the town of Picher, Oklahoma, are extremely rare and almost
certainly unoccupied. Almost all standing structures are there to maintain
the roads or the law. Like Treece on other side of the state line, Picher
grew to support the mining industry and was eventually contaminated to
death by it.
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I ended the day in Vinita where I had my second meal at
Clantons Cafe. The
first was breakfast and a super omelet. This time was dinner and I
followed Guy Fieri's advice. According to the menu,
"This steak made us famous." Every
marketer knows that a restaurant gets its message across with the fewest,
and therefore biggest, letters with the word "EAT". Clantons has
made it a trademark.
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