Home Sweet Ship

I can’t explain how much I have missed this place.  And now that I have two contracts under my belt I have acquired a ship framily.  You read that correctly.  My first day on board was filled with warm hugs and greetings from many, many familiar faces- most of which I did not even expect to see.  What a beautiful thing.  They say “Welcome Home”.  I somehow feel a strong connection to the carnie-folk. Ships are essentially operated like a traveling circus.

Also after doing a few contracts you figure out exactly what is necessary to pack and exactly what luxuries you have room for.  It is always fun to see what décor and special items are left to you in your cabin.  A Frisbee? A snorkel? A faux bear skin rug (YES!).  Usually it’s customary to leave things like beer, laundry detergent, travel maps and special contraband items.

I am working with a really great team: Ryan Doolittle and Bob Swidergal and our shows have been going great. I’m cooking up an interesting collaboration for next cruise so stay tuned for the results of this masterpiece.

 This first cruise was a Mediterranean one traveling to Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.  Malaga, Spain is a beautiful beach town with great city highlights.  With limited time in port that day I ventured off in the opposite direction of the beach, along the marina towards the city center.  Being here two years ago I was able to notice significant changes of this boardwalk area.  They have completed the development of a beautiful open shopping center with many restaurants and pop up crate/container businesses.  It’s spectacularly trendy and eco chic. And at the end are several parks and open spaces.   Malaga is the birthplace of Picasso.  So aside from its cathedrals, bull fighting arena, hilltop fortress, roman theater and beautiful beach with delicious sangria- it has an infamous Picasso museum.  I will save that for our return trip in August. 

 

I love love the long stretch of park and paths containing many tropical species from 5 different continents.  I was feeling pretty inspired by my stroll and decided to make this bird of paradise piece with stopper.  I’m excited to see how this design develops as it’s the first one I’ve done in black and put together with a vessel. 

Next stop was Cannes.  Do not pronounce the “S”.  It slipped out a time or two and I nearly got a slap on the wrist with a ruler.  I had never docked at this port before, though it is still very close to Nice we usually dock in a small town called Villefranche.  Cannes happened to be bustling because the film festival was going on.  I searched and searched up and down the yachts for celebrities but saw none.  It can be difficult to even spot a movie star because everyone in France dresses like they are a somebody. 

It’s always good to hustle up the hill for a hell of a view and to work off the macaroons you recently indulged upon.  They make pastries so pretty I have to take photographs of them.  Happy to say that of all the amazing flavors this bakery had to offer I ventured out for the savory ones and ordered (en français mind you!) two fois gras macaroons and they were damn tasty. 

Um don’t mind us we are just passing through with the French Alps in the background.

Civitevecchia is a very familiar port from last summer and is the closest port to Rome.  Unable to visit Rome because of ship training, my teammate Bob and I enjoyed what I think is the best part of Civi- the market.  It is open until only 1pm but absolutely full of import vendors, bakers, butchers, cheese shops, seafood and tons of produce.  The key to a good day in Civi is getting to the market early to buy some fresh mozzarella, proscuitto, perhaps some white pizza with zucchini blossoms?- and make yourself one hell of a sandwich to go and eat on the smelly waterfront.  Bring extra napkins is all I am saying because that mozzarella is seriously fresh.  Mangia!