wooden blocks - art geisert

"Just set your luggage there on the sidewalk and come in. No one will disturb it."
 At Geisert's bidding, the laptop computer and clothes and what else were set on the sidewalk and my wife and I followed him into his studio. Arthur Geisert is a story teller. With a deadpan face he leads you on an extended m-e-t-h-o-d-i-c-a-l venture with a great punchline at the end of it. We heard a few of them Tuesday night, Wednesday evening, and Thursday morning over soup at Monica's across the street from him.

Our belongings were retrieved by us from where we had left them. Just as raindrops were beginning to fall.  ?! Who leaves their possessions in plain view on a downtown sidewalk unattended??? I'm so-o-o-o glad nothing was missing!!

We were treated to Bangers and mashed potatoes at Fennelly's Irish Pub Wednesday. Bangers are a sausage dish.

This man is clever. He loves crossword puzzles. He does much research for his book illustrations. He embraces an old process for each of the twenty-eight books he's done. Etches the final design in r-e-v-e-r-s-e, putting a hardened resist coating over large copper plates and immersing them into acid bathes for lengths of time. See listing http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Arthur_Geisert

Linseed ink is spread over the heated plate. Excess ink is scraped off with cardboard, Buffed shiny with a tarlatan (cheesecloth). Soaked and blotted BFK is carefully laid on the inked plate and cover with various felt blankets. Hands turn a large wheel, moving the plate bed through enormous pressure, forcing ink into the damp paper. Oh, and some time later, after successful proofing and drying, Geisert paints watercolor on top of his design.

In the summer of 1977 I watched him do the steps and then did the soaking and blotting and inking under his direction. That was when G lived in Galena, Illinois. He has lived in Bernard, Iowa and now in Elkader, Iowa. My father was one of his art teachers at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. Not surprisingly I saw a photo of my dad on his refrigerator, below.

All these vintage alphabet wooden blocks spill down above the headboard of his bed. He told us it was quite a challenge to pull it off. It reminds me of Christo's orange curtain across the Grand Canyon. The architectural engineering involved. He is that kind of guy. Precise, exact, and deliberate. And funny with a straight face all the time.

Four minutes. Geisert shows the remodeled upstairs.

Two minute view of Turkey River waterfalls from his rear balcony. 
 

Before we departed Thursday after lunch, Geisert passed onto us a bag of black licorice. My favorite snack. 'Twas a good omen. A blessing.Thanks.

We tried to see where his former octogonal hillside studio was when we drove through Galena, Illinois. It was nowhere to be found. He used to have a jillion steps going up that hillside to the house he built. He kept woodpiles or stations to pick up wood scraps for his wood stove. My favorite recipe from him was tamale pie. With cornmeal, stewed tomatoes, creamed corn, hamburger, and egg, and cooked on a wood-fired stove. See his current woodpile, above. He chose the exterior colors for his storefront, below. Someone else did the painting. He is seventy-three years old.

 

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suite beside waterfall - elkader iowa

Our longest drive was by far the first Tuesday, from north central Missouri to the northeast corner of Iowa. The computer projected six hour drive was really nine hours on the road. It was after dusk when we passed by Geisert's salmon-colored storefront on Main Street. Standing alone, looking like he was enjoying the night air before retiring, his glasses absent from his face, we glided silently passed his studio.

Owner Mary Klint met us at the entrance of her stone mill retreat, the Riverside Cooperage. Family friend and illustrator Arthur Geisert had recommended the place, and Klint showed us the front room of the Doctor Suite, bedroom, and bathroom. Outside meshed with the A/C unit you could hear the roar of the Turkey River Falls.

In 2005 Klint converted Dr. Hommel's medical office into a unique retreat. During renovation she discovered the original stone walls of the Cooperage Mill. In our suite she had tastefully kept medicine cabinets, a display of aluminum dental impression trays, a dental chair, and other fixtures to remember its earlier history. With my history of going to the orthodonist when I was young, I found the decorative touches to be amusing.

I tiptoed out Wednesday morning in hopes to find something to paint. The keystone bridge across the Turkey River reminded me of pictures I had seen of the Seine River in Europe. Alas, after looking through foliage on the far side of the river, even getting permission for a view from someone's balcony, I did not paint. It was worth walking on foot, viewing the river, seeing the inside of the courthouse - although I was told the best view was in the winter after the leaves had fallen off the trees. I chatted with a gal on the bridge, whose brothers had remodeled the interior of Geisert's Main Street studio. As the driver for the trip I decided my energy was better saved for driving. Was not the right time to paint. That came later when we were in Omena, Michigan.
        

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