…..we are workin' it here at full tilt.  The Work Groove is finding its rythmn…..and I am very excited.  I wake up in the middle of the night with ideas…what to do?  I have hired a graffitti artist by the name of Roberto and he is going to be doing a paint/stencil homage to Guadalupe on one of the walls…he was working last night in the dark and his friend was illuminating the wall with the flashlight from his cell phone (very Mexico)….we are working on the opposite wall of the chapel…making a cut bottle border for the mural that is percolating in my lil' brain right now…..the doors and the railings have arrived for Casa de Caca…..totally cool…oh…..and beyond the beyond….Plus let us not forget the work in the studio and my tendency to procrastinate…I will post pictures in the next post…so stay tuned…we are so grateful to all of you who made the kickstarter thing happen…..miracle of miracles!  We are up to here in the groove….and yes…..This is Life!

……so this blog has been quiet for awhile.  Over the last month so much has happened… to say the very least.  I have raised as of this morning 11,000 dollars on my kickstarter fundraising proposal…..that has been quite spectacular and we will be having the Opening of The Chapel of Jimmy Ray on Feb 4, 2012….so my focus has been on the construction and life in the studio.  I have learned a lot from this fundraising project…it has been a humbling experience…I am also learning to move on from some past acquaintances that over the years I had some disturbances…I am not entering into blame…I just realized that you can keep friends in your heart and hold them dearly (their Buddha Nature)…..but you don't have to have them physically in your life…..  so blessings to them…..this Chapel construction has been miraculous…I invite anyone who may read this to come to our Opening in three months…..I need to get to work…my plate is full…….Love
Finding the rythmn within……

Amidst all the stuff that goes on here…I vave been miraculously gifted by friends and strangers to the tune of a good chunk of dinero to continue the construction on the Chapel Compound…all of this through a proposal that I initiated through kickstarter.com.  This week the focus has been on Casa de Caca…building the domed roof…..here are some photos…..I am loving this!  Stay tuned for lots of really cool surprises!

Carlos and Margarito working away!

Creating the domes wire infrastructure……

Carlos at work…..

This is a good view!

……actually I did not forget…..I barely studied it and time crept up on me and all of a sudden I was on Stage in a three man production and the audience was seated behind me and I was trying to improvise my dancing without knowing what the other two men were doing all the while I was trying to fool the audience into thinking that I knew my part as I danced holding the chorography notations and the only escape was to awaken from this dream and write it down……so I did……whew!

…today we journeyed in our Ford Explorer to Corrolejo to the Tequila Distillery in search of blue bottles to add to the adornment at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray.  It is only 1.5 hours from here…an easy drive.  We pulled up to the Front Gate of the Distillery which is housed in a former hacienda built during the Modernist Period…it is quite spectacular and reminded us of Barcelona.  We were greeted by the General manager and I introduced myself as an artist from San Miguel.  He was quite generous and we were given a private tour of the facility by a young man and woman.  Later the General Manager…Don Leonardo took us in his Mercedes to the Bottle Factory and he showed us the whole production.  We were very impressed and grateful for his generosity…we purchased a huge amount of blue bottles…..the first of many trips….I promise…I felt like I was in some wonderful magic time bubble and the atmosphere was dripping with ideas that I gathered and brought back with me for the continued adornment of our world here at Casa de Las Ranas…Viva Mexico!

Richard at Corralejo Distillary

Window treatment at Corralejo

Below this grating which you walk on is newly distilled Tequila yet to be aged in large casks….it is literally a river of Tequila…..

Bottle Window in the darkness of the large room where the Tequila ages….

Close up of Window….

So Divine!

The Distillery…check out the architecture…..the windows too!

Amongst the Casks!

A mosaic dome…..incrusted with bottle glass….stay tuned……those who have been to our house have seen our domed bedroom…..next?

Don Leanardo…the Big Squeeze of the Whole Operation….

One of many piles of broken blue bottles……

The Bottle Machine…

Molten glass exudes from the top of the machine….

Red hot bottles!

Workers packing our bottles…..

We drove home with 260 Blue Bottles…….we will be back….I am in heaven!

……why don't you go to Burning Man?…….They say…for sure you must go to Burning Man…And I just say no…However, I  do encourage them to go to Burning Man and live outside their box for a few days.  I encourage them to bring that Spirit back with them and incorporate it into their lives.  Cuz…see…..ummmmm…like uh….we kinda live out of the box everyday…….and like I lived in a commune in the desert for four years…….I know crowds…..I know dust……I know vistas……I know the Spirit of creating together….and I loved every moment of those years……So Burning Man is a good thing…..I encourage everyone to go who feels the need to….your lives will be enhanced….expansion will occur……I promise….