Around Town

1949 MG-TC Special Roadster

While I always liked cars I never pursued being a mechanic. I'm not a gear head, I never dreamed of having a muscle car and horsepower didn't ring my chimes. I always favored the ones with curves and personality, flare and style, and a lack of fins helped. Never understood fins.

You Just Can’t Stay Long!

That bit of sage advice along with "just because you can buy it doesn't mean you can afford it" are probably the most important things I learned from my father and they have kept me in good stead for close to 70 years. Wow, writing '70' is a blow to my psyche.

I devoted last month's missive to mothers and now as is proper, we celebrate Father's Day! Notice it comes after Mother's Day? Don't get me wrong it's not that there is some kind of ranking of importance going on here we just know which side the bread is buttered on. Really? Who speaks like that anymore?

A little background here, my father was raised an only child in a very Victorian household in Ohio. His mother was a divorcee which was unheard of in polite society in 1920 so she professed to be a widow and wore black for an "appropriate" period. All the photographs of young Heath don't have his name on the back just "Boy" Vining which kind of sets the tone for his upbringing. To his credit and despite some pretty tall obstacles he became a successful mechanical engineer entirely self-taught. His single semester at NC State was most likely spent as most freshmen have done since time immemorial, i.e., in a stupor.

Although he never actually taught me much about automobiles and mechanics he did expose me to all manner of motorized conveyances from the homemade wooden go-kart with rope steering to my first pedal car. There was also the string of odd cars we owned from Crosley to Austin, MG TD to Triumph Mayflower and Karman Ghia to Beetle they made an impression.

So now I'm twenty years into a second career restoring classic cars and with 45 years of seat time in an MG BGT I guess the old man did hand something down. I actually know what a Whitworth wrench is and twin carbs don't scare me.

I also know that a weekend at the Waldorf or the Willard beats the hell out of three weeks in a Holiday Inn and buying an old Jaguar without six-figures lying around in a discretionary 'stupid money' account is a fool's errand. Hence I drive the affordable MG's.

My father died young at barely 60 from throat cancer back in the dark ages of treatments. Here I am six years out from successful treatment of the same diagnosis and living life working on and driving all the old cars he might have been able to buy but knew he couldn't afford.

For all the silence between us there was that twinkle in his eye when we had to swap cars and he got to drive my first '68 BGT for a week. There he was bombing around the beltway passing everyone because of course the speedometer didn't work. "Yeah Dad, 4500 RPM is damn near 80MPH" … in the rain... on the beltway. His only comment was I needed new wiper blades.

So here's to L Heath and Primrose Parents who always did their best autoknownbetter@gmail.com

… so why isn't there an oldest brother day or little sister day, or "odd uncle" who came every summer for two weeks day? More on that later.

Rim Vining, humorist, friend and a devoted community volunteer

I happened to land a photograph of this beautiful 1949 MG-TC Special Roadster, that was briefly parked around the block from our house. Was fortunate to capture in a nice urban context on Marye's Heights:

Thought ya'll would enjoy this odd candid image around town.

hunter perkinson: blacksmith

This month’s guest artist at Canal Quarter Arts is Hunter Perkinson , a artisian blacksmith for First Friday, June 2, 5-8:30. His work will remain on display for the entire month of June

Hunter is such a kind and generous man with so much talent. His beautiful creations are one of a kind and true works of art.

“As an artisan blacksmith I have been practicing the craft since the year 2000, but my journey started much earlier. Having acquired a BS degree from Va.Tech. in Industrial Arts Education gave me a strong foundation in which to pursue a career in this field that one might say has been out of favor for a hundred years. Taking a one week introductory class in 1990 was the spark that started a fire that still burns today

“Thank you Ed King for such an incredible birthday gift. I mentioned how I was so fond of Hunter Perkinson's beautiful work, so he contacted Hunter and commissioned this awesome piece. Thank you Hunter for such a great piece of art. I will treasure it always.”

(Fireplace Screen, pictured)

~Liz

Castellano-K

King

by jeannie ellis

“Having come to this craft relatively late in life I felt the need to take some shortcuts in my pursuit of my new found passion. I do not consider myself a "Master Blacksmith", Journeyman at best.The historical aspect of the blacksmith and its functional nature is what drew me initially to the craft. The more I learn the more I realize I don't know.

“From the very beginning I knew it would be at least a hobby but turned into a rewarding pursuit. As my skill set improved my desire increased to learn even more, I found myself gravitating toward sculpture. Incorporating items found in nature in functional items and finally art for art's sake. There's a certain irony, pun intended. transforming an element like steel, hard, heavy and ridged into something seemingly light, delicate as a feather forged from steel

Locally Perkinson has been a member of several art galleries over the past few years starting at Libertytown, Artful Dimensions, and Canal Quarter Arts. He comments, “I thoroughly enjoyed my association with each and everyone. I have done live demonstrations for Ferry Farms, Chatham Manor, Fredericksburg Museum as well as reenactment for several local Civil War Battles for Spotsylvania County. I enjoy sharing the craft/art with the public almost as much as creating items and art itself.”

Forge On!

Jeannie Ellis is the owner of Canal Quarters Arts and Darbytown Art Studio