Wet Paint and a Rib Fest in Helper Town!

So we just returned from a fabulous weekend in one of our favorite places!  Good ol' Helper Town!!  We just get to hang out with so many of our favorite people and this weekend was no exception.


Ryan, our oldest son, was invited by Zach Proctor and Lane Bennion to spend a week in the Studio Group art school with a great group of painters.  Zach and Lane reserved the whole place to do some serious painting!  Ryan loves to draw and "paint" on his iPad but never seriously with the real thing!  Doug was thrilled to set him up with an easel, pallet, paints, brushes, the whole nine yards.  He did great!  Here's a couple of my favorites:

One of Ryan's oil painting studies while in Helper

Ryan's "self portrait" (he's got a great fro as you can see from his shadow!)
He gets his curly hair from his mother!

We took Wesley with us and met Ryan over in Cleveland (Utah!) and said hi to my cowboy brother, Boyd!  He owns a mining supplies company called "Chute Supply" and it's always great to stop in for a little BS'ing with him!  For the short time we were there, several stopped in for a few supplies and also get their daily dose of Boyd Griffin!  He puts a smile on everyone's face that knows him - and he knows almost everyone in Emery and Carbon County!  Because he's 6'3" most know him as "long ass!"

Dinosaur Quarry - Allosaurus!  Rrrarr!!

Since we were out that way, we decided to venture out to the dinosaur quarry.  13 miles . . . ended up being on a dirt and washboardy road (my beautifully clean car was CAKED with dirt!  UGH!!) and after arriving and forking over our $20 entry fee, we ventured around for the 20 minute tour!

RRRaaaarrr!!  See the resemblance?

Wes is really into this!!  

Okay, I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty cool.  So yeah, over 12,000 bones (belonging to over 74 individual dinosaurs) have been excavated from this quarry, AND it contains the densest concentration of carnivorous dinosaur bones found anywhere in the world!  Just a few little tidbits of amazing information I thought you might like to have handy in your hip pocket!  Someday you'll thank me for that bit of knowledge!  

We made our way back the way we came - Mario (Doug) making incredible time on those dirt roads, back through Emery County and back to civilization!  The arts festival was in full swing and we had fun chatting it up with all of our Helper cronies!

Dave Dornan, painter extraordinaire, doing a demo!
Just incredible!!

Sooo much fun to rub shoulders with such amazing artists and great friends who know how to make us feel right at home and laugh till we cry!  Thanks to Dave Dornan and Marilou Kundmueller for accommodations at the Helper Workshops Studio Group building.  Always fun to see them.  It was especially fun to watch Dave do an awesome demo in his studio splattering paint, a little air brush action, wiping off paint and splashing on new color.  It's just an experience you all must have if you love art!

Great to see Wendy and Bryce Chidester, Brian and Sonja Blackham, Charlie and Johanna Snow, Paul and Silvia Davis, Becky Dunham, Ann Jesperson, Brenda and Bob Bosquet, Ben and Melanie Steele and more!  The awesome interns worked hard to hang a great show of paintings all under $500 by students and instructors!  What a compilation of great work at such bargain prices!  Here are some that Doug had for sale - if you're interested in any of these, let me know asap and I'll have them hold it for you!  They're framed with a linen liner and a simple contemporary maple frame.

"Out Back"
8 x 10
$450

"Cliffs"
8 x 10
$450

"Rooftops"
8 x 10
$450

"Mountain Melody Mechanics"
10 x 8
$450

"Carbon County Golf Course"
8 x 10
$450

"Empty Spaces"
8 x 10
$450

"Island Park"
8 x 10
$450

"Life Partners"
8 x 10
$450

"Mt. Militia"
10 x 8
$450

"Overcast"
8 x 10
$450

"Spring Greens"
8 x 10
$450

Brenda and her darling miniature Schnauzer,
Lily, enjoying a tasty rib!  

We ended the weekend with an amazing RIB FEST hosted by Wendy and Brenda at their studio space there on main street.  Some incredible ribs were done by Charlie, Mike and Bob along with a brisquet cooked to perfection by Marilou and some pulled pork along with side dishes contributed by everyone else!  Probably close to 100 people came to dig their teeth in and "argue" with the ribs, as Doug says "It's gotta argue with you!!"  Lily, Brenda's miniature schnauzer, enjoyed a few bites of ribs as well!!  

Thanks to everyone for such a great weekend!  If you haven't experience Helper Arts Festival or been to a Helper Workshop, you haven't lived!  We have been coming to Helper for over 20 years now and it gets better and better!  

Doug's got some wet paint coming off the easel that you'll enjoy!  He enjoyed a "weekend off" which I don't think has happened in quite some time!  Gosh, I can't believe I let him have the weekend off . . . back to work big guy!!  

Hope all is well!  Love hearing from you!  Share the site with your friends!

Thanks much!!  

HUGS!!!

J'net