Ca•bin•a•tion – a Vacation at One’s Cabin

Maria and I are at the cabin in McCarthy this week, and it has been a dream.  This is not always the case when adventuring in the WRST (Wrangell-St. Elias) National Park in the winter.  We have been here when we have had a cold (virus).  We have been here when we thought we were not going to be able to drive out, because it snowed so much.  We have cancelled many trips, because the weather forecast and our work schedule didn’t align.  I would schedule a time when I didn’t have a lot of work, and then a blizzard would start up after we were already packed and ready to drive out to McCarthy.  The thing about McCarthy is that it’s a long drive of 310 miles one way, and the McCarthy Road is no joke in the winter.  It can vary from being a two lane ice highway, to just two ruts in ten inches of packed ice and crusty snow.  Tire chains are a must-have, and it is a good idea to have a reliable 4WD vehicle with 10 inches of clearance.  I will not drive out to the cabin in a winter blizzard, I’ll drive back to Anchorage in one, but not out here, just to get stuck for an unknown amount of time.  We haven’t made it here in the snow season since spring of 2020. 

Maria and I recently purchased a 2023 Ski-Doo Expedition Sport 600 ACE, and we love this transportation device!  It has made winter cabin life way safer, easier and more fun.  We have been here without a snowmachine (snowmobile, or sled for people not from Alaska) and the amount of time spent hauling water to the cabin was notable.  With our new “sled”, transportation around the area has been a breeze, and hauling our stuff to the cabin, including water, now takes a fraction of the time.  

We have a 10-acre lot here, and we put our cabin right in the middle of it to be further from the trail/road for privacy.  Nobody had been here since fall.  I had to break trail through 4 feet of packed sugar snow.  First, we unhitched the sled load, and immediately got stuck, almost rolling the snowmachine on its side.  I was able to back out to the road with some vigorous shoveling.  We then strapped on our XC skis and broke a trail-loop to the cabin from the the road to the front door.  About this time, Jason Lobo showed up (he lives past us, about a mile up the trail).  Jason was full of good ideas and pointers to get me and my stuff to my doorstep.  However, I didn’t put them to very good use, and got stuck about 50 feet in.  Jason took the handlebars and drove the last 200 feet of the trail, and Maria rewarded him with a beer for his efforts.  I then practiced driving around the still soft trail about four times before re-hitching the load and bringing it in to the cabin.  I really need to practice driving in deep snow.

Yesterday was a bluebird day, and we met up with our buddy Matt Empt and his dog Duncan.  We drove the sled to Kennicott and picnicked behind the power plant.  Duncan ran and alternately rode with Matt on his vintage Yamaha Bravo 250.  The views were spectacular!  The WRST park is a feast for the eyes!  We then went down the hill to play on the glacier lake where we towed Matt around on his alpine skis, and I practiced driving in the deep stuff.  I got stuck a few times and I figured out how to ride in the powder a bit better.  The thing is, the snow is not really completely powder, it is an accumulation of many storms, and the layers are inconsistent — a bit of crust mixed into the sugary stuff beneath.  It makes it really easy to bog down if you don’t keep up your speed.  We had a great time, and then we rode back to the cabin.

We love being at the cabin, and a vacation at your other home is a wonderful way to go.  Building a cabin is no joke, and buying one can be pretty expensive as well.  But it sure makes a vacation simple.  You have all you stuff there, and you don’t have to make a lodging reservation at a VRBO, or wherever.  There is no host to have to communicate with, and when you leave, the cleanup is all your own.  Using a wood stove is about as much a learning experience as using a snowmachine, but when it is your own, it makes it that much easier.  Relaxation is at a high compared to previous trips here in the winter, and I think mostly that is due to the new sled.  It feels safer to have a reliable mode of transport up and down the hill to the truck, and possibly all the way to Chitina.  Life is good!  Live it well!     

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Plans to Explore Alaska on a New Snowmachine (Snowmobile)

I was at Anchorage Brewing Company vending artwork when Iron Dog racer, Mike Morgan, came up to talk to me about my paintings.  We had a long chat, and he told me all about racing to Nome on Polaris sleds.  The Iron Dog is a high speed trail race using two-stroke, air-cooled, high performance motors. I told him I just sold my old 1993 Polaris Indy Lite 340 and was in the market for a 2-up trail sled. 2-up doesn’t mean you have two extra lives in Super Mario Brothers, but that two people can safely ride the ATV.  We discussed snowmachines, or snowmobiles for those of you who live anywhere but Alaska. We also discussed the market for making paintings with snowmobile/snowmachine themes. I wanted a sled that we could use to get to our cabin in the winter and haul supplies and water, but also get out on the trails, and maybe even ride part of the Iditarod trail. 

I went into Alaska Mining and Diving, the Ski-Doo dealer here in Anchorage, and asked about ordering a 2023 Ski-Doo Expedition Sport.  They pretty much laughed at me and said that it takes a year to get a new machine, and to stop back in February when they signed people up for next year’s models. Well, a few weeks ago I figured I should stop back in and see if they had changed the dates, and if the sales plan was the same. It was my lucky day, because an Expedition Sport had just arrived, and the man who ordered it last year was unable to obtain financing.  I thought about it, and came back and purchased the snowmobile.

I will call them snowmobiles from now on. Alaskans call them snowmachines, or sleds, but not snowmobiles. But, if you search the Internet for snowmachine, you don’t get many posts, except for Alaskan ones. The whole world calls these ATVs snowmobiles. My new owner’s manual refers to it as a snowmobile on almost every page. So, to be most accurate I will refer to it as a snowmobile. As I type right now, snowmobile is a recognizable word on my computer, while snowmachine is highlighted as a misspelled word.  If you refer to a snowmobile as a snowmachine anywhere else in the world, people think you’re talking about a snowmaking device for ski areas, or a snowblower.  If you say snowmobile in Alaska, people ask you where you’re from.

I have a brand new Ski-Doo with less than nine miles on it, and I want to take it out and get some pictures of Alaska. Maria left town last week and I took the snowmobile out for its very first ride. I went four miles before I tipped it over, and it was really hard to flip back over by myself. So after righting the sled, I turned back around and snowmobiled to my truck.  When Maria gets back, we are going to ride at Big Lake to practice some more. I also want to go to Willow and drive the Iditarod trail, and explore around Wrangell-St. Elias NP. We also have plans to ride to Knik and Spencer Glaciers to take pictures of snowmobiles at glaciers.  What I don’t want to do is go to the top of steep mountains and risk getting buried in an avalanche.  I have a trail sled with 60 horsepower that probably won’t go up a mountain anyway, but it does have a hitch for towing, and I want to go expeditioning! I plan to make some paintings along the way.  I can totally carry painting supplies to our cabin, as well as food and water now. Let’s get out in the winter and have a good time! 

The old snowmobile

The new snowmobile

Drinking on the Southside

Yesterday was a great day to go to the south-side of town to grab a beer at Midnight Sun Brewing and  Turnagain Brewing. My art show is up at MSBC for the month of January, and yesterday the brewery busted out dusty bottles of Sloth Belgian-style Imperial Stout from 2017! For those in the know, Sloth is one of the best beers MSBC has ever made. A Russian imperial stout that was originally brewed as part of the Seven Deadly Sins series in 2007. The brewery hasn’t brewed it since 2017! Sloth has a rating of 95 on Beer Advocate and is rated as the 90th best Russian Imperial Stout in the United States!  It is big, bold, dark, black, and has a nice Belgian yeast note to it. If there is any left on draft today, I would get on down there and get a glass.  If not, you can always find something noteworthy from the big offerings from MSBC.  I made this painting of Sloth in 2016 and it immediately sold. Limited edition prints are available at my Etsy shop. If you prefer an original oil painting, rather than a print, I can paint a custom one for you.

A 6oz pour of Sloth Belgian-style Imperial Stout

Meanwhile, right down the street, an amazing sour beer called Solera Eclipse was released today at Turnagain Brewing!  Since Maria and I are in the Mug Club at Turnagain, we had the opportunity to stop by to get first dibs on this amazing beer yesterday.  It is a pineapple and blueberry sour that originally was brewed in summer 2021 and was released in early November 2021.  Every year there is a contest called the Turnagain Tartside Challenge, and Anchorage home-brewers come by Turnagain Brewing to get a gallon of mostly fermented sour wort from the Solera. The idea is to flavor, finish, and package the wort to make a delicious beer. In 2021 I was the winner of this contest with the concept behind Solera Eclipse. Ted Rosenzweig (owner and brewer at Turnagain Brewing) and I conferred, and I designed a label, and Ted packaged the beer for individual bottle sales. It has to be one of the tastiest sour beers I have ever had, and today it is released again. At $7 for a 12oz pour or $7 for 12oz bottles to go, it is a good deal. My original recipe called for a whole pineapple and 1lb of blueberries per gallon!  Little to say, the fruit in this beer is very expensive, and I am unsure how much profit can be made when using so much fruit here in Alaska! I have included a picture of Ted stealing a sample from the barrel on Halloween in 2021.  I wanted to show off my original label and bottle design, because the packaging is different this year.  The pineapple brings the flavor, and the blueberries bring some aroma, and a great color!  

Anchorage is a great beer drinking town and I hope you brave the cold to get out to one of our lovely brewery destinations to revere our beer! Cheers to beers brewed in the North! 

Brewing Beer with Alaskan Ingredients

I am a home-brewer, and I live in Alaska. The majority of beer ingredients are not found in Alaska. Although barley does grow in Alaska, no one malts it here on a large commercial scale. Hops do not really grow well in Alaska, they don’t seem to flower before they wilt, due to our extreme daylight in summer and cold fall season. Yeast is totally available in Alaska.  I have harvested yeast in my backyard successfully. It is a wild ingredient and the outcome can vary wildly. We have a lot of water in Alaska, and that is probably the most important ingredient in beer. You can substitute all kinds of other things, but if you don’t have water, you can’t make beer. We have plentiful soft water in Alaska, that is similar to the water found in the southern part of Germany. It is easy to work with, and can be manipulated to produce water chemistry similar to anywhere in the world. This is probably why beer from Alaska is some of the best to be found anywhere. 

The most classic Alaskan ingredient is spruce tips — you can find this in commercial examples like Alaskan Winter Ale, and Sprucesplosion by 49th State Brewing.  Spruce tips have been used since Captain Cook sailed to Alaska in 1778. His crew made malt extract beer and used spruce tips as a flavoring and enriching ingredient. Spruce tips are high in vitamin C, so the beer prevented Cook’s crew from getting scurvy.  Another interesting ingredient used by Alaskan commercial breweries is rhubarb.  Turnagain Brewing’s, Rhu Framb, and Girdwood Brewing’s, Rhu Hefner, are both excellent examples. There are a lot of commercial blueberry beers made in Alaska: Turnagain uses it frequently, Glacier BrewHouse makes a blueberry IPA, and Matanuska Brewing makes a blueberry beer. My favorite blueberry beer is Anchorage Brewing’s Experiment, a sour blueberry beer. Raspberry is often used to make a delicious fruity beer, not just in Alaska, but it has traditionally been used in Belgium to make Framboise.  Glacier Brewhouse makes a raspberry wheat, and Turnagain makes a beer called Framb Was.  Basically, you can put anything you want into a beer to create unique and interesting flavors. 

This year I made a 10 gallon batch of pale ale, around 5.5% ABV, and pretty basic. It is lightly hopped with Mosaic and Citrus hops, and the base recipe is a fairly sweet ale. I took five gallons and dry-hopped it with Azacca hops and put it on draft in my kegerator. The other five gallons I racked into five one-gallon jugs, and then flavored each one differently.  I put blueberries in one, lingonberries in another, gooseberries in a third, raspberry in the fourth, and to the last one I added a lot of dried yarrow flowers. I pureed all the fruit, which was frozen first, with an immersion blender.  I let them age another week before I bottled all five batches.  I’m waiting two weeks to try them, and I hope they are as delicious as the beers I brewed last year. Maybe next year I will use wild Alaskan yeast, but this year I used American ale yeast, which is a go-to in our home-brewery.

Cheers to Alaska! Cheers to Alaskan ingredients! Cheers to Alaskan beers!

Sales Channels for Selling Art: Pop-Ups, Art Shows, Galleries, and Online

December is here, and it is now officially crunch time to get your holiday shopping completed.  As an artist, I have mixed feelings about the holiday season.  On one side I make more money at this time of year than any other time. On the other side, I have to work almost every weekend at in-person vending events, such as pop-ups.  We sell art primarily through these channels: in person at pop-ups/craft fairs, at galleries, art shows at venues around town, and online.

Vending in person at pop-ups and craft fairs is an interesting opportunity for both the buyer and artist. I get to meet my clients, and can help them find the art they are looking for, or let them know about art pieces I may not have brought with me, but are available on my Etsy shop. In which case, they can pick up the artwork when it is ready a few days later at the studio (if you are lucky, you might get invited in for a home-brew ;). It is a lot of work setting up and taking down the booth, and has to be calculated in to our work day. Most of the time, there is no fee for us to sell at pop-up events, except credit card processing fees, and the cost of a couple beers, if the event is at a brewery. Sometimes breweries waive my tab, which always makes me very happy! Craft fairs charge a few hundred dollars for a booth. By the way, I’ll be selling my art at a pop-up at Anchorage Brewing Co. along with several other local makers on Saturday, December 3, starting at 2pm.

Selling my art at a pop-up at Anchorage Brewing Co.

Galleries are a way to work with sales people and meet a larger audience.  However, galleries take 40% – 50% commission, which makes sense, since they have brick-and-mortar overhead.  After dropping off art to a gallery, the artist doesn’t have to do any work except keep track of what the gallery has and what they will need when something sells.  Unfortunately, the gallery only has a certain amount of space, so artists are limited to sell only what the gallery is willing to put on its walls. Galleries have sales people that work to sell the art. This is a major benefit, especially since artists are not always good at selling their own art. I’m very happy to have my art at Dos Manos Gallery!

My art at Dos Manos Gallery

Art shows at venues like breweries, restaurants, and coffee shops are another way for an artist to reach an audience. This is a bit more than a pop-up, but less than complete gallery representation. It is super fun as an artist to have a reception at your art show. Everyone is there to see the artwork, and that is really rewarding. The artist often has to handle all the sales, if the venue doesn’t want to process art sales, which is a hurdle for the buyer, and leads to fewer sales.  Art shows last about a month, so you are committed to that venue for a longer bit of time than a pop-up.  Most art show venues don’t care if they sell anything, or not, so you often don’t get a sales person, like yourself at a pop-up, or an employee of a gallery. Sometimes nothing sells at all at an art show venue. Most of the time people go to the venue for the real reason it exists: food at a restaurant, or a haircut at a stylist, or beer at a brewery.  Or they go to see your artwork. Most likely, if they are already on an artist’s mailing list, they already have artwork from the artist and may be there to support the artist personally and not to purchase art.  My next art show will be at Midnight Sun Brewing Co. in January.

At my art show at Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

Online selling is a good way to sell art.  It is also very challenging, but if done correctly, can be quite profitable. You can sell direct from your website, this requires expensive web hosting, and secure checkout. SEO is a problem with that.  There are a few other online venues: Etsy is one of the best, but there is also Fine Art America, iCanvas, Redbubble, and Deviantart. The listings are time consuming and require a keen eye for detail.  Art purchasers don’t like to see typos in a listing — it makes them feel that the artist is careless. There is often a lot of communication before a sale is made, and if it isn’t handled correctly, the sale is lost. It is tedious to manage an online site for art sales.  Some of these websites require the artist to make and mail all the art, like Etsy.  Other sites, like RedBubble, or Fine Art America print all the merchandise, and mail it. But these sites take a much bigger cut for those services.  Buying art online is really easy, you can do it from your phone, however, it is hard to tell what you will receive. This is fine when ordering a t-shirt from Redbubble, but a bit disconcerting to the purchaser when buying expensive originals, or fragile pieces. We just sold an original painting to a client in France, and I was really proud of the Real Art Is Better team, that my artwork was being shipped all the way to the cultural center of Europe.  We’re offering a 20% discount, and free domestic shipping right now at our Etsy shop for a limited time.

We use all of these methods to sell art. And I find pop-ups to be the most work, but also the most profitable, especially when I am at a brewery. Not so much when I am vending at a craft fair, because there’s more competition from other vendors, and beer art is not everyone’s cup of tea. Galleries are good because they get the word out to art collectors, and help with establishing your brand, and the gallery does all the work.  Art shows are fun, especially at the reception when the artist is honored, but most often you only sell a small percentage of what has been hung, and it is a lot of work moving artwork around and taking it back down. Online is a lot of setup and a ton of work when it comes to packing and mailing, or requires faith in the offsite production of reproduced items.  We find that all these methods are working to keep our business running. All have their pros and cons. It’s a matter of getting it all out there, whatever the method.              

Termination Dust

Termination dust on the Chugach mountains

Happy Fall Equinox! During our five-mile run this morning we marveled at the gorgeous termination dust on the Chugach mountains that arrived overnight. For those of you who are not up on Alaskan lingo, “termination dust” refers to the first dusting of snow on mountain tops, signaling the termination of summer. This means something to the beer drinking crowd of Anchorage.  When we see that first snow, we know that Midnight Sun Brewing is about to release Termination Dust Belgian Style Barley Wine.  It is only released when Lee Ellis, President of the brewery, sees snow on Flattop mountain.  Well, I looked up at Flattop today, and the snow stopped right above Flattop mountain.  So, I assumed the brewery would hold out, but to my surprise, I saw on social media that the release is happening today!  I have a bottle of this beer in my beer fridge from two years ago, so maybe it is time to drink that one as well, since it is Equinox, and I feel celebration in the air.

When Alaskans see termination dust, some take a big sigh of relief, and others start feeling depressed, depending on how one feels about the impending winter. I personally like winter more than summer, so I get very excited about longer nights, cozy evenings around a fire, movie nights without FOMO, football season, fat-biking, and most importantly, alpine ski season.  I love skiing, and I especially love skiing at Arctic Valley Ski Area!  I am a lifetime member of the Anchorage Ski club. Maria and I already bought our season passes, so seeing termination dust on the front range on Equinox makes me feel hopeful for a great upcoming ski season! I am certainly glad to live in Alaska! Now, I’m off to Midnight Sun Brewing to sample this year’s Termination Dust. Cheers!

Prints of this beer portrait are available at my Etsy shop

Lazy Morning at the Cabin

Maria and I are at the cabin in McCarthy today.  It has been ten years since we started building this little log house.  We woke up to rain and a bit of wind.  I started a fire in the wood stove, since rain promises a colder day. It is 45F outside, but a nice toasty 67F inside the cabin.  Should I put another log on the fire? I think not. 67F, is great but 75F is too warm.  I’m supposed to be outside harvesting dry spruce branches to fuel the Burning Dude, which will burn tomorrow at 9pm on the bank of the mighty Kennicott River. I made a lazy breakfast burrito with all the fixings and then volunteered to do the dishes.  The dishes are done, and it is still raining. I think I’ll have a pot of hot herbal tea, since the coffee is all gone and I don’t want anything with more caffeine at this point. I already did my yoga and there are no good reasons left not to go outside and get to work, but I am enjoying taking it slow today. I will go outside and harvest that brush when I am done writing this blog.  Until then, I’m going to enjoy watching the birds splash in the puddles outside, and the trees wiggle in the wind. The hot tea is great, and I can see fall happening all around me with yellow leaves falling from Aspen tops, and fireweed going to seed.  Yesterday we woke up to frost on the ground, then it started raining in the afternoon. I love how fall is a slower time of year — getting us all ready for the stillness of winter. I’m excited about tomorrow’s Burning Dude event, and I’ll talk about that in my next blog post. I wonder if anyone will come if it’s raining hard and windy.  At least fire danger will be low, since it has rained a bunch in the last 24 hours. Okay I’m ready to go out now. I better put on my waterproof gear, since I can hear the rain humming on the metal roof.

We built Burning Dude yesterday. The Dude is getting very wet in this rain storm. He will burn on 9.09 at 9:09pm on the bank of the Kennicott River.

Our Trip to Sitka

~ by Maria Benner

I decided to do a guest blog post today, to tell you all about our recent trip to Sitka. I have a tradition to visit places on, or around my birthday, where I’ve never been in Alaska. Since Alaska is such a big place, and some towns are only accessible by plane, or boat, my list is long. I’ve lived in Alaska for 30 years, and had never been to Sitka, the former capital of Alaska when it “belonged” to Russia. I used quotation marks, because Alaska Natives were here first.

The news has been making a big deal about how difficult it is to travel this summer, with flight cancellations being the norm, hotels and restaurants understaffed, and a high demand for all these services from travelers who have been cooped up too long during the pandemic. Well, the news was kind of right, but we didn’t really experience inconveniences to the extent that travel experts have been warning us about. Our Alaska Airlines flights were full, and on the way back, one passenger was asked to leave the plane, because he was non-revenue, so he lost his seat to a revenue passenger. He had already flown on our flight from Sitka to Juneau, but got kicked off in Juneau, and didn’t get to fly to Anchorage as he had planned. However, all our flights were on time! I was surprised at how few passengers wore masks, considering the transmission rate is high right now. All Alaska Airlines and airport employees wore masks, and so did we. I plan to always wear a mask on an airplane.

Sitka is a cruiseship port, so for most of the day the town was busy with cruiseship passengers. Lincoln Street is the main shopping district, and also where the famous St. Michael’s Orthodox Cathedral is. All the ships leave at 5pm, so after that, the town was ours! Getting lunch was our biggest challenge. All the restaurants were full, and understaffed. We had to show up to dinner at 5:30 to get a table, and had lunch at the Asian Palace both days, because it had tables available, probably since it was off the main street. I will never forget the silky, perfectly-cooked King salmon at Beak Restaurant.

Lincoln Street busy with cruiseship passengers

Deserted after the cruiseships left

We got super lucky on the weather. Last year my birthday trip was to Cordova, and it was raining sideways from every single side. This year karma really rewarded us with beautiful blue skies. I really wanted to see the famous Mt. Edgecumbe volcano, and got to see it! On our last day the cloud ceiling appeared, and blocked the tops of the mountains and the volcano.

Mt. Edgecumbe Volcano

The trip was a dream. I definitely recommend doing research about all the must-see places in Sitka, before you go there. I ended up being the guide for our little group of three: me, my mom, and Scott. They didn’t bother learning anything ahead of time, so I was in charge of our itinerary. You don’t need a car in Sitka. There are nice public buses that will take you everywhere, but you can walk to almost every attraction. My only regret was not having time to go on a hike. Two days is plenty of time to explore the most interesting places.

Next year I plan to visit Lake Clark National Park.

Summer Plans

Is it just us, or is summer crazy for everyone? I feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants, and running around with my head cut off. Most of the time crunch has to do with going out to our cabin in McCarthy, which is very time consuming, but so worth the 300-mile trip one-way! Because the drive takes so long, we try to make it worth our time by spending at least a week out there. When we’re back in Anchorage, we’re catching up on painting commissions, mailing orders, doing art shows, and managing to do some house chores and hang out with our friends in between. The unrelenting summer heatwave with endless sunlight also contributes to the hyper-activity. I guess we have all winter to rest.

So, what are our summer plans? Well, Maria’s mom really loves visiting us in McCarthy, but she’s fed up with staying in our small cabin with us, so she commissioned us to build her a log cabin on our property. I’m really excited about building another log cabin, but Maria says she already built one, and is not that stoked about doing it again, because she forgot how hard it is! This project will take up most of our time, and we hope to have it completed this summer.

The foundation for the mother-in-law cabin, and some of the D logs that we have to peel for it

Other than that, we will spend most of our time working on the art business. I have two art shows happening this summer that are kicking off tomorrow on First Friday, June 3. One is my regular show at Midnight Sun Brewing that I have every year, and the second one is at a new-to-me venue, Dos Manos Gallery. I have been selling my art there for several years, but this is my first time being the featured artist in the gallery room! We hung the art there today, and I’m really happy with how it looks! I hope you check out both of my art shows, and bring your friends!

My art show at Dos Manos Gallery

We will also be vendors at two events. The first one is the Eagle River Beer & Music Festival on Saturday, June 4th. I love having a booth at beer festivals, because that’s where I find fans of my beer art! We will also be participating in the Beer, Beards and Art Market at Anchorage Brewing Co. on June 18th, 4-9pm.

Besides work, and building a cabin, we’re flying to Sitka to celebrate Maria’s birthday. She likes going to places in Alaska for her birthday that she’s never been to. Of course, Salmonfest is not-to-be-missed, and then Maria’s cousin from Germany is coming to visit with her two sons, so we’ll get to do some Alaska tourist activities with them, which are always amazing!

I hope to see you at some of these events this summer, and if I don’t, I wish you a safe and fun summer! What are your plans this summer?

Tok Thai Food

Tok Thai Food by Scott Clendaniel, 20″x16″, oil on canvas

My Aunt Barbara took a photo of a raven sitting on top of the Tok Thai Food establishment on her drive back from a visit to McCarthy, and I got her permission to make a painting based on her photo. According to a review on Yelp, Tok Thai Food has the best Panang Curry in Alaska.  I’m going to get some on my way back from McCarthy next time.  This roadside restaurant is an enigma, and I don’t know much about it. All I could find online were the menu and a bunch of positive reviews. The official website’s title page calls it Tok Tdai Food.  I have always had a good meal there, but is it really “t’die” for?  So, why is Tok Thai Food in Glennallen, and not in Tok?  The questions keep on rolling. Why is the best food in Glennallen, Thai food? Why is the best Thai food in Alaska located in Glennallen? Who owns this place? Who is making this delicious food?

What I do know is that I love stopping at this crossroad on my way back from McCarthy, and taking a minute, or 20 to get out of the truck, get some gas, and have fresh food. Making a stir fry from old cabbage, a spotty squash, and some canned chicken at the cabin in McCarthy may fill my belly, but it is far from what you get at Tok Thai Food. I think it’s the location that makes it so special. Strategically located at the T, where the Glenn Highway meets the Richardson.  If you are going to Chitina to dipnet, or want to go to Valdez, you drive right past it.  If you want to go to Tok, Whitehorse, Haines or Seattle, you will also drive right past it.  It is four hours from Anchorage, and four hours from the Canadian border, perfectly located for lunch.  

I painted this iconic sign because it represents returning to civilization. After a month in the Wrangell Mountains, a hot meal is welcome.  The Radio Shack sign in Glennallen advertising hot pizza is alluring, but they don’t actually have hot pizza, or at least not when I have been there.  The Freeze has long since closed its doors. The IGA may have some sandwiches and deli snacks, but it is far from excellent.  The raven in this painting symbolizes wilderness to me, and the bright yellow manufactured plastic sign, humanity.  After washing hands in the gas station, and getting a crispy fried egg-roll, it feels good to know, that yes, they do sell auto parts within the Glennallen city limits. This painting is about the balance of going to the wilderness to reduce stress by leaving the trappings of the city behind, while in the wilderness there is a different kind of stress of knowing you only have what you brought with you. It is good to change it up, find the ataraxia (Greek for balance), remind yourself what is important in your life, and you will find your inner peace.        

The original oil painting on canvas will be on display, and available for sale at my art show at Dos Manos Gallery in June and July. The art opening reception will take place on First Friday, June 3, 5-8pm. I will also have some prints available.