Carriage Factory Art Gallery

     A week ago I visited the Carriage Factory Art Gallery with my mother and grandmother. The gallery did indeed produce carriages at one point in time, but it has since been converted into a space where local professional artists can showcase their work. The main floor of the gallery featured a series of paintings by Joseph Longanbill of scenes around town. Having spent many a Friday in the adequately sized town the pictures depicted, I enjoyed seeing how he transferred familiar scenes onto canvas with pain and brush.

     In the upper portion of the gallery another piece caught my attention. It was a painting done by Ethan Patrick Harris called The Vibes. Most of Harris’ work displays grotesque fantastical creatures, but this one was of a tree with what looked like pink bubbles of bubble gum on its branches. This gave it a lively and joyful appearance. However, on closer inspection I realized that the tree was dead and the ground around it was barren. This greatly contrasted with the bubbly appearance of the tree’s foliage. I wondered what had inspired Harris to paint the pretty bubbles on a dead tree and what the piece meant to him personally.

     Unfortunately for me (and for all of you) the gallery prohibits photos of its artworks, so I don't have any pictures of the paintings to go along with this. I planned on getting a photo of the front of the gallery as we left, but I forgot. However, we stopped by an outdoor Stutsmans greenhouse to pick up some pansies and admire the multiple mums. And these I do have a picture of!

Operation Pumpkin Patch

     Recently I had the opportunity to go to a pumpkin patch with some of my friends. It was fall break and some of the gals who were out-of-state had come home for the weekend, so we decided to take advantage of our chance to get together.

     We decided to go to a pumpkin patch..... well, because it was fall! Also, some of us had never been to one. My personal pumpkin patch memories are scant. They weren't a huge part of my childhood, and I was okay with that. Mostly I remember picking out a pumpkin in Kindergarten and First Grade and getting lost in the corn maze in middle school. So, I was not overly excited at the prospect of exploring the pumpkin patch as a somewhat-adult.

     Despite my concerns, we had a great time! Most of the equipment had been designed for humans smaller than us, but that only aided us as we returned briefly to our childhood.  After squeezing up and down several slides (okay, one was compatible for adult-sized people) we ventured into the corn maze. I wouldn't consider it an actual maze, because there was only one entrance/exit, but it still got the job done.

Here we are, about to enter the corn maze!

     After the corn maze we discovered an attraction called, "Pumpkin Land." Think of a life-size version of the board game "Candy Land," except not as elaborate. We needed to backtrack to the concession stand for a spinner, so instead we contended ourselves with jumping from tile to tile. In the middle of "Pumpkin Land" was a small playground, with various child-sized wooden structures. We squirmed in and around them for a bit before moving on.

Why couldn't we have come here as kids?

     A couple of the attractions we were able to partake in without fear of bodily harm (to us or the equipment) were a giant tire swing that could fit all three of us and a giant jumping pillow. The pillow was like a big inflated trampoline and after a full afternoon of running around corn mazes it felt like the perfect place to take a nap. 

     Unfortunately, time continued to move on. We knew we would have to return to being responsible adults sooner or later. Even though it was only for a couple hours, it was nice to be a child again. I really enjoyed going to the pumpkin patch and getting an afternoon off to spend in the company of friends.

     

'Tis the Season for Fall!

     Fall is here! While not all of the leaves have started turning colors, the weather has definitely been getting crisper. To help mark the approaching holiday season my mother dug up our two strands of orange Christmas lights. Only half of one strand lights up, but the other strand makes up for it by being made in the good old days to last forever (thank goodness for thrift shops!). I helped out by twining the lights around our stair bannister, giving the entryway a festive look. We hope to have the lights up until they are replaced by a multi-colored strand at Christmas.

     Another sign of the arrival of fall is the approach of Halloween (this event has been long in coming - I work at a craft store and we had our Halloween stuff up in August).  Our family is not super big into Halloween, but this year I will be wearing a costume! This was prompted by one of my college professors, who promised us extra credit if we came to class with a costume on Halloween. I'm a sucker for extra credit, so I couldn't resist. Plus, it gave me an excuse to fire up my creative spirit!

     After much deliberation I decided to tackle two costumes. This year I will be dressing up as a butterfly and a minion (from Despicable Me). The butterfly will be the main costume, with the minion set on the back burner (it won't be completely useless; I can wear both costumes to work).

     Stay tuned for pictures of the process and final product!

Sunday School!

     As mentioned before, I am helping to teach Sunday School for the 1st graders at our church. This year they are learning about the attributes of God (so advanced for seven year olds)! I must admit, it isn't quite that complicated. The curriculum is called  The ABC's of God and each week we look at one of God's attributes. I am enjoying the curriculum; I wish I got to learn the word 'incomprehensible' in 1st grade! Here are some of the nuggets the kids have been learning:

Q is for Questions
1. Who is God?
2. What is God like?
3. How should I act towards God?
Each week we try to answer these three questions.

I is for Incomprehensible
We cannot fully understand God.

Y is for YHWH (Yahweh)
God has a personal name and he wants us to get to know him.

E is for Eternal
God has no beginning or end.

C is for Creator
God made all things.

G is for Glorious
God shows his greatness and worth.

W is for Wise
God causes everything to work out perfectly.

A is for Almighty
God is all-powerful.

S is for Sovereign
God has the right and wisdom and power to do all He pleases.

Mini Vacation: Branson

     Partly due to the trip my mother and I took to the Czech Republic, our family did not go on a family vacation this summer. So, we freed up a weekend in the middle of September to go have fun as a family. That just happened to be last weekend.

     We woke up deathly early (5 a.m. to be exact) Friday morning and hit the road at 6. We arrived at Silver Dollar City just in time for lunch. After eating we began to explore the amusement park. For some of the more wild rides, Mom and I stepped aside and let the boys have their fun. However, I did spark up the courage to ride Powder Keg at the very end of our trip.

     Something my mother was really looking forward to was seeing Marvel cave. I must say that it was quite marvelous. However, I have no pictures to record the event.

     The park closes at 6, but there is a free show to visitors after closing time. On a spur-of-the-moment decision, we ended up sitting in on half of the show before heading out to get supper. The show included dog tricks and multiple singing groups.

     The next day, instead of heading back to Silver Dollar City as originally planned, we ventured into the city of Branson. As we passed Silver Dollar City we were glad that we had made a change of plans; a long line of cars stretched out from the entrance!

     Our main goal in Branson was to visit the Titanic museum. At the beginning of the tour each person is given a 'boarding ticket' with the name and information of one of the people who were on board the Titanic. At the end of the museum you could see if your person had survived. I am pleased to say that all but one of our family lived!

     Unfortunately, I have no pictures. Due to copyright issues pictures are not allowed inside the museum.

     Despite all that, it was a very enjoyable weekend for our family!

Where I'm From

(Note of Explanation: This is a poem that I wrote for school. I am fairly proud of it, so I thought I would share it with you. It wasn't too hard to write because we used a template. Then again, that was what made it difficult as well. I hope you enjoy!)

I am from notebooks,
From tennis shoes and Microsoft.
I am from the stair rail banister
(brown, sturdy,
worn smooth from many hands)
I am from the rose bush,
The spruce tree,
Which tries to encompass the porch.

I am from signing grace and brown hair,
From Mary Beth and Ken.
I'm from the hard workers
And the domestic artists.
From Walk straight! and Sit down!
I'm from Amazing grace how sweet the sound of dusty piano keys.

I'm from Wichita and 213 Pine St.
Zwiebach and spaghetti.
From the cancer that took my grandmother's life, the hearing my brother lost when he was three.
My background is building the stage on which I live my life. From dust I came from and to dust I shall return, but during this spark in between I will live for the glory of my Creator.

Art Problems (instead of math problems)

     "What does it mean?" asked a professor walking by.
     I looked up from my sketch of a nearby sculpture.
     "That's what I am trying to figure out," I replied.

     I was working to complete an assignment - to draw 13 of the 70+ sculptures located on campus. In addition to drawing them from at least three angles, we also had to take notes on their formal qualities. Now, I am not talking about how the sculptures would look if we dressed them in a suit and tie (although that would be pretty funny!). Each artists takes certain factors into consideration when he (or she) is creating art. These factors are called Elements of Design. This includes things like line, shape, mass, texture, color, and scale. Think of these as the building blocks of design. How you implement these 'blocks' is through the Principles of Design (for example: balance, direction, harmony, proportion, and unity).

     By keeping these in mind the viewer (in this case me) can attempt to determine the meaning behind the artwork. Let me tell you, it is not always easy! However, this assignment gives us practice drawing and forces us to study the sculptures for long enough to get at least some idea of what they might be protraying.