Archive for November, 2009
Late November
The sky today was crystal clear, a bright and intense blue from horizon to horizon. The air was crisp and sharp. No clouds in the sky and no bugs in the air. Perfect day for a ride in late November in southern Illinois. It seemed that all the farmers in the area took this day to harvest their corn. It has been standing in the fields for months dried out and ready to harvest but it has also been raining and keeping the corn wet. Today the corn fields looked like ancient forests of shriveled grasses ready to be cut down. What I found strange was one guy drove the combine, another drove the tractor that collects the corn from the combine and usually there were two or three guys just standing around on the road watching. I guess it is like any kind of work project. One guy does the work and the rest just stand around and watch or lean on their shovels. Moral support perhaps.
Perfect day for a ride except it was the day after Thanksgiving. At the half way point of the ride I suddenly felt like I had had enough. My cookies were starting to come up. Maybe it was the extra helping of mashed potatoes from the day before. Or the ham, or the stuffing. Whatever it was I was still stuffed the day after the feast.
Moral of the story. Don’t ride the day after a big feast. Give it another day. Or go really slow and watch out for the combines and the guys standing on the road just watching.
The Creatures of Great Variety
The Creatures of Great Variety is an on-going art project that I started with my youngest son a number of years ago.
I have posted the first set of 20 drawings/paintings. Click here for more information.
2009 Greece Abroad Presentation
The 2009 Greece Abroad group made its presentation to the entire college community last night. We had a big turn out starting in Wanamaker Hall for the slideshow. From their Ricky led the crowd to Radford with his drum echoing off the buildings on a dark and windy night. The crowd squeezed into Radford and quickly consumed the food and took in the visual treats on the walls and tables. It was a packed house and by 9:30 it was all over. Quiet in the gallery as David and I turned off the lights and went out into the night.
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- Leafing through the projects and sketchbooks
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- Candles and icons
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- The Greece room looking out from the chapel
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- Icons
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- All set and ready to go
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- The food room proved to be very popular
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- The quiet before the crowds arrived
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- Candles in the chapel
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- Looking down at the chapel
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- We missed the seniors who could not make it to the show
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- Icons in the chapel
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- Crowds around the book projects in the Turkey Room
For larger versions of the photos click here.
Preparing for an art show
The last few weeks, well really the entire quarter starting in September has been focused on preparations for the presentation to the college community of the work created during the Spring 2009 Greece Abroad. The hours keep adding up and the creative ideas keep flowing out of all involved in this process. The presentation will include a slide show and an art show. The details seem to be endless but the task is drawing to a close. Once completed the beauty, grace, complexity, simplicity, color, and energy of both Greece and Turkey will be visible in the sketchbooks, drawings and projects of all the students who participated in the program.
For a couple of shots of the behind the scenes click here.
