More entries in Art Walk Central

Here are photos of several Art Walk Center entries on display at the CMU Art Gallery. It is well worth your time to visit all Art Walk Central venues. Click on images to enlarge.

Silly facts

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Guinness Book of Records holds the record for holding records.

A small church in southeast Texas has petitioned the local board of education to ban girls in public schools from exposing their ear lobes which it considers indecent exposure.

Half a loaf is better than no rest at all.

Simple recipe for beef tartar: remove fillet from freezer; thaw.

Despite their strong exoskeletons, grasshoppers do not make good bookmarks.

A polite cannibal never talks with his mouth full.

The majority of those who wrap their ears in aluminum foil are right handed.

Birds cannot move their eyes, so must move their heads to look in another direction, such as the very- near-term future.

It is virtually impossible to swallow a tennis ball unless you first peel it.

Stepping on your elbow with your foot can be painful.

Even with condiments, sand and gravel, though appealing to those trying to relieve that “empty feeling”, should not be part of a regular diet.

Tattooing eyes on your eye lids makes you appear awake even while napping in public.

Spanish onions don’t understand a single word of English.

An amateur ornithologist in Louisiana became excited when he thought he had discovered a one-legged stork, until the startled bird woke up and flew away.

The record for pole vaulting the Grand Canyon is one-third.

The only mention of the iPhone in the Bible is in the Revised Edition.

Though there were many instances where it would have been useful, masking tape was never used during the Civil War.

You cannot lift an adult rhinoceros more than six inches off the ground using only dental floss.

On a dare, a man at the Clare County Fair snorted 38 lima beans up his right nostril, and although medics retrieved all but two, they took root in his duodenum.

When robots kiss, the use of tongues is legally forbidden in many states.

The Art Nouveaux attempt to make household pets of electric ells failed.

A sample of Art Walk Central

The 2013 Art Walk Central begins on August 7. There are 119 art entries from around the country that will be exhibited in 29 Mt. Pleasant businesses, galleries, and public parks. Maps to help you locate each piece will be available in the Morning Sun, at Art Reach, and other venues. Voting for the People's Choice Award begins August 7. Twelve awards totaling $20,500 will be divided among the youth and adult (over 17) categories thanks to the many generous sponsors. Winners will be announced during the Art Reach Auction.

Shown below are three marvelous examples of entries on display at the Art Reach Gallery, 111 East Broadway in Mt. Pleasant.

The top installation is by Maria Michaels. It is called “The Petrie Series: Benzene.” The viewer sits on a bench and pedals to create electricity, which then generates images of benzene particles on the ceiling. Astonishing!

The center piece is a charcoal drawing by Maddie Chafer drawn for a ninth grade art class!! It is called “Seven Billion”. This young artist has amazing talent.

At the bottom is a set of drawings that should really grab young viewers. It is “Assembler” by Jonathan Chaffer and shows each of the Avengers, the Marvel animated series heroes.

The Morning Sun will run more complete information of Art Walk Central later this week.

Rainy Day for Art Reach Chair Affair

 

The 2013 Art Reach Chair Affair entries were judged from noon to 1 pm on July 26, 2013. The judges were Nichole Sanders, Roxanne Schultz, and Rose Wunderbaum Traines. The on-and-off rain did not deter them from examining each of the 45 entries.

 There were prizes if $100 for First place, $75 for Second, and $50 for Third in each of two categories: Chairs and benches painted by community artists; Chairs and benches painted by art educators and their students.

 Among community artists, First place went to Wendi Johnson. Her host was Northwest Mutual. Second place went to Terry Blodgett, hosted by Trillium. Jan Weston took Third, hosted by Crème de la Crème.

 First place for art educators went to Mt. Pleasant High School, hosted by Commercial Bank. Renaissance Academy took Second, hosted by The Plate Boutique, and Joslin Clous took Third, hosted by Total Eclipse.

 The photos below show the exhibit outside Art Reach on Broadway. In the top image judges Schultz and Traines are hard at work, top left. Judge Sanders, with her two grand children are seen below. The MPHS chair is second from the left. The third photo shows many of the entries under the tent that fended off the rain. Click to enlarge.

 The bottom image shows many of the entries. Wendi Johnson’s chair and table are in the top left photo.

 A Public Choice award of $100 will be announced after the final voting by noon on Saturday, July 27.

A chilren's story...

Bunny’s Wishilator

The prospects for the day were quite bleak. The sky had wept inconsolably since dawn. Bunny sincerely wished it would stop crying. It made her feel blue. Her parents were having lunch at the Slaughtered Watermelon having Bloody Blueberries and Kohlrabi Crisps. That left her older bratty brothers in charge while they were away. She wished her parents would come home. She also wished her mother would read her a story. Mother’s stories were never weepy or sad.

Her bratty brothers were upstairs stomping on the floor playing Space Pirates and Mutant Marshmallows. She asked if she could play. “Only if you want to be a mutant marshmallow,” said Gus, the younger brother. “I am not a mutant. I am a little girl,” she responded indignantly. “Then go downstairs and be a little girl,” said Jack and the brothers laughed.

Down she went. The thumping and bumping grew louder upstairs. “Take that, villainous marshmallow!” cried Jack, smacking something vigorously. She wished they would just stop.

Bunny was a little girl in Nebraska who was brighter than a photon and usually quite cheerful. At the moment she had to have a stern talk with herself, “Don’t be so glum. Things are bound to get better. Then there are the crumbly wimbles.”

Crumby wimbles were fuzzy creatures with large sad eyes that lived under her bed and they were crying fearfully. “Please stop,” she said coaxingly, and I’ll tell you a story.” Three nebulous bodies and six wide eyes peeped out. “Will it be a good story?” asked the nearest and most blurry. “It will be about you,” she replied and began:

“The crumbly wimbles taught the snails

To capture moonbeams in their pails

And how to skimble up the hills

To create those lovely moonlight spills.”

“That wasn’t very long,” complained another of the fluffs. “It will have to do,” she ended firmly. And then the doorbell rang.

It was the post man with a large package, which he handed her with a smile as wide as Nebraska. It was addressed to her! It was from Aunt Neither and Uncle Either, who lived on a dude chipmunk ranch in far-off Ganderimich.

It was wrapped in brown paper, which Bunny tore open so quickly her hands were a blur. Inside was a large tinplate lithographed cube with rounded edges. It had a slot on top and a crank on one side. On the front was a cast-iron rim with a lip that could be lifted, like the letter slot in an apartment door. There were colorful pictures on every side and there was a stamp on the bottom that read “The Wishilator that made Milwaukee famous.”

The colors were very bright: vermillion, azure, gold, tangerine, emerald, and violet. Each side had a strange animal. There was a rufus sided toejammer, a reticulated pypan, an ardvarkarkinark, and a spoon-billed platitude. On the top was a butterflitter.

There were instructions in English, Spanish, French, and Elvish: “(1) Place crumpled, tarnished, unfulfilled dreams in slot at top; (2) Turn crank on side counterclockwise at least twelve times; (3) Lift lid on front and remove wish, washed, pressed and folded, for further use.”

Bunny looked doubtfully at the Wishilator, but took out her crumpled wishes nonetheless. “I wish my parents would come home,” was the first. In it went at the top and Bunny cranked. As she did so she swore the box played something by Mozart. How nice! No, it sounded more like something from the Beetles. No, it was a combination of both at the same time, as if Mozart had scored a Beetles’ song. Brilliant! She lifted the cast iron lid on the front of the cube and out came her wish, washed, pressed and folded, as the instructions had promised.

She put in her second creased and crinkled wish, “I wish my brothers would stop that racket!” Round and round she turned the crank to another sweet song and out came the wish, neat and clean as the first. She put the third about her mother reading her a story into the slot, turned the handle at least twelve times to another merry melody and out it came like the others.

There was a sound in the driveway. Bunny’s parents were home! The boys stopped their game and ran down the stairs. The children opened the door for their folks. The rain had stopped and the sun shined bravely.

When everything was back to normal Mother suggested a story for Bunny. All three wishes had come true. It was a new book and Bunny snuggled on Mother’s lap. The story began:

“The prospects for the day were quite bleak. The sky had wept inconsolably since dawn…”

 

 

 

 

Our 4th of July fireworks!

La Doux sculpture at Art Reach on Broadway

"On Thin Ice" an exhibition of sculpture by Alma Artist Justin La Doux will be in the Art Reach Gallery from July 2-31. A graduate of the Kendall Collage of Art & Design, he likes to create art, protect our environment, and  recycle.  He discovered the perfect medium to accomplish all three. Using materials that people think of as "trash" he gives them new life and creates a work that has purpose, meaning, and beauty. La Doux hopes his efforts will teach people to protect Mother Earth and her beauty. On Thin Ice is a diorama. All the animals are made with recycled material. You'll have fun deciding what the original items were in each work of art. You really have to see these life-size creatures to appreciate the artist's skill.

(Click images to enlarge.)