A couple of art shows

The Saint Joseph's College Annual Senior Artists and Art Faculty show will be on display in the Fendig Gallery of the Carnegie Center until April 11. It features the work of two senior students and several faculty pieces. The picture below, One-Winged Harpy, is one of a pair. The other is titled One Winged Angel.

I am not quite sure what to make of this picture, which is one of a series.

I have seen this torso in previous show and it impressed me then.

(Update: For more on the artist above, see shaynapolomchakart.wordpress.com and www.etsy.com/shop/ShaynaPolomchakArt.)

The torso above shows the influence of David Herriott, who does a lot of work in glass. One of his pieces in the show is the top of a small table.

While art created at SJC is at the Fendig Gallery, the 2014 Regional Middle Level Art Show is on display in the lobby of the Core Building at SJC until April 13. The young students produced a number of interesting things this year. For example, there were a number of examples of zentangle art, including a variation in which the zentangle designs are used to decorate the interior of letters.

Below is may favorite example of pop art, a style made famous by Andy Warhol. Pepsi Cans are a better subject for pop art than Campbell soup.

Seurat does not get credit for inspiring this design, which is supposed to imitate Australian aboriginal dot art.

The piece that impressed me the most, perhaps because I cannot quite figure out how it was done, was this paper swan.

comings and goings 3-27-2013

There are a couple of new businesses getting ready to open in the downtown. Although the closing of Oddities Ink deprived Rensselaer of the services of a tattooist, that void appears to be short-lived. In its former quarters on Kellner Street a new tattooist seems to be preparing to open: Inksane Barn.

 The windows in the small space next to Ardent Papers and Photography are covered with paper, but there is a sign on one of them saying that Studio 23 Hair Salon will be opening soon.

Ardent Papers and Photography will have an open house on the evening of April 4 and the morning and early afternoon of April 5.

Everyone except perhaps those who make money with snow removal is welcoming the closing of winter and the opening of spring. We still have some rather large piles of snow in some of the parking lots, such as the one in the parking lot of 5/3 Bank. However, six weeks ago it was much, much larger.

Spring is still not quite here. The ice cover on the Great Lakes is still a bit over 70%. The highest it reached this winter was 92.2%, which was a couple percentages away from the highest recorded level.

A bunny post

On Thursday night I had to leave Rensselaer suddenly but not unexpectedly for family reasons. During my stay in Indianapolis, I took my granddaughter for a walk in a little park near her house. As we were coming to the end of the trail, we saw a bunny. Instead of running away, as bunnies should, this bunny approached us. For a couple seconds I had visions of the bunny in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. However, it was harmless and appeared to be a very hungry domesticated rabbit that someone had turned loose in the park.

 I mentioned the bunny to my daughter-in-law and she, who even in normal times loves little animals, put out a notice on Facebook to her fellow animal lovers asking what could be done to help the little critter. (Being a hard-hearted fellow who grew up in a very different world, I saw nothing wrong with letting nature take its course.) She got some responses and then she and my son went on a bunny hunt. They were unsuccessful, but two people who had joined them, one a police officer, did find it. We got a call the next day telling us that the skinny, malnourished rabbit--you can see its backbone and ribs in the picture above--was happily munching on cilantro and pellets. The rescuers were going to take it to a vet to have it checked out and then find a home for it.

Instead of being happy about the outcome, I was rather embarrassed for setting in motion all this activity. However, the search for the bunny also seems to have set in motion some other activity that was the point of my trip to Indianapolis.

Here is a picture of the park with its little stream. The entire park is flood plain or steep creek bank. The picture below gives the impression that the park is a wilderness retreat.

 But from a different angle, you can see that it is next to commercial development along a very busy highway. You never get away from the sounds of traffic. (The bench overlooks a retention pond for that development.)

(Note to pet owners--most domesticated animals do not fare well in the wild. Dumping tame animals and expecting them to manage on their own is cruel.)

Update: Here is the bunny after rescue.

Odds & ends 3-22-2013 (Pictures added)

I was reminded how unpleasant driving on east-west roads early around the equinox when I drove to Monticello on Thursday morning at sunrise. It is also unpleasant driving on some of the roads because of all the potholes. SR 114 is one of those roads with a lot of potholes.

I have driven past the Rose Acre chicken farm west of Monon several time recently and noticed that workers were repairing one of the roofs. It appeared that the roof might have been damaged by the winter weather.

At Fair Oaks Farms rapid change is evident in the new restaurant building. Someone told me that work was being done seven days a week. Also, stakes are up for the Pork Education Center.

I saw my first flower and first butterfly on Friday, but neither was in Rensselaer.

The Republican reported that the Rensselaer Central School Board has offered to continue leasing Staddon Field to the city Park Department for a nominal fee for this summer, so ball games will be held there.

The street cleaner is out and about sweeping up all the stuff left by the melted snow banks.

At Saint Joseph's College scaffolding is going up around the east bell tower. The scaffolding that was around the west bell tower last fall is now gone. Also, work is being done to repair drainage tiles at Halleck Center. Broken tiles resulted in flooding in the basement.

 Finally, GRG Repair will be opening soon in the gas station north of Jordan Floral on College Avenue. The gas pumps have been removed, so it appears that the new business will be only a repair shop.

 Update: Pictures added.)

Shopping for bargains (updated)

I stopped by Jasper Junction this morning on the way to the Lenten Luncheon at the Brushwood Methodist Church. The store has been reorganized, with some of the booths in the north half eliminated and replaced with thrift store items. When I stopped by in December I thought it was very poorly organized. Now that the reorganization has been completed, it looks much better. If you have not been there in a while, you might be surprised at how different it looks.

There are still booths along the walls, but not in the center.

This weekend will feature the twenty seventh annual Birthright rummage sale--the first one was held in Brookside Park but after two or three years there it moved to the basement of St. Augustine's Church. This year the church basement looks a lot different--Saint Augustine is re-doing its basement and is in the demolition stage. Below you can see what the sale looks like at the start of the set-up. Friday morning those tables should be full of stuff.

Whatever does not sell at this sale is taken to Jasper Junction. The good stuff will go on their racks and the stuff that is not in good condition will be bailed and sold in bulk. Nothing goes to waste.

Update: I meant to post a picture after the sale set up but I had to leave town for a few days and was away from the computer that had the picture below:

From the reports I heard, the sale went well.