DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 6 * * All Arts News On the Web * * September 12, 2002

STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column.


      Stop in for the AAC CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month. These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and workshops. We come together on the second Wednesday for a booked musical performance and an art exhibit at Simple Pleasures in St Albans. On the fourth Wednesday come to the Kept Writer in St Albans for acoustic Open Mike Night featuring music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.


      I goofed last week. The Northwestern Medical Center features artist Doug Underwood through the month of September. I had mistakenly hung another artist in that space.

DOUG UNDERWOOD

      St. Albans artist Doug Underwood paints in watercolor and oil. He has been interested in painting "for a long time," he said "but that interest was renewed by the Elder Art program with Mark Montalban."
      His paintings, on display now through the end of this month at Northwestern Medical Center, portray the landscape and architecture of Franklin County: old barns and scenes around the county. "I would have to call myself a realist but not an 'every hair' realist. My buildings are recognizable," he said. It is a pastime he enjoys.
      "I always liked to look at the stuff. Then I tried my hand at it very roughly many years ago." When the Elder Art program came to St. Albans, "I enrolled in it and went on from there."
      The Elder Art program was a statewide non-profit arts organization for artists age 55 and older. Artist educator Mark Montalban held beginning and intermediate classes at the St. Albans Barlow Street Center. The program has gone on hiatus to reorganize and find volunteers.
      Mr. Underwood photographs places and buildings that might make interesting paintings. "When I'm taking the picture I try to take the picture to get the perspective in the picture," he said. He also does a lot of reading, studying the techniques and effects in art books
      He has sold a few pieces and all the works in the Hospital exhibit are for sale.
      Now retired, Mr. Underwood "worked for Fonda Container for 23 years and, when I got done there, I went to work for Bob and Barb Clark at the Flower Shop for a few years and ended up working at NCSS as community support person working with clients."
      He is very proud of his family. One son is a teacher and another is a research scientist at Cornell. He and Lois Underwood have been married for 49 years. "We just got back from a 10-day trip to Colombia, South America," he said. His son's wife's family lives in Medellin. "My wife says she wasn't the least bit worried. I wasn't worried, but I wondered why it was necessary every place we went, we went in a bullet proof car and had a body guard. It made you wonder."
      Perhaps some new paintings will come from that trip.


ZIG ZOUNDS

      The Cambridge Arts Council presents Vermont folk-pop singer/songwriter Diane Zeigler with Geoff Sather in concert in Jeffersonville on Saturday. It will be an evening full of her own graceful, introspective melodies.
      Ms. Zeigler has won six national songwriting contests including the Kerrville Folk Festival, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, and the Sugarbush Folk Festival. She is a popular Summer Sounds performer.
      The Diane Zeigler concert will beheld in the Second Congregational Church in Jeffersonville on Saturday at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors/students. Tickets are available at the door. E-mail for more info for info.


STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

ST. ALBANS--On Friday, the Kept Writer presents the rich bluegrass & folk guitar, mandolin and vocals of Dick Staber and Judith Chasnoff. The Adirondack/Lake Champlain region performers have been performing a unique brand of folk and bluegrass-based acoustic music since 1993. This is their first show at the Kept Writer. 7-9 p.m.

FRANKLIN--Sterling Weed and his Imperial Orchestra play a community benefit dance social on Saturday at 7:30-10 p.m. in the Franklin Town Hall.
      Unsure of where your feet go? The dance committee will hold dance lessons at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall.
      Admission is free but donations will help the Franklin United Church building fund and a non-perishable food item is welcome for local needs. The dance is open to ages 1 to 101 (or more) and the weather report calls for perfect dancing weather.

FRANKLIN--The Boonys Pub and Grill presents the sweet and intense original blues of Jim Branca (of Bloozotomy fame) on Saturday starting at 7 p.m.

ST. ALBANS--On Saturday, the Kept Writer presents the folk and blues of Pure BS. Former Throbulators Jerry Bowers and Tyrone Shaw play twisted tales of love and bodily functions. It is great blues, folk and rock 'n roll. 7-9 p.m.

ENOSBURG FALLS-The Opera House at Enosburg Falls and the All Arts Council present Sojourns in the Wild-Live This multi-media presentation features the images of Vermont nature photojournalist and naturalist, Gustav W. Verderber, choreographed to fully orchestrated original compositions by international Celtic harpist and composer, William Jackson. The program is part of the Opera House Mentors Series.
      This visual and musical celebration of nature that starts eyeball to eyeball with the gigantic spiders and mites of a Montgomery Center pasture. Astronomic on the projection screen, at any rate. Mr. Verderber next dips us into an Atlantic tidal pool for the lifestyles of the bizarre and kaleidoscopic. And the audience feels the splash when a humpback whale pec-slaps the surf. For this live performance, William Jackson will perform his compositions on Celtic harp and flute during the first part of the program.
      Tickets are $12/adults, $10/senior citizens and students, children under 12 free and are available at the Merchants Bank in Enosburg, at Swanton Rexall, and at Better Planet Books Toys and Hobbies and at the Kept Writer in St. Albans. Call 802-933-6171 or click here for more info.
      Mr. Verderber and Mr. Jackson will also conduct Sojourns at Morristown's People's Academy in Morrisville on Wednesday, September, 18, and at the Morse Center for the Arts at St. Johnsbury Academy on Friday, September, 20.


SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER ART DEADLINES

EDITORS' BOOK AWARD (September 15)--$1000 plus publication is given annually for one fiction or creative nonfiction manuscript that "has been overlooked by today's high-pressure publishing conglomerates." If you have a manuscript mouldering at another publisher, ask the editor to ship it to a small press that might do you some good. Your manuscripts must be nominated by an editor at a U.S. or Canadian publishing company. No fee. Pushcart Press, Wainscott, NY.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS (September 15)--Crown Books, a unit of Random House Children's Media Group seeks children's nonfiction (sports, science, nature, music, history) and picture books for ages 3 and up. A call for books from a major publisher is very unusual. Click here for more info.

UNTITLED, #16 (October 4)--Artoconecto 2002 presents a nationally juried show funded by the NEA, in Washington, DC, featuring new and recent works by emerging artists. Artists in all media are encouraged to apply. These shows take place in a festive and unique atmosphere, and include live music and other surprises. E-mail or click here for more info.

WHITE, BLACK & SHADES OF GRAY (October 16)--National juried exhibition with $1200 cash awards. Entry fee. E-mail or click here for more info.

29th NATIONAL PRINT AND DRAWING EXHIBITION (October 25)--A nationally juried show at Bradley University. Open to all artists with original prints and drawings in all media produced in 2000-2002. Artists are encouraged to submit experimental print and drawing techniques. Entry fee. E-mail or click here for more info.


CLICK HERE: ART SITES OF THE WEEK

      Shalynn Reynolds' Lesson Plan Exchange is part of a larger webring of resource sites for kids' theater. If you can get past the purple graphics, this freebie site contains lesson plans and warmups games, improvs, references, assessment, links, and more for theater teachers.
      ASSITEJ, the Association International du Theatre pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse, is a worldwide network of theater for children and young people located in Johanneshov, Sweden. It was established in 1965 by an alliance of professional theaters with links to thousands of theaters, organizations and individuals in more than 70 countries.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site.


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      This article was originally published in the St Albans Messenger and other traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2002 by Richard B. Harper. All rights reserved. Archival material is provided as-is. Links are not necessarily maintained (if a link in this article fails, try Google.com or your favorite search engine).
      Thanks to recent misuse of copyright material on the Internet by individuals and archival firms alike, we emphasize that your rights to this article are limited to viewing it and printing it for personal use only. You must receive explicit permission from the All Arts Council and the author before reprinting or redistributing this article in any medium.