Perry Fest '10

Two weekends ago, September 17th-19th, marked our annual fall celebration in my hometown, known as Perry Fest. As of last year's festival, I've been attending among a handful of other guests as part of Edna Bentley Memorial Library's Literary Alley. Literary Alley, unfortunately, is a Saturday-only event. However, seeing as they've offered the table space to me for free, I really can't complain.

The weather, on the other hand, I can complain about. Despite forecasts the evening before that called for a pleasant Saturday, it was, needless to say, less than pleasant -- typical Michigan weather. There was a light shower that turned into a downpour during the morning, and personally owning no space covering posed a serious problem. So instead of setting up and ready to go by 10 AM, as was scheduled, I had to take a drive out into Okemos to purchase an instant canopy. Not a particularly cheap purchase, either. At any rate, the rain had cleared up when I returned to City Hall and set up my tent, table, and displays around noon.

As luck would have it, though, another downpour came around 3 PM that afternoon and essentially ended the rest of the day's festivities. Fortunately, Saturday was not all for naught. Two little girls posed for caricatures, Maddie and Ella, while attending Perry Fest with their parents and eldest sister. Natalie, a teenage girl, also posed even as the second downpour came, sitting underneath an umbrella and I under my canopy. I'm sure that anyone else watching would agree that this sight was somewhat surreal.

camera shy, and needing a nap, poor lil' Maddie was less than happy in this picture

Ella must be short for elephant -- she sported pachyderms in her hair and around her neck

sitting amidst the rain, just for a drawing -- very flattering for an artist

Regardless of the rain, Perry Fest still had its high points. And in spite of losing a few prints to water damage, much more artwork would have been lost if not for the instant canopy. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that next year will fare better.

Lovecraft ink drawing

A simple ink drawing of cosmic horror author H.P. Lovecraft.

SAC Fall '10 class schedule

It occurred to me that it might encourage more parents to sign-up their children for art lessons at the Shiawassee Arts Center, at least perhaps those who happen to follow along online, if the schedule was made available. There are other instructors and Fall classes available, certainly, however here I'll only include the courses that will be taught by myself. The rest can be read on the Arts Center's website.

Classes are available to age groups Kindergarten through 3rd Grade from 1 PM - 2:15 PM, then 4th through 8th Grade from 2:30 PM - 3:45 PM. Each is held on a Saturday afternoon, since we keep in mind the active school season. The cost is twelve dollars per class, but SAC members have a reduced rate of ten dollars. Annual student membership is fifteen dollars, for those who are interested. Contact Linda Ruehle at lindar@shiawasseearts.org to sign up for Fall classes or Arts Center membership.

And now, here are the available Fall '10 children's art classes, instructed by myself:

September 25th - Symmetrical Aliens
"Extraterrestrial special, out of this world art! Learn about symmetry."

October 2nd - Watercolor Sunflowers on Rice Paper
"Big & Bold."

October 9th - Downtown Architectural Drawing
"We will be walking downtown, weather permitting. SAC, inside if not."

November 20th - Watercolor Portraiture
"Bring a good reference photo to work from."

November 27th - Illustrating Children's Books
"Be it The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, or your own short story." (one class only, 1 PM-2:30 PM - $15 Member/$17 Non-member)

CCAC '10 summer art camp: caricatures

As you may remember in my past post, SAC '10 summer art camp: caricatures, there was mention of teaching a similar children's summer art class over in St. Johns, Michigan, on behalf of the Clinton County Arts Council. Unfortunately at the time, my netbook which contained photographs of my students and caricatures from that class were presumed lost, since the computer was malfunctioning. I feared the most likely solution was that the hard drive would have to be wiped. However, with help from a much tech-savvier friend than myself, my netbook was restored to its prior state before the malfunction with all files intact. *Phew!* Much thanks, Jon! And with that, here are the aforementioned pictures.