Art exhibit at library may inspire poetry or other arts

by Gretchen Beilfuss Witt Rowan Public Library

As I was making arrangements to have a collection of paintings hung in the gallery at the library, the artist and I spoke about how works of art evoke reflection of other art. Listening to a piece of music like Strauss’ “An Alpine Symphony” brings certain images to mind — the beautiful mountain and then the tempest roaring through the trees and soaking the hikers. Gazing at paintings often suggests the quiet reflection of poetry.

As we enjoy the transition from lazy, hot summer to cool, crisp autumn days, come take some time to wander through the paintings. The lovely sunflowers and poppies in the fields, the wind-blown trees in green and brown landscapes remind us of the summer gone by.

The “Endless Summer” show will be up in the library for several weeks. Clyde, a local artist, brought together a collection of acrylic paintings that brings to mind verses of English poets like Wordsworth: “My dazzled sight he oft deceives / A brother of the dancing leaves; Then flits, and from the cottage-eaves, Pours forth his song in gushes,” from “The Green Linnet.”

After browsing through the paintings, take a moment to select a book of poems; for instance, “Wild Song, Poems of the Natural World” is an easy choice for more modern poems about nature. For poems more thought-provoking, scoop up Pulitzer Prize winning W.S. Merwin’s “The Second Four Books of Poems.” His work has been described as profound and daring.

If searching for a barely remembered snippet of a poem, check our online resources in NC LIVE on English, American or modern poems. You can type in a line or even a word and find an amazing collection of beautiful poetry to fit any mood or relearn a favorite verse.

Perhaps the paintings will inspire you to pick up a brush yourself. Patricia Seligman’s “Step by Step Art School Oils” may get you started. There is an entire set of “Step by Step Art School” books to explain the techniques of using oils, acrylics and watercolors, painting portraits or still lifes. Each is helpfully and well illustrated with explanations of tools and materials.

Tim Deibler’s “Capturing the Seasons” goes a little further, teaching how to discern light sources, how best to illustrate shades and shadows, how to mix paint to create the variety of greens needed to imply a summer’s day.

If the history of painting is more your cup of tea, check out James Elkins “What Painting Is.” Elkins, professor of art history at the Art Institute of Chicago, delves into the alchemy and chemistry of painting. He explains how successive generations viewed the value of color, for instance, in medieval and baroque times, the tones of browns and darker yellows were used to paint earthly things. The Impressionists, despising the sludgy mud colors of their forerunners, chose brighter. He explores the beliefs of the alchemist painter and juxtaposes these beliefs against the predominant institution of the day, the church. He argues the painter who paints in isolation surrounded by the fumes of solvents, staring at glass or wood surfaces, is different from the writer or composer whose work shows up cleanly on the page. Elkins claims there is a kind of psychosis in the act of painting. Pick up this unexpected and absorbing exploration into the “insanity” of the painter.

Storyteller Bill Harley at Rowan Public Library

Rowan Public Library welcomes storyteller Bill Harley on Thursday, September 19^th at 7:00 pm at RPL Headquarters, Salisbury.   Bill is a Grammy award winning artist, who uses story and song to paint an entertaining picture of growing up, schooling, and family life.  The event is free and all are welcome.

But you can find out more about Bill Harley by checking out  his CD “The Town Around the Bend” or the DVD “Yes to Running”  from Rowan Public Library. 

 Bill’s live performance was  recorded for the DVD  and features songs children can appreciate, such as “Grown Ups are Strange” and a song about fighting over the car radio. Bill also tells stories through song, like the ballad of Dirty Joe, the pirate who steals dirty socks, and his battle with another underwear stealing pirate. 

Bill grew up in Indianapolis, and in “The Great Sled Race” he recalls the winter he received a special Christmas gift of a new sled. His friend also gets a new sled, and together they race down Mammoth Hill, with disastrous results.  

The CD offers bedtime stories and songs about  the children who live in a town called Around the Bend. The children also have unusual names, like Bucket of Beans, who discovers his parent’s magic bubble machine, and Twizzlesticks, who decides children should read bedtime stories to parents, instead of the other way around, because the parents fall asleep before they finish the story. 

Check out Bill Harley’s CD and DVD at Rowan Public Library, and don’t miss him live at Rowan Public Library on Thursday, September 19^th at 7:00 pm.

An Island Out of Time

by Rebecca Hyde Rowan Public Library

            If you locate the town of Crisfield on the eastern shore of Maryland and then go ten miles out into the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, you’ll find Smith Island, a fishing community of about five hundred people.  It is the focus of Tom Horton’s book, “An Island Out of Time :  A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake,” in which the author describes the island community through history, changes of season, natural cycles, ecological changes, and through the daily lives of the island people, who try to make a living, raise families, and maintain their community in the midst of all this fluctuation.  The book is not a dry, research report.  The author had a “stake” in the community where he lived for a time, and he firmly believes  that we all share that stake.

 Horton had reported for the Baltimore Sun on the opening of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Smith Island Environmental Education Center.  In 1987, he accepted the offer of an Education Manager’s position.  He and his wife left jobs on the mainland, rented their Baltimore house, and took up residence, with their two school-age children, in a 170-year-old house with thirty-six windows, each having “a view you would pay serious money for on the mainland”  (and half facing “broadside to the North Pole,” which the family discovered their first winter).  The consequences of his decision Horton experienced one dark and stormy night, when taking by boat his severely asthmatic child to a mainland hospital.  All those “good” reasons for moving might not have amounted to much. 

The family lived on the island until 1989.  During the stay, Horton collected evidence of why the island and its inhabitants, human and nonhuman, have flourished and declined.  The blue crab is a symbol of the region’s success, and the Chesapeake, a good “final exam” to grade civilization on how it achieves a long-term, stable accommodation between nature and human populations.

Horton provides an update in the 2008 edition of his book.  He has never really left the island.  He maintains a house there and returns every month or so.  Island population is down but “not out.”  Water business alone can’t support life there, but who can avoid “the island’s allure” for kayakers and birdwatchers?  Horton invites you to visit the website www.visitsmithisland.com and make plans.

Library Notes April Everett

Library Notes

April Everett

The human race has always been fascinated with the unknown.  The young boy who asks “why” grows up to be the man who still seeks the truth among lies.  In recent months, Rowan County has been on the minds of people across America regarding a high profile missing person case.  We all seek the truth, what has happened to a young girl who has been missing for two years.  But can a team of investigators really acquire evidence based on a fingerprint, or a suspicious book, or a bloody knife buried in a closet?  Is it really as simple as they make it seem on TV?

The field of forensic science may seem relatively new, but experiments with fingerprinting date back to the Chinese in the 600s BCE.  By the 1500s, studies in anatomy and pathology laid the foundation for what would later be termed “forensic science”.  Methods of detecting arsenic and other distilled chemicals in the body were discovered in the late 1700s.  Dr. Henry Faulds became the first person to encourage use of fingerprints as a method of criminal identification in the late 1800s. 

By the turn of the century, the United States Bureau of Identification had established a fingerprint collection and less than a decade later, the first criminal was convicted of murder based on fingerprint evidence.  The FBI opened its first crime laboratory in 1932, and would eventually introduce an Automated Fingerprint Identification System.  While there have been many advances in DNA testing and fingerprinting technology, often they are not enough to convict someone of a crime.  Today, investigators depend upon forensics, the use of science and other disciplines (such as photography or biology) to establish evidence in criminal or civil courts of law.

Many best-selling fiction crime writers have backgrounds in forensics or related fields.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, mastermind behind Sherlock Holmes, used his scientific expertise gained while studying medicine under forensics expert Joseph Bell.  Agatha Christie’s experience as a pharmacist gave her an inside look at poisons and chemicals, which were an instrument of homicide in the majority of her works.  Best-selling author Patricia Cornwell worked as a crime reporter and later as a technical writer for the Virginia medical examiner.  Kathy Reichs brings her experience as a forensic anthropologist, professor of forensics, and consultant to the FBI into her forensic thrillers.  The robust resumes of these authors lend credibility to their writing and readability to their plots.  Perhaps the old adage is true, it is best to write what you know.

Whether you want to learn more about becoming a forensic scientist, or enjoy a good page-turning crime novel, the Rowan Public Library has just the book for you!  Books with 363.25 on the spine will lead you to an overview of forensics.  With more than 250 full-color images, Forensics by Edward Ricciuti is an excellent illustrated guide for anyone interested in an overview of the history and practical applications of forensic science.  Another great illustrated guide is Richard Platt’s Crime Scene: The Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science, which includes photos of tools for the job, flow-charts for causes of death, and a section on “crimes without corpses” (which far outnumber those involving murder).  Fingerprints  by Colin Beavan focuses on the impact of fingerprinting on crime detection and forensic science.  Stiff: The curious lives of human cadavers by Mary Roach is an entertaining and surprisingly compelling look at what happens to bodies donated (willingly or otherwise) to science.

For a look into the fictional world of forensics, you may want to dive into Kathy Reichs’ Bones series, which features Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist and medical examiner.  Patricia Cornwell’s forensic thrillers feature Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner and forensic consultant.  Meg Gardiner’s series features Jo Beckett, forensic psychiatrist.  Iris Johansen’s novels feature Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor.  Or there are always the classics: Poirot the famous detective and examiner of Agatha Christie’s mysteries, or the all-knowing consulting detective Sherlock Holmes of Sir Author Conan Doyle’s mysteries, to name a few.

                Not a reader?  The library carries a number of the books and series mentioned above in audiobook and DVD formats.  Whether you’re looking for serious study or light entertainment, the Rowan Public Library has got you covered!

Fall Craft Time or Homemade Gifts for the Giving

    

Library Notes

September 1, 2013

By John Tucker    

     

As the summer draws to a close and the cooler fall temperatures drive the thermometer lower,

the time is right to ponder a new craft adventure. When was the last time you made a gift for an

autumn anniversary or the upcoming holidays? A visit to the public library may help to inspire

your Fall crafting with some fun projects. Take for example the book Naturecrafts: 50 Extraordinary

Gifts and Projects, Step by Step by Gillian Souter. Here you can embrace natural elements such as

flowers, seeds, leaves and fruit to design a variety of beautiful gifts. From creating unique cards

featuring pressed flowers, shell jewelry, and woven baskets from raffia. There is a new idea for every

skill level.

               

Another option would be the text Quick and Easy Gourd Crafts, by Mickey Baskett. Given this

year’s abundance of rainfall, the gourd crop will be greatly compromised so finding a gourd and turning

it into a craft gift will be all the more special. Whether you paint or carve a design, a beautiful gift

awaits your creative touch.

               

How about a craft your neighbors might enjoy from the book Scarecrows: Making Harvest

Figures and Other Yard Folks, by Felder Rushing. What was once used to frighten away evil spirits and

birds tormenting crops scarecrows have found a place in gardens dating from the “dark age” of 100 B.C.

Today’s creations tend to embody an art form full of color and props that make us laugh. There is no

rule of thumb, if you have a prop that a human can operate, a scarecrow can be created to do it better.

This book explains how you can create a scarecrow riding a bicycle or lifting a round hay bale. Be sure to

notify Dorothy and her friends from OZ to celebrate your accomplishment.

          

Should you have an outdoor living space that needs a crafty makeover you might enjoy the book

called Junk: Outdoor Edition by Sue Whitney. The author has extensive photos to inspire creativity as

you makeover a deck, a porch or create an adult retreat in a setting such as tea-for-two, or camping in

the backyard. With an eclectic appeal, this text demonstrates how everyday junk can be recycled into

functional pieces of living space.

                

Regardless of one’s skill level, the library has a vast collection of craft books to inspire your Fall

activities. Stop in at your local library and make your selections soon.