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Posts tagged ‘sculpture’

Embrace Artists

Today was our Madison Valley 25th annual Arts Festival. (well… almost annual… we had to cancel it last year because of COVID). Nearly 50 artists from Montana and Idaho gathered here in Ennis to treat us with their displayed talents. It was a delightful day. Come and join me to enjoy the festival vicariously.

That’s me in the pink top … Ennis Arts Assoc. President
Chelsee Mahsman (sec.), Batb Bunge (volunteer coordinator)
and Barbara Swan-Roger (treasurer)
People started setting up last night!
These two set up early this morning
They did very well with their sales

The Presbyterian Women (I’m a part of them)
sold baked and canned goodies.
Baking and cooking is an art, you know.
They sold out!!
That’s Cindy, Stephanie & Hailey!
It was a beautiful day in Peter T Park –
a venue made possible by the
Madison Valley Bank.
Benny and her hubby served
a record number of lunches
from their “Li’l Hogpit Trailer”
Starting at 11:30 and continuing until 3:00 pm,
there was a line of customers at the Li’l Hogpit.
We really enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich.
The Tune Tanglers provided music from 10: to 2:
That’s brother & sister, Peggy & Jim –
Great musicians!
Jim Groshong and the Ennis City Ramblers
played from 2: til the rain chased ’em out about 3:30 PM
The musicians are setting up here…
By 10: am all the chairs were filled
with appreciative listeners

Here are some of the artists:



This is EAA member, Sherry Gold.
One of Sherry’s paintings is in my entry at home.

I don’t know ALL the artists’ names… so
forgive me for not telling you who each one is.
This gal was new to our festival this year.
These giant flies might catch a whale. You think?
Here are Sue Kinn-Brown and her hubby, Verne Brown.
Sue was our Festival chairperson and
Verne was the lead set-up person.
Congratulations, Sue & Verne for a fantastic job!
Here’s some of Sue’s pottery
This beautiful cutting board sold quickly!
I love this donkey!

Joe Gillispie creates gorgeous tables.
I have a cross up in my sanctuary that he made for me.
I love the inlaid turquoise.
Joe’s wife Barbara, is an invaluable member of our EAA…
a member of the jury committee and secretary of our Planning Committee.
I love her!
These rustic originals are so whimsical!
Many of the jewelers used local stones as some of their materials.

Bob bought this for me as a birthday gift. I love it!
It was created by Linda Sommer
L Designs 411
One of the most fun things about events like this one
is the opportunity to make new friends.
We had a great visit with this couple from Idaho.
Maybe Blaire will join our EAA and display his art here next year!
Sonja and I became instant friends!!
This talented young artist was new to our festival.
Such a cutie! Great talent!!
Gerry Mooney is an EAA member who is a terrific photographer.
We had such a wonderful assortment of various art medium in attendance!
Just look at this beautiful bowl!!

I worked most of the morning here at the EAA information booth,
selling raffle tickets and answering questions about who or what’s where.
That’s the chair where I sat…
Many of our vendors told us this one their
most successful festivals in years.
Customers were enthusiastically generous!
There was so much to choose from!
In addition to that beautiful turquoise cross necklace,
Bob got me this antelope pillow!!
It looks great in my living room!
Our neighbor and friend, BJ Radell, created it.
Check out her fiber arts at BJ Designs …
bj@rondack.net

Maybe next year at this time, you can can to come to Ennis and help us celebrate our 50 year anniversary as an Ennis Arts Association. I’d love to house a bunch of my Word Press friends and have us enjoy the festivities together! Think about it!

Thanks for taking my Art Festival tour with me. Which kind of art do you like best?

We may even take you out on the Madison.
What do you say?

See ya tomorrow (God willing)

Love,
JanBeek

Embrace Creativity

When are you the most creative?
Where do your creative juices flow most freely?
What’s your God-given creative talent?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I am not a painter.
I may have some latent talent there, but I have never developed it.

That’s Bob –
He’ll tell you he developed
his painting skills by
painting beehives for 30 years!
Now he’s painting the pastor’s house!!

Do you have hidden talents that you have not fully explored?

Photo by Roman Koval on Pexels.com

When children are given the tools
and the examples early in life,
often that becomes the springboard
for a life of artistic talent shared.

Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

No one told me that my scribbles
might lead to a creative talent
that would be appreciated by others!

But, I was encouraged to sing as a child.
That was a talent that did not go unnoticed.
How could you ignore it when
I was a 3-year-old singing
“Appo-Tee, Appo-Tee, AppoTee”
all the way through the hymns at church.
Singing loudly and joyfully!

Hah!
It was during the time of WWII
and a popular song was
“Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree
(with Anyone Else But Me).”

You’re probably not old enough to remember it!!
Go ahead, click on it here.
You’ll love it!!

So how did my “Appo Tee” singing
graduate into a full-blown creative talent?
Like any talent, it takes
involvement,
participation,
practice.

I have been a member of a choir
for as long as I can remember…
… always in school, then in church,
and eventually our community choir.
I am not a soloist,
but I love singing in a duet
or trio or with a large group.
Recently our church choir
was able to start up again…
it is such a joy!


Once I even got to sing
with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
during one of their dress rehearsals
for their Christmas concert!

The rendition below of
“The Lord Bless You and Keep You”
was sung by the University of the Pacific Choir
at Bob’s and my wedding 2/11/62.
Here is the Mormon Tabernacle singing it.
I love it so much!

If your talent is not singing or painting,
maybe you developed a talent in another area –
like cooking or woodworking or metal sculpture.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Of course, one major talent I forgot mention
Is instrumental music …
the piano or a woodwind or string or brass instrument…
Such talent brings so much joy to the player
as well to a world of listeners.

I played the accordion and the clarinet
as a child and continued to do so
until just recently.
My accordion is not functioning,
there’s a hole in the bellows.

Perhaps I will find another
small accordion that I can handle…
and will resume that creative endeavor.
The children at the day care center
and the residents at our local
Nursing Home enjoyed it!

Here’s just a small clip –
(it’s only 10 seconds!!)
of me playing for the residents
at my sister’s place in PA
a couple of years ago.
(I won’t burden you with too much of this!)
Hah!

My cousin always used to send me comic strips
about the accordion.
One was a guy entering heaven
and the angel said,
“Welcome to Heaven,
here’s your harp.”
The other was a gal entering Hades.
The angel greeted her and said,
“Welcome to Hell,
here’s your accordion.”

Hah! I miss Cliff and those jokes!!




The question remains:
What are your God-given talents?
Have you developed an area of creativity?

I forgot to mention writing!!
Us bloggers imagine ourselves to have that talent
or else we wouldn’t be posting here on WordPress, right?

But, even this writing talent
doesn’t improve without practice, right?
Never stop learning and trying to improve –
regardless of the area of creativity…
gardening & photography (Derrick) –
poetry (Dwight, Richard, Pat, Rahul, etc.)
cooking (Andre’ & Caralyn)
You know who you are…
and what you need to do!

Our library was having a book sale last week.
For a dollar, I was able to buy this wonderful book.
Copyrighted 20 years ago, it’s never outdated,
and I can never stop learning how to be a better writer.
Like any talent, it takes practice, study, and more practice.
And feedback always helps!

Roses are red.
Violets are pink.
I’m an emerging poet.
Man, don’t I stink?

No, don’t badmouth yourself!!
Keep workin’ at it…

Embrace Creativity!
Tell me about yours…

Thanks for sharing!
See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love,
JanBeek

Friends, Food, Feathers, Music, Mustangs

This morning was the first of six community Lenten breakfasts. We held it at our church. The next five will be at five other churches in Ennis and Jeffers, Montana. Our topic today was HOPE. About 40 friends from around the community gathered to kick off this Lenten season with food and music, and a message of Hope, delivered by our Rev. Steve Hundley.

Breakfast was in our Fellowship Hall.

Our faithful friend, George and his wife, Lucy, arrived about 5:30 AM to set up the food, make the coffee and get ready for the 7:00 AM crowd.

After breakfast, in preparation for Steve’s message of HOPE, we sang this wonderful hymn. It lends direction to our hopes for this Lenten season and everyday… especially in this world of hatred, injury, doubt, despair, darkness, and sadness. Let us determine to be the peace we seek to find.

So that’s the food and friends and music. What about the feathers? Yesterday I told you about my friend, Bernie, who is in the hospital and has set up quite an artistic “mess” on his tray table. Let me show you:

He has quite a menagerie of feathers there. Look at the flies he is able to create with them:

Yes, WOW!! That’s the feathers… and their creative use for catching some mighty big trout!

But what about the mustangs? Well, our Ennis High School mascot is the Mustang. When I drove by the school this morning, I had to top and take a picture for you of these MAGNIFICENT bronze mustangs. They were created by a local artist (Ennis is an art town with 6 art galleries in a place with a population of less than 1,000).

Aren’t they something?!!

I’ll try to find out the sculptor’s name and let you know later. It’s important to give him/her credit!

But for now, I am headed to my TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group. I hope I didn’t gain too much with those scrumptious egg casseroles this morning. I had to try a little of each!

Look for that trophy again… I want to be the biggest loser. I have 6 more pounds to take off to get back to my goal weight.

See ya later!

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