Getting ready for our art show in November

 Things are a bit messed up in our house as we pull things out of closets, bags and off the walls in preparation for our combined art show November 13 - December 31 at UALC Lytham Rd. in Upper Arlington. I get to do the computer stuff like figuring out how to make little descriptive cards for the wall (nothing is for sale) and a sheet describing our "history" in art.  Here's what I've got so far--although it's a draft.

 

". . . this show is a story of our lives together with about 50 samples of our watercolors and acrylics. Both of us were interested in art as children, but only Bob pursued it as a career and avocation. He became an architect with a lot of fine arts and design classes in high school and college, plus some classes at an art institute as a child. Norma had the family dining room table with a lot of art supplies and paper, but no classes. Her teachers in kindergarten and first grade “featured” her art of a May pole dance, and drawings of horses were always scribbled in the margins of school papers. The Bruces met at the University of Illinois, dated and married in 1960, but art really wasn’t a focus. Bob’s interest in painting was rekindled by his friend Ned Moore in 1972, so he dug out his old brushes from college art classes. That piqued Norma’s interest so she began taking a few workshops.

We’ve chosen paintings that tell about our lives. In the Library Lounge is time we spent in Illinois where Norma grew up and where we vacationed with our children in the 1970s-80s. Included are some paintings of family—two of our son Phil who died in 2020--Norma’s childhood friends and siblings from the 1940s, and her grandmother in her wedding dress. Norma’s mother renovated her parents’ farm home near Franklin Grove, Illinois, as a religious retreat and we spent a lot of time roaming northern Illinois looking for farms for Bob to paint. In keeping with the farm theme we’ve added some flowers and vegetables, although we don’t garden. These are usually from a workshop at Lakeside or an artist “how to” book.

In the Hall of the administrative wing we’ve included paintings of our retirement travels in Ireland, Israel, Egypt, Alaska, and Spain—some borrowed from the current owners for this show. Bob went with the UALC mission group to Haiti for 10 years and taught architecture there and has offered art instruction for years. At the library door we’ve hung a painting of three children who were our neighbors at Lakeside reading their Bible together. They are homeschooled and Bob helped with their art instruction. Also you’ll see paintings of two of our pastors who’ve had a big place in our lives as Christians. In the Hall we’ve hung paintings of animals—Norma particularly likes to paint horses, and owned one as a youngster (no paintings of him).

We began vacationing at Lakeside on Lake Erie in 1974 and owned a home there from 1988 to 2022. Bob taught many classes at the Rhein Center for the Arts in Lakeside and we both took advantage of the classes in watercolor, acrylic, pastel, pen and ink, jewelry making, silk painting, fiction writing, guitar, trombone and pottery. Bob has been in the Lakeside summer art show for over 40 years. The Lakeside paintings are in the Fireside Lounge and are mostly by Bob.

August rain showers

 This morning I started out on my 2 mile walk (sort of a loop, and I'm probably exaggerating).  I stopped at a near-by "little library" and selected a book, "Nutribullet. Life changing recipes."  They lie.  I have one and it didn't change my life.  I went back and dropped it on our front porch rather than walk with it, then headed south to Fourth Street.  I'd gone about 3 blocks (stopping at another little library) when I felt a few sprinkles.  So I turned around and walked about a block to the Idlewylde Bed and Breakfast and sat on the porch for awhile.  When it stopped, I decided to go north along the lake, dawdled a while in the Walnut Street business district, and headed for the dock.  The sky over Kelley's Island was purple.  I thought that meant the rain had gone north over the lake.  No.  I waited at the pavilion for the storm to pass along with 3 fishermen and a dog walker I see every morning.

The Lakeside mission is to enrich the quality of life for all people, to foster traditional Christian values and nurture relationships through opportunities for renewal and growth which we call the four pillars--spiritual, intellectual, cultural and physical--while preserving Lakeside's heritage.  For almost 150 years (established as a campground in 1873) Lakeside has welcomed all ages to its beautiful grounds on the shore of Lake Erie, west of Cleveland and east of Toledo, and two and half hours from our home in Columbus. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Paces. Our little town has more than 900 private cottages which we own (lease) with 99 year leases. The non-profit organization, officially called "Lakeside Association" owns more than 50 structures, four major parks, and a large waterfront area for recreational water sports and fishing. There are cottages for rent, bed and breakfasts for brief stays, two hotels, and a campground for seasonal or overnight stays. Our little town is supported in part by assessing the cottage owners and through gate fees for all who enter from approximately Memorial Day to Labor Day. This way all who enter are able to enjoy our many recreational and educational events at the lakefront, the playgrounds and parks, the pool and wellness center, tennis courts, pickleball and shuffleboard courts, education and religious programs and lectures, entertainment in Hoover Auditorium by name performers and local groups, the Steele Memorial Bandstand in the park, and our wonderful Rhein Center for the Living Arts and the beautiful lakefront pavilion (built in 1909 and rebuilt in 1988) for enjoying sunsets and sunrises, concerts and worship. Most of the businesses in Lakeside are seasonal and include restaurants, a real estate and rental office, dress and gift shops, a wonderful book store, ice cream, coffee and carry out spots, and a beauty shop. There are many active organizations and volunteers that support the community from art teachers, to shuttle drivers, to garden helpers, to ushers and greeters. We also have a museum and archives to keep us grounded in our history.  

Our first summer at Lakeside was 1974 when our children, Phoebe and Phil, were 6 and 5 years old. We rented various cottages near the lake until 1988 when we purchased a small, year round house built in 1944 surrounded by wonderful neighbors from around the country. We went from one week rentals, to two weeks, to partial summer to full season Lakesiders after we retired over a 47 year period. Lakeside and the near-by Marblehead Lighthouse have presented many opportunities for subjects to paint as well as a place to teach at the Rhein Center for the Living Arts. 

Trombone review

We have an arts center here at Lakeside, the Rhein Center, dedicated to the memory of a son/Lakesider who was killed in a terrorist attack. It’s extremely popular and the offerings expand every year.   My husband teaches perspective drawing/watercolor there. Today I'm going up to see if there are openings in the trombone class. I've never seen that offered, and 60 years is a long time, but thought I'd see what I remember.

There is so much to do at Lakeside this week Three

My husband’s Perspective Drawing class is full—starts at 9 today at the Rhein Center.  I won’t be taking that class—I think I have 3 times. Lakeside has a new computer sign up for art classes now.

Which is a segue to Monday and Tuesdays programs are on Google, delivered by Amy Carle who is a Lakesider, but also a Google program manager. There’s also a 3:30 Tuesday class on popular Apps, but I don’t need that one.

At 3:30 on Monday is Christianity in Pakistan, persecution of an endangered minority in Chautaqua Hall.

Wednesday and Thursday’s programs are on the Dead Sea Scrolls by John Kampen which should be interesting. I don’t know if it is the same content, but he has about an hour lecture on vimeo on this topic. I’m hoping it’s a bit more animated in person.

On Tuesday afternoon, a Lakesider Diane Hartenburg, will talk about her Christian pilgrimage in 2013, 500 miles across France and Spain at the Lakeside Women’s Club.

At 8 a.m. on Wednesday the Sudomirs are leading a bird walk.  Darn, my binoculars are in Columbus. There will be two other bird programs, on Friday, on Birds of Prey at the bandstand at 10:30 in the morning, and same topic, different presenter at 1:30 in the Aigler Room.

The Foreign Affairs Forum will be 2:30 on Friday as usual, and I assume should be lively given how ISIS has taken over all that was liberated in the Iraq War and is moving on to Syria and Libya.

There are two author/book events, Tuesday at 7 p.m. with Christine Haymond, See my spark, ear my voice, tips for teachers, counselors, social workers, clergy. .. and Thrity Umrigar discussing her upcoming novel, The Story Hour. She is a native of India who now teaches Creative Writing at Case Western Reserve.  That will be a Fine Print Book store at 1:30 on Friday.

And all of that is just the day time programming!

The art show starts Tuesday.  My husband has two great watercolors in the show.

 

 

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Art at the Rhein Center at Lakeside, 2013

Lakeside has a wonderful art center where classes of all types are taught. Here's what my neighbor's grand daughter Elle was able to do today. Aren't the colors great? My husband will be teaching (perspective) next week. Established in a dilapidated, boarded up building in memory of C. Kirk Rhein, Jr., a son and grandson of Lakesiders lost in TWA Flight 800, it is now a pleasant, busy, humming hive of laughter and effort. This spring it got a nice make-over with tents outside and a fresh coat of paint and new floors.  http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/article/20130624/NEWS01/306240022/Lakeside-gets-fresh-face

At the Rhein Center this week

My husband has been teaching an "Architecture and small house design" at the Rhein Center this week, and says they kids (all teenagers) are a very talented group. They've learned basic design principles, built a model, visited a cottage, and are working in teams to design their own plan.

He also did a presentation on Haiti Monday night and had an excellent turn out, and won the Laura Werden prize in the Lakeside Art Show for best Lakeside scene.

I've been taking a watercolor class with John Behling. Today I used an old photo of the children from the late 1970s at Marblehead, and it's better than the others I did on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Certificate templates

My husband teaches "Perspectice Drawing" at the Rhein Center at Lakeside using drawing principles (mainly one point and two point) and watercolor. At the end of the week he gives each student a certificate, but I'm the one who has to create it. Because my laptop periodically fails and wipes out everything I've saved, I sometimes lose my creations. Today I found a really neat certificate--it lets you fill in what you want to say, print it, but you can't save it. Well, there is only one person in the class (not many people here this week), so I created a "best in the class" award for her. This one had a hand holding a paint brush which was just perfect. I stopped by the class one day, and I think even with 5 or 6 in the class, she would have been "best in the class." Of course, if I must say so, he's a good teacher.

Looking through the templates, I found all sorts of interesting templates. Gardener. Writer. Most improved (wouldn't you hate to get that one?). Maybe Plays well with others, but I'm not sure.

Watercolor class with Bob Moyer

Here's last week's art class results, minus one, which has already been folded and put away and I'll use the back! One is OK for framing, one for back of the closet, and one to think about.

Today at the Rhein Center

This is our watercolor class with John Behling, OWS, who also teaches in Columbus, and is retired from the Social Work Department at Ohio State. He likes bright colors in sharp value contrasts.





Other classes today near by were glass and calligraphy. The classes are mostly in one big room, with some on the stage, or the porch and some in the yard.

Final day of class--Friday family photo

My husband teaches Perspective Drawing and Watercolor at the Rhein Center for two different weeks (M-F). He likes to get the morning slots (9:30-11:30) so he can sail in the afternoon. Today is the final day of the second week of classes when the students grab their boards, pencils and erasers and go outside, spread around the grounds, and actually draw a real subject.

I don't know if all the instructors prepare as much as he does, but he is meticulous, focused and mentally thinks it all through ahead of time. Except that one day. He forgot his markers (demos on a white board) and I had to rush up there on my 40 year old bicycle. Last night he was putting some final touches on a demo painting the entire class did-one point perspective with shade and shadow--and cutting some mats. All paintings improve about 30% if you put a nice mat around them. And if you have a fabulous painting and a poorly cut, dirty, or too small mat, you subtract about that much.


I think he added an Amish buggy with a reflector (required by law in Ohio) on this one after I took the photo. Notice that kitchen table? Several years ago when we were both painting, I decided it was just too much mess in the kitchen and fixed up each bedroom with a small corner with room for supplies and good light. I think I used mine once or twice, and his is a catch-all for his class supplies. So we still use the kitchen table.


This is a student from the first week drawing one of the favorites of the class for a two point perspective.

Exploring English Sonnets at Lakeside

Everyone enjoyed the sonnets of Shakespeare, Spenser, Donne, Wordsworth, Milton, Wyatt and Labe taught by Steve Ricard, a high school teacher from Perrysville.

Perspective class at the Rhein Center

These are the projects my husband's class has been working on this week. The first week population is low, but he says teaching a smaller class is easier. These are his demos (does them in class) of one point, two point, and using shadow and shade for perspective. The painting over the mantel is not his; it was done by Ned Moore of us on the beach in 1974.

This class will be offered again during the 3rd week of the season.

My silk scarf project

I went back to the Rhein Center today to pick up my scarf, the one mentioned here. The pretty lady showing it off is our instructor, Sue Wills, a former youth pastor who now leads tours for young people with WorldStride's Christian Discovery at historical sites primarily in the East like DC and Philadelphia. She was very bubbly and encouraging--I'm sure the kids love her.



There was an opening in tomorrow's class so I took it and hope to make a much more stunning effort. This one is pretty, but has many mistakes on it. The white pipe frame is what we attached the scarf to in order to do the painting.

Lakeside 2008, what's happening in week 8

It seems that all we've done lately is eat! The Society of Old Salts had its regatta and dinner at the pavilion this past Saturday. My husband wasn't the oldest, but he sure was the most gutsy. The regatta rules allow anyone--from the ones sailing for 30-40 years to the instructors to the athletic teen-helpers to enter. You could almost photocopy the winners list from year to year. My husband entered doubles with an 18 year old college freshman from Bloomington, Illinois. They met in class last summer. I was standing with her parents as we watched them stranded in "irons" when the clip that holds the halyard broke. That put them last in that event, even though they weren't last in the other two races. But as another more experienced sailor said, "You beat everyone who didn't even try."

Then the same group gathered at someone's cottage last evening for more food and fun. Friday afternoon there was a reception at the Rhein Center with yummy treats. Yesterday after church at the Pavilion we ate breakfast at The Patio; tonight the artists/instructors from the Rhein Center are gathering at Juliann's home for a pot-luck; tomorrow night we're have Jim and Marian the Librarian over for dessert; Thursday there's a fund raiser at the hotel that's a dinner--I think it's for new park furniture; then there's the ice cream shops and snack outlets, and on and on. My jeans are getting tight.

This week I'm taking a Writers Workshop with Patricia Mote 9:30-11:30, M-F and Genealogy Basics with Detra 3:30 M-T at the Fountain Inn. She's an instructor with the LDS and has loads of experience. So I won't be able to take Rusti's class on art restoration for the 3rd time because there is a scheduling conflict, or the pastels class which are also at 9:30. This week is the 10th Annual Interfaith Week with seminars at 10:30 and 1:30 on prayer in the various traditions.

Writing fiction at Lakeside

This past week I've been in a beginning fiction class here at Lakeside. I write thousands of words a week--but I rarely do fiction, or even read it unless assigned by my book club. It's been great fun, and I've become sort of attached to the character I sketched out and then developed as the week went on, Ophelia, aka Philly, Lia, or Opy, depending on which other set of characters she's with. Her nieces and nephews call her Opy. Anyway, I have no plot. Poor thing. Stuck here in quiet, lovely Lakeside plotless.

But our teacher, Martha Moody (Best Friends, The Office of Desire), is loaded with them. She also mentioned yesterday that she had recently taught in an Arab-Israeli village. So I googled her webpage, and here's that story--but it's not fiction.

Yesterday a group gathered at the Rhein Center to celebrate its 10 year anniversary. The parents, widow and extended family of C. Kirk Rhein, Jr. were there to joyously remember him, and we all thank them for this wonderful memorial.

We're in good hands

If Lakeside's young people are any indication, our nation is in good hands--or will be in 10-20 years. And our schools are perhaps doing a better job than nay sayers report. I'm in a fiction class at the Rhein Center this week and most of the class is about ages 12-15. There's only one other adult. These beautiful kids are incredibly articulate, motivated, aware, and fabulous writers. I was stunned. I'm definitely the slacker in the group when it comes to writing. I didn't meet any young people like this among my children's classmates in the 1980s (and Upper Arlington has one of the best school systems in the state), none in my generation, and none in my parents'. They are better than most of the fiction bloggers twice their age with college courses that I've read. Some of my "classmates" have been writing seriously and energetically half their lives. Admittedly, that's not a lot of years on my calendar, but it's huge on theirs. Even taking into consideration that maybe it's typical for teens to exaggerate a bit--28 novels and published poetry (which one girl reported)? True, she admitted that the novels weren't finished or polished, but when I was her age I was writing a short paragraph once or twice a week to "Dear Diary." And supportive! I think they've all been in critique classes before--they listen attentively and find something good in each piece when we share. They know the vocabulary of writing and how to use it. And when I say they are beautiful, I include physical beauty as well. Yet, most report being on the outside among their peers. Some of that I'm sure is the normal teenage angst where you ardently believe everyone else has it together, but also people who go on to become novelists, artists and screen writers probably do have a different emotional stair to climb. They are definitely on their way.

This is the Rhein Center's 10th year of offering classes. Established in a dilapitated, boarded up building in memory of C. Kirk Rhein, Jr., a son and grandson of Lakesiders lost in TWA Flight 800, it is now a pleasant, busy, humming hive of laughter and effort. I'm sure it's a joy every day to family members to see this building so well used.

In the afternoon I'm in a flower painting watercolor class. I rarely do flowers, although I have tried. I learned a new technique, and if you get even one "take away" from either a class or a sermon, it's a good day. One of my classmates is in my husband's perspective drawing class in the morning. She was so excited about it--gives me something to think about, she said. Whatever! Figuring out perspective is just frustrating for me.

Then in the evening Sue and I went to the movie theater in Lakeside (the only one in the county) to see "The Visitor," a very low key, but touching and timely film about personal loss, friendship and illegal immigration. Well worth seeing if it comes to your area. The NYT review is good, if somewhat nit-picky (but that's what they are paid to do), and this one really over reaches, as though those of us who are insulted and dismayed by an immigration law, first established by liberals in the 60s "to be fair" by limiting whites and westerners, have no heart or soul. Nonsense in wasted pixels.

Lakeside 2008, Week 7

Some great programming this coming week. Tonight is John Davidson at Hoover Auditorium. There is a lecture series on the middle east in the mornings, and a global health lecture series in the afternoon. All the programs look good. The one on bird flu will be given by my old friend and Sisson Hall colleague Dick Slemons of the OSU Vet school.

I've looked at the Rhein Center offerings and see two art classes I'll try (i.e., sign up for since there is a lottery system to prevent overcrowding). "Beginning Pastels" by Jean Garverick is offered M and T at 3:30 for $10 (she's the featured artist in this summer's art show), and there's a one shot class on oil painting with Harol Cunningham on Thursday morning. I don't work in either medium, so this might be a nice introduction.

Last week's watercolor class was a bit truncated because we were in Columbus on Monday and Tuesday. Friday we did portraits, not my strong suit since it is best if the painting resembles the person. I didn't have much here, but this is me from a 2006 photograph. In the transition from photo to watercolor I lost 10 lbs and 20 years and appear to have picked up a nasty sunburn.

Tech alums are teaching at Lakeside

Duke Low, class of '56, is teaching a poetry class at the Rhein Center this coming week, and my husband, Tech class of '57, will be teaching perspective drawing.





Update: 14 signed up for perspective drawing yesterday, so there will be a lottery (and at a Methodist camp!) for seats in the class; Duke has 5 or 6, which is just perfect for a writing class.