DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 17 * * All Arts News On the Web * * November 21, 2013

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 live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at various restaurants around Franklin County throughout the week, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.

      Find links to these events and more in our Spotlight!

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FEATURED ARTIST

       Decorative painter Kitten Ellison of Richford creates a 3-D effect in brilliant colors. She studied Sumie – Japanese brush painting -- with a Japanese painter and used that technique to build a small business in Bermuda painting on fabric, glass, china and rice paper.
      "I was lucky enough to find a teacher in Montreal," she said. "I painted and still do like a Sumie painter on paper but that didn't sell so I transferred to painting on hats and t-shirts and branched out into plates."
      This platter from her exhibit at the Artists in Residence Co-Operative Gallery in Enosburg Falls is an example.
      Ms. Ellison concentrates on "flowers and landscapes, not kittens and puppies," she said. "I'm a keen gardener so that colors everything."
      She is a founding member of Artists in Residence where her work is showcased for the month. She continues to have an outlet in Bermuda where she raised four daughters but "I paint here in Vermont and ship everything down there," she said. "I lived there for 42 years I'm so much happier here."
      The Messenger and the All Arts Council will feature a new image from a Franklin County artist many weeks through the fall and winter. Email the All Arts Council or click here for more info. Click here to see all the featured artists in a single gallery.


ARTS and FINE CRAFTS SHOWS

BURLINGTON--Craft Vermont hosts its annual fine craft and art show and sale at the Sheraton Conference Center on Friday through Sunday. Hours are Friday 10-8, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 10-5.
      Admission is $7 for 3 day pass. Sunday only $4. Children under 12 are free.


SWANTON--MVU hosts its third annual Shopping Spree on Monday, November 25, from 5-8:30 p.m. Vendors will include Silpada, Scentsy, knit and bead items, food, and much more.
      Earnings from the vendor fees and the bake/soup sale support the Crossroads and Afterhours Afterschool programs which serve over 200 middle and high school students each year. The Shopping Spree happens during Parent-Teacher conferences to make it easier for parents and teachers to shop.
      Email Heather Moore for more info.


NOVEMBER-DECEMBER ART DEADLINES

EXPERIENCE FUSIONWORKS (November 23)--offers dance performance presenters the opportunity to experience Fusionworks. Their concert typically offers a wide spectrum of works of diverse tone and style, shape and content. The mix is often a kind of dance tapas. Call 401.334.3091 or email to receive complimentary tickets to the Annual Fall Concert Series at Rhode Island College in Lincoln, Rhode Island, on Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m.


2014 UPCYCLE ART FEST (November 30)--The Sanibel Island, Florida event in April will showcase reclaimed, reused, repurposed, upcycled, and recycled materials in fine art. Only items that are at least 60 percent recycled/repurposed content are allowable. Items for sale need to be handmade and not widely manufactured. Jury and booth fee. Call 239.292.0566, email, or click here for more info.


OLD TOWN PUBLIC ART (December 1)--Bunnell Street Arts Center will award up to $15,000 for a work of public art, either permanent or ephemeral, in Homer, Alaska's, Old Town. These artist-led projects feature community engagement and neighborhood change through public art. Click here for more info.


USARTISTS GRANTS (December 6)--USArtists International provides support for American dance, music, and theater ensembles and solo artists invited to perform at significant international festivals anywhere in the world outside the United States and its territories. The application deadline for the second of three grant rounds of the 2014 program is for projects taking place between March 1, 2014 and February 28, 2015. Click here for program guidelines and the revised online eGrant application.
      (The final application deadline for the 2014 program cycle will be April 18, 2014 for projects taking place between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015.)


MYTHS & LEGENDS EXHIBIT (December 6)--The Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center in Solomons, Maryland, seeks works that bring fantastical myths, legends, fables, folktales, and fairy tales to life for a juried show. All media including indoor and outdoor works welcome. Cash prizes and entry fee. Call 410.326.4640, email, or click here for more info.


ON STAGE LIVE

SOUTH HERO--The Blue Paddle Bistro presents Carol Ann Jones in a solo show tonight at 6:30 p.m.
      The Blue Paddle has limited seating and a small bar. Call ahead (802.372.4814) to assure a seat.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

FAIRFIELD--NOTCH Navigators and the Chamber of Commerce will host an enrollment night at Bent Northrop Memorial Library this evening at 6 p.m.
      Federal law mandates that everyone, including all artists, must have health insurance by January 1, 2014. The Navigators will introduce Vermont Health Connect, the new state insurance marketplace, assist customers with enrollment, and help you investigate subsidies and assistance. Laptops will be available to use for research and enrollment.


CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     Joan Hoffmann of South Royalton paints "sustainable landscapes," birds in nature, and child and family portraits. She exhibits at Burlington City Arts venues, Pt. Reyes Seashore in California and Bluff, Utah, and points between. Her site includes a gallery, her CV, available classes, a blog, and Kindle books.


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.


SUPPORT LIVE ARTS IN YOUR TOWN!


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      This article was originally published in the St Albans Messenger and other traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2013 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.