A hugely anticipated part of the Great NY State Fair is the annual butter sculpture. This sculpture has been a NY State Fair staple for 42 years. At times, the sculpture is a person but many times, and this year is no exception, the sculpture is of an idea.
Category Archives: Art
A Summer Evening Walk
Mondays are generally the day of my training schedule for cross training. Last week was week one of marathon training for me but in reality, it was week six. Yes, I started at week six. So last week, I did a DVD that included some cardio and some weight training. It was a good 30 minutes. This week I opted for a walk… with my 16 year old son, the baby. No “!!!” tags here but a slide show to share what we saw. This is a route that I frequently run on.
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Rec Park Music Fest
Sunday, I spent a good portion of the day at Rec Park in Binghamton. There was a live music fest that ran from 1 pm to almost 9 pm. Eight bands played a 40 minute set. The music ran the gamut from jazz to Dixieland to Zydeco to rock. It was a wonderful day and I captured a lot of it with my DSLR.
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Quality of Life
So many things go into the quality of life we all enjoy in our various communities. The community itself looks to enhance the quality of life for its residents in attempts to keep people interested in living in the community.
I have found that one item that really plays to quality of my life is art. I like to create art but I also like to know that art is an important part of the community in which I live.
Gronk and BC in front of Barnes & Noble, Vestal
A recent attempt to help rejuvenate downtown Binghamton, an art-based attempt at that, has failed. hArt of BC attempted to place 22 fiberglass dinosaurs – Gronk – around the city of Binghamton. Various artists decorated these fiberglass creatures but, in Binghamton, there were problems. Vandalism. These dinosaurs are five feet by five feet. They are to be auctioned off to benefit charity at the end of their time downtown.
That time was ended prematurely when the 22 downtown dinosaurs were moved to the Oakdale Mall on July 1 – after only being in the city for a month – due to vandalism.
On the other hand, Ithaca is in its 11th year of Art in the Heart of the City. This is an annual outdoor art exhibit. Granted the exhibits just opened on Friday, when I was last in Ithaca, but I presume some took some time to install so they have probably been up for a bit.
Look up in the tree
So, if you are in Ithaca this summer, enjoy the lake and the falls but make sure you take time to head to the Commons and see Art in the Heart of the City.
Weekend Fun
I decided this weekend was a good weekend for a road trip. My youngest is away with his father. The only kids at home are adults – 25, 23, 19. I headed to the Finger Lakes for the second time in as many weekends. I went to Watkins Glen back on Memorial Day weekend and will get those photos and some information about the Glen up soon.
Today, I headed north of Watkins Glen and west to the northern end of Keuka Lake. Not only was the drive absolutely beautiful – the weather, cloudiness was coming from the north so it was sunny for a good portion of the drive, I was again reminded of all the wonderful things that we have in New York State that are “home grown.” Not only are the Finger Lakes home to a massive number of wineries, they are also home to bountiful and beautiful farm lands.
The end destination was the Keuka Arts Festival.
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Spartan Theatre Company Presents …
… or actually presented Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.” My son has gone from loving being on the stage crew to loving being in the spotlight. This is a good thing for the Spartan Theatre Company as there is a true shortage of male actors, just as there are shortages of male voices in choruses.
The performance of “Our Town” was absolutely amazing. I would have strongly recommended the shows to anyone at all. The kids did a great job on all the parts. The parents that help with scenery did a fantastic job with the minimal scenes and with the final scene that is actually a kitchen. The costumes were great. Below are some shots from either Friday or Saturday nights’ performances as I was on the road to Boston during Sunday’s matinee. Included in the photos are shots from the school district wide art and literature contest based on the the theme “Our Town.”
A Sunny Spring Walk
No, it truly is not spring yet in upstate New York. Mother Nature, as usual, is being a tease and the weather has seemed almost springlike. Yesterday, I walked down Edson Road so that my round trip was 3.2 miles. I took over 50 pictures as I was taking the new camera for a walk. I have placed some below so you all can see what I see when I run this road.
Date Night: Friday Night
No, I do not mean date line. I mean I had a sort of, kind of, impromptu date on Friday night. I know. None of those terms – sort of, kind of or impromptu – are generally used when describing a date. So here goes.
Friday I worked hard in the morning after deciding that I needed to rest the ankle a bit. I got dressed after showering to head to Ithaca. I was going to Happy Hour with friends which you can read a bit about at A Friday Tradition. I have posted a few pictures from a previous Happy Hour below.
All plans were to spend a bit of time at Happy Hour and then, inside my wallet, I had three star-shaped sticky notes with the galleries/shows I was hoping to see. We all left Chapterhouse and headed our separate ways and I ended up at The Kitschen Sink for Dee’s opening. It also happened to be Dee’s birthday so we had cake. Then, downtown to The Commons as Alice has a show at Korova and stopped in there. After that, I headed to The State of the Art gallery for the annual juried photo show.
As I headed out of the photo show, I realized a good friend of mine was suppose to be attending Levon Helm at the State Theatre. I quickly texted Howard, telling him to have a great time at the concert. The reply I received threw me for a second. Remember, somewhere on this very blog, I have admitted to being a planner. He had an extra ticket. Did I have plans? Did I want to stay for the show? I did give it a little thought, though not much I admit. Threw all the plans – I was on my way to the parking garage to head home – in the trash, turned around and headed to the theatre for the concert.
Howard is a person that I met on an online dating site several years ago. We have been friends ever since. His car broke down near my house once – which is a good 70 miles from where he lives – and I picked him up and put him in an empty bed here for the night. Turns out the car was not repairable. Amazing he would want to test another night with me. :)
Anyway, the company was good, the concert fantastic! Thanks, Howard!!
The Kitschen Sink and Dee Sprague’s Opening
When I was in Ithaca this past Friday night, I went to several art shows. One that I truly loved was the exhibit of Dee Sprague’s work at The Kitschen Sink.
I first found The Kitschen Sink on The Greater Ithaca Art Trail last October. It was one of the four studios/galleries I managed to get to in the one day I had free for this event. I am so glad I did as I met Liz who is like a kindred soul. I love her location and the collections she has there. You will be able to see some of it for yourself in the pictures below.
The Beauty in The Day
I am absolutely amazed as I head out the doors these days that a week ago my area had a dump of two feet of snow and now I can see the driveway down to the dirt and the lawn in areas. In a salute to the resilience of nature and of those of us humans who love to look at her strength and her beauty, I offer a sunset from early this week and the sunrise this morning.
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- Sunset March 4
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- Sunset peaking through trees, March 4
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- Sunset, March 4
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- Sunrise, March 6
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- Sunrise, March 6
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- Sunrise, March 6
