Lake Charles' Spring Art Walk

My regular readers know I love the arts community in Lake Charles. The artists here love to share their work with the general public. Never is this more true and evident than in the Spring and Fall Art Walks. Twice a year, downtown galleries, museums, and businesses that support the arts open their doors on a Friday evening for a giant arts-oriented open house. It’s a fun party atmosphere.  Several blocks of Ryan Street are closed to vehicle traffic for the festivities. Many of the establishments offer hors d’oeuvres and refreshing adult beverages.

 

One of my many favorite local artists is Imogene Dewey. Love her watercolors. You can see more of her work here.

 

 

 

I also love watercolorist Sue Zimmerman’s work. She was indoors at Old City Hall. It was very crowded there and she was talking to a bunch of people and I didn’t get a chance to say Hi or take any photos. Just as well – I always gush and embarrass myself. Check out her website here.

The Art Walks are also great opportunities for new artists to meet the public and showcase their wares. This is my sweet friend Mischelle Jasken. I love the way her shirt matches the glazes on her exquisite pottery.

 

 

Even the flowers and landscaping in Lake Charles are colorful works of art.

Planting Season Reminds me of Forest Hill, Louisiana

It's that time of year, spring and all, and I've been planting a fair amount of flowers and vegatables in the garden beds. I'm reminded of a fabulous trip I took to Forest Hill, La. a couple years ago. Please read about it here. Forest Hill is THE place to go for plants of all kinds.

A good friend gave me this sign for my birthday earlier this year. I do love paisley (sounds like an herb, huh), but I hope to grow more than that this year. See the spinach on the right side? I'm off to a good start. What are you growing in your garden?

 

Mustangs Stampede into Sulphur

I went to the Cajun Mustangers Car Show over in Sulphur yesterday. I enjoy looking at cool cars. On one hand, I don’t get terribly excited about cars. I don’t drive a fancy car. I subscribe to a utilitarian outlook regarding vehicles – they’re merely tools to get from point A to point B. As long as they are reliable and serve my purposes.

On the other hand, cars are in my blood. Some of my first childhood memories are of playing slot cars with my dad on a track that took up a good deal of space in our small apartment in Cleveland, OH. I squeezed that button on the hand controller as tightly as my little thumb could press. Sometimes he'd take me to some kind of place that had larger slots on bigger tracks. While other fathers took their kids to the playground, Dad and I watched NASCAR all Sunday afternoon. Chevy and Ford were likely two of my first words. As a toddler, I had a sweatshirt with car logos all over it and I could name every one. I’m certain it was a boy’s shirt, but Dad didn’t care. He flipped cars like IHOP flips pancakes. I’d no sooner get attached to one, he’d sell it. They have an old home movie of me crying when daddy sold the turquoise blue VW beetle. I can’t begin to guess how many different cars we had during my childhood. I doubt Dad knows.

Dad was always a Chevy guy, so I don’t recall any Mustangs in the garage. We were partial to ‘vettes. But my very first car was a 1976 cherry red Mustang (below). When I was in college and needed a car, Mom bought it for me from my grandmother for $1000.00 and a waterbed (hey, it was the early ‘80s). I loved that car, but that generation of cars wasn’t designed to last. Eventually, the constant maintenance forced me to buy something more reliable.

 

So anyway, back to Saturday’s car show . . .  our friend and sailing buddy Ralph Unglaube has been president of the Cajun Mustangers for 12 years (wow, huh!). He has two very cool Mustangs that he restored. “We are all about keeping these old vehicles alive and we love showing them to the younger generations,” he says. The club puts on this car show every year. Used be only Mustangs, but they’ve opened it up to other makes and models. The club donated part of the proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Program.

I liked this 1964 Mustang.

 

How about this 1928 truck? Looks like the mud on the wheels is from 1928, too.

 

My favorite car in the show was this 1971 Jaguar.

 

What’s your dream car?

Sailboat Racing on Lake Charles

Today was a beautiful day for a race around the lake.

 

We were on the water, but didn’t participate in the race. Only the smaller faster catamarans and flying scots raced. But we had a bird’s eye view.

 

On your mark . . .

 

get set . . .

 

Go!

 

The rescue boat had to be rescued. His motor died, so we towed him in.

Palm Sunday Tour of Homes

I’ve always loved looking at houses. I enjoy examining various architectural styles. I like seeing all the different ways people decorate their homes -- the art work they choose, the furniture, the color schemes. For many years in my 20s and 30s, I was a part time home care respiratory therapist, in addition to the hospital work. My favorite part of the job was getting to go into peoples’ homes. Some patients were so proud of their homes, they’d give me a tour. Other houses, I couldn’t wait to get out of – you know the type. I love looking at houses so much, for a short time, I considered becoming a real estate agent, so I could see homes and earn income at the same time. But then I decided the math involved was more than I cared for.

Anyway, the 38^th annual Palm Sunday Tour of Homes here in Lake Charles last weekend seemed an obvious choice of entertainment for me. Each year, the Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society picks a certain historic part of town and features 5-6 homes from that neighborhood. All I can say is, these homeowners who volunteer to open their homes to the public like that are brave souls.

I’ve heard of this home tour for several years, but until this year, there was always some reason or another I couldn’t attend. So I was very excited to be able to go this year. Tickets are a reasonable ten dollars. And this year, exclusive lakefront properties on desirable Shell Beach Dr. were featured. Who wouldn’t want to see the inside of some of these houses?

Obviously, everyone wanted to see them! I wasn’t expecting the throngs of people, all very orderly and patient. It was like an amusement park where you wait in line an hour for a 3-minute ride. Out of curiosity, I would like to know how many hundreds of people attended this event. If anyone knows, please tell me. I did read on their website, it was an "unprecedented number."

 

So while I do love touring fabulous homes, I’m not so fond of crowds. Or long lines. But I put that bit about me aside and truly enjoyed seeing each of the five houses.

This place, The Walker House, was amazing.

 

 

But my favorite was The Boyer House. Not sure why I didn’t get photos. It was the last place we looked at, and I was quite tired by that point, and I guess I forgot about my camera. But you can see a photo of it, and many more photos of the tour, on the Preservation Society’s website here.

Lake Charles readers, did you attend this home tour? What was your  impression?

I'm a Ballet Buff

Who knew? Prior to a few years ago, I’d never given much thought to the art and discipline of ballet. I’ve never been a dancer, and though I’ve always enjoyed watching dance, the extent of my experience with ballet consisted of an occasional trip to the Benedum at Christmastime to see the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre perform The Nutcracker. Or if by chance my ballet-loving friend Beth, who always had a season subscription to PBT, would take me along.

That all changed three years ago when my friend and fellow writer Luke, whose daughters are both ballerinas, invited me to a matinee performance by the Lake Charles Civic Ballet (LCCB). Unlike at the Benedum, where, invariably, I’d be sitting near the back and the dancers appeared as large ants onstage, at the Rosa Hart Theatre there’s no such thing as a bad seat. By sitting close to the stage, I can see every expression on the dancers’ animated faces. And I’ve discovered that these dancers are not only dancing: they are acting.

This was profoundly evident last weekend when my friend Mischelle and I attended LCCB’s spring performance, called Assemblé 2013. Assemblé is a French word (as well as a ballet term) meaning to come together. The show was appropriately named because LCCB’s goal was (and will continue to be) to bring together many various forms of art into one exciting show. Mission accomplished. I can’t recall a time when I have been so thoroughly entertained by such a variety of sights and sounds in one performance. The show combined a myriad of dance styles, musical genres with onstage musicians, and visual arts. I laughed. I cried. I said WOW!! a gazillion times. The show included classical ballet, Broadway, and original LCCB pieces. For the complete story, read my article in this recent Jambalaya News issue here.

Mischelle and I on the “red carpet,” eagerly anticipating the show.

From Graduation Ball. 

 

 

West Side Story.

In Trepak, Death is a beautiful seductress.

In The Fable, an original LCCB piece, a group of blind men each experience an elephant in different ways – the ears, trunk, tusks, skin. “Only through multiple perspectives do we understand the truth,” said Lady Holly Hathaway Kaough, artistic director of LCCB.

 

LCCB’s next performance is May 19, 2013. If you live in southwest Louisiana, do yourself a favor and don’t miss it! And if you aren’t one already, you’ll become a ballet buff like me.

Photos used courtesy of Danley Romero of Romero and Romero Photography and with permission by the Lake Charles Civic Ballet.

Quilt Show

I went to a quilt show in Lake Charles today. It’s sponsored by a quilt guild in town called the Calcasieu Cut-Ups. You can read more about this event here.

I’ve been a quilter since 1986. I doubt many of my friends in Louisiana know that about me. I’ve only made one quilt since moving here, and that was four years ago, when my nephew was born. I’m not sure why I got out of the habit. It likely has something to do with my eyesight and the fact that I can no longer see up close without reading glasses. But after viewing the fabulous quilts on display today at the show, I’m motivated to get started again. This was one of my favorites. I love the bright colors! And the polka dots are fun.

In 1986, my sister was pregnant with my first niece, Loren. I asked my best friend Beth, who is an amazing quilter, to help me make a baby quilt for the pending birth. I thought I’d only make that one quilt. I hadn’t planned on becoming a quilter. But after the process of making that first quilt, I was hooked. Indeed, quilting is a process, and I think that’s what I love about it. There are so many steps, each one unique. The many steps keep me from getting bored. After formulating an idea, you shop for fabric. I love this step. I love browsing through fabric shops. So many colors, patterns, and textures! I especially love the batik prints. They’re like beautiful watercolor paintings.

Then you choose a design or pattern. You trace, cut, and sew (I sew the pieces together and quilt by hand. It takes an average of about three months working diligently to complete a quilt; longer if the quilt is larger). Once the top is complete, you sandwich the quilt back, batting, and top, and begin quilting. Finally, you sew on the binding for the finished work of art.

Yes . . . art. And that’s something else I love about quilting. For someone like me who can’t draw or paint, quilting is a satisfying artistic outlet. Who can say this isn’t art?

 

 

 

If my friend Melissa quilted, she’d make this one. 

Over the years, I’ve made numerous quilts. I honestly have no idea how many. Most of them I gave away as gifts. Here’s a collage of a few quilts I’ve made.

 

My favorite quilt is this one my mom made for me. See my boys?

Mom wrote this on the back of the quilt.

In addition to quilts, there were several vendors at the show. I bought some fabric and came home with lots of ideas. I have two projects planned, but I can’t say what they are right now. It’s a surprise!