Member News

NCLAC Member Frank Hamrick releases handmade book "Letter Never Sent"

 "Letter Never Sent" is Frank Hamrick's latest handmade book. 

Front Cover

Text from the book:

Some of the photographs in this book were made in Georgia and Louisiana, but most were made in Florida while helping Charlotte Lee develop film her father, Bud, exposed but never processed. Thanks for posing, Charlotte. Macon York helped identify the wooden letterpress type Jay Gould brought down from Minnesota. Jim Sherraden at Hatch Show Print has provided much guidance in person and over the phone. Thanks, Betsy Williamson, for encouraging me to make this book.

On the back cover of the book is this line from the letter, "Do you remember the trees we cut Charlottes Chairdown for fires we never burned?"
This first hardcover edition of Letter Never Sent is limited to 25 copies. A soft cover edition of 12 copies and 1 artist's proof preceded this hardcover edition. The images and text are inkjet and Laserjet printed on 50lb., double-sided, matte, Red River paper. Ruben is the title's typeface. The covers are cotton rag paper handmade at the University of Georgia's Green Street Press. The cover text was printed on an etching press at Louisiana Tech University using a polymer plate produced by Boxcar Press.

http://www.frankhamrick.com/photography/books_prints/Pages/letter_never_sent.html

Purchasing Details

“Letter Never Sent”, can be bought online at:
Or checks can be sent to:
Frank Hamrick
PO Box 3175
Ruston, LA 71272
“Letter Never Sent” hardback, first edition is $60.00 plus $5.00 for shipping in the U.S. 
For More info, visit:

NCLAC and Crescent City Coffee Present “Assembling Intimacy”

Sunday, February 5th, from 2-4 p.m., the North Central Louisiana Arts Council (NCLAC) and Crescent City Coffee will present “Assembling Intimacy” an exhibition of recent work by regional artist Bess Bieluczyk.

Join NCLAC and artist Bess Bieluczyk, in a look into domestic life captured through the use of photography.  When asked about her artwork Bess replied “I've been living in the same house for over four years, the longest I've lived in one place since I moved out of my parents' house. Being settled, especially with a partner, has forced me to deal with my anxieties about domesticity and "settling down".”

Bess’s work is both soft and feminine but at the same time inquisitive and engaging.  Although tied to such intense questions of happiness and contentment it demonstrates a playful look into daily life and activities.

Bieluczyk was born and raised in the Connecticut suburbs. She received her MFA in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College. She is an active, exhibiting photographer and an arts administrator at Louisiana Tech University.

Crescent City Coffee is a full scale coffee bar serving a variety of beverages.  In addition they have pastries, salads, and a delicious lunch menu.  Open daily from 6:00am-12:00pm they offer a fresh brewed cup of Joe anytime.

If you are interested in purchasing a work in “Assembling Intimacy ” look forNCLAC’s Executive Director Leigh Anne Chambers at the reception, contactNCLACat 318-255-1450, or stop by the Dixie Center for the Arts Monday thru Thursday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. We look forward to seeing you at Crescent City Coffee.

To learn more about Bess and her artwork be sure to check out her website www.bessart.com

Art Talk Monday

The North Central Louisiana Arts Council announces three exciting and very different opportunities for November.  These workshops are part of NCLAC goal to expand our hands on artistic classes to the residents of Lincoln parish and our surrounding communities.  We strive to provide a variety to encourage those of all skill levels and interests to participate.  On Saturday, November 5, and Saturday, November 12th , from 10am - 12pm Dr. Cain Budds will be offering a  Finger-Style Guitar workshop for adults.  The workshop will be held at the Howard Center Recital Hall on the Louisiana Tech campus. The cost for the 2-day workshop is $50 for NCLAC members and $60 for non-members. Space is limited in order to provide personal instruction, so be sure to register today. The only requirements are a guitar and a desire to learn finger-style, which is a perfect complement for chords you may already know.

Dr. Budds received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in classical guitar performance at Arizona State University and received his Bachelor and Master’s degrees from Illinois State University. He is currently Assistant Professor of Guitar and Music Theory as well as Head of the String Area at Louisiana Tech University where he heads a vibrant guitar studio.  According to Frank Koonce at

On Saturday, November 12th, from 10-12pm Meg Waters will be teaching a class about Gustav Klimt for kids 6-12 years old.   This one day workshop will be $15 for NCLAC members and $20 for non-members.  They will study the usage of line, color and pattern to make collages. 

Meg Waters, an avid arts volunteer and advocate, graduated from Park University in Kansas, MO with Bachelors of Arts in Interior Design.  She had done various workshops for kids and has previously taught in NCLAC Summer Arts Camps. 

On Friday, November 18th regional artists M. Douglas Walton would like to invite you to a lecture and demonstration of design at his residence in Ruston, Louisiana.  This ticketed event ($30) includes a lecture, demonstration, home & grounds tour, and a small painting.  Two times are available 8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm due to space NCLAC is selling a limited number of tickets.

M. Douglas Walton is a nationally recognized water media painter who has taught over 350 workshops in 22 states, and has studied with noted watercolorists Edgar Whitney, Robert E. Wood, and Milford Zornes. In addition Walton is a noted collector of artifacts and artwork from around the world.  Since 1978 he has lead multiple “Journeys” to over 20 different countries.  During this four hour encounter Walton will explore the idea of interior design and artwork from a unique perspective inviting individuals to experience the one of kind design of his home, ground, and studio as an example.

To register for any of these workshops please call 318-255-1450 or email us at nclac5@gmail.com.  To learn more about NCLAC and their programming visit www.nclarts.org or http://nclac.wordpress.com.

Education Happenings: My Vision, My Voice Week 1

My Vision, My Voice, our photojournalism workshop at Arcadia High School, began this month. Each week the teachers will be journaling about the class to give us a glimpse of what's happening. This entry is by Dacia Idom, a Louisiana Tech student who is teaching the journalism portion of the workshop.

First Week Journal Entry: Tell Me A Story by Dacia Idom

Yesterday I began a journey with four graduate students, and after the first class I am optimistic about the road ahead. Our mission involves teaching a group of sixth and seventh graders from Arcadia High School about photojournalism. The workshop is titled My Vision, My Voice, and it is one of North Central Louisiana Arts Council's educational programs. After an icebreaker game and a presentation, the students were given time to journal about there lives, times when they felt strong or weak, things they like or dislike about themselves, things they wish they could go back and change. Then, they were given the assignment to tell stories, their stories. With a digital camera, a two-gigabyte memory card and a quick lesson on how to work the camera, they left excited about making art. They have two weeks, including a week off from school. When we meet for the next class they will have evidence of their existences, proof that they cannot be ignored or overlooked. These students exist, and it is our responsibility to remind them about the opportunities and success ahead of them. Now that I have had time to digest everything, I realize how important this class is to the students, the community and myself. While many people dismiss children as naive, sometimes they  teach us more than we could ever teach them. I am excited about the stories they will tell, and I am hoping you are too. Get involved with the community, be a mentor, find a mentor or just spend time with someone who enjoys your company. The world is huge, but when we bond together and work toward a goal, it shrinks and our missions become the giants. Tell your stories, and I will tell mine. Then, we can laugh, cry or dance. You choose.

 

Enterprise Center to feature NCLAC Member

Keep Moving, Handmade Books and Photographs by Frank Hamrick opens at the Enterprise Center Friday October 21st

Frank Hamrick's photography has the reoccurring theme of responding to the natural and man-made environment surrounding him. In his show he makes a change from his well-known black and white photographs and treats Ruston to a rare look at his color work.  The exhibition will include photographs that he has made over the past five years but never before exhibited. There will also be a chance to see some of his award-winning handmade books – which feature his black and white photographs- in person.

Frank will also be giving an Artist's Talk on Wednesday, October 26th at 7pm.

Frank Hamrick is an Assistant Professor of Photography and Photography Area Coordinator for the School of Art at Louisiana Tech.

The opening reception for Keep Moving will be held on October 21st from 6-8 pm. Gallery hours are Monday- Friday 8am - 5pm.

The Enterprise Center Art Gallery proudly features the work of Louisiana Tech students, faculty and staff. It is located at 509 West Alabama Ave., Ruston LA

 

Education Happenings: Color & Composition, Gourd Painting

October is National Arts and Humanities Month! This Saturday NCLAC's Arts Academy for Adults has two opportunities for you.  Nicole Duet will be teaching a two-day Color & Composition Workshop in the morning, and Geri Taylor will be teaching Gourd Painting in the afternoon. The Color and Composition Workshop will be held both this Saturday (Oct. 22) and next Saturday (Oct. 29) from 9am - 12noon. Nicole Duet will offer even seasoned painters a fresh look at the study of color theory. The class will be divided into two sections:  color awareness, and  composition fundamentals. The class fee is $30 for NCLAC members, $35 for non-members. Supplies are not included, so call or email for the supply list.

Geri Taylor will demonstrate how to design and paint on beautiful, sculptural gourds in this one-day Gourd Painting class.  The technique is perfect for this time of year, and it will certainly add to your ideas for holiday decor. The fee for the one-day class is $35 for NCLAC members, $40 for non-members. The class fee will cover all supplies needed for the class, including gourds and paint. This class will be held from 2pm - 4:30pm.

Both classes require pre-registration, so call or email us today: (318)255-1450, nclac5@gmail.com

NCLAC Member to exhibit locally

Ruston artist Joshua Chambers will have an opening reception for his exhibition Ordinary people can – that is their secret. at Art Innovations in downtown Ruston, (112 W. Alabama Ave.) on Friday, October 28 from 6-9pm. The exhibition will feature recent paintings on panel and paper.

Chambers is a MFA graduate from Louisiana Tech University who currently teaches talented art for Ouachita Parish Schools. His most recent exhib...itions include: The Works of Joshua Chambers featured at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, Lots of monkey’s smoke cigarettes at the Livaudais Gallery in Monroe, and Internal Sublime at the Wright Gallery in Texas. In addition his work has been featured in Creative Quarterly, New American Painting, and Studio Visit Magazine.

When asked about his work Chambers said “The stories I create are presented through cryptic tableaus inspired by my personal life.” He uses common symbols to allow the viewer “to have an active role in establishing the chronology and meaning of each story.”

To learn more about Joshua and his work visit his website at www.joshuachambers.com. To learn more about Art Innovations and their programs visit https://www.facebook.com/art.innovations?ref=ts. See More

Local 'gallery' in LPB Art & Travel Auction; 3 artists work sold at preview party

The work of seven North Louisiana artists is currently featured in the first area "gallery" to be spotlighted in the annual Louisiana Public Broadcasting Art and Travel Auction. Two other artists' work was slated to be in the gallery but was sold in the preview party held immediately before the online auction began. Artwork by Lana Langston and Lisa Mullikin was purchased at "LPB Art Rocks" Sept. 30. Additionally, a piece by one of the artists now showing online sold at the preview party – Whitney Anderson Caskey, who donated multiple items. A previous blog entry http://nclac.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/lpb-auction-to-exhibit-nclac-members/ explained how the gallery came to be, with the help of NCLAC board member Catherine McVea and Ruston resident Donna Ewing. McVea explained that a gallery in the LPB event features artists from the same locale or who are connected in some other way.

The "North Central Louisiana Arts Council – Dixie Center for the Arts – Ruston, La." gallery is one of approximately 20 galleries in the event that features 200 artists. Online bids for the donated works can be made at www.lpb.org/auction,  and an exhibition at the Louisiana State Museum in downtown Baton Rouge through Oct. 15 also features the artwork. The statewide auction will be televised live Oct. 27.

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Artists chosen for the Ruston gallery are as follows, listed with their donations and comments concerning their artwork, their reasons for donating and/or biographical information:

Mary Louise Carter, porcelain vase: "LPB enhances our community by bringing us quality programming not available through commercial television. Because LPB supports the arts, it is only right that artists should give back! Also, I currently have a show up at the Glassell Gallery located at the Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge. I appreciate the opportunity to gain exposure in South Louisiana."

Whitney Anderson Caskey, two photo/paintings (one sold at preview party) and an oil painting: "I have submitted three paintings that best exemplify the different directions that my art has been going. My work right now involves both photography and painting, so I included a little of both. I really enjoy the idea of a narrative, so each artwork involves a scene of some kind … (One) is a scene of the woods near my house that involves a hint of surrealism."

Josh Chambers, acrylic on paper: "The stories I create are presented through cryptic tableaus inspired by my personal life. The viewer is to use his or her own perceptions of the symbols to extrapolate underlining themes and create an entertaining narrative. In both painting and printmaking drawing plays a key role in the outcome of the artwork. I prefer the immediacy of painting with acrylic and drawing with ink."

Patricia T. Jones, oil sketch on board landscape: "As winter settled on the landscape and outdoors grew colder, I started painting the view from my studio windows. I did a series showing what I was seeing during the fall and winter months. My husband is in the wood business so he glues up maple panels that I paint on. I love the natural 'tone ground' that the wood gives and use it many times with my landscape pieces."

Peter Jones, oil panel still life: "I donated the work because I feel very strongly that public broadcasting should be actively supported and also because it provided an opportunity to highlight, by participating in a special gallery in the sale, the wealth of talent we have in this area. People from outside of our region need to discover that Ruston is a wonderful artists’ community."

Lana Langston, intaglio print (sold at preview party): "I submitted an intaglio print of a dragonfly wing titled 'Flight.' My work is inspired by patterns within nature. I am interested in their intricacies and structure. I grew up in a St. Francisville but moved to Ruston in 2007, where I pursued a degree at Louisiana Tech in Studio Art."

Catherine McVea, oil on canvas landscape: "We thought that a group of us exhibiting as a gallery in the auction would make a strong impression and increase awareness that North Louisiana has a lot of talented artists and craftsmen. For us as individuals and as an area it is an opportunity for publicity that we would never otherwise have."

Lisa Mullikin, oil on canvas board landscape (sold at preview party): "I'm an architect and teacher at Louisiana Tech. I began painting several years ago but last year took a course with (now retired) Tech professor Peter Jones. At that point I really began to see how painting could bring me complete joy - standing out in the world and trying to capture that spirit, the beautiful light, all the millions of things that are happening at that moment. That is my motivation and my goal."

Alexis Wreden, oil on canvas board: "I live in the woods in Ruston, Louisiana. The painting I donated is a study of trees in those woods. I’ve been watching Public Television for over 30 years. I used to practice yoga with Lilias Folan (do you remember her?) when was in college and I’m still practicing. So thanks to PBS I’m in good shape! When I think of LPB and Public Television in general, the word imagination comes to my mind. The programming is so compelling."

@LA Tech: Uninstructed Life Drawing Workshop

A new opportunity is available at Louisiana Tech University for life drawing. There are spots still open, so reserve your space now. Uninstructed Life Drawing Workshop is being held on Tuesdays, from October 11 through November 1, from 6:30pm - 9:30pm.

The specifics: Long Pose, Draw or Paint, $15 model fee for four weeks, VAC Room 118

The workshop is limited to 10 participants; some adjustment in the fee may be made to cover model fee.

For more information and to reserve your spot contact Nicole Duet at nduet@latech.edu

Arts Academy for Adults: Color and Composition Workshop

"The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color." Hans Hoffman

In honor of National Arts and Humanities Month, NCLAC Arts Academy is proud to offer a new adult class at a discounted rate. Nicole Duet's Color and Composition Workshop will offer even seasoned painters a fresh look at the study of color theory. The class will meet on Saturday, October 22 and Saturday, October 27, from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The fee for the two-day class is $30 for NCLAC members, and $35 for non-members.

This hands-on workshop is a color intensive divided into two parts. In the first half students build their color awareness through the practice of mixing. Secondary benefits include learning to mix with intention and getting the most variety out of a limited palette.
The second half focuses on an introduction to fundamentals of composition
. Students will complete a small painting while studying basic principles of color harmony. Course includes slide lectures, personalized attention, and instructor demonstrations.

Nicole Duet is a New Orleans native who has recently returned from southern California to become an Asst. Professor at LA Tech School of Art. Nicole has given color workshops and classes throughout Los Angeles including both California State University Northridge and Long Beach, and for the animator's union at the American Animation Institute of Los Angeles. You can see her work at www.nicoleduet.com.

Pre-registration required. Call 255-1450 or email nclac5@gmail.com. Call for supply list.

Adult Arts Academy classes are part of NCLAC's educational outreach. NCLAC believes the visual, performing and literary arts are a necessary enhancement for all individuals and seeks to enrich the region by fostering opportunities for creative expression.

NCLAC is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency.

Educational Happenings: My Vision, My Voice

Making Art Reach Kids This Thursday, NCLAC will be bringing My Vision, My Voice to Arcadia High School. My Vision, My Voice is a photojournalism workshop that gives students a chance to view themselves and their community in a unique, personal way. Using words and a camera, the kids will learn to evaluate themselves and appreciate their surroundings.

The workshop is one of NCLAC’s MARK (Making Art Reach Kids) programs and supports our mission by fostering creative expression, and by giving students a chance to celebrate not just who they are, but who they can become. Scholarly research shows that students who participate in the Arts are more likely to exhibit leadership and community involvement, and to develop a confident, solid work ethic.

For the Arcadia High School workshop, NCLAC will be partnering with the 21st CenturyCommunity Learning CentersProgram. The 21st CCLC provides academic enrichment opportunities for students after school.

Self-portrait, Family/Friends, and Dreams

The program will be supervised by Jes Schrom, Assistant Professor of Art at Louisiana Tech University. Schrom is a dedicated educator with experience in both high school and collegiate education. Three of her Masters Candidates will teach the photography portions of the workshop, and an art and journalism senior will instruct the students on the writing assignments. The Louisiana Tech students who will be involved with the project are Ashley Feagin, Dan Snow, Caleb Clark, Jamie Johnson and Dacia Idom. Students will be assigned weekly projects exploring the themes of self-portrait, family and friends, and dreams.

The workshop will end with an exhibition and reception of the new work at the Woodard Room in Arcadia's First National Bank on November 3. The photographs and writings will be presented for students and their families to view, discuss and enjoy.

NCLAC is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency.

LPB Auction to exhibit NCLAC Members

For the first time, a gallery of North Louisiana artists will be featured in the annual Louisiana Public Broadcasting Art and Travel Auction.  Nine local artists will be spotlighted in the "North Central Louisiana Arts Council –DixieCenterfor the Arts –Ruston,La." gallery. They will join artists in approximately 20 other "galleries" and 200 other artists in the statewide auction, which will be televised live Oct. 27.

 Donated works will be available for online bidding beginning Sept. 30 at www.lpb.org/auction and will be part of an

exhibition at theLouisianaStateMuseumin downtownBaton Rougefrom that evening through Oct. 15.

 Catherine McVea, NCLAC corresponding secretary, explained that a gallery in this event features artists from the same locale or who are connected in some other way. McVea began the project afterRustonresident and LPB board member Donna Ewing approached her. Additional LPB and NCLAC board members helped bring the project to fruition.

 "We thought that a group of us exhibiting as a gallery in the auction would make a strong impression and increase awareness thatNorth Louisianahas a lot of talented artists and craftsmen," McVea said. "For us as individuals and as an area it is an opportunity for publicity that we would never otherwise have."

 McVea said the gallery name comes from the fact that NCLAC's offices are located in the historical building in downtownRustonthat houses theDixieCenterfor the Arts.

 Kate Bradshaw, LPB's art auction manager, said activities kick off in theStateMuseumfrom 7-9 p.m. Sept. 30 with an opening titled LPB Art Rocks, which she termed "a celebration for artists and art lovers of all ages." In addition to visual art, attendees can partake in live music, performance art, food and spirits. "It's also a great venue for potential buyers to examine the pieces and meet the talented artists," Bradshaw said.

 Concerning the live auction on Oct. 27, McVea said, "It's kind of fun to see your name in lights and to have your name on TV. People watch it from many places, and it heightens awareness of our whole community." She plans to make the gallery an ongoing project, featuring different artists each year.

 The live event will be telecast on LPB channels inAlexandria,Baton Rouge,Lafayette,Lake Charles,Monroe,New OrleansandShreveport.

 Participating local artists this year, listed with their contributions, are as follows:

 Mary Louise Carter, porcelain vase; Whitney Anderson Caskey, two photo/paintings and an oil painting; Josh Chambers, acrylic on paper; Patricia T. Jones, oil sketch on board landscape; Peter Jones, oil panel still life; Lana Langston, intaglio print; Catherine McVea, oil on canvas landscape; Lisa Mullikin, oil on canvas board landscape; and Alexis Wreden, oil on canvas board.

 Several of the pieces focus on scenes from theRuston area.

 All the artists spoke passionately about their support and love of LPB and why they are donating to an event in which they claim none of the monetary rewards.

 Caskey's viewpoint spans her entire lifetime: "I was recently given an assignment that basically asked, 'Why are you an artist?' After much deliberation … I decided that one of my biggest reasons was the television shows that I watched on LPB as a child. The emphasis on reading, music and art have impacted me tremendously, and I could not be where I am today without it. It only makes sense for me to give back to something that has given so much to me."

NCLAC Member's Exhibit at Barnwell

 

 Beginning August 25, 2011, and ending October 9, 2011, the Barnwell Garden & Art Centeris pleased to present Cory Carlson and his “Natural Impressions”.   Mr. Carlson is an accomplished artist and show cases his amazing talent in the Main Gallery of the BarnwellGarden & ArtCenter.  Painting the Spirit of the Wild portrays nature’s timeless beauty and energy with his extraordinary wildlife paintings.  Carlson’s goals as a painter are clear when he says, “it’s not enough to just paint a good likeness.  I want my viewers to feel the emotions, struggles and triumphs of living free.”

Through Carlson’s personal travels and experiences he is able to bring such beauty and depth to his subjects.  From the wetlands of theAmericasto the sprawling African jungles, Carlson carefully observes wildlife in its natural environment, capturing rare moments with his skills in photography and sketching.  Bringing the beauty of Nature and the sense of freedom into people’s lives is Carlson’s primary artistic motivation.  Carlson recently discussed his motivation and amazing gift, when he replied “I’ve always been an artist as long as I can remember and I think I was born with a paint brush in my hand.”

Carlson began a lifelong devotion to art when he was a small boy.  His first painting sold at the age of thirteen, becoming a professional portrait artist by his fifteenth birthday.  Carlson has a bachelor of fine arts degree and is the recipient of several best of show awards.  Today his work is found in numerous corporate and private collections around the world.  Carlson’s work recently was selected as one of only 75 artists chosen from over 40,000 entries to be included in the 2011 book “Best of America Oil Artists.” 

Laura Glen Carlson is a creative jewelry maker whose love of nature’s graceful beauty is expressed through the art of sculpting precious metals into unique pieces of jewelry.  Her goals as a fine craft artist are clear when she says, “I want the people who wear my jewelry to feel a connection to the jewelry and know the piece was handmade with love and care.  She believes this sense of connectivity is achieved through the synergy of seeking balance and harmony between metal and stone in a fluid, organic style. 

Through her travels with her husband, the renowned wildlife artist, Cory Carlson, she finds fresh inspiration for her pieces from the natural world.  Expressing an element of timeless grace, Laura creates interesting pieces of jewelry expressing the flowing rhythms of life.

 Laura Glen participates in various shows and festivals, while winning numerous awards.  Her work is available in a selected number of galleries, including the Store at the Barnwell.  She has been interviewed by Louisiana Public Radio and has been featured in several newspapers and magazines including Louisiana Life magazine.  She is a member of the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, North Central Louisiana Arts Council, and the Louisiana Craft Guild.

NCLAC Member to Exhibit

NCLAC Member Melanie Douthit recently became a juried member of the Ouachita River Art Gallery in West Monroe, Louisiana. Ouachita River Art Gallery is the oldest and largest co-op guild in Louisiana and boasts 29 regional artists that include oil, watercolor, acrylic and mixed media artists, photographers, wood turners, potters, jewelry crafters and fused glass artisans. Melanie’s work includes French Quarter architecture scenes, vibrant florals and whimsical narrative collage pieces. She will be displaying her newest pieces at the Downtown Gallery Crawl on Thursday, October 6 from 5-9pm. The gallery is located a 308 Trenton Street, West Monroe, LA. The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturdays from 10am-5pm.

Turbo Goat to Host Art Opening

Time
Friday, September 16 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Location
Turbo Goat Art Gallery

301 North Trenton Suite 1
Ruston, Louisiana

 
Turbo Goat is pleased to present a solo exhibition of Monroe artist, Rick Sikes. Rick's work captures a moment in time most glare through with stunning beauty. His depictions of rain soaked streets pull the viewer from their current place and time, and into the passenger seat on route to an unbeknownst place. Expect refreshments and a casual atmosphere.

NCLAC Member News: Hooshang Khorasani

Hooshang's new abstracts in two museum auctions

 

Two of Hooshang Khorasani's abstract paintings are part of museum auctions – one at "A Russian Night in Taos" at the Taos (N.M.) Art Museum and one at theLouisiana State Museumin Baton Rouge as part of Louisiana Public Broadcasting's Art & Travel Auction. Khorasani is aRuston resident.

 The Taos exhibit is running from Aug. 1-27 and is associated with the museum's seventh annual Gala Auction, a black-tie-and-boots event. "Because of the quality of the art, patrons attend from all over the country," event chair Nat Troy said.

 Khorasani's piece is "Color Abstraction #3," a 36x36-inch mixed media on canvas that is part of his new Color Storm series.

 The Taos museum is dedicated to the region's early 20th-century art and the patrons who nurtured and preserved it. Housed in the Fechin House, the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Russian-born Nicolai Fechin – regarded as one of the most important portrait painters of the 20th century – and his family moved toTaosin 1927. His paintings of Native Americans and of theNew Mexicodesert landscape are considered among his best works.

 The other show will be on view at theLouisiana State Museumin the Old State Capitol from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15 as a precursor to LPB's 2011 Art & Travel Auction, which will air live Oct. 23. The preview party and opening reception, LPB Art Rocks, is set for 7-9 p.m. Sept. 30. Online bidding also begins Sept. 30.

 The event will feature artworks from more than 100 artists and as well as travel packages and is an annual fundraiser for LPB. Khorasani's piece for this auction is also a 36x36-inch mixed media on canvas from his Color Storm Series: "Color Storm XIX."

 "When budget cuts hit, funding for the arts and education seems to be the first thing that goes," Khorasani said, "so I’m happy to donate my work for such a worthy cause. When the auction starts, please visit the LPB Art Auction site, auction.lpb.org, and bid on my piece – or some of the other excellent items being offered."

NCLAC Members Students to Exhibit

Melanie Douthit (member) and Melody Olson of Riverscape Gallery and  will be presenting "Outside the Lines" a children's art show featuring new art work by Douthit's students. The exhibit will be Thursday, August 4 from 5-9pm during the Downtown Art Crawl. Riverscap Gallery e is located at 223 South Grand in Monroe.  The nine students, ranging in age from 9 to 13, will show a variety of mediums including pen and ink, charcoal and painting. "This will be one of our most exciting shows at Riverscape Gallery. I've always loved children's art because it's so pure", said Melody Olson about the show.   Douthit said about teaching children, "I never cease to be amazed at what young artists create. I teach them the basics and introduce them to different mediums, and step back and watch their creativity flow".

Q&Art with Russell Pirkle

This week I am speaking with Dr. Cain Budds, classical guitarist and professor of music at Louisiana Tech. To hear Cain Budds perform, visit his website at cainbudds.com. It was a long interview, and I've finally gotten around to transcribing it, half a week later.

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This is Q&Art. I'm Russell Pirkle, and this week I am interviewing Cain Budds, classical guitarist and professor of music at Louisiana Tech University.
Dr. Budds is teaching a couple of guitar workshops this summer in conjunction with the arts council.

Could you tell us a little bit about those workshops?

Well they're just in the works right now. We talked about it this morning with Mrs. Slaughter, but planning on being July sixteenth and twenty-ninth, two Saturdays, tentatively ten to eleven. And it'd be for adults, and it'd be basic finger style guitar. And I'm going to do the same for youths from ages ten to seventeen, on Tuesday and Thursday the twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth. And they'll take place in the music building, Howard Center, on Tech campus, at the recital hall.

So will these be primarily for people with no guitar experience?

That's right. I'll teach people with experience and without experience. I'll teach them basic chord progressions and how to play basically with your fingers, without a pick.

I'm sure we all have a sort of idea in our minds, but could you tell me what classical music is, how you would define it?

Well, classical music to me is more something that's been composed as a work of art. It's meant to stand the test of time as a work of art. Like a painting, a painting is something you always look at and never changes. But a composition by a composer is something that can be manipulated to a certain degree by the performer, to put their own stamp on it. But it's a work of art that's supposed to be, you know, similar to any other work of art. Whereas pop or rock music is there more for entertainment. And for an instant gratification kind of thing. Classical music is more of a concrete kind of piece of art. That's why we call them pieces.

Is there contemporary classical music, or is there a cutoff date where music stopped being classical?

No, it's still classical now. Classical music is not what a lot of people think. They think it's all Mozart and Beethoven. Well, you know, I play guitar. Mozart and Beethoven didn't write for guitar. Contemporary composers did in the same style, and if you think about classical guitar itself, rather than classical music. It has a very piano-esque kind of feel to it. Which is a lot of what going on because in the nineteenth century, you know, piano was king, and that style was king. It's kind of like rock and blues today. You know, it's that style that's popular. That's why people play the guitar the way they do today. But in terms of contemporary art, oh yeah there's tons. A guy named Nikita Koshka, I think he has a webpage, he's writing all the time. Roland Diens, you can look him up on the web; it's some really cool music. One of my favorites is Duchamp Bachdonovich, who was teaching in the San Francisco conservatory. He's from Bosnia. And He writes just, like, this amazing music that we can call classical, but's it's almost like jazz. But it's still very much more forward looking. Classical music is kind of a misnomer. because classical, there's a classical period. Just like, in art, there's a romantic period in art and . . .

Yeah, it's like saying modern art and applying that to contemporary art and . . .

That's right. So the forms that we think of as classical are the forms like Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn. But that changed, not so much formally in the nineteenth century but in the twentieth century it definitely changed. And the musical language became much more . . . I guess chromatic is a good word for it. It's kind of you know, thinking about painting. If you think how painting's changed. A painting is not the way it was in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, you know, Madonna and Childs. Thinking forward, it's much more abstract. So the music became much more abstract. And now the music has kind of come full circle where it's more, I would say modern kind of romantic. In some sense it's not.

So you would say that in classical music there's still to some extent a linear progression to where you can say, 'this is the genre of classical music today, what it's like'?

Oh yeah, for sure.

You mentioned earlier about putting your personal stamp on songs that you play. Could you tell me a little bit more about the personal expression component of playing a composition someone else has . . . What are you expressing?

Well, it's kind of like phrasing, like how you say something. If you were reading English off a page. 'To be or not to be." How many different ways could you say it? You can say it, and it all means the same thing. It's the way you say it, the way you deliver. It's the phrasing. It's the nuance. If there's dynamics involved - that's the loudness or softness. There's the way you accentuate, the way you innunciate. Some people, David Russell, one of my heroes, he won't record something unless he has something new to say, unless he has some new way to express that idea.

So it becomes sort of scientific in that way.

Well, I don't know if I'd say scientific. Just more personal I suppose.

As someone with no musical background, what sort of advice or directions could you give me to become acquainted with classical music, so that I could go from someone who hears a song by Chopin and thinks "oh that's pretty", to actually understanding the meaning of it and the beauty of it?

Well, like a jumping off point? If you go to a basic music appreciation class, like at tech or at a community college, a basic music appreciation class will do that. Also if you go to Naxos.com. Naxos.com is the big web page for classical music. I don't know if it's about specific pieces. A lot of times, when you hear a piece of music, it makes much more sense if you know what the composer was thinking. If you just hear it, it can mean anything. It's kind of like lyrics today, they can mean a lot of different things. But the music itself, it's much more interesting to me to know what the composer was talking about when he wrote this music. And you can find out those things at naxos.com or you can go to one of those cds where the music is, and a lot of times there will be liner notes. Classical music is very different in a sense from like you know you buy a new Foo Fighters record for instance, it doesn't tell you about the music. It tells you who played it and the names of the tunes, something like that. But often there'll be program notes inside the cd. Classical cd books are, you know, thick. I like to read them all. Bach did this and this. And he wrote this piece because he got put in jail fighting with the town council or something along these lines. It might not be so specific. But you know, something like that would be a good place to start. Or you can just listen to NPR. They've got the classical thing during the day. But as far as classical guitar goes, people want to get into listening to some classical guitar. I would suggest going to amazon.com, buy Mamo Barwakos three hundred years of classical guitar. It's like a three cd set of his first three lp records from like 1978. Bar none, that'd be the place to start for classical guitar.

On the vein of talking about getting to know the composers, could you tell me about a composer who you've gotten to know through playing his compositions and what that relationship is like?

Well, most of the compositions I play, I play Bach. Scholars don't really know a lot about him. But I will tell you about this guy named Nikita Koshken. Still alive, born in 1956. Live in Moscow. I did my dissertation on him, spent several weeks with him, interviewing him personally. And, I know what he's like, the good and the bad and the ugly, you know. And I know his music, I know what to expect. So this guy has several pieces, one I play a lot called the Usher Waltz, it's on my web page. That is after Edgar Allen Poe, and it's kind of like what the music would have sounded like. Somewhere in the story, the guy Roderick Usher picks up a guitar and accompanies himself on these wild fantasies, because other music drives him nuts. Only the string music soothes him. ANd I know what he was talking about when he wrote that. So with him I was lucky 'cause I have personal first hand experience with him and his music and we sat and talked about his compositions in general for hours on end. And any time I had a question I could just, you know, send him a message on facebook. 'Hey Nikita what was going on here in bar 49?' 'You know, I was thinking of this and that and the other.' So that for me is very, it's the only composer that I know. There are a couple other ones that I'm not real close with.

Can he play guitar?

Oh yeah, he did. When I was at Arizona State, he came to record two cds with my professor who has a recording company, Soundset records. And he did a concert tour in the United States, you know probably by subscription. I don't know how it works. But he had a hand injury, less than ten years ago. And he quit performing as much. He did a radio show for a while. Now he's just a full time composer. His wife's a classical guitarist. She's very famous. So she takes up the slack for him I suppose.

Do you have ideas about how music has changed the way you experience life, just in general, non-musical experiences?

I don't know. Haha. That's a hard way to put it. Experience of life, I guess, in terms of making a living, it's difficult being a professor of music. It's not the most lucrative gig in the world. You gotta find your way. And, you know, as far as music, classical guitar. It's just my appreciation of a much wider range of music and things. I have become much more acutely aware of things I dislike and like. I have old friends from high school, friends on facebook, we talk about music. They're talking about band xyz and I'm like *scoffs* you're kidding me. These guys are horrible. They're a waste of space. And for them, music's a very personal thing, so for them, band x is up there with God, and for me they're just horrible. Why would you waste your time with that. Then at the same time, if I say band xyz, they'd say oh those guys are horrible. But to me, I know what I like, and I see things in a different light in terms of musicality. But then I have to catch myself and go 'well you know, my opinion is just my opinion'.

Did learning to play classical guitar ruin any music that you once loved?

Yeah, it has. I used to love Neil Young, then I went through a stage I hated Neil Young. I don't think classical guitar did it, I was just in a different thing. And I think I went into the classical guitar, and so my friends who I was talking about, they were into so many things and I was into nothing but studying classical guitar and listening to the old music I always listened to. Like Yes, Rush, progressive things. But it didn't really ruin it. I found listening to music that was sheer entertainment that I thought before was really great. Then I came back, and now I love Neil Young. I had a Neil Young renaissance, and the same thing with the Beatles. I got so sick of the Beatles I didn't want to hear another Beatles record as long as I lived, but now I've had a Beatles renaissance. I try to see the good in everything, but you know, some things I don't like.

Actually my first experience with you was the faculty concert, I think it was either last year or the year before, where you and Dr. Teets performed Simon and Garfunkel songs.

Oh yeah. We did that this year too.

Are you a big Simon and Garfunkel fan?

Oh yeah. I love them. It was my idea to play those songs. He wanted to play some music . . . I said 'you know we can't go up there and play Joe Dallen, you know the early seventeenth century lutenest, Elizabethan lutenest. He's awesome, if we were going to do a whole recital of that stuff, very different situation. But I said with this kind of thing we need to do something a little bit more light. We did Simon and Garfunkel, maybe something else. Oh, it was from movie music, that's what it was. This year we did a James Taylor tune, and we did "America" by Simon and Garfunkel which I love. And then we did one of my original acoustic compositions. And I sang the melody and he did the harmonies. That's a lot of fun too.

So, what are some mainstream popular music that you enjoy listening to?

Well, I always tell it like this. Students come 'Dr. Budds, you gotta hear this band' . . . No, I don't. Haha. I really don't. I listen to Foo Fights, I like the Foo Fighters. If it's something that's new and out, I put it in terms of 'would I buy the cd?' The Foo Fighters, I'd buy the cd if it came out tomorrow. All Foo Fighters all kind of sound the same after a while, but I still like them. I would buy Paul Simon put out that new record, So Beautiful or So What in May. No questions asked, I don't need to hear a track, I bought it. Rush, they'll put out a new album this year, I'll buy it sight unseen. Steve Lynwood, back in the Clapton days. Traffic, if they put out a new record. U2 I'd buy, that's kind of a holdover from when I was a kid. REM, I bought their latest album.

What did you think about that album?

Are you and REM fan?

Yeah, well a fan of the older things.

There're some songs on there I really think are cool, and some of them I don't like so much. My favorite tune, you got that album?

I listened to it when it was on NPR as the album of the month.

My favorite tune is the second to last, the last two. One's a nod to Neil Young. Neil Young had this tune called "Pocahontas", and it talks about sitting around the fire with Pocahontas and Marlen Brando. So REM sings this song called Marlen Brando, and the words are something like 'please tell Neil I can pow-wow now.' It's just kind of an ethereal nod to Neil Young and that song "Pocahontas". The last two tunes on that album are really good. There are other things I would buy. The new Cars album came out after about twenty years. It's really cool. Things like that.

Hearing you talk about the Rem song, and earlier about like Bach and liner notes, it surprises me how big a part context and biographical information plays in your appreciation of music.

Well it's always been that way. When I was a kid, I was big into Aerosmith. I had three older brothers, so that's a kind of the demarkation between me and some of my friends in high school and stuff that I mentioned earlier. I read record covers, cover to cover. Peter Frampton Comes Alive 1974 or 5. I read everything. I know who's playing keyboards on it. The whole mp3 craze blows my mind, 'cause I want to hold the cd. Like the new Paul Simon record. There's liner notes in that, as a matter of fact, by Elvis Costello. And I read every line. I know what's going on. I look up a video I can watch and read, I know who's playing on each track. I'm very interested to know who's playing what and why. And when it came out, like say the Aerosmith records. I know the dates for all the records. I know the dates for all the Led Zeppelin records. Rush records I have to think about, but I know pretty much all the years. Not that I read Circus magazine or anything when I was a kid. I'm not an organized person by any means, but I like to keep the music I listen to . . .

Have a sort of timeline?

Yeah, exactly right. I like to have the record in hand. I like to smell it. The way the ink smells. I like, if it's got a gate fold or whatever have you. Very kind of visual, in a sense. I like to see and hear.

Interesting. I'm probably about to offend a lot of people, and I could very well be grossly under-informed, but I tend to think of the Foo Fighters as a sort of power chord band, kind of a holdover from the grunge era. I was just wondering, as a person who, I would think you put a lot of emphasis on the instrumentation and complexity. What's your response to that, I guess?

Well they were. They came from Nirvana. Dave Grohl, the singer and guitar player. He was the drummer for Nirvana. Which, I liked Nirvana, but I got kind of tired of it really fast. I think that first record was really cool, back in the day. And at that point, I was already kind of moving past pop music and grunge. I liked Soundgarden a lot. I still like Soundgarden a lot. Pearl Jam, I didn't like those guys so much. But Foo Fighters, their first record, it was clear to me that the production and the sound, the song writing was, maybe not the lyrical imagery, but it was just better, miles beyond Nirvana. Then each record got better. One I really, really liked was the second one, The Color and the Shade, the blue record. And "My Hero", that's a great song. So is "Everlong", and "February Stars", I mean, that's just a great album. And they all sound the same, and you can say like the bands like Boston or Rush, they all sound the same. But there's something in it that's not just power chord stuff. I'm just surprised that this Dave Grohl, this guy with long hair, he's always smiling these giant teeth and, you know, chewing gum constantly. In interviews, it's hilarious. He comes off like he doesn't care about anything. But the music is deceptively simple. It sounds very simple, but if you dig past, there's a lot more that's, for me very interesting. It's not really technical, but the way he comes up with these things for me is very interesting. I think they're really cool, really interesting.

We've sort of been doing this for a while now, but could you compare and contrast popular music and classical music?

Well, popular music is generally, if you want to get down to basics, like I said earlier, a classical composition is a composition with a specific form a lot of times that may or may not be really obvious. Pop music, like a Foo Fighters song, it's generally got an introduction, and it's got, what they call if you've taken a music appreciation class, there's what they call strophic form and through-composed form. Strophic form means, like verses. Same music occurs over and over, like a Neil Young song or Bob Dylan song. Different words, the music's the same. And it's got a chorus, and it'll have a bridge and it'll come back. It's the form that we know without even knowing that we know it. We're used to that. Same with blues. Blues is just a twelve bar blues that I knew how to play before I knew that there was even a form, that I knew what I was listening to 'cause you've heard it so much. But classical music can be in a very simple form in some sense but it can be very complex in other ways. But it's the way the music is arranged often times. And the way it's presented.

So would you say that classical music is more complex or somehow higher?

I wouldn't want to say higher. But I think it's much more complex. If you play a Neil Young, it's a great song. Or even Skynyrd, "Sweet Home Alabama". It's a great song. Everybody loves that song. But really it's the same three chords when you get down to brass tacks, same thing over and over. Most songs, I used to teach a rock class. Rock and roll, even a Foo Fighters song, will be the same four chords over and over. And we just love that. It'll be slightly changed in some respects. They may add some flourishes or some decorative things. But if you really get down to it, the big difference is it's much more redundant. Classical music is much more developed. That was the big thing, with Haydn back in the 1700s. You have this sonata form, where you have a thematic idea or two thematic ideas stated in a specific way and then it has another section called development where they take ideas from the two themes before and they mix those up, chop them up and get bits and pieces of those themes. And then you get the recapitulation where all these ideas come back out again. All in the same key, without changing key. Classical music changes key, that's a big difference. If you have a Bach fugue or something, it'll go through a circle of fifths progression. It'll go through, not every, but a lot of related keys. And you listen to a Lady Gaga song, it's not going to change key.

What influence would you say that classical music has on mainstream music, not necessarily just pop and rock, but maybe also the music in movies or jazz music?

You hear it in movies all the time. Jazz and classical kind of cross over. And you get it in pop too in the sense that you hear Aerosmith or whoever, alot of these rock bands will record their songs with a symphony orchestra and go on tour. I find it a little cheeseball. Sometimes it works. But classical music you hear all the time in movies, almost every movie. Like Jaws, the ones that John Williams did for sure. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, that kind of thing. So back to the original question, what was it?

What influence do you think classical music has on non-classical music?

I think you could probably say that pop music has more influence today on classical music than it does the other way around. Maybe.

In what way?

'Cause you hear . . . When I was describing earlier some of this Duchamp Bachdonovich music, the Bosnian composer, with much more jazz influence into the classical kind of thing. I don't really hear a lot of classical influence in pop music. Of course I don't really listen to it all the time. Maybe I'm completely wrong. My kids listen to 101.9 on the way to school in the morning, that station out of Monroe, Star 101.9. Can't stand that stuff. The things I do hear, like Lady Gaga, some of those songs, you hear some elements in that that are, of course it's the same four chord progression over and over, but you hear some things that you could maybe trace back to classical influences. But sometimes you'll hear string music in some pop music. I don't know, that's a very good question. haha.

I just wanted to learn a little bit more about this. You mentioned earlier about the idea of having musical ideas in the composition that come back later in different forms. Is it like chord progressions, or what are they made up of?

They're like melodic motives. Melodic ideas. I don't really play jazz, but I pretend to. And I know people who really do play jazz, and they tell me 'if you want to play a solo, you only need a couple of notes. You just need to repeat a motive, like the rhythmic motive.' If you think of Beethoven's fifth symphony, the famous one, 'dum dum dum, duum.' You listen to that, you'll hear the formal motive in so many permutations throughout the whole thing. You'll hear it in the other movements, 'cause it's usually a four movement symphony. You'll hear it come back. He's intended that kind of nugget of information as kind of a tying together point, a cyclical kind of form. And so you hear a main theme and you know what it is. For instance, if you listen to Yes, the band yes one of my favorites, you will hear musical ideas from that album, Close to the Edge. And they will develop ideas. They'll take melodic ideas. It'll come back maybe in minor mode, or it'll come back maybe changed, not necessarily in a sense of theme and variations, but it'll be kind of modified. And so you still recognize it. One sense, think about musical ideas, think about Nirvana. The grunge time was after the death of the guitar solo. If you listen to Nirvana there were guitar solos. But most of the songs, all the guitar solos were the melody from the vocal line. "Come as you are", then the guitar solo "nah nah nah nah". And it just kind of follows that, so that's a motivic idea that connects everything. It can be manipulated and brought back in different ideas.

Do you have any ideas about what music is capable of, what it does, what effect it has on people.

Well it obviously has an effect. I don't know what it is. If you listen to Van Halen from 1978, and it's really high energy. Listen to a band called The Sundays, they're pretty mellow. A lot of James Taylor. My kids call it pancake music. Usually Saturday morning I like to play a lot of James Taylor. I don't know how to answer that. Music obviously, I think you'd need somebody like a music therapy person to answer that. I'm not sure they could answer it. Music means so much different to everybody. One thing a friend of mine did say, he gets tired of people saying 'oh, classical music it's so soothing, so relaxing.' But if you really listen to classical music, nine times out of ten, it's not relaxing. It's very much, you know, high energy. It can be everything. I don't know how it affects people. It just touches people in so many different ways. That's why people love the music they love.

Why listen to classical music? If you were trying to market it to people or promote it, what would you say?

That's a hard thing, you know, like this morning I was listening to an old Sting cd, Dream with the Blue Turtles. Cd was over. I pop it out, I was going to put in something else, but there was KEDM was on and it was classical music. I just wanted to listen to it, and I think that it's really hard to have an appreciation for classical music 'cause it's so hard to know what you're listening to or for. Back in those days, some of that music was written for aristocratic kind of circles, or different social circles. And pop and folk music has always been there, a lot of times not written down, just like music today is a lot of times not written down. It's so much more helpful to have some sort of working knowledge of it. Not always, and you can really get into things like that movie Fantasia, it's got visual things. A lot of times, you play a piece of music, it may be an abstract kind of piece of music, but if you tell them the program, where music follows a story, you can describe the program, people will have a better appreciation for it. But I wouldn't know how to just start doing that. It's really hard to get people interested. It's the same kind of thing with painting. People can see paintings and appreciate it, but to get them to go past that, and come to the dark side and see further. If I were program director at KEDM, that would be the big problem.

I think there is often an issue with, you know, the older the works of art get, the contextual elements and the sort of visual language change over time, and so it's harder to understand it.

Yeah, I mean if you're thinking about like Catholic church art, tempura on board. There's always the tryptichs, the Madonna and Child or the Jesus on the Cross. That was, often times they didn't sign their works, but we can see it now and really appreciate it. It still blows my mind when I look at these old paintings. It's just mind blowing. For me, I think about, you know, I got into classical music because I've always loved history, and it's kind of like how did people speak way back in the 1800s during the civil war. They didn't say 'hey man, what's up dude,' these kind of things. How did they hold and carry themselves. Obviously they were people just like us. But even back in those old painting times, they were painting for the church, but to me it's interesting how it was done and the context it was done, what was said while it was being done. Same thing with music, Beethoven wrote these nine symphonies, but we don't know what they really sounded like when they premiered. We don't have recordings. And they have had to have changed. And the context is so much different now. With some things, like rock and roll, it's only like fifty years old, right, some of it still sounds cool. But a hundred and fifties years from now it might sound very different. But I don't know 'cause we have recordings of it, and we didn't have recordings in the late 1800s.

One experience that I had recently, I was listening to a song from the thirties, and it was just so alien to me, 'cause it was so strange and different. And I realized, you know, because that was basically the oldest recordings possible, we're hearing music now that's older than anyone in the past could have heard. Like, ten years ago, people couldn't have heard music that was eighty years old. So that's something new. The experience of the exact recording.

Well everything was live back then. I always think about, in terms of anthropological kind of things. If Benjamin Franklin was in Paris, which he was, 1870 or something like that, trying to win the French support for the Americans. At the same time, Mozart's touring Europe, playing his own music. I don't you know if, you know he won't return my calls, but if Benjamin Franklin heard Mozart's music, he saw Mozart or he was in a room with Mozart, you know what I mean. They did their own composing and performing. So Franklin didn't download the mp3 or whatever. Music was very much live and in person. And now we take so much for granted. And recording also, especially classical guitar. Van Halen, in an article I was reading, talking about the new pro tools, the music recording programs they record all this stuff in, make everything so squeaky clean and so clinical that it's for him hard to listen to. And I know what he's talking about. 'Cause I listen to, like the new Foo Fighters record. It is so squeaky clean and so tight. You can't do that in real life.

Yeah, I guess you lose a lot of little contextual things that way too. I remember someone telling me about the old Rolling Stones records, hearing background noises, some words and things.

Doors opening and closing. Zeppelin records too you hear those kind of background noises. And they kind of cut all that stuff out. But people used to complain that the new cds didn't sound, if you have like a Rolling Stones record, if you get the cd you've lost a lot of the quality. You're kind of just taking the surface of it. You don't have the depth and warmth of an old lp record. And it's true because I've played them back side by side, 'cause I have cds of almost all my records you know. And you hear a big difference.

As a music professor and a performer, could you tell me your sense of the prospects and challenges that musicians face today?

Well there's all of them, you know? Classical musicians especially, it's getting an audience really. Last year, most concerts I played, classical guitar concerts, I played over at Mississippi state. We do swaps with other professors. And if you get twenty people to come to your concert. Whereas if you go play at a bar, if twenty people show up, at least they pay the cover charge or whatever. Do you play music too?

Um, I've played drums a bit. I'm not very good at it at all, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

Oh yeah.

Really, for me it really changed how I experienced music. I think one thing it really did for me was it changed me from experiencing it as one sound to actually thinking about it in terms of the separate parts and instruments playing it and things.

Yeah, it does that. Where were we?

Oh um, I was talking about the prospects and challenges.

Well, you know like you said your friends who are musicians and music students, always looking for a gig, you know. And it's the same thing with everybody. A friend of mine who was a professor here at Tech. She saw someone with a bumper sticker on their car that said "real musicians have day jobs". Haha. She goes 'what's that mean for us? Our day jobs are being musicians!' It's kind of funny. And, you know, the whole starving artist kind of thing. Ruston's not a very big town, so even the area's kind of hard. There are venues. It depends on what your style is. Classical, it's really difficult. But I've found ways of making things work. I hooked up with a guitar professor at ULM, and I've played over there. I've played down at ULL. College in Texas. Mississippi State, and you just gotta get out there and hit the pavement and make it work. And you don't get paid a lot doing it. You get paid more to play at Portico or something. It's kind of like the doing what you love kind of thing.

Did you ever have the starving artist experience?

I live it every day, man! Yeah, I do. You know, we're not the highest paid. The liberal arts college is the least funded in the whole university here. And, it's very real, especially in the summer. I spend a lot of time, I've got four kids and a big dog, trying to find ways to supplement the income, you know. So starving artist, I can say that I live it all the time.

How long have you been composing? You mentioned an original composition.

I don't compose, it's more decompose. Haha. I wrote some pop songs last year. I started doing a couple gigs to make money, like playing cover songs at Sundown or something like this, which some people like and some people don't, you know, it's fine. But somebody said one time in an interview in the Tech Talk or something 'oh yeah, he's fine. He can play the song as well as the original people, but it's not really original music so anyone with a guitar can go up there and do that.' You know, that kind of thing. So I just started writing songs, and the first song that came out was this song called "Anybody with a Guitar", you know it was kind of a jab at this guy. But then I wrote probably about fourteen or fifteen songs that are not classical at all. They're more like Cosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young kind of folk rock kind of things.

But still instrumental?

Oh no, I sing too. I have a couple instrumental things that I do on steel string guitar.

Tell me about what the study of classical music is . . . the scholarly pursuit of it. And what is progress in that study?

What do you mean . . . Oh, you know, the influence on pop and rock music, that kind of thing. Sting put out a record back five years ago, maybe four years ago, of all John Dallen music, lute music from 1620, something like this. And that was kind of interesting. But as far as uh, I'm still not sure what you're getting out with the question about today and classical music. You mean old music? How is it viewed now? Or what?

Sure. Maybe just how, I guess I'm just sort of taking shots in the dark about something I don't know very much about, but how the study of it changes maybe. For instance, in your masters program, you did work with your professor on the lute works of Bach. What was that research like or what did you accomplish?

Well, the music's already there, and it's written for lute. The lute is a precursor to the guitar, with doubled strings, a twelve string guitar. We were kind of adapting that to the six string classical guitar, and the challenges there are fingering or changing notes from like a lower octave that we can't reproduce on a guitar to a higher octave. And fingering and articulation. Mainly that edition was supposed to be a performing edition to be sold to people who were interested in performing this music with connotary and editor's notes in the beginning. Talk about ornamentation, baroque ornamentation, this kind of thing that was typical in Bach's time. But my job was basically editing what he did, and playing through his ideas, figuring how to make these notes work on the guitar. And we had some interesting guitars that got a little heated sometimes. I'd go through all this music and try it out, and I'd say hey these are great fingerings if you're going at a snail's pace, but if you're going to bring this up to the proper tempo, then it was like impossible, that kind of thing. That's what we were doing. So we're kind of reworking, this was a second edition of that book. Bach only wrote four groups of pieces for the lute. And I think it was kind of for the lute harpsichord combination. And so we're just arranging those for guitar, and making it user friendly.

Well I think we've been going for about an hour now. I won't take up any more of your time. Thanks for being here.

No problem, I appreciate it very much.

This has been Cain Budds, and I'm Russell Pirkle.

Q&Art with Russell Pirkle

This week's interviewee is Maggie Jones Boudreaux, one of the seven artists in Interior Monologues: Dreads and Desires up this month at the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado. A Ruston native, tech graduate, teacher of gifted and talented art, and of course, a member of the North Central Louisiana Arts Council, Mrs. Boudreaux has the misfortune to be the first person I have ever interviewed. Luckily, her intelligence, incite, and abounding passion for art made for an engaging and enlightening interview. Can you tell me a little about the life experiences that have made you the artist you are today?

After graduating high school and attending Tech for a few years I made the decision to leave Ruston. I spent the better part of ten years traveling and living out west. The Rocky Mountains of Montana and Colorado changed my life and soul. My work is strongly influenced by my time and experiences out west. In fact, I feel as though most of my abstract paintings come from either the peace and serenity I felt there or the constant struggle I have in my heart about not being there. Yet sometimes it's about the wholeness I feel from being here with my family, and I paint with the feeling of comfort and joy about my decision to be here in Ruston. Yet sometimes it's about the wholeness I feel from being here with my family, and I paint with the feeling of comfort and joy about my decision to be here in Ruston, where I was born and raised. I grew up in a household and community of people in which the arts were highly encouraged and a way of life. I was influenced then and still am now by these people. I am forever grateful for the knowledge and joy they gave me!

Who are your influences?

My biggest influences: Joy Tait (my grandmother and stained glass artist), Patricia Tait Jones (mother, as a child she was a jewelry designer and stain glass artist, now a landscape painter), Catherine McVea (family friend who always took time to encourage my creativity and now one of my most trusted critics), Ruth Johnson and the A.E. Philips and Lab School (who always helped make the visual arts a priority in my life). Charlie Meeds, Ed Pinkston and Peter Jones' knowledge, guidance and wisdom they imparted on me while earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts at Tech was immeasurable and still influences my work today. My greatest influences today come from the Women's Art Group as well as my son Ben Boudreaux who is three. I cannot help but be inspired by his uninhibited mark making. And of course, one of my truest friends, fellow artist Shelly Nealy Edgerton who is always there to critique and talk about my work.

Tell me a little about your work and your artistic philosophy.

As an artist it is my goal to question and explore myself and the world that surrounds me. My work is inspired by the natural and simplistic beauty we see every day. My intentions are to evoke emotions from my viewers through my use of images, colors and shapes. I create because I need to in order to achieve fulfillment. Through out life, I have found painting and drawing to be the most natural way for me to communicate with myself and the outside world.

I develop an emotional and physical connection with all of my works. The creation process, for me as an artist, becomes a dialog between myself and the canvas. These dialogs take a variety of forms and each becomes a unique story. There is a strong relationship between myself and all of my work.

I use a variety of techniques and mediums. I thrive on experimentation and asking myself "what if...?" My recent work is a series of oil paintings using glazes, sandpaper and glue. Although, I find experimentation very exciting, I also feel the need to return to the basics and use traditional mediums such as pencil and charcoal to simplify my thoughts.

SAC Encounter

Summer Arts Camp season begins in 1 week! Each Tuesday I've been introducing you to our camp teachers, but today since we are 1 week away, I'd like to give you a taste of some of the projects our teachers will be coordinating. In Homer, June 20-24, students will be creating an Underwater Mural and Tall Hats. Students at the first Ruston camp, June 27-July 1, will be making Mixed Media Robots and Modern Art Pinwheels. Origami and Solar Art Prints will be included at the Farmerville camp, July 4-8. The Ruston 2 camp, July 11-15, will include You Are What You Eat, and an exploration of Japanese Theatre with our very own Leigh Anne Chambers. Arcadia campers, July 18-22, will make Magazine Bowls and Puppets. The season will end in Jonesboro, July 25-29, with the creation of Klimt-style paintings and a 3D Ferris Wheel.

Sounds like a fun summer, right?  Come join us! Call (318) 255-1450 to register by phone, or download the Registration Form PDF in the My Shared Files Box at the bottom of your screen and mail it in. Each camp is $60, Monday - Friday, 9am - 12pm, with a $10 8am morning yoga option.