Saturday, August 30, 2008

Color Enchantment & Imaginative Leatherwork at CDPL Gallery

The autumnal oil and watercolor adventures of Cheryl Kaldahl and the imaginative leather work designs of John Mayotte may be viewed at the Library's Art Gallery during the month of September.



Born and raised in Indiana, Cheryl Kaldahl finds great joy in her surroundings and often uses them and what she observes in nature in her paintings. She is currently a working artist involving herself in community art programs, teaching piano and performing locally. She has a studio in downtown Lafayette at Ferry Street Studios, 635 Ferry Street and may be visited there by appointment. In her Artist's Statement, Cheryl says, "ENCHANTMENT IN COLOR is a body of work that shows the process of my learning, developing, and discovering the joy of painting with different media and how it can be used to capture a glimpse of people, places, and things that have inspired my creative spirit. I began taking private lessons in watercolor from Rena Brouwer and in oil from Chris Kuchta. With their guidance, as you will see in my paintings, I have learned many things about color theory, composition, design and so much more. As you travel through the exhibit you will experience my ARTISTIC ADVENTURE and my progression up to and including my most current work". Professional Memberships include: The Hoosier Salon, Indiana Plein Aire Painters Association, Tippecanoe Arts Federation, Wabash Valley Watercolor Society and the Watercolor Society of Indiana. For more information about the artist, you may visit her website at: www.cherylkaldahl.com.

John Mayotte was born in a rural farmhouse in Jasper County, Indiana. Primarily self-taught, John found himself imbued with ample amounts of creativity and naturally gravitated to the world of art. Beginning with crude drawings of pigs at the tender age of three, John's love of art evolved and expanded during his childhood. He experimented with photorealism at the age of twelve and by his teens was creating award-winning pieces like an Eiffel Tower constructed entirely of toothpicks that won 1st prize at the Jasper County Fair. He helped neighborhood kids build soapbox racers, assembled an endless string of model airplanes in his spare time and even assisted his middle school art teacher during class demonstrations. While working for R. R. Donnelley & Sons John became interested in leather crafting. In 1965, at home while recovering from back surgery, John began to design and craft leather objects. This interest would become the focus of his life for the next 43 years. And what a focus it has been! He has created leather billfolds, belts, business folders, chaps, vests, gloves, purses, moccasins, holsters, gun belts, hats, clocks, animal heads and pictures sold all over the United States, South America and Russia. He even made custom leather seats for his Chrysler 300. John has also been prolific in nearly every medium he tried. He enjoyed investigating sculpture, ceramics, watercolor, ink, oil painting and illustration. He produced literally thousands of pieces covering numerous subjects. His works include a seven and a half foot tall polar bear using 2 x 2s, hardware cloth and shag carpeting, a 100ft x 48 ft beach scene mural commissioned by Donnelley's for their North Plant location, and a 6 foot tall cactus created from galvanized roofing material. He also dabbled in taxidermy and has mounted deer heads, buffalo and deer feet.

Now that you have met these two renaissance artists, do come to the Library Gallery and enjoy this special September experience.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Preview Shelf -- How Time Flies!

The adult summer reading program "Color Your World" concludes on Saturday. For all the patrons who have read 12 books and written at least one review, the drawing for the Grand Prize will be held next Wednesday. This has been a very popular activity involving 100 readers; you can read 153 book reviews posted on two library walls. The library will be closed Sunday and Monday for the Labor Day weekend. The 2007 volume of The Lakeside Classics published by R.. R. Donnelley and Sons is "Narratives of Barbary Captivity: Recollections of James Leander Cathcart, Jonathan Cowdery, and William Ray". The preface says, "Although the narratives…were written two hundred years ago, the subject - the relationship of America to the Arab states of the Middle East and North Africa - is just as relevant today." A 49-page introduction helps to make this book contemporary and valuable.Anthony Pagden's "Worlds at War" analyses the 2,500-year struggle between East and West. John Darwin's "After Tamerlane" gives the global history of Empire since 1405. Another history is Judith Herrin's "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire". A beautifully colored art book is "Treasures of Islam: Artistic Glories of the Muslim World" by Bernard O'Kane. "Days of Infamy" the fiction by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen starts minutes after the close of their book "Pearl Harbor" as both sides react to the events triggered by Admiral Yamamoto. Marilyn Culpepper has issued "Never Will We Forget: Oral Histories of World War II". Oliver North's "American Heroes" gives a first-hand account of American volunteers defending us against Islamic terror. Martin Amis has gathered 14 pieces of insightful information in "The Second Plane-September 11: Terror and Boredom". "House of Stone" is Christina Lamb's true story of a family divided in war-torn Zimbabwe. Mark Krikorian's "The New Case Against Immigration" deals with both legal and illegal arrivals."Lopsided" is a memoir by Meredith Norton showing how she dealt with cancer with grace and unflinching self-awareness; anecdotes and her wit enhance this debut book by a masterful social observer. Another memoir is "A Wolf at the Table" by Augusten Burroughs about his father whom he knew only as a shadowy figure until his childhood was over. A political autobiography is "The Making of a Radical " by Scott Nearing, born in 1883, who with his wife moved from NYC in 1932 to a dilapidated farmhouse in Vermont where they practiced organic gardening in the "back to the land" movement. Later, until his death in 1983, he lived on the Maine coast as a lecturer, writer, social critic and humanitarian. "The Complete Book of Boondock RVing: Camping Off the Beaten Path" by Bill and Jan Moeller shows how to enjoy this hobby successfully.Volume One of the Dictionary of Midwestern Literature is titled "The Authors" covering 400 writers and identifying the most important criticism of their works. A. J. Jacobs' "The Know-It-All" is a spoof dictionary that resulted from reading all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Quiet wisdom is expressed in "After", poems by Jane Hirschfield. "French by Heart" is Rebecca Ramsey's account of an American family's adventures in La Belle France 1999-2003. "The Storks' Nest or Life and Love in the Russian Countryside" comes from Laura Williams who moved from
Colorado to Moscow in 1993.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Story time for Grandparents and Grandchildren

A Story Time Especially for Grandparents and Grandchildren
(ages 3 and up)


pictures -- crafts -- stories -- snacks

Saturday, September 13 at 9:30 a.m.

If you are interested in attending this special event you must call 362-2242 ext 115 for reservations with the child/children's name and the number of grandparents attending (we ask that you please limit the number of grandparents to 2 per family)

Call soon because space is limited.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Preview Shelf -- Guess What's Coming Soon!

With our schools back in session, the Crawfordville District Public Library youth services department has finished its extensive summer programs and its back-to-school activities. Its walls are bare right now, as staff and patrons await an exciting new look. Next time you come, look straight north from the entrance to see the mural being created by Michael Bowman. Here's some summer reading you might like to investigate. The novel "Serpent Box" by Vincent Carrella begins by showing unorthodox Appalachian faithful spreading the word of the Gospels by handling deadly serpents and drinking lye. "Then We Came to the End" by Joshua Ferris notes, "Every office is a family of sorts", and his plot copes with a business downturn through gossip, elaborate pranks, and frequent coffee breaks. "Dangerous Past" by A. F. Ebbers is an aviation thriller that "rocks" the highest levels of Washington. Kate Christensen's "The Great Man" depicts a New York City artist of the heroic generation of the 40s and 50s, painting one subject, the female nude; he also has a separate secret life, and two rival biographers circle around him as they see him from different points of view. "On Tall Pine Lake" by Dorothy Garlock is her 50th novel about ordinary Americans and their dreams, this time a young woman facing a dangerous future and an unexpected chance at love while managing a fishing camp in the Arkansas woods. "Thigh High" by Christina Dodd involves a string of bank robberies in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Sharon Sala, Emilie Richards and Susan Wiggs offer stories of female courage called "More Than Words". "The Angel of Death" is a forensic mystery by Alane Ferguson; a seventeen-year-old finds herself solving the murder of her English teacher. "Traitor" by Gudrun Pausewang presents a Russian prisoner of war on the run from the Nazis hiding out in a German family's barn. William Sleator's "Hell Phone" tells how a schoolboy finds himself being pulled into a web of crime. Alisa Libby's gothic novel "The Blood Confession" recalls a real-life countess in16th century Hungary which was full of horror, romance, and history. Carol Neggers' "The Angel" deals with the rugged coast of Ireland where a folklorist pursues the mysterious legend of an ancient Celtic stone carving. "Killer View" by Ridley Pearson reports a Sun Valley skier gone missing, and one of the searchers is suddenly dead. "Secrets" by Jude Deveraux involves a fiancee who has broken her engagement because of a man with whom she fell in love at the age of 12. Catherine Coulter's "Tail Spin" is an FBI thriller because a Special Agent tries to protect a renowned psychiatrist's life, which involves fast helicopter rides, sad diagnoses, and hidden facts not revealed until the end. In "Tribute" by Nora Roberts a former child star leaves Hollywood for Virginia's Shenandoah Valley for a quiet life restoring her grandmother's farmhouse, but then she finds disturbing old letters in the attic. "What Never Happens" by Anne Holt reveals horrible murders of celebrities in the cold of an Oslo winter. In "Last Kiss" by Luanne Rice a singer-songwriter must uncover the reason for her 18-year-old son's murder a year after not a single clue has surfaced. Iris and Roy Johansen's "Silent Thunder" is a decommissioned Soviet submarine acquired by a U.S. maritime museum for public exhibition; inspecting the ship they find a mysterious message which triggers a deadly assault.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Preview Shelf -- Lower-Level Treasures

The lower level of the Crawfordsville District Public Library offers a new potpourri of good art to enjoy as you stroll along headed to the Second Saturday Book Sale or to your meeting of the day. Diane Hammill has mounted a variety of colorful posters, original prints, library purchases, donations from Patty Sommer, donations to the Friends of the Library, and her own original work. Inspect it; it finishes off the attractive hallway. Cokie Roberts' book "Ladies of Liberty" pays homage to the heroic women whose patriotism and sacrifice helped create a new nation, among them Abigail Adams, Martha Jefferson, Dolley Madison, and Elizabeth Monroe. '"A Letter to America" by David Boren alerts us that we are in trouble because our people are losing faith in the country's future. We need, Boren asserts, major reforms so our political system can act responsibly; bipartisan cooperation, a post-Cold War policy that fits today's realities, and campaign finance reform will help. Kevin Leman's "Have a New Kid by Friday" tell how to change your child's attitude, behavior, and character in just five days. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch should be called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" about the "importance of overcoming obstacles, enabling the dreams of others, seizing every moment", a powerful message because of the author's own immediate challenges. A Rare Breed of Love" by Jana Kohl is about a certain canine and the mission she inspired to help dogs everywhere. Jenna Bush reflects on her work with UNICEF in "Ana's Story" about an abused 17-year-old mother dealing with HIV. Three references about health are "Louder Than Words" in which Jenny McCarthy works to save her child from autism and creates a road map for parents who are concerned about their own child, "Unstrange Minds" where Roy Grinkere remaps the world of autism, and Anne Ford's "On Their Own" a family guide offering an independent future for adult children with learning disabilities and ADHAD. "Prude" analyzes how depraved influences in our culture are damaging teen age girls; Carol Liebau argues for the restoration of commonsense values. Here are some unique how-to books newly available. "How to Photograph Absolutely Everything…with Your Digital Camera" by Tom Ang is colorful and clever. "Art of Sketching" translated from the Spanish and issued by Sterling Publishing is full of beautiful work to stimulate the reader. Dragonart's "Fantasy Characters" shows how to draw fantastic beings and incredible creatures. "Knitting without Tears" holds Elizabeth Zimmermann's unique generic concepts that can be adopted endlessly. She was the master of proportional instructions. "No Sheep for You" is Amy Singer's approach to knitting with cotton, silk, linen, hemp, and bamboo. Sue Astroth's "Super-Simple Creative Costumes" has the theme of mixing and matching your way to make believe. Next, for the favorite room in the house, comes "1001 Ideas for Kitchen Organization" by Joseph Provey. "Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey" by Karen Davis holds 100 recipes like eggless omelets, muffins, mayonnaise, eggless salads, cakes and cookies, and poultry-free "chicken" stew, pot pie, stuffed "turkey", cacciatore, and stuffing. "Florida Bounty" is Eric and Sandra Jacobs' celebration of Florida cuisine and culture.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Genealogy Club Meeting

Genealogy Club of Montgomery County, IN Corp
7:00pm, August 12, 2008
"Local History Servies and You" by Stacy Klingler
Assistant Director of Local History Services, Indiana Historical Society

This meeting will be held at the Crawfordsville District Public Library in the Donnelley Room. [Public Invited!] Call; (765)-362-2242, Ext 4 for more information.