Friday, November 8, 2019

Drawing Portraits with a Meaning

A long time Medway resident, Kim Blenkhorn, shares her knowledge through art. Kim is a self taught artist, she draws people /images that mean something to her, that have a purpose with Christian faith.  In this series of portraits, done in pencil, Kim is inspired by these people because they have overcome major obstacles and still went on to do amazing things.

Kim would like to do portraits that cause her children and others to stop, look and ask questions. Some of her subjects she learned as a child, and read more about them through biographies. Kim has always enjoyed reading biographies. She hopes to offer a book of her portriats with their accomplishments. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, see below 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer – We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
"I can’t remember when I first heard about this man perhaps a few years ago. But this is what I know impressed me about the man. Dietrich was a German theologian and pastor during WWII when Hitler was in power. Dietrich was among one of the few pastors who opposed Hitler and the Nazi regime, as sadly many Christians, churches and clergy tolerated what was being done.  I was so impressed with the risk Dietrich took to plan an assimilation against this powerful man, but also the struggle that he had with the idea of murder. AS a Christian he held to the commandment “do not kill”. Would it be wrong of him to do so, or was it justice against evil. Dietrich did not succeed but his plan was foiled and he was hanged for his “crimes” in 1945. I am always in awe of people who go against the grain of society, who are able to stand up for what they believe to the point of death. It is a great resolve to give ones life for another, and I believe this is exactly what Bonhoeffer did. I believer amidst a reign of terror there were multitudes who claimed to be Christians and then were a few who actually were. " Kim Blenkhorn 


Gladys Aylward
“ I first heard about Gladys when I read a biography on her life entitled “for the children of china” by Sam Wellman. I was amazed by this tiny woman’s resolve to go to china although she hit so many obstacles along the way she never gave up. eventually she went and silenced all the voices of those her told her no, I love to silence those voices.  She was able to do what she so desired to do in her heart which was be a missionary to china. She defied logic, learning Chinese fluently through self teaching as a middle aged woman when people said it was impossible, she raised money without any help from well established missions, or support from family or even a husband. She went completely entirely alone. once she was in china she did things no one else could do. She was this tiny little woman who dig really big things. One story I remember reading about her is there was a prison brawl in one of the cities she was in. The prisoners had shut themselves in, and days had gone by without any supervision. None of the guards were able to enter or sort things out. For some reason Gladys determined to go inside at the risk of her own life and help re-establish order. People thought she was crazy, but she did it, and she was successful. Sometimes we have a dream in our heart that logic and mankind insists must be wrong, but if our creator has put it there, he will enable us to do it, as long as we are willing. " Kim Blenkhorn


Harriet Tubman 1820-1913

Eleanor Roosevelt 1884-1962

Norman Rockwell 1894-1978

Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865
Kim also shared some artwork from around town and family:


Family sketches

Village Street in the fall, Watercolor.
Kim's father-in-law, Harold Blenkhorn, 

Kim's children apple picking, Watercolor.
Kim works best in her kitchen, she likes to be around her family and all the noise when drawing.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Sneak Peak, Local Portrait Artist

I recently met with local portrait artist, Kim Blenkhorn. I look forward to sharing more of her work with you. Kim draws from her personal interest in each individual. These are people that she has looked up to. They have had to overcome major obstacles in their life and still went on to accomplish some amazing work.

Here Kim is cleaning up a portrait she has done of Harriet Tubman by removing some pencil smudging. I had just discovered a movie, Harriet, about her life is coming out November 1.




Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Laurel Burch Inspired Tiles by the 4th Graders

Laurel BurchThis year's 4th grade tile project is in the theme of artist, Laurel Burch. Burch created various works of art in different medias. She started by making her own jewelry out of recycled materials such as metals, which began her artistic career. Later in life she translated her visions of “fantastic felines,” mythical animals, colorful blossoms, butterflies, moons, hearts and imagined people, among myriad other imaginings, into colorful enamel jewelry, paintings, T-shirts, scarves, ceramics and tote bags, which were sold by thousands of stores. 
Her unique bold patterned cats in many colors is what she is most known for. 
Mrs Moyer's 4th grade art students created animals with patterns, similar to Burch's style.
Here are some example before they were fired. The colors will be vibrant once they are fired.
These will be on display at the upcoming Memorial Arts Festival and Band Concert, Monday June 3rd, 6:00-8:00pm.




Mrs Moyer and other volunteers touch up each tile to insure the image is as the student intended.









Laurel Burch (Dec 1945- Sept 2007)

“I live within the vivid colors of my imagination ... soaring with rainbow feathered birds, racing the desert winds on horseback, wrapped in ancient tribal jewels, dancing with mythical tigers in steamy jungles.”

https://laurelburch.com/about.html


Monday, March 25, 2019

Middle School students building the set for upcoming musical

Medway Middle School's set crew as been working hard to get the set ready for the upcoming musical, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella.
Art teacher and set organizer, Marc Davidson has been spending his time working with the students that have volunteered to help build the set. There are fewer pieces, about 8, to this set compared to last year's musical (which had close to 30 pieces!) but the set has much more detail. So much time is needed. Tuesdays after school they have been designing, cutting, sanding and assembling. Recently they have been meeting twice a week for the final crunch time before the show, April 5 & 6. Ticket info below:


8th Grader, Lorcan works with Mr Davidson on some framing
Local carpenter, Dan Bergeron has been helping with his talents on the set building.















Ticket & Show info:


Event

There are 400 tickets available for each performance as part of the online presale.  Once these tickets sell out, there will be approximately 100 full-price tickets available at the door on a first come, first served basis.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical retelling of the classic fairy tale. Cinderella is a teenage girl forced to do all of the menial tasks in the home she shares with her cold-hearted stepmother and stepsisters. The king and queen invite every young maiden in the kingdom to a royal ball so that the crown prince can find a girl to marry. Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters go to the ball, leaving Cinderella behind to wish about how her life could be. While she is daydreaming, she is visited by her fairy godmother, who shows us that impossible things are happening every day.

Tickets are available for the following performances:

Friday, April 5th at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 6th at 2:00pm
Saturday, April 6th at 7:30pm

All performances will be held in the MHS auditorium.

This online presale option for the performance will end 24 hours before the performance - after that time, tickets will only be available at the door at the $10 rate (cash only).

Friday, February 15, 2019

Art Inspired Wings #WhatLiftsYou

In the theme of the mural artist, Kelsey Montague (who is known for her beautiful murals all over the world, many of wings using #WhatLiftsYou), Mrs Jackson's Medway High School art students created their own set of wings. This was made to inspire 8th graders at their open house and hopefully they will think about art in their high school career.

Using a canvas and sharpie, art students collaborated on what art means to them. What lifts them. Students could work on it as little or as much as they wanted.


Some inspiring words the students used:

Creativity take courage
Calm
Art is what makes us unique
Embrace your inner artist
Art is relaxing
Art brings people together
'Till death do we art
Expressive
Peace


The mural is currently up outside the cafeteria.








To see Kelsey Montague's work click here