Critter, Etc the wild side of herndon & king By A.E.Bayne and playful molding of form. Dragons eating pizza, anyone?
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Two of Fredericksburg’s celebrated artists have teamed up to bring us an art show with a wild side. Ed King and Cathy Herndon are known for their affinity with animals and both focus on them as subjects for their work. Here, they bring us paintings and sculptures of our favorite furry and feathered friends using their signature styles. The show opens on Sunday, August 7th, between
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King says his father and grandfather were both avid nature conservationists. “Maybe it came from having Cherokee blood,” King ponders. In fact, at the age of five King’s father had taught him how to identify most of the birds in the trees outside their home. With this deep appreciation, King says he has always navigated toward nature and the outdoors for his inspiration, eschewing noisy social functions and banter for the meditative solitude of the woods. Cathy Herndon is a fellow animal lover, specifically of the pooch persuasion. She says over the years she has had many a canine companion: a Dalmatian (Beauty), a German Shepherd (Rinty), a Beagle (Tracker), and two Doberman Pinchers (Bridgett and Lady Buck), to name a few. She started painting dogs about 20 years ago, mostly from photos. She continues to take photos to this day when she sees dogs with great character sauntering around town. Of this body of work, Herndon says, “I see all these adds and commercials on TV that have the best dog expressions and I decided to create a body of work about dogs but with a play
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11:30 and 1:30 at the UUFF Gallery, located at 25 Chalice Circle, behind the office park in Chatham.
Supporting Local Artists Since 1997 8
August 2016
Ed King’s work with animals is favored by patrons and audiences both in Fredericksburg and afar. He says it used to frustrate him as a child when he would try to capture the animals he so loved without much luck, but he has found that as an adult he finally has the skill to create what he sees in his mind. Working in acrylic, oil, wood and clay, King captures each animal’s natural posture and expression with quick, bold brushstrokes
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on patterns; theirs and mine. I wanted to combine backgrounds with some abstract, non representational color expressions and use them behind the dogs of my choice, using their textures, size, colors and eye expressions. I hope, as the viewer, you will smile and
“TacoBell”, Cathy Herndon remember your associations with man and woman’s best friend.” See King’s and Herndon’s work together at the UUFF Gallery, located inside the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fredericksburg, during August and September of 2016. Visit the UUFF Gallery Facebook page for more information about the venue. A.E. Bayne is a writer, visual artist and educator. She publishes the Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review.
“Cows”, Ed King
Homeschooling 101 It’s all academic By meg sneed For most parents, once they’ve jumped through the mental and legal hoops of deciding to homeschool, two questions remain: What about socialization? We’ll look into that next month. Which leaves us with the second, but most pressing, question of WHAT do you actually teach?? The answer to the academic side of homeschooling can be, quite frankly, as varied as the reasons for choosing to homeschool in the first place. Most of us start with the broad strokes of academic theory – Unschooling, Montessori, Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, Classical, and more traditional “School at Home” are some of the main theories. Unschooling is a broad-spectrum theory in and of itself, with some parents choosing to be completely guided by their children’s interests, teaching subjects like math and language arts within these larger interests; while others use this approach for some subjects, such as science, while also teaching a structured math curriculum alongside it. On the other end of the homeschooling spectrum are those who follow a School At Home theory, in essence recreating the curriculum and even experience of a traditional classroom at home. This is the blessing and the curse of homeschooling in the age of the internet – your options are limited only by your resources, your own teaching style, and how your child learns best. Fortunately, the Fredericksburg area has quite a few options for academic help and resources for homeschoolers of all varieties. The best place to start is probably Facebook (FB). There are quite a few support groups for homeschoolers in Fredericksburg Fred. and Virginia. Homeschool Exchange is a FB group that primarily is used to sell used curriculum, but is full of parents more than happy to help answer your questions and act as a sounding board as you figure things out; the King George/Fredericksburg Area Home-sschool Families group is specifically designed to do both. Virginia Homeschool Moms does not allow the selling of curriculum, and so is strictly a brainstorming and support group on FB. Homeschooling in Virginia is run by HEAV, a Christian-based state-wide organization, and is a great resource for your legal and technical “how-to” questions.You can also find a number of secular groups on Facebook, both those that sell curriculum and serve as a support group, such as Secular Homeschool Families, along with theory-specific groups and religiously specific groups. While you always want to verify any legal or technical information you get on FB, these are great places for hashing out what you want to try.
If you love the idea of homeschooling, but don’t want to go it Ops may be a great entirely alone, Co-O option for you. These programs usually meet weekly or daily from September-May, with a set schedule of classes for student members to attend, and usually utilize parents as teachers for each subject. Grace Church in Fredericksburg hosts the Op religiously-based Grace Homeschool Co-O www.gracechurchcoop.com for PreK – 12th grade. Christian Heritage Home
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Educators is another religiously based coop that meets at Choice Baptist Church for grades PreK-12th www.homeschoollife.com/va/chhe. Classical Conversations www.classicalconversations.com/communi ty-iinfo/3170/Fredericksburg/VA has weekly classes at Stafford Crossing Community Church for those following the Classical theory of teaching, and the Fredericksburg Area Homeschoolers Association (FAHA) is a secular social group formed on Meetup.com and FB that also hosts a weekly co-op program for elementary age children, a little less formal than the former co-ops but still academically focused. If co-ops aren’t your thing, or you’re looking for more secular options, you may want to try local organizations that straddle the line between academic and social. These groups, such as FAHA , Spotsylvania Regional Christian Homeschoolers, REACH and www.reachhomeschoolgroupva.com, have a wide variety of events, gatherings, and field trips that are open to all members and usually have a specific academic focus. Finally, the county school systems also offer some resources to local homeschool students. Spotsylvania County has a Parent Resource Center located at 7565 Courthouse Rd in Spotsylvania that has staff, resources, and even educational games to assist parents of both public and homeschooled students. Many high school homeschool students also utilize the dual enrollment program with local community colleges, allowing them to earn college credits while still completing their high school education – sometimes even graduating with an Associates Degree at the same time they graduate from high school! Whatever path you take, whichever resources you utilize, just keep in mind that homeschooling allows you to find the best options for your student and family – even if that changes from one year to another. Meg is the practice manager at Old Dominion Osteopathic Medicine, community outreach coordinator for Fredericksburg Area CSA Project, and a homeschooling mom of 3 kids.
The Way Your Body Was Meant To Dr. Jason Sneed, D.O. 540-322-5040 www.odomedicine.com Where Customer Service and Title Insurance Become One
Jewell Wolterman 1320 Central Park Blvd, Ste 200, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 540-907-0574 www.elitetitleva.com jwolterman@elitetitleva.com front porch fredericksburg
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