Left of the Lake Magazine - Issue 2

Left of the Lake Returns With Issue #2

In The Studio WithArist Lisa Bigalke Page 14

Go Inside

FACEDRAWER

With Artist Rebecca Venn Page 6

Serving The Creative Communities From Chicago To Milwaukee

Free!

Issue 2

 Fine Art  Jewelry  Accents Frank Lloyd Wright Designs Polymer Jewelry Artists Laura Timmins and Janet Pitcher

Tracey Frugoli

Aluminum Jewelry by JR Franco

423 Main Street Racine, WI 53403 262-635-0580 www.thenorthernlightsgallery.com

A Message From The Publisher

By Chet Griffith

Theatre of the mind. The curtain opens. I’m alone, sitting at a table at a coffee shop downtown. It’s late, and it’s dark. You’re walking by and see me sitting there, and so you rush in:} You: “Where have you been?”

Me: “Um, hi. Yeah, I know that we’re a little late...”

You: “A little? It’s been 9 months since the magazine was released!”

Me: “Well, there were some things to straighten out, but the first issue was awesome though, right?” {Your face changes. Yes, the magazine was awesome, but this could be a trick. Your brow furrows as you proceed:} You: “Yes, it was incredible, but 9 months--really? Come on! Do you know what people can accomplish in 9 whole months?!”

Me: “Yeah, I know and we’re sorry; I promise that it’ll be better from now on.” {You place the back of your hand on your forehead and turn away dramatically.} You: “I just don’t know if I can trust you.

I’m…I’m hurt.”

Me: “Alright, alright, here’s the truth: we really wanted to create an environment where we could be consistent with the magazine, so we recruited two more people.”

You: “O.K., that makes sense, I guess. But what I really need to know is: where is this issue of Left of the Lake magazine going to be printed this time?”

Me: “We’re happy to report that we found a domestic printer….and, did I forget to mention that the magazine is still FREE?!”

You: {*see below} {*Inspired by Hollywood, there is an alternate ending to this story: #1. In the original ending, You are so overjoyed that we share a long and meaningful embrace. (Yes, I am aware that there could be a male cast in the role of “You”, but I’m telling a story here, so just go with it.) My wife sees the hug, waits patiently in the parking lot, and then runs both of us over with the minivan.

This ending really bummed the test audience out, so we went with ending #2. #2. You choose to smile, satisfied by my explanation, as you eagerly await the next issue.

The End. (Screams “straight to DVD” doesn’t it?)} A special thank you goes out to all of our advertisers and “anonymous” donors, without whom this magazine would not exist! Please support these businesses. They recognize your talents; please recognize theirs!

Get those submissions ready for the 2013 holiday issue! Left of the Lake Schedule, Issue #3: The release date for Issue # 3 is November 1st, 2013.All written submissions, art submissions & advertisements are due no later than October 1st, 2013.

Please see the website for more details: www. leftofthelake.com

4 A Message From The Publisher / Left of The Lake

Left of the Lake Issue 2

06 09 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 27 28 29 30

FACEDRAWER Weeping Branches Christine Sikora Solstice In The Studio Start With Art Vince Gedgaudas Dinowhore Diaries Rebecca Zastany Acting Lessons for Life Kim Nousaine Michael Litewski 2FL: The Hitchcock 9 What Man Has Always Seen

Left of the Lake is: Publisher: Chet Griffith Graphics: Joshua Frazer Edits: Lisa Adamowicz Kless & Peg Rousar-Thompson Organization: John Bloner Contact Us At: lotleditor@gmail.com

Cover: Diane Levesque

“Circa 1968” Oil on Canvas 2012 40’’ x 30’’

*Items in Red Denote Artist Features

FACEDRAWER

By Dave Gourdoux

We’ve all come to know and love Facebook as a vehicle for spreading bad jokes, sharing with the world in excruciating detail where we are and what we’re doing every moment of every day, and posting links to political diatribes and adorable pictures of kitties. It’s become such a part of our everyday life that we rarely think about what we’re really doing when we post the latest viral video or those photos of our vacation. There’s a reason we’ve gotten so comfortable with Facebook so quickly: whether we realize it or not, it’s tapping into the core of what makes us human.

Facebook is a recent invention, but social media has been with us for at least 40,000 years, since our ancestors started drawing on cave walls, and even longer if you consider grunts and expressions as the earliest forms of storytelling. Social media is really nothing but a means for storytelling.

“I cannot tell you why they are correct for the expression of color I chose,” she adds, trying to explain why one portrait was more pastel, while another was more intense. “The work seems to make itself and I am there to be the mediator.”

The mediator, in this case, is blessed with tremendous skill and years of experience. “I draw and paint a lot so just doing it helps.” This, of course, can only go so far. Many are blessed with the ability to draw; few are able to achieve the emotional depth in Venn’s portraits. She chalks this up to “experience plus magic,” and doesn’t seem overly concerned with where the magic comes from, or how it works. “To explain how I get across that gulf from idea to reality cannot be plotted. If I could, it would be science, not art.”

Any story is usually as much about the teller as it is the subject. You get the impression, viewing Venn’s work and talking with her, that her portraits say as much about her as they do the subject. “I have had some sales and commissions but I do it mostly because faces fascinate me.

Storytelling is primal, and it’s the foundation for all art. Whether it’s a painting, a sculpture, a musical composition, an essay or a poem or a short story or a novel, it’s all an attempt to encapsu“Storytelling is late and articulate human primal, and it’s the experience. We create and foundation for ​ respond to art as a means of validating our existence, all art. “ and in the process, we are less alone.

Rebecca Venn is a Kenosha artist who seems to understand all of this. She specializes in watercolor portraits. Bright and vivid, her work reveals a unique ability to make her subjects come alive. “Each subject offers a story I try and tell through light and color”, she says, even when she has never met the subject in person.

6 FACEDRAWER / Left of The Lake

Venn uses photographs in lieu of live subjects for her portraits. In creating her portraits, Venn finds something in these two dimensional images that she is able to imbue her portrait with that gives the painting depth, whether it is a part of the subject’s soul that was captured in the photograph, part of her own soul that is expressed through the painting, or a combination of both. Then, to complete the cycle, she takes the portrait, inserts it into a desk drawer, photographs it, and posts it on Facebook. She calls these portraits “FACEDRAWER”.

“I call them ‘FACEDRAWER’ since I have contacted artists I am friends with here and asked if I could do their portraits. It began with the death of an old friend, and painting her portrait was my way of celebrating her and saying goodbye. Next was a submission to an online site called ‘Poets and Artists’, a magazine that has a theme which changes by issue.

This one was on portraits, and I got four in that issue, and then I decided to contact Facebook artists I ‘know’ and request to do their portraits.

I would then post the pictures of them lying in my flat file drawer in my studio, and thus the name, ‘FACEDRAWER’. Lastly was an exhibit in Racine, where I framed a group of them together.”

In the end, leave it to an artist to understand and appreciate the real meaning of social me-

dia. Of Facebook, Venn says, “It is terrific. I use it as a gallery and networking between other artists and collectors. I have sold nine of the thirteen artworks sold to date via Facebook. I have great conversations with artists. I am careful who I connect with. It is like walking into other artists studios and viewing their work. I do not live in Paris in the 20’s, so it is my place to sit and chat and sip; every artist I have connected with has been generous and honest, and any time you can view good artwork, it is inspiring.”

Dave Gourdoux lives in Pleasant P ​ rairie, Wisconsin. He is a contributor to www.2ndFirstLook. com, and owner of a personal blog, “Drivel

by Dave” (djgourdoux.wordpress.com). He is currently wrapping up the first draft of his first novel.

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Weeping Branches

By Amara SuraShakta

My red-rimmed eyes dropped to the ebony box. It couldn’t be my duty to deliver it. I didn’t want it to be my duty. I saw the box as nothing more than dark wood; dark wood that summoned memories of the Battle of Fort LuLi. Tobian’s King, my new father-in-law, saw a dead tree freshly scarred with carvings.

Just as he grieved the loss of his kingdom’s soldier, the King mourned this tree. He passed the box to me and said, “This tree gave its life for another, just as the man it represents did.”

I fought beside this man, the one who shot a perfectly aligned arrow, at Fort LuLi. He held no qualm about fighting beside a new Manipulator. The wind, the rocks--they gravitated to me and allowed me to influence them, but I could only shield so many men with the wind.

The weeping tree branches of my new home rustled with the wind’s chilly sway as the sun peeked over the eastern horizon. This was how I’d start my day. With the war done and the arranged marriage finally completed, my royal duties could wait no longer. It did not matter that my physical wounds had not yet healed.

Freshly scabbed gashes hidden, long scratches evident on my hands and a limp to my gait, I negotiated and weaved Tobian’s roads. I had never seen weeping tree branches, nor had I ever delivered a death notice.

I stood motionless and alone on the walkway up to the very first house. The white flag secured within the ebony box I held offered the dead soldier’s family the right to mourn.

I had passed many doors with similar white

flags affixed to them. Before the marriage, the Queen delivered ebony boxes and comforted families with her words.

With downcast eyes and a fear etched with sorrow, I forced myself forward. Grass and flowers of every color--pink, lilac, turquoise-surrounded me, but all I smelled was the rot of war. The small house built from stone was home to a mother and father as well as an older sister; or so the King said. I lifted a trembling, clenched hand and knocked on a door of wood.

My stomach fluttered then compressed into a fist. The constricting tightness stole my breath.

I prayed to gods I swore I no longer believed in for the ability and articulation to speak when the door opened.

A woman, already distraught, stood before me with her mouth gaping, her body wracked with convulsions that drained the blood from her face. Her husband, with his veiny, wrinkled hands, held her around the shoulders and kept her standing up. How did he manage? A curly haired girl, looking no older than I was, raced to the door, hopeful that this was the day her brother finally returned home, and skidded to a stop.

I attempted to wet my lips and offered forth the box. * Amara SuraShakta studied Political Science/ Legal Studies and Criminal Justice at UWParkside. She is currently working on a novel and building her new business.

Left of The Lake / Weeping Branches 9

10  Christine Sikora / Left of The Lake

2NDHALFEXHIBITS2013 OPENING RECEPTION

6-9 PM

FIRST DAY OF EACH SHOW

Schedule changes can occur throughout the year, please confirm with RAC.

JULY/AUG.

The Brooch Show

July 5-Aug. 24

Over 100 imaginative and unusual contemporary brooches.

SEPT./OCT.

Racine Art Guild Invitational Show

Sept. 6-Oct. 19

All media exhibit featuring the art work of Racine Art Guild members.

NOV./DEC.

Keramos

Nov. 1-Dec. 21

Ceramics Show combining clay and iron.

Awards Judge: Lena Vigna

Curator: Janet Mrazek

Curator: Jeff Shawhan

316 Sixth Street, Racine, WI 53403 | 262.635.0261 | racineartscouncil.org

Solstice (For Gene W. Stuckey)

A Very Short Play by Ruben Carbajal

LIGHTS UP, a BOY stands under a spot. Behind him, a slideshow of photographs that abstractly recall the words of each actor. The sounds of summer noises: crickets, kids playing, ice cream truck, sirens, ocean waves.

BOY Morning couldn’t come fast enough. I’d been waiting my whole life for today. My father told me it was the longest day of the year.

I jumped out of bed, then tore off towards backyards that marked the boundaries of my universe. I stopped only once, at the front porch of the old man on the corner, to taunt him.

The day was a small eternity, games of every kind that blurred into one wild gambol.

We made promises to each other. Not all would be kept. But those who played that day would always be remembered.

(LIGHTS DIM ON BOY, FADE UP ON MAN) MAN The sun passed its pinnacle, which meant it was time to push past the backyards, off to unknown territory, leaving games behind us.

Some fell in love, and built homes to memorialize the morning. Others found love, then lost it. Some searched until they convinced themselves that searching is what they had always been looking for.

12 Solstice / Left of The Lake

(LIGHTS DIM ON MAN, FADE UP ON OLD MAN) OLD MAN The sky at seven P.M. is the deepest ocean. Love, loss, searching, all now behind me.

The backyards fill with the voices of children and their games. Wasn’t mine among them just this morning? A slightest breeze suggested Fall.

It was a shock when I looked up, and saw the moon.

(LIGHTS UP ON ALL THREE, THEN LIGHTS SLOWLY OUT) * Ruben Carbajal’s plays include, The Gifted Program, a play set in Racine, Wisconsin. This year, Next Stage Press has published Portland and the collection HOLD and Other Short Plays. www.rubencarbajal.net

Photography by: Jon Bolton

RAM at 10 Growing America’s Craft Collection in Downtown Racine Visit ramart.org for more about 10th anniversary art exhibitions and events Racine Art Museum 441 Main Street, Downtown Racine

262.638.8300

July Left of The Lake / Solstice 13

In The Studio

By Lisa Bigalke

As I sat meditatively folding paper, I reflected on the first six months of the full-time art experiment. I haven’t completed nearly as much as I had hoped; art always takes longer than expected. My studio is constantly a mess. But, art is happening.

Who needs a resolution when you have a goal…

I’ve always been goal oriented. I work well with a list, a calendar, and a plan. Past goals have included grad school, solo exhibitions, a studio, large prints and a bookbinding business with my sister. In 2013, I have set a few project goals. #1: Create a book a day and post it on the Rudbeckia Press Facebook page. I’m ahead about ten days, and excited about all the new book possibilities. #2: Complete and install my outdoor art and hiking exhibition. I have eleven outdoor art ideas, and am hoping that when completed, I am happy with and able to show five of them. #3: Enter a show/ write a show proposal twice a month. I am not making work to store in my basement. #4: Learn to make paper. Something I said I would never do, but Ed Kaulke has made it seem really fun. Over the course of the year some of these projects will get crossed out and new ones added. The flexible nature keeps me excited and moving forward, always challenging myself.

The “Perfect” Studio My studio is a work in progress. Most days, it is a creative mess. I used to think that when I get my studio just the way I want it, I’ll be 14 In The Studio / Left of The Lake

an artist. When I have this space, this press, or that exposure unit, I’ll be an artist. But waiting is not something I am good at. So, I figured out the bare bones of what I need to create art. Then I started piecing things together. Cleaning out a space (my basement), organizing what I already had (fifty seven pairs of scissors), and getting a printing press ($20 at auction). And although my studio is only 60% filled with what I want, it is 100% filled with what I need. And that is perfect enough to make art.

If you are interested in my projects please go to facebook.com/pages/Rudbeckia-Press.

Music

that Lasts a Lifetime

Racine Symphony Orchestra 2013-2014 Season Friday, June 28, 2013: “American Originals” Summer Pops, 7 pm at Festival Hall Saturday, July 20, 2013: “Music for a Summer Evening” 5 pm – 8:30 pm Jazz in July - Special Event at Wingspread Friday, August 23, 2013: “Celebrate Racine” Summer Pops, 7 pm at Festival Hall Saturday, October 26, 2013: “Music with a Spanish Accent”, Masterworks concert 7:30 pm at First Presbyterian Church Friday, December 6, 2013: “Let It Snow” Holiday Pops, 7 pm at Festival Hall Sunday, February 9, 2014: Young Artists Competition, 1:00 pm First Presbyterian Church Free, open to the public NEW CONCERT Sunday, March 9, 2014: “Afternoon Introductions” Masterworks concert 3:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church Tuesday, March 18, 2014: “Compose Yourself!”

By Jim Stephenson 5th Grade Concert, 9:15 am and 10:45 am, Grace Church Saturday, April 26, 2014: “Old Clock, New Hands”, Masterworks concert 7:30 pm at Racine Theatre Guild

Tickets are available by calling 262.636.9285 or online at www.racinesymphony.org

Start With Art

the art that will be the center of inspiration, like this small and very affordable watercolor by local artist Helen Napier:

By Kelle Dame Most of us have the decorating process all backwards. We purchase our couch, which will most likely come with hideous throw pillows, and then we usually start thinking about side tables and lamps and other accessories. What ends up adorning our walls is the final thought.

Unfortunately, that final thought is typically the one given the lowest priority and also allotted the smallest portion of the budget.

This recipe is not the easiest for the making of an inspired and meaningful space. Art plays a larger role in our daily lives than coordinating with our couch. Art has the power to influence our mood, inspire conversations, tell a story that is significant to us, and maybe even change the way we see the world. It deserves first priority, not last.

Starting with art for inspiration makes the process of creating a space that will reflect your individual style much easier. The reason is that the elements that are present in your chosen piece of art (textures, colors, shapes, visual weight, and overall emotional presence) are going to be the same elements and feelings that you want your space reflecting back at you.

For example, when I am given a space that is a completely blank canvas, I can easily become overwhelmed with the endless options, just like anyone else! So, the first thing I do is find 16  Start With Art / Left of The Lake

This piece became the inspiration for an entryway that needed to be both beautiful and multifunctional.

Here is the finished entryway:

The watercolor provided the color palette and the overall mood for the space. The soft and subtle textures of the painting are translated with the soft Mongolian wool pelt on the chair cushion and the subtle Japanese fan pattern on the walls. The painting also determined that in order to remain the center of attention, the other colors in the space needed to be lighter or appear equal in visual weight. So, with the help of the inspiration, I had a narrower field of options, and it seemed like some design decisions were practically made for me!

When you think about it, finding a piece of art that will magically fit all the criteria (matching your couch, complimenting your color scheme, AND being unique and significant), doesn’t it seem a bit like finding a missing puzzle piece?

Do yourself a favor and let your favorite pieces inspire your space. If you don’t have a favorite piece, go find it! Your local community is filled with high quality, affordable art!

18  Vince Gedgaudas / Left of The Lake

July Left of The Lake / Title 19

20  Dinowhore Diaries / Left of The Lake

Left of The Lake / Dinowhore Diaries 21

22  Rebecca Zastany / Left of The Lake

Acting Lessons for Life

By Maureen Cashin Bolog

Great acting technique empowers individuals with skills needed for acting and life, whether identifying strengths and weaknesses, presenting information, or living fully in the moment with dynamic intention.

People contact Actor’s Craft with various goals.

Some adults, teens and children are interested in acting as a career or a hobby and actively pursue work locally as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. Business professionals choose our Dynamic Executive Program to empower them with executive presence for presentations, video conferencing and conflict resolution.

Parents enroll their children to build selfconfidence. Nursing homes use Actor’s Craft to engage the senses, stimulate creative thinking and facilitate friendships among residents.

In order to create characters who are living life vibrantly on the screen, actors learn to live their own lives more richly. Here are a few acting techniques you can apply to life!

Live in the moment! Open your senses to the world around you. What do you see, hear, smell, taste and touch? If you want to be more intuitive, focus on one of your senses every day. You will garner information and improve your instincts about people, places and things.

Live life with dynamic intention! Pursue your objective. Know what you want to accomplish in this moment of life. Determine what you need from this other person, place or thing; and seek to affect change to achieve your goals.

Triumph over adversity! Identify problems and treat them as challenges to overcome. Everyone deals with life from their own sense of 24 Acting Lessons For Life / Left of The Lake

inadequacy. Recognize we all have problems.

Rather than spiral into despair, use misfortune to propel you to WIN a positive objective.

Preparation is key. Flying by the seat of your pants will only get you so far in life. Find someone who is successful in your field of interest, and find out what you have to do to excel in their job. Preparation will boost your confidence and improve your performance.

Project and speak clearly! Make your voice be heard. Effective communication engages your body, voice, emotions and spiritual being. Warm-up exercises keep you in tune with your instrument!

Work from a place of service, not ego. Ego creates stress and makes us question, “Will I be good enough? Will they like me?” Take focus off yourself and serve the people with whom you come in contact. Serve God with your work, and life will take you on unexpected adventures.

“In order to create characters who are living live vibrantly on the screen, actors need to learn to live their own lives more richly.“

Left of The Lake / Kim Nousaine 27

28  Michael Litewski / Left of The Lake

By Lisa Adamowicz Kless Alfred Hitchcock spent decades honing the directorial skills and talent that would make him a legend in the film industry, and during the 1920s, he was doing so with silent films.

including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Seattle International Film Festival, and in the historic Castro Theatre, as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Beginning in the summer of 2013, homage is being paid to the cinema icon with “The Hitchcock 9”, a touring program dedicated to Hitchcock’s nine surviving silent films: “The Lodger” (1926), “The Pleasure Garden” (1926), “Downhill” (1927), “Easy Virtue” (1927), “The Ring” (1927), “Champagne” (1928), “The Farmer’s Wife” (1928), “Blackmail” (1929), and “The Manxman” (1929).

Stephen Horne, a veteran of live silent film performances, composed a score to go along with a number of the films. He’ll provide live musical accompaniment at select U.S. showings.

As part of the program, the films were restored by the British Film Institute, which also commissioned new scores for some of them.

As “The Hitchcock 9” makes its way around the U.S., it will be showcased in many venues,

No plans have been made for “The Hitchcock 9” to become a DVD set, so if you have the chance, attend one of the programs while it’s still touring. * For more articles by 2nd First Look, visit our official site: www.2ndFirstLook.com. And for more 2FL Short reviews, visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/2ndFirstLook.

Do you want to Act? Our Actors get Work!

Call Today.

Actorʼs Craft

Adults - Teens - Children Workshops, Classes & Camps 518 56h Street in Kenosha www.actorsaftwisconsin.com

262-705-0194

Left of The Lake / 2FL: The Hitchcock 9 29

What Man Has Always Seen

By Jim Janus Evening work is interrupted By the tone of a text message I’m late again I stand up from the cubicle chair And realize the darkness outside Inside fluorescent reflection Tries to mask a single white light The rising full moon From behind the lake it rose Yellow, round, magnified Silhouetting the boats And I was too busy To watch it with her The traffic current pushes me home An hour lost At the curb I pull mail from the box More to do Tomorrow’s work day speeding toward me I flip closed the box and look up The moon is higher, smaller But still worth attention Bright and familiar Light plains and dark seas A few white spots radiating white streaks It’s what Man has always seen Over caves, pyramids, and coliseums Above teepees, great walls, and castles It’s the same moon

So I rocket to it Reflect off And visit the past To fool myself that life had been easier Without cars, highways, and corporations Without TV, Internet, advertising But sometimes I know I’m fooling myself So instead of reflecting off I land on the moon I wonder at the deep craters and sharp mountains The black shadows of scattered boulders The absence of air, water, and sound I create my own path Through the gray, powdery plain And take time to think Each of my thoughts to its end That’s when I find myself At Tranquility I look across the dry sea Into the blackness of space And wait for the earth to rise Brilliant blue, white clouds swirling That’s when I rocket back Walk into my house Put everything aside And be with her. * Jim Janus writes short fiction and poetry.

In January 2012, he joined the Kenosha Writers’ Guild. Jim has a minor in English from Northern Illinois University. He lives in Winthrop Harbor, IL.

30 What Man Has Always Seen / Left of The Lake

July Left of The Lake / Title 31

Monday - Thursday, 10a - 9p

Downtown Kenosha  Making Memories Every Day  Downtown Kenosha

Monday - Saturday, 9a - 8p Sunday, 11a - 8p

Sunday, 11a - 8p

Friday & Saturday, 10a - 10p

In the historic Orpheum Theater  5819 Sixth Avenue  262-652-TOYS or 262-652-YUM

Left of the Lake Magazine is Printed in The USA. © 2013 Left of the Lake.