Little River Solitude

Bikers Support our Veterans at Battleship Memorial Park

My Weekend Ride on the Land

a bit of fun on Saturday before the football games, a ride on land above the Grand Bay savannah.

USS Alabama Project

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Thomas Harrison's Artbeat Column in Mobile Register

on Sunday, November 7, 2010:



Sheila Hagler and Peggy Denniston are once again demonstrating what happens when teachers ignite the imaginations of their students. This time, the project has gone global and taken on a virtual (and quite real) life of its own, thanks to the Internet.

Hagler’s students at Alba Middle School and Denniston’s kids at Bryant High School are involved in a project titled “Art and Majesty: The Battleship USS Alabama,” in which the students photographed the battleship from all sides and angles.

Those images represent the initial phase of this two-year project and approximately 50 photos will be on view next week at the University of South Alabama College of Education at Old Shell Road and University Boulevard. The show will open officially on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and will remain at USA’s College of Education through Dec. 15 before it is relocated to other venues.

(Courtesy Sheila Hagler and Peggy Denniston)Daniel Ladnier of Bryant High School took this image of the Battleship USS Alabama, part of the "Art and Majesty" photo exhibit.

Hagler says “Art and Majesty” will culminate in mid-February 2011 with an entirely different, much more ambitious exhibit at Battleship Memorial Park. That show will include a large tapestry, sculptures by Bruce Larsen and Pieter Favier, and an “art film” by Bryant and Alba students. That film will include last year’s interview with Archie Campbell, a World War II veteran who served on the USS Alabama.

Hagler and Denniston were in elementary school when the USS Alabama was brought to the Causeway.

“I am certain everyone who was in Mobile County public schools back then remembers that,” Hagler says. “We were given passes for life to visit her free.”

Hagler says she is “amazed how this is evolving, this multi-media, multi-school, multi-artform exhibition.”

“All I did was give a mini-lesson of ‘Elements of Art and Principles of Design’ as described in the State Alabama Course Standards,” Hagler explains. “But I now see how important this is to those who are not born with a gift for seeing. Following these content standards works! Everyone can be taught to ‘see.’

“And the kids did it! They turned their lenses on aspects of the ship using sunlight and shadow, texture, negative space and so on. Many of the pieces have an organic quality.”

John H. Strange, Ph.D., professor at the College of Education, says next week’s exhibit is part of the Alba/Bryant EDM310 Project and will be seen by a worldwide audience. Dodge Elementary students will have artwork in the real and virtual shows.

“My 150 students weekly comment on one or (more) blogs of students around the world,” he says, “and one Tweet will start an avalanche of comments from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, England and elsewhere. In fact, it has already begun to happen.”

An educator at a school in New Zealand is blogging with the Alba and Bryant students and offers comments on the photographs: http://www.blogger.com/profile/16486794203463798461.

The Alba/Bryant Project has its own blog in place: http://edm310albabryant.blogspot.com.

“That site offers a description of the project and links to the student’s individual blogs with the first of several photographs by the students who participated in our work session,” Strange says. “The students will add additional pictures between now and the launch of the show. Already they are getting comments from the United States, New Zealand and Canada. And we haven’t even launched the show site yet!”

ArtBeat will have much more on this extraordinary project in upcoming editions.

http://blog.al.com/artbeat/index.html

http://blog.al.com/artbeat/2010/11/art_and_majesty_honors_battles.html

Grand Bay, Alabama, Birding Trail, Spring 2010

Halloween Ride

On an afternoon ride of the land, I paused
to take a few pictures with angular sunlight. It's
the time of year when bright sun comes into the woods to create strong shadows.
As usual, Dews accompanied me.
The land we traveled is near the top of the google image, up by the "C" above the peninsula, known as Point of Pines, which juts out into the Mississippie Sound to separate Grand Bay from Portersville Bay.
A few days before, the weather was slightly overcast, without hard shadows. One overcast and two sunny pictures are included. One shows Dews in harwoods with a corn feeder hanging in a tree. See if you can spot the feeder.

Blog Collaboration - Alba, Bryant & USA

http://edm310albabryant.blogspot.com/

This link leads to the Blog set up by EDM 310, Dr. John Strange of University of South Alabama. I hope everyone enjoys this and comments on our students works.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!

Denniston Short-order Dinner

We had supper at Mama's house last night. She's 90 years-old. My second brother, Brandt has been visiting for the later part of October, from New Hampshire. My fourth brother, Dwain, lives around the corner from Mama. We got together for an impromptu meal and Brandt filmed a few minutes in the kitchen.

suzuki 3rd ride

my photo

my attempt to cure entropy