We Celebrate the Arts

Busy? Yes, busy! This has been a hectic couple of weeks for the LeRoys. You know we are having the casita remodeled, and we'll write more about that later. Friday, SKP Chapter 21 held a membership drive, serving wine, non-alchoholic beverages and finger foods, then some fun games and door prizes. That took most of the afternoon for us, as we were on duty at the membership desk. Earlier this week, fellow RVers and sometime bloggers Ken and Vicki King arrived, and we had some time with them (didn't think to take pictures).


But the big event of the week was the San Pedro River Arts Council's first annual Celebrate the Arts week.

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

Arts Council President and fellow SKP park resident Sylvia Burnside asked us if we would be semi-official photographers for some of the events during the week, and we agreed. We couldn't do all of the events, but some of them held an interest for us, so we spent parts of Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday running back and forth from home to the local Cochise County College campus on the other side of town.


The first event was a painting demonstration by young Benson artist Clement Scott.

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

Scott's charge was to demonstrate how to paint an oil portrait of a model in one hour, using only four basic colors (black, white, cadmium red and yellow ochre).

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

Scott taught while he painted, showing how to blend those four colors to obtain many other shades, and how to proceed through the steps of the portrait. It actually took an hour and a quarter, as he spent a good deal of time just talking about the process.


Suzy took over 100 pictures from where she sat, documenting each step. Here are a couple.

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

To see more, visit our web album,  2010 Celebrate the Arts.


The same afternoon, Don Edmunds, one of our friends from our SKP park presented dramatic readings from Edgar Allen Poe:

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

The Telltale Heart, The Raven, and

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

The Cask of Amontillado.


Tuesday was Kids' Day; kids ages 6 and up were given lessons in making art prints using assorted vegetables.

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

Stella Bennett, another of our SKP park neighbors, taught a beading class. New beaders were given instruction and materials to complete a bracelet in two hours.

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

On St. Patrick's Day, the Benson Barbershop Chorus gave a wonderful concert with emphasis on Irish music. Several of our SKP Park residents were among the group singing their hearts out!

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

It's too bad the show was staged in front of a great window -- backlit photos are hard to use. But the audience clearly loved the music!

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

The final event we attended was a presentation by SKP Park neighbor Howard Bandy on self-publishing your manuscripts. Howard has published two of his own books, and operates his own company, Blue Owl Press. (Click the link to visit Howard's website.)

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

From 2010 Celebrate the Arts

There you have it -- part of what we've been doing in a very busy week of . . . Our Life on Wheels.