Gharan Burton: Releasing The Form Within

Artist Gharan Burton (right) discusses his work with a guest at the opening of his exhibit, "Artassination," at ROTA Gallery on Saturday evening.

PLATTSBURGH CITY

Gharan Burton recycles nature.

While walking through the forest his artistic eye seeks out a log or broken tree that can be transformed into a work of art.

Sometimes the shape of the wood triggers an idea.  He visualizes a form that he can carve out.  But as a creative artist he can also improvise, changing his mind.

"The Loud Voice" by Gharan Burton.

One of his sculptures now on display at ROTA Gallery – "The Loud Voice" – started out as a human figure but Gharan realized that material was better suited as an abstract work.  Instead of a figure the sculpture is a tall white oak cylinder with rectangular openings (mouths?), its length slowly twisting upon itself.

Gharan is originally from the Caribbean island nation of Dominica.  He came to Plattsburgh through the local university, majoring in computer science at Plattsburgh State.  Along the way with his studies he changed majors, deciding that he wanted to do something else with his life.  You could say that computer science was the wrong career form for him.

He earned a Bachelor in Fine Arts, his concentration on painting.  Later he discovered wood sculpture, teaching himself how to carve living art from dead wood.

Both his sculptures and paintings are featured in the exhibit, "Artassination," which is running for two weeks at the ROTA Gallery, 50 Margaret Street.  ROTA is usually open daily from 12 noon to 5 PM. For more information about the exhibit you can check out the ROTA Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/rotagallery.

2D and 3d work by Gharan Burton on display at ROTA Gallery. 

VD

Not everyone is happy.

Unshoveled Sidewalk: 24 Hours Later

PLATTSBURGH CITY - Sunday  03/10/13

Compare the above image taken around 9 PM this evening to what I photographed yesterday evening and shared with a previous blog post.

Another day unshoveled, meaning pedestrians are forced to walk in the street.  I think sometime earlier today – morning time –  marked 24 hours since the storm called Nemo stopped dumping snow.  That's an important detail when you consider this excerpt from a recent PR article headlined Hello Nemo (2/9/13):

"Citizens of the City of Plattsburgh will be helping with snow removal as Nemo moves away.

"While they are not required to shovel the sidewalks in front of their homes during the storm, they are given 24 hours after the storm to do so, Public Works Superintendent Arsene 'Mike' Brodi said."

Looks like no Good Citizenship award for the Press-Republican.  Or does it get a special weekend pass on snow removal?  Supposedly the city fines owners who don't clear sidewalks adjacent to their properties by having public works employees shovel away the snow and then it bills the scofflaws for the work.

Unshoveled Sidewalk: Press-Republican Leads By Example

PLATTSBURGH CITY - Saturday  02/09/13

From a Cheers & Jeers column written by a Press-Republican editor on Dec. 19, 2011:

"JEERS to businesses that don't get to their sidewalks promptly after snowstorms. Look, we know entrepreneurs have lots to think about when they get to work every day, and we certainly respect that. Those businesses are the adrenaline of our community. But, when it snows, several liabilities are at work: Shoveling your sidewalks keeps pedestrian traffic flowing; it allows customers to safely enter your emporium without interference; and, in the City of Plattsburgh, at least, it's the law..."

Yes, that was written some time ago but what was published still applies, especially this concluding statement from the same column:

"(By the way, the Press-Republican office in Plattsburgh is responsible for its Margaret Street sidewalk, which we always clear. The Miller Street sidewalk out back, for which we sometimes take heat, is the city's domain.)"

So unless the city has taken domain over the Margaret Street sidewalk in front of the PR building, why wasn't it shoveled today?  Most pedestrians were forced to walk in the street, increasing their chances of being hit by a passing vehicle.

I did notice that the parking lot and driveway were both clear of snow.  Apparently drivers count more than pedestrians, especially when the driver is a PR employee like an editor.

Some longtime readers of this blog might feel there's something familiar about this post.   Well, let's call it deja vu all over again  – right down to Fitzpatrick's Bar having cleared snow from its sidewalk unlike a certain scofflaw neighbor.

Crosswalk Incident

Last week I was downtown when city police cars and emergency vehicles converged on the corner of Bridge and Durkee streets.  There was a woman laying in a crosswalk surrounded by EMTs preparing her for transport by ambulance to the hospital.

It was reported later that the driver of a pickup truck was making a turn and struck the woman who was already in the crosswalk.  The driver was ticketed for not yielding the right of way.

As I've said before, it's sometimes safer for a pedestrian to jaywalk then it is to use a crosswalk.  Over the years I've had three close calls with vehicles in city crosswalks; each time I had the right of way.  One time a pickup truck driver did a right-on-red without looking, knocking me back.

Be careful out there.

Any Follow-Up After Letter Incident Comment?

Shouldn't we be getting our news through articles by reporters instead of comments by readers?

Below I have pasted a comment made to the Common Council back on November 1, 2012 by a Plattsburgh City resident upset with how he was being treated by the city police department.  The statement can be found at the Common Council meetings archives at the city website, www.cityofplattsburgh-ny.gov.  The direct link to the minutes that include the comment:  http://www.cityofplattsburgh-ny.gov/publicfiles/files/MINUTES%20110112.pdf .

*  *  *

PERSONS ADDRESSING COUNCIL:

John Barry Retired from the Plattsburgh Police Department Westwood Drive said I’m here in reference to a recent incident, and I’ll try and keep this under 3 minutes actually, that happened. And I’m kind of concerned because it involved my name. I am just going to read a quick statement. In the spring of this year I was informed through a City Police office of an anonymous letter received by the City which accuses the Chief of misconduct. Soon after I was informed that the Chief was informing certain members of the agency and public that I wrote the anonymous letter. This was annoying to me since I did not write this letter. I assumed the letter would be investigated by the City and the original writer of the letter would be located and interviewed. After a while of not hearing anything about the letter so again I assumed the City investigated it and resolved the issue of the letter. I was apparently wrong though since last Saturday I was approached by Detective Matt Bell in a public place. This detective chose to question me about the letter and accuse me of writing this letter. Not only did he choose to do it in a public place but he did it in front of family members and friends. I was angry and annoyed and had to further explain the letter incident to family and friends that I did not write it. I also feel that the City is responsible for the incident since this was a city employee for the Police Department. He was interviewing me and making accusations to me about city business. At this time I’m asking the City of Plattsburgh to hire an independent investigator to look in to this anonymous letter received by the city so that maybe the original letter writer can be located and interviewed. I will fully cooperate with an independent investigator to give a sworn statement to what I know about this letter and any other matters. I will also provide a writing sample for comparison against the original letter and submit to a polygraph exam to show that I’m not responsible for this letter or if the original letter writer cannot be located. So in closing, I just want to make it clear that if I’m approached again by a City Police officer and questioned about this matter or if I hear that a city police officer is talking to a member of the public about this matter and using my name. I will pursue it as a legal matter.

*   *    *

I did an online search of the Press-Republican online archives and found no mention of the above statement.  I only learned about it today by chance through a  comment at pressrepublican.com by a reader responding to a non-related news item involving a state trooper.  The commenter referenced the Common Council minutes, the date and who commented.  I followed up to verify the info.

Questions remain.  What is the alleged misconduct?  Any truth to it?  Is an independent investigator looking into the matter?

Instead of letting rumors fly, it's in the city's best interests to publicly respond to this matter.  Citizens have a right to know.

Then again, citizens have a right to media that acts as a government watchdog.

Neoned Dihydrogen Monoxide

(Click on each image to enlarge view.)

Street Scene Artist Creates 3D Through 2D

Artist Wayne Alexander Handley and one of his streetscapes.

PLATTSBURGH CITY - January 26, 2013

He starts with a base layer of light blue paint for the sky.

Then visual artist Wayne Alexander Handley adds more layers to the canvas for his recreation of a street scene.  With three buildings in a row, he creates a separate layer for each one, one layer overlapping the other.  This technique helps to bring an impression of three dimensionality to his work.

To complete a street scene Wayne adds fine details with a colored pencil or a pen.  Is the pen a special one for inking?  No, he finds that a Bic pen will do the job.

Wayne explained his technique to me during the opening of his exhibit at the ROTA Gallery Saturday evening.  His bright streetscapes with warm blue skies and white clouds provided relief from the frigid winter darkness outside.

While pursing a MFA degree in Fine Art and Education at Michigan Eastern University, he said, the emphasis with his study track was on human figures.  Later Wayne decided to take on a new challenge, landscape painting, trying to master the perspective demanded by such artwork.

His exhibit features streetscapes in various communities in Quebec and also American ones near the border.  After scouting and locating a scene, Wayne takes a reference photo so that he can return later to the same spot and set up his plein air studio: chair, easel and needed tools.

Sometimes people will stop and watch him paint, also enjoying the process of bringing a scene to life on a canvas.

Another part of Wayne's technique involves the use of masking tape to measure and isolate various areas of a scene, a trick he learned from airbrush art.  This helps him to bring out more dimensionality to his work.

His exhibit runs until February 11 at the ROTA Gallery at 50 Margaret Street.  ROTA is open daily from 12 noon to 5 PM, depending upon volunteer staffing.  More info about the gallery can be found at rotagallery.com or by calling (518) 335-3994.

Artist Wayne Alexander Handley demonstrates with an imaginary strip of masking tape how he measures and marks out sections while working on a scene.

Sluff Off, Trolls

Anonymous cowards: go elsewhere with your baiting comments.  I won't publish them.

A while ago I received a comment from someone the hiding behind the cover of "Anonymous."  And while there are times when someone should remain anonymous, this person's words didn't warrant it.

This Anonymous remarked about a post I wrote about an event that was very emotional.  I won't bother going into any great detail about what the commenter said – he (or she) would enjoy that – but I will give you the gist of troll's attack to show you why I won't publish it.

Anonymous mocked the participants at the event, stating that they were narcissistics shedding alligator tears.  The commenter also used the term sicko but ironically used it to describe others, not himself.

So if you hear that I don't publish all comments, you now know why.

I write this blog under my own name.  If you want to comment, you can do the same and use your real name, giving me contact info to verify that you indeed made the statement.  Even then I might not publish if it's only a petty ad hominem attack or simple baiting.

I've modified the option at this blog so that only registered users, including those with OpenID, can comment.  No more anonymous comments.

Friendly Service

You know there's nothing more that I like than walking into a coffeehouse to talk with some friends and have a verbal attack dog jump at me.   A good way to start a New Year in Plattsburgh, NY.

As I mentioned before a Facebook page I had created for a certain business was deleted without warning.  My problem was with the person who erased my page while leaving hers the only one.  I didn't have a problem with the business per se.

This evening an employee behind the counter attacked me for daring to show my face in the business.  If he didn't like how I handled the situation regarding the Facebook page he could've talked to me like a human being instead of trying to rip me a new one in front of everyone else.  Apparently he feels I shouldn't have stated the facts online, just bit my tongue and said nothing.  I've done too much of that in the past.

I don't put up with anyone's crap anymore.  This post is an example.