The Third Annual Finger Lakes Lavender Festival will be held at Lockwood Farm, located at 1682 West Lake Road, Skaneateles, New York. The 2-day event will take place on Saturday, July 10th and Sunday, July 11, from 9a.m. to 4 p.m.

•Stroll through fragrant fields.
•Harvest your own bouquet of fresh lavender.
•Enjoy the work of local artists and other hand-crafted items.
•Shop our lavender market and purchase specialty lavender plants
from a limited supply to benefit the Skaneateles Historical Society.
•Speak to experts on growing and cultivating lavender and make your own lavender wands.

With just a short drive from the hustle and bustle of city life, the Lavender Festival is a perfect day in the country. Not only is this event a celebration of all the wonders of lavender, but also an event that knits together local, talented artisans. Workshops will be held on how to grow, prune, care and harvest lavender at 10:00 am both days. And make your our lavender wands, held at 2:00pm. Lavender, ribbon and materials will be available for $5. each. The festival offers outstanding photographic opportunities throughout the grounds and at the workshops.

Lockwood Farm is a 120 acre family owned farm tucked in the beautiful hills of Skaneateles overlooking Skaneateles Lake. We grow 16 varieties of lavender and offer “U-Pick” for the flowers during the summer and lovely soap, lotions, creams and aromatherapy products for your purchase. We are excited to be developing our farm for the enjoyment of our guests.

Festival activities occur outdoors rain or shine. Dress casually to ensure your comfort. Lockwood Farm is a working farm with unpaved pathways. It is accessible, but there is uneven terrain on the grounds and in the fields.

Directions to Lockwood Farm: From the village of Skaneateles take Kane Road/41A. Continue south on West Lake Road/41A 8 miles. Past the hamlet of Mandana, we are the first farm past fire lane 50 on the left hand side.

Finger Lakes Lavender Festival • www.fingerlakeslavenderfestival.blogspot.com
Lockwood Farm • 1682 West Lake Road • Skaneateles, New York • www.lockwoodfarm.blogspot.com
Thank you for supporting a family farm.

Karen Wheeler-Lockwood
Lockwood Farm
1682 West Lake Road
Skaneateles, NY  13152
www.lockwoodfarm.blogspot.com

Creekside Books and Coffee is proud to pay tribute to author Benjamin Tupper on Thursday, July 1st at 7:00 pm as he recounts his experiences in Afghanistan from his new book Greetings from Afghanistan: Send More Ammo.

In many respects, this collection of dispatches from the war against the Taliban is a book that should never have been written. Tupper broke all the military’s rules on media access in 2006 when he began blogging as an embedded trainer with the Afghan National Army. Tupper’s on-the-ground reporting soon reached a huge audience when he e-mailed NPR and wound up recording numerous commentaries for Morning Edition – all while on active duty with the National Guard.

“It was uncensored, in the sense that it wasn’t just about the pretty things that were happening,” Tupper says of his posts from Afghanistan. He recounts life and death in battle as well as the culture gap between Americans and Afghans. “I was lucky I never got into trouble. NPR was supportive of the big picture.”

Within two months of his arrival in Ghazni, Tupper was literally shell-shocked and had dropped 30 pounds. “The stress, the heat! The world was falling apart, especially up here in my head,” he says. Writing became the emotional outlet that kept him sane, both in Afghanistan and after he returned home. The power of the book is its unflinching honestly.

“I came home and wrote about it! I think it saved me.” ~ Author Benjamin Tupper

“Raw, direct and powerful! This work is vitally important.” ~ Ken Stern, NPR Radio & former NPR CEO

Join Creekside Books & Coffee a few days before the 4th of July as we pay tribute to a soldier and an American Hero.

Creekside Books & Coffee
35 Fennell St, Skaneateles, New York 13152
(315) 685-0379
www.creeksidecoffeehouse.com

The 51st Annual Antique Show will be held at Austin Pavilion on July 9 & 10 (Friday and Saturday) from 10 am until 5 pm. Early admission is from 9am – 10 am on Friday, July 9th. The show features over 70 quality antique dealers, a free craft show of over 25 artisans, a food tent featuring Doug’s Fish Fry and homemade baked goods including pies as well as an antiques’ appraiser and glass grinder. For more information visit the show’s website at www.SkanAntiqueShow.com.

The annual event started 51 years ago with only 17 antique dealers and over the years has grown to 70+ dealers. Artisan booths have also been added to the venue. The first antique shows were held in the First  United Methodist  Church. Due to the success and growth of the event, it eventually outgrew the space provided at the church and was moved to the current location at Austin Pavilion in the 1980s. The artisan and craft booths are free and maintained on the grassy knoll in front of the Austin Pavilion. There will also be several free displays.

Original traditions began with women of the church preparing and serving two full course dinners as well as operating a snack bar. The concept of meals has carried on with slight modifications. This year’s show will feature a varied menu provided by Doug’s Fish Fry (and Doug, the “flounder” will be there too) as well as the traditional pie tent that features homemade pies and other desserts provided by church members. During the 1970s hostesses dressed in old fashion attire, and demonstrations of floral decorations, area paintings, and historical exhibits were displayed. Many of these traditions persist.

The show continues to draw visitors because of the quality and number of dealers. Visitors can expect 70+ antique dealers, early American decorative painting, demonstrations, antique appraisers, quality artisans, food, beverages, and a great time.

On Thursday, June 24 at 9 p.m., local folk musician Dusty Pas’cal will be the featured guest on “Connected,” a half-hour television show on Syracuse public broadcasting station WCNY.

On the show, which is hosted by radio personalities Ted and Amy of 93Q, Dusty will perform with guitarist Loren Barrigar, Danny Welch on harmonica and bassist Bobby Perry.

For more information, visit www.wcny.org.

Imagine That…, the fine arts and fine craft gallery at 38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles, will showcase the work of Tully artist Thaddeus Chapman throughout the month of July. The show opens July 2 from 6 to 9 p.m., during the village’s First Friday Art Night. Refreshments and musical entertainment will be provided.

Although Chapman considers himself a portrait painter, many of the works he will be exhibiting feature scenes of Skaneateles, including the Judge Ben Wiles, a view of the village from the pier, Skaneateles Lake as seen from East Lake Road, and Fennell Street on Memorial Day.

Thaddeus Chapman’s paintings are created using gouache on paper—a process that involves applying layers of water-based paint to a very thin rice paper, which then absorbs the paint and becomes a part of the artwork.

“I use a lot of water and color to build up the dimension of a painting,” says Chapman, who describes his style as impressionistic.

Before Chapman starts to paint, he takes reference photographs of his subject and develops drawings from them. He has completed custom pieces ranging from portraits of pets to pictures of houses, families and celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock.

An illustration of his appeared in the March/April 2008 issue of Making Music magazine. His works also have been on view at Armory Square’s Freedom of Espresso coffee shop and at the Sugarpearl coffee shop on Burnet Avenue.

Chapman is a 2004 graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. This is his first gallery show.

Imagine That… opened last July, and in March the gallery welcomed Imagine to their new combined location. “The combination of gallery and jewelry store has been a great success thus far, and sharing the family business is a joy,” says Imagine That…. owner Sarah Panzarella.

Her father, Joe Panzarella, owner of Imagine, is equally pleased with the metamorphosis of Imagine and Imagine That… into a single entity. “We had no idea they would work so well together,” he says. “When we put them together, we got the ‘wow’ factor.

“Our customers love the space, the view, the feel. They come not only to purchase art, but also to appreciate the wide variety of works and talent on display. They enjoy the entire atmosphere.

“At Imagine, we had always talked about having gallery shows, but we never had the room to stage them,“ he says. “This location gives us that space, and has allowed us to expand into fine art, ceramics, fiber, and additional glass and woodworking. In addition, customers now benefit from the aesthetic tastes of two buyers, instead of just one.”

Imagine That… is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, call the gallery at 685-6264.

John Pizzarelli, lauded by the Los Angeles Times as “madly creative” and by The Toronto Star as “the genial genius of the guitar,” will perform July 25 at “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream,” the Annual Gala of the Skaneateles Area Arts Council.

Festivities will be held lakeside at the Stella Maris Retreat and Renewal Center, a former Roosevelt mansion on Skaneateles Lake. The program will run from 6 to 10 p.m. and include cocktails; dining al fresco by Chris Kuhns, executive chef of Phoebe’s Restaurant and the Sherwood Inn; and an intimate concert by Pizzarelli.

Skaneateles residents Jean McGlynn and Fouad Dietz are co-chairs of the gala. Dr. Robert Kiltz, owner of CNY Healing Arts and CNY Fertility Centers, is the artist sponsor. Proceeds will support the Arts Council’s cultural events and community grants program.

The Artist
John Pizzarelli has established himself as a prime interpreter of the Great American Songbook, drawing from performers such as Nat “King” Cole (his hero), Frank Sinatra and Joao Gilberto and composers such as Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, James Taylor, and Lennon and McCartney. In 2009 he received the prestigious Ella Fitzgerald Award from the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Pizzarelli, who has recorded more than 20 albums since his first release in 1990, started playing the guitar at the age of 6, following in the tradition of his father, guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli. He often plays with his father and his wife, singer/actress Jessica Molaskey, in the John Pizzarelli Trio, a group that has been called “the First Family of Cool” by the San Francisco Chronicle and “the von Trapps on Martinis” by The New Yorker.

Pizzarelli’s early works, for RCA, include “Dear Mr. Cole” and “P.S. Mr. Cole,” as well as “After Hours” (a touching cycle of torch ballads), “Our Love Is Here to Stay” (a collection of classic swing and bold originals), “Let’s Share Christmas” and “John Pizzarelli Meets the Beatles.”

More recently, for Telarc International, he has recorded “Kisses in the Rain,” “Let There Be Love,” “The Rare Delight of You,” “Live at Birdland” (celebrating the 10th anniversary of the John Pizzarelli Trio), “Knowing You” (paying homage to the many talented musicians and songwriters he has met over the years) and “Dear Mr. Sinatra” (featuring the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra).

His 2008 album, the Grammy Award nominated “With a Song in My Heart,” celebrates the music of legendary composer Richard Rodgers. This past February, he released “Rockin’ in Rhythm,” a tribute to Duke Ellington.

A veteran radio personality, Pizzarelli is host, with his wife, of “Radio Deluxe With John Pizzarelli,” a nationally syndicated radio program that takes place in their “deluxe living room high atop Lexington Avenue” and features relaxed, off-the-cuff music and conversations.

Pizzarelli has performed on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Show With David Letterman,” “Live With Regis & Kelly,” “The CBS Early Show” and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

He also performs annually at New York City’s famed Café Carlyle with Jessica Molaskey and at Birdland with his jazz combo, while touring throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Japan.

The Venue
The mansion that is now Stella Maris Retreat and Renewal Center, a ministry sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, was originally owned by Frederick Roosevelt, who had it built in 1879. The Sisters of St. Francis purchased the property in 1952, and in 1954 it was blessed and dedicated as a retreat center by Bishop Walter A. Foery.

“Stella Maris” is Latin for “Star of the Sea.” The center is committed to the mission of leading all to a deeper knowledge and love of God, and to fostering spiritual growth, renewal and peace.

The Council
The Skaneateles Area Arts Council, a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization, works to celebrate the visual and performing arts by creating an environment where cultural activity thrives in our community. The council presents cultural programming and issues grants to artists and arts organizations in the Skaneateles area.

This year’s grant recipients are the CNY Jazz Foundation; the John D. Barrow Art Gallery; the Khoros Performing Arts Company for Kids, Joanna Manring; Pamela Spear; the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center; Skaneateles Artisans; the Skaneateles Area Chamber of Commerce; the Skaneateles Festival; Skaneateles Summer Theatre; and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets
Tickets are $250 for VIP seating, $125 for regular seating, and may be purchased by sending a check to the Skaneateles Area Arts Council, P.O. Box 422, Skaneateles, NY 13152. Advance purchase is required for all seating. For more information, go to http://www.skarts.org.

Skaneateles ARTisans, 11 Fennell Street, Skaneateles, NY will feature the art of Steven Fland and Ed Levine during the month of July. The opening reception is Friday, July 2nd from 6 until 9 PM.

Both artists are well known throughout the area and beyond. Steven is a sculptor of wildlife with pieces ranging in size from a hummingbird to a hippo and a table featuring a kingfisher. Ed is a watercolorist, known for his landscapes, still life paintings and has recently finished a commission for the Skaneateles Antique Boat Show.

In honor of this event, there will be refreshments provided by the blue Danube www.bluedanubegourmet.com and live music by E.S.P Jazz Trio www.espjazz.org.

The gallery offers off-street parking. Skaneateles Artisans # 315-685-8580
For more information contact Theresa Vitale at 315- 689-5037 or by e-mail to tvitale1@twcny.rr.com

Ed Levine – Watercolor
Ed Levine’s twenty year love affair with Skaneateles Lake is evident in his artwork of the last few years. His paintings of the Lake and surrounding vistas are filled with emotional impact. Born in Albany, New York, Ed Levine received his art education at the State University of New York at New Paltz and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Among the artists that he studied with was George Wexler, a well known painter in the Hudson River School tradition and Arnold Singer, a master printer and graphic artist. Ed now resides on the south end of Skaneateles Lake in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

Ed has been showing his work professionally for the past thirty years in some of the finest juried shows in New York State as well as other selected shows along the East Coast. Throughout the past ten years of his career Ed has painted still lifes using food as the general source of subject matter. Since retiring after 33 years of teaching and moving to Skaneateles Lake in June of 2005, Ed’s attention has been captured by his new surroundings. The dominant features of Ed’s watercolors are shape, color, and transparent layers combined in an active composition. His paintings radiate with an emotional and physical directness created by their saturated color and bright light.

“When creating my artwork, I attempt to consider all the rules that I’ve learned and taught, and follow only those that I feel are appropriate for that day and that painting. I often remind myself to keep it simple, to be direct, not to add even a single brushstroke that is not necessary. I remind myself that I, not a gallery or client, have to be satisfied with this painting. The principles and elements of design, are second nature to me after painting for over thirty years and are a part of every painting. In the end, a painting is all about choices, what to do, and more importantly, what not to do. I take the privilege of making my paintings richer than life, more colorful, often with more striking compositions. I design my still lifes so that they are comprised of elements that are a comfort to me. My landscapes are of very specific places, but remind me of others that I’ve seen and experienced throughout my life. It is my desire that the viewer will also find them to be familiar and heartwarming.”
Visit my web site at: www.edlevineartwork.com

Steve Fland – Wood Sculpture of Wildlife
Steven Fland is a self-taught sculptor specializing in life size birds in which the wildlife species and habitat all start from a block of wood or piece of metal.

“I reside in Moravia, a small community in the Eastern Finger Lakes region of Central New York State. Upon receiving a BS degree in Biology, from SUNY Potsdam, I taught middle school Life Science for 36 years. While doing ornithological graduate work at Cornell University, I had the unique opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant for the late Dr. Peter Paul Kellogg. Always interested in art, another teacher and I opened a wildlife art shop during the summer of 1976. It was there I saw this particular form of bird sculpture for the first time. Having a desire to try my hand in the art form, I completed my first carving in 1978 and entered my first competition in 1979, in novice class. In less than one year, I moved up and began competing in open/professional class and in 1982, I won my first of five “Best-of-Show” awards at the (now defunct) U.S. National Decoy Show. At the first New York State Wildlife Art Competition, I received first, second and third place awards. (The following year the rules were changed allowing only one entry per artist in the competition.)

My early pieces were highly detailed floating sculptures (“decorative decoys”) that in competition are judged on the water. Aside from having to be accurate to the species, in anatomy, color and posture, they must float correctly in a natural, lifelike attitude. I still carve floating sculpture but I have expanded my art to include a category referred to as “interpretative”, which does not float but focuses on a more stylized, loose impressionistic approach. Another genre is a highly detailed non-floating piece (“full size decorative”), in which the bird is set in a habitat.

Specialty commissions have included the creation of four vertical sculptures carved out of Basswood logs. These sculptures were originally designed for an Adirondack split wood cabinet. The poles were meant to honor the Haudenosaunne (Iroquois) culture and feature renditions of their clans, false faces and beliefs. When the cabinet was moved to a different location, the poles were removed; their paint was intensified and they are now installed in an entryway to a conference center.

All of my work reflects a desire to capture “the character of the bird” and its habitat and behavior. One of my sculptures is a juvenile Coopers Hawk with a Mourning Dove clutched in its talons, expressing the feel of an efficient predator. Whether it is a regal Canvasback, an elegant Wood Duck, a well fed Alligator, Snapping Turtle going after a duckling, a juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk begging for food, or a pre-copulatory pair of Cinnamon Teal, all of these pieces evoke an important action in the life of the animal. A recent carving of an Eastern Bluebird on a Pussy Willow branch, established the time of year.

The process used in all of these pieces starts with very extensive research including, at times, the purchase of aviary specimens to study. This research also includes studying the habitat that would be appropriate to the bird, such as Aspen, as opposed to Maple leaves in the setting for the American Woodcock. After research, a pattern is then drawn and cut from a block of wood which is generally Tupelo, Basswood or Black Walnut. From these blocks, wood is removed with knives, chisels, grinders and, depending upon the size of the piece and the task, I use a chain saw all the way down to a small tool that uses dental bits and turns 400,000 rpm. After the piece is carved, it is then textured and “burned” with an instrument that puts a knife-like cut in the wood using heat. This preparation creates a lifelike reflective surface, with natural undulations of highlights and shadows, on the sculpture. After developing the surface of the piece, acrylic paint is applied using as many as twenty, thin, watery washes. Metal is sometimes used for structural needs or for habitat such as a fall Goldenrod made of brass with the dried leaves made from various types of paper. In all cases, except for the eyes, I create the entire carving. The sculptures are all life-size renderings of the species depicted. They have ranged in size from a Ruby-throated Hummingbird to the pair of Red-tailed Hawks (the tallest piece ever displayed at the World Championships of Wildfowl Carving) to a piece of floor sculpture, in Black Walnut, of a Hippopotamus emerging from the water with two Cattle Egrets looking for insects on its back.

Composition is of major importance because I want to force the viewer’s eye to flow through the sculpture and still be of interest when seen from all directions. When viewing my work, look at the bird with regard to its behavior and the overall design, while at the same time remembering it is sculpted from wood.” Visit my web site : www.stevenflandgallery.com

By: Ruth Bader

Pulled Pork Picnic…..Eat In or Take Out….
Saturday, July 24, 2010, Noon Until Gone (during the Antique & Classic Boat Show)
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 37 West Genesee St., Skaneateles, NY
$7 includes pulled pork sandwich, German potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw and drink.
Proceeds to go to Youth programs at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
For more info call the church office at 685-3121.
You can find the event on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137885329558527

We will be hosting our second Creekside Trivia Night on Wednesday, June 23rd at 7:00PM. This is a game played in groups and you are welcome to bring your own group to play or join one when you get here! Play for fun and for prizes!

Creekside Books & Coffee
35 Fennell St, Skaneateles, New York 13152
(315) 685-0379
www.creeksidecoffeehouse.com

By George Rossi

As a preamble, I’d like to share this recent article of news concerning the direction and movement of chess pieces, particularly the removal of Tony Hayward CEO of BP as the official American operations representative of the British multi-national corporation. (“Tony Hayward REMOVED from Gulf Spill Operations…” Huffington Post, 06/18/10)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/18/tony-hayward-removed-from_n_617543.html

I correctly predicted that the nano-second that Mr. Hayward uttered “I’d like my life back”, his days were numbered as the official public face of BP. His ridiculous performance before Congress yesterday was just the occupational hazard that he had to suffer, probably with a massive financial reward attached to have to suffer through it.

As previously contained in posts on YOU CAN’T DRINK MONEY on facebook, I alerted our readers to watch the personnel changes at BP following that now infamous insensitive statement made in the wake of the death of 11 workers, and the impending annihilation of an ocean, an eco-system, and countless inhabitants of the Gulf Shore, and possibly the entire way of life for a very large segment of our American citizenry ….