Wilson's Auction... 100 Years.

Lilley's Farm

Newly Acquired Andrew Turner Painting

Posted on June 07, 2012 by Thomas Holden

  
I was introduced to Andrew Turner and his work in the mid '70s at an outdoor art and music event just outside his native Chester, PA.  Then in the early '90s, I read an article in the Philadelphia Inquire about prominent artist in Chester, in which he was featured... I've been following, and enjoying his work ever since.  I was struck by the emotion, energy and jazz improvisational style of his paintings.  I never got to own any of his work until recently, over 10 years after his death. I'm now going through the nervous process of authenticating the painting that I bought at auction.  For now I can only hope that I purchased an authentic Andrew Turner painting.
He was a very prolific painter who painted in many ways, true to his improvisational style.  He also signed his work at times, that reflected the painting, instead of just applying his standard signature... Both reasons why I took a risk buying the work at a local auction. 

Hopefully the "Art Gods" will smile upon me... Wish me luck!  tjh

Where precious and pristine meets politics and polution.

Greetings to all that love the precious place where Pine Creek meets Little Pine Creek...

To my friends, family and those elected officials I included in my distribution list, please read this account of a college junior and journalist who set out to see for himself the devastation brought on by leasing our State Forests to the Gas Barons.

Don't take my comments as criticism or opinions from afar, I to have recently traveled the trails and kayaked the creeks to see first hand the smudge that fracking has put on our beautiful land.

Let's all do what we can... And to those of you who have kayaked Big Pine, swam or fished Little Pine, or had a picnic with us at the Vista, please do what you can to preserve this precious place. I'd like to see our kids, and our kid's kids have the same opportunity.

Thom



Gas drilling destroying Pennsylvania forests

By Nathan Pipenberg edited for length - a.g.
Collegian Columnist

. . . This past weekend, a friend and I took a trip up to Waterville, a small town in Lycoming County. . . I had heard from other hikers that the miles of trails near Waterville are some of the most depressing around because they’re located right on top of the Marcellus Shale formation and are a hot spot for gas drilling.
They were right.

We hiked about three miles, and afterward drove another 10 miles on public forest roads in the area. Over this short distance, we saw three well sites on the mountaintops and two pipelines cutting directly back into the valley.

From the moment we stepped out of our car at the base of the mountain, we could already hear what we would see at the top — engines revving, pipes being laid and beeps emanating from machines being put into reverse. It sounded like a highway was being constructed on the mountain top.

During our hike, we walked directly past a gas pad we found cutting across a public access hiking trail. I took photos from the trail, proving what the gas companies don’t want us to know. The fact is, each well pad resembles a small town. The mountain tops are clear cut, paved with tons of gravel and inhabited by dozens of trucks, bulldozers and storage containers the size of freight cars.

I snapped a shot of the well permit. We left when a security guard approached us and told us to put away the camera. When we told her we accessed the well from a public trail, she said she wasn’t aware one even existed nearby.

As we hiked out, my friend and I realized we were lucky to bring enough water for the day. But if we hadn’t, it’s likely that we would have been filling our bottles from the stream flowing down the mountainside — water that originated right next to the well pad.
Plus, the trail we were on is not just a day-hiking trail but one that many people use for extended backpacking trips. During multi-day trips, backpackers rely on purifying water they find in the forest.

But I cannot imagine putting any of the water I found on Saturday near my lips.
Hikers are not the only ones at risk in this situation. The gas pad we saw sits above a tributary to Pine Creek, a popular destination in Pennsylvania for fishing, boating and sight-seeing. As we hiked back down the mountain, I noticed that a pipeline coming from the gas pad is being constructed to cut back down the mountain and follow the tributary toward Pine Creek and Waterville.

This, too, is disturbing. I can only imagine that if that pipeline were to leak, hazardous gas or fracking water would spill into the creek.
From our vantage point at the first drilling site, we could see another well rising above the trees on the other side of the valley. We decided to see it for ourselves. As we headed up a forest road, this time in our car, we found two more well sites in about half an hour.
One was in the early stages of construction, since the drilling company had only recently received clearance to start working, according to signs posted near the site. But already, they have dug a retention pond the size of several football fields where they will store water for the fracking process.

If all 700,000 acres will be impacted as heavily as the Tiadaghton, Pennsylvanians should prepare for our forests to become nothing more than industrial wasteland.
Gov. Tom Corbett has made his intentions clear. While campaigning in 2010 he said he was prepared to open more state forest land for drilling.

There are many trails that cut through the heart of drilling activity. A walk along one of the trails won’t be the most scenic, but it will be the most eye-opening.
And when you go, bring your camera and document the destruction.

Nathan Pipenberg is a junior majoring in journalism and international politics He is The Daily Collegian’s Wednesday columnist. Email him at ndp5045@psu.edu

Note: A .pdf on road restrictions in the Waterville area is attached.

lauren litwa holden artist/painter: Chris White Gallery in Wilmington DE

lauren litwa holden artist/painter: Chris White Gallery in Wilmington DE

Corridor to the cure

Corridor to the Cure
My perspective on many things changed after I heard the word remission, and realized it was meant for me. A tear that would not be denied fell down on to my black wool jacket. A weight was lifted from my chest. I was suddenly able to focus on what was important... Living.
Now with my new perspective, I sit here in the corridor at 4240 waiting to have my port removed. A stainless steel vessel implanted in my arm and connected to my heart. An internal corridor of sorts that delivered the poison that eventually became my cure. It’s a button-size bump that protrudes from beneath my bicep. It’s one of the last physical, visible signs of my ordeal. A few scars remain, as do the tattooed targets for the nuclear burn.
Today I seem to be more focused on this larger corridor... The corridor here at 4240. Souls walk by, some dazed and shuffling as if they’re being drawn to the back room. The “Infusion Suite”. It almost sounds like a piece of hard bop music composed by Miles or Coltrane. But it’s far from musical and it’s far from sweet. It’s medicine – Hardcore.
Some walk this corridor with their heads held high and their companions in tow. It’s tough to tell who is the patient and who is not, but quickly you realize they are both desperate for the cure. I have become an expert observer implanted in this corridor. All I need do is look in their eyes, and it’s painfully clear to me who has the cancer. I could feel it in my eyes, but I always made contact with the people who lined the corridor as I walked to the back room.
I preferred to walk this corridor alone. With my head held high, and my Kufi slightly cocked, (overtly matching the rest of my outfit), I walked the walk. I realize now that faux confidence and chemo fashion was not enough to mask the reality of Me being the cancer patient... I know it showed in my eyes.
This corridor at 4240 ebbs and flows, at times congested with wheelchaired patients double parked, and other times traffic flowing freely with white coats flapping. Medical personnel move abruptly, identified by their stethoscope yokes and authoritative stride. In the morning the tragic traffic moves non-stop to the infusion suite. Conversation spills over cubicle walls. “How are you doing today? You’re looking good. Hop up here on the scale and then we’ll get your labs” – your labs, that’s code for poking and prodding for uncooperative veins overly stressed by the toxic cure.
In the afternoon the traffic in the corridor moves south... Patients weaving home. Most now need the assistance of their companions. On day two of my two-day treatments, I also walked the corridor with a companion. There was less energy in my step. I was on the verge of sickness and raging inside from hefty doses of steroids. The corridor seemed longer and I no longer made eye contact with its new inhabitants. I just followed Lauren out to the street, preparing myself with each step for the ensuing ordeal.
Today, my thoughts are not focused on me or the removal of my port, but focused on the people in the corridor at 4240. My eyes now scan the hallway for signs of hope. I have hope for the people like me who are forced to inhabit this narrow strip, this corridor that leads to discomfort, sickness, and just maybe their cure. I’m sure to make eye contact with the ones I know are sick, in the chance they can see the hope that now fills my eyes. Thom Jordan Hloden - Cancer Survivor

Lauren Shows with Assemblage at Steadman Gallery Rutgers-Camden

Local Artist to show at Steadman Gallery at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts


Lauren Litwa Holden, fine artist from Wawa, PA, will be showing six new paintings at the Steadman Gallery at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Fine Arts September 12 through October 29, 2011. Litwa Holden’s work is part of Assemblage’s “Into the Third Decade”, an exhibition of 15 women celebrating 25 years as an artists’ collective. “We started as a group of women artists in 1985 with the goal of meeting regularly to exchange ideas and information about current trends in the arts, and discuss the day-to-day issues encountered by artists in their work,” states Litwa Holden… “And we’re still at it today. We meet regularly, conduct group exhibitions throughout the Philadelphia region, and have even traveled a bit for residencies in Europe,” she adds.

Lauren Litwa Holden has exhibited her paintings extensively throughout Pennsylvania as well as New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Maine, Massachusetts and Brussels, Belgium. She won first prize for painting at Art of the State in Harrisburg, and while at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Lauren received the William Emlen Cresson traveling scholarship for painting.

Much of her work today reflects the landscapes and structures throughout the Delaware Valley and Lancaster County, composed in a natural, yet imaginary way. Famed artist and educator Will Barnett once said of Lauren’s work “there is a quality of lyricism in her paintings. She approaches the landscape with a poetic expression and captures a fine sense of light and a dreamlike feel”.

Lauren works in her studio in Wawa, PA, but travels to a diverse list of locations from the oil refineries of Marcus Hook to the fields of the Brandywine Valley to sketch and paint. She says she finds beauty in many different landscapes, and that her paintings are inspired by nature, imagination and dreams. Litwa Holden’s work, along with other members of Assemblage will be on display September 12 through October 29 at Steadman Gallery Fine Arts Building, Rutgers University Camden, NJ. Artist’s reception is Sunday September 25, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.