Mission Hill artist Marilyn Jan Casey

Mission Hill artist Marilyn Jan Casey came close to losing the use of her right hand, but that wouldn’t have stopped her from drawing and painting. The 57-year-old artist said she would’ve learned to draw and paint with her teeth if she had to.After being shot in the back at 34 by a former boyfriend, Casey has been forced to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury.

But the disability didn’t stop Casey from earning a degree at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2008 and it didn’t stop her from working to have her art displayed in multiple solo exhibitions in Boston.“I valued life more after I got hurt because I could’ve been gone,” Casey said. “I was grateful for God saving my life so I decided to share my gift that he gave me.”
Casey’s most recent exhibit is on display at the Parker Hill Library in Mission Hill, where a crowd gathered last month for her artist’s reception.Casey was able to display her work through her membership in the Mission Hill Artists Collective (MHAC). MHAC focuses on providing opportunities for artists to display their work in the community.

The exhibit, Modern Spiritual Expressions: Past Present Future, will run until Sept. 2 and features 24 colorful paintings and oil painting reproduction, white and gray drawings inspired by Casey’s family and black history.“I don’t think we have enough [artwork covering black history]. When I was going to college, they would send me to the museum, but I never [saw] black art, so I decided to do black art,” Casey said.

Casey described her work as “filled with love,” and said she hoped the crowd could feel that love as they viewed her work at the Parker Hill Library.Eleven pieces, including one divided into two images showing two females as children and then adults, hang in the front desk area. These images represent the theme of past, present and future and tell individual stories, Casey said.

The 13 drawings in the adult room take viewers through a history lesson from pre-slavery to post-slavery.The story starts with two images of members of an African tribe and ends with a painting of Casey’s family, including her parents, twin brothers and twin sister.MHAC member Luanne Witkowski liked the idea of having paintings and drawings that tell stories hang in a space filled with books.“It’s perfect,” Witkowski said.

For Cecilia Mendez, director of Massart’s Center for Art and Community Partnerships (CACP), Casey’s use of color to offset tense moments in black history was impressive.Some of Casey’s images seem lighthearted, like the one that depicts three giggling girls at a sleepover. Others present heavy topics, like the image of three women picking cotton.The image of the women picking cotton is one of Casey’s favorites. It’s on display in her bedroom and is usually the first thing she sees in the morning.“Every morning I look at it and it brightens my day,” Casey said. “It gets me motivated and wanting to do more art.”

The exhibit covers more than a decade of work from Casey, who said she was satisfied with the turnout at the reception and excited to have another opportunity to share her work with the public.MHAC partnered with number of community organizations to execute the exhibition, including the CACP, which curated the exhibit.

Within a pastime often seen as a mode of escape, McIver found a route to her truest self. Similarly in her artwork, the North Carolina-based painter depicts the overlap of disguise and authenticity through her autobiographical depictions.

Whether depicting her own naked torso, her intimate circles or public figures like Bill T. Jones, McIver brings inner turmoil and light to the surface with her signature, densely packed flesh. McIver's paintings are so grounded in truth they're nearly confessional, yet her subjects' tangible emotions appear almost mask-like when translated onto skin.

Well, I had always wanted to have breast surgery because my breasts have always been really large. Around a year and a half ago I finally did it and it was liberating. They removed six pounds from my chest -- three from each breast and it was wonderful. It was great to paint about that experience, very liberating, and there are so many women that struggle with really large breasts.

I've been a long time admirer of Cindy Sherman's work. When she dressed up like a clown that was especially appealing to me because I wanted to be a clown when I was younger, like in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey. But I just didn't get accepted into clown college. I think what she has done in terms of women's issues -- in terms of breaking down boundaries for women -- is quite fabulous.

I was part of a clown club in my high school, which was a predominately white high school, and to participate you had to be in white face. So my sister and I had to put on white face even though, of course, we were black. I did parades and birthday parties and then when I went to undergraduate I continued on my own doing clown things.

It was liberating to dress up in white face and to escape being black and poor and living on welfare. People either love clowns or they hate them, and the people who hate clowns stay away from them. So I received a lot of positive feedback!

Read the full products at http://artsunlight.com/.

Intel Launches the New Haswell CPU at Computex Taipei 2013

A wave of new Ultrabook and  emerging 2-in-1 devices that deliver a PC when you need it and a tablet when you want it, Intel Corporation today introduced its ground-breaking 4th generation Intel Core Processor family.

Speaking at Computex Taipei 2013, Executive Vice President Tom Kilroy said Intel has more than 50 different 2-in-1 designs in the pipeline across a range of price points, including premium Ultrabook 2-in-1s powered by the new Intel Core processors, and other designs powered by forthcoming processors based on the company’s 22nm Silvermont microarchitecture.

“Today we deliver on the vision set forth 2 years ago to reinvent the laptop with the introduction of our 4th generation Intel Core processors that were designed from the ground up for the Ultrabook and serve as the foundation for a new era of 2-in-1 computing,” said Kilroy. “We made one of the most seismic changes to our roadmap ever to build these new Core processors that deliver the stunning performance of the PC and the mobility of a tablet in one device. The new processors power the most exciting 2-in-1 designs to-date.”

Designed first and foremost with the Ultrabook in mind and based on the company’s flagship 22nm Haswell microarchitecture, the 4th generation Intel Core processors deliver a 50 percent increase in battery life in active workloads over the previous generation1. This is the largest generation-over-generation gain in the company’s history, equating to over 9 hours of battery life in active workloads1 for some Ultrabooks based on the new processors.

Intel’s newest Core processors are the first SoCs for PCs with stunning performance, and power a variety of innovative devices, including Ultrabook, 2-in-1 and portable all-in-one designs. Systems based on the quad-core version of the new Core processors are available now, with additional versions available in the coming months.

The 4th generation Intel Core processors also have built-in graphics that deliver discrete-level performance, or up to 2 times the performance of Intel’s prior generation. Offered on select versions of the new Intel Core processors, Intel? Iris? graphics bring the Ultrabook and other mobile PCs to life with built-in, eye-popping visual experiences.

Select Ultrabooks powered by 4th generation Intel Core processors will deliver the Intel performance people expect combined with the mobility and responsiveness of a tablet, making them the premium, ultra-versatile 2-in-1 devices. With touch capability and a keyboard, the system adapts to the user and also offers full application compatibility. People can lean forward to work and lean back to relax using just one device.

Kilroy also showcased progress in bringing human-like senses to 2-in-1 and other Intel-based devices through the addition of touch, voice and facial recognition and other technologies. Called perceptual computing, these technologies take advantage of Intel processing power to make interaction with devices natural, intuitive and immersive.

He demonstrated immersive, short-range gesture and voice-based interaction by giving new Intel Core-based Ultrabook 2-in-1 devices “eyes” with the Creative Senz3D* peripheral camera, noting general availability for the camera starting next quarter. Looking to the future, he said Intel is working on an integrated solution to build 3-D depth camera technology directly into future Intel-based devices targeted for the second half of 2014.

Intel’s 22nm low-power, high-performance Silvermont microarchitecture is enabling the company to accelerate and significantly enhance its tablet and smartphone offerings.

For tablets on shelves for holiday 2013, Intel’s next-generation, 22nm quad-core Atom SoC (“Bay Trail-T”) will deliver superior graphics and more than two times the CPU performance of the current generation. It will also enable sleek designs with 8 or more hours2 of battery life and weeks of standby, as well as support Android and Windows 8.1.

For the first time, Kilroy demonstrated Intel’s 4G LTE multimode solution in conjunction with the next-generation 22nm quad-core Atom SoC for tablets. The Intel XMM 7160 is one of the world’s smallest3 and lowest-power multimode-multiband LTE solutions and will support global LTE roaming in a single SKU.

With a number of phones with Intel silicon inside having shipped across more than 30 countries, Kilroy previewed what’s coming. He showed for the first time a smartphone reference design platform based on “Merrifield,” Intel’s next-generation 22nm Atom SoC for smartphones that will deliver increased performance and battery life. The platform includes an integrated sensor hub for personalized services, as well as capabilities for data, device and privacy protection.

Until Roline ships the new or retreaded tires to customers, it stores them in racks located within its warehouse. Last year, the company began working with Ferm RFID to develop a solution that could identify the tires on the racks, says Hans Jorg, Roline's project manager. Additionally, the firm began investigating other ways in which the technology could be used to manage the retreading process, as well as enable customers to manage their own vehicle fleets via the tires' RFID tags.

Before being approached by Roline, Ferm RFID had already worked with Smart Res to develop an RFID tag in the form of a rubber patch that can be permanently bonded to the exterior surface of a tire's rubber sidewall, says Jos Uijlenbroek, Ferm RFID's international program manager. Tire companies Vredestein and LeCont were both trialing the patches. Therefore, when Roline explained its requirements to Ferm RFID, the two businesses agreed to develop a solution employing a permanent tag for use on retreads, along with a disposable RFID label for new tires.

The resulting solution consists of a permanent rubberized patch tag for retread tires, a disposable adhesive RFID tag for new tires, and handheld and fixed readers to track the tires through the retread and storage processes. According to Jorg, the software that manages the RFID data, supplied by ABP Dynamics, is integrated with Microsoft's Dynamics-NAV solution, enabling Roline to generate reports that identify recurring issues. The system was taken live at the end of 2012, he reports. Click on their website www.artsunlight.com for more information.

Christian school is unexpected leader in online education

Heritage Christian Online School is the biggest such school in B.C. and has one of the largest distributed-learning programs in the country. It markets educational products in other provinces and abroad, and this year it’s expecting to grow again thanks to legislative changes allowing more online learning opportunities in B.C.

The school’s exceptional success, and the fact that independent online schools in B.C. are attracting students at a faster pace than public online schools, has sparked debate among educators. Although enrolments at online independents are only a third of those at public online schools, the former has seen steady increases since 2003-04 while the enrolment in the public options has plateaued.

Some teachers worry about a lack of regulation of online education — also known as distributed learning — and say the Education Ministry isn’t monitoring student completion rates, teacher caseloads and program quality. Glen Hansman, vice-president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation described it as the wild west.

Others disagree, saying distributed learning offers creative opportunities for a variety of students. Heritage Christian’s superintendent, Greg Bitgood, says his Kelowna school, which is operated by a non-profit society, found a solid constituency among Christian parents who home-school. By enrolling at Heritage Christian, those parents can still teach their children at home but they also have access — free of charge — to learning resources and teacher support. There are no tuition fees because per-pupil operating grants from government are sufficient cover all expenses.

The number of true home-schoolers in B.C. has plummeted while online learning keeps growing. During this school year, only 2,062 students were registered as traditional home-schoolers, while the number of online students in public and independent schools rose to 50,890 from 34,000 five years ago.

Heritage Christian has 2,050 full-time students. As well, it has an expanding number of part-time students who are enrolled at regular bricks-and-mortar schools but take a course or two from Heritage Christian — because the subject they want isn’t offered at their home school, its availability doesn’t fit with their timetable, they have failed a course or they simply want an online-learning experience.

Some students also regard online courses as an easy route to good grades, say public school teachers. “There’s definitely a trend of kids moving online to get a higher mark, and all teachers recognize that,” said Vancouver physics teacher Doug Smith.

Bitgood agreed that some students who “cross enrol” between traditional and online schools are shopping for inflated marks and a few might find a school or a teacher willing to help them. “That gives all of us a bad name,” he said, but he insisted those numbers are small and do not reflect the full-time students who take their full program online.

Grade inflation has been a subject of discussion by online educators, he said. Another hot topic is the completion rates, which some say are dismal for distributed learning students. Again, Bitgood noted a difference between full-time online students, who he said have excellent completion rates, and kids who take only one or two online courses and might not adapt well to independent learning.

Surprisingly, the Education Ministry does not require online schools to track completion rates, although that possibility is being reviewed.

Heritage Christian’s growth has riled the teachers’ federation, which doesn’t like the fact the school collects public money, boldly promotes itself as “B.C.’s online school,” employs non-union teachers as contractors and outsources some work. More than anything, the union is unhappy with the way independent and public schools are having to compete for students.

“Having about 60 public DL (distributed learning) schools and 18 private DL schools all in competition means that the province is not able to produce high-quality online programs that take advantage of the various tools that are now available to enhance online resources,” Larry Kuehn, the union’s director of research and technology, says in a recent report.

“Competition for students and a major focus on compliance audits means that the public-school DL courses do not take full advantage of technological tools and developments.”

While Smith, who teaches at Prince of Wales secondary, worries about students signing up for distributed learning simply to get better marks for less work, Prince George teacher Glen Thielmann frets about the quality of online courses in the public system. Based on his experience as a contract online marker, he said some school districts have not adapted well to the new technology.

“We have this old model where we give students stacks of paper and stacks of worksheets ... with assignments to send in and some tests to write,” he said in an interview. Some districts have developed more creative and interactive distributed learning but many delivery models are still locked in the 1980s, he added.

That means “the DL experience for most students is disembodied, impersonal and unchallenging,” Thielmann wrote on his blog after speaking to The Vancouver Sun. He stressed that he was not criticizing distributed learning staff, only lamenting the “default approach” to distributed learning, which is a result of difficulties in changing a large system and a lack of funding for new courses or project development.

Michael Maser, co-founder of SelfDesign Learning, which is another popular independent online school, said the public system hasn’t embraced distributed learning largely because of the teachers’ federation’s insistence that traditional education is better. The union is “most interested in kids in seats in brick-and-mortar schools,” which influences the public school approach to online learning, he said.

“There is a stigma that online learning is of a secondary quality and that is a common refrain in public schools,” said Maser, who has been involved in distributed learning for two decades, including when it was paper-based. “That becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy (in public-schools), despite the efforts of many, many excellent teachers out there who recognize the benefits of DL and are working through it to provide services to students. Their hands are often tied.”

The number of B.C. students learning online is expected to increase again soon. Until now, only Grade 10-12 students were permitted to cross enrol, but the opportunity to mix regular schooling with online education will soon be available to all K-12 students. Bitgood expects an influx of Grade 8 and 9 students, but said.Click on their website www.artsunlight.com for more information.

Hundreds turn out for rainy Craven Arts Festival

Those who think arts are an umbrella for universal expression found Craven Arts Festival giving that a literal voice Saturday.

New Bern Riverfront Convention Center’s lobby was full of umbrellas with more covering the heads of the hundreds who attended the event.

“The rain hasn’t bothered it a bit — raincoats, umbrellas, everywhere. It’s been absolutely wonderful,” said Carol Torkarski, Craven County Arts Council executive director.

“The kilns are going at the sidewalk and they are doing an aluminum pour under the covered entranceway, just hiding out from the rain,” Torkarski said.

Craven Arts Council President Judy Avery said: “There has been a steady crowd since we opened the door.”

Inside the convention center, Jane Horner’s installation sculpture hung questions submitted by people attending on lantern-like four-dimensional frames graced by flowing white fabrics and ribbons.

The questions on inch-high strips of white paper asked things like, “in which way do you stretch yourself to make your artwork grow,” and in Horner’s case the answer is every way.

The multimedia artist, who has lived and created many years in Vermont, moved to New Bern in 2009 to help care for her father and has stayed, she said, even after he passed on. Her work often appears in windows and lobbies and she seeks to include a sense of movement even with the still media she uses in sculpture, assemblages, and acrylic and watercolor paintings or drawings.

Farther inside, 35 booths representing an enthusiastic group with diverse artistic media entertained, taught, sold — and in some cases gave — visitors their art.

New Bern potter Ben Watford, 79, a retired high school chemistry teacher and college professor, was throwing pottery inside and giving children who watched the process answers and a piece of his previously completed work.

Emmy and Sarah Ingalls of Greenville, granddaughters of oil-on-canvas artist Susan Hamrick, who was displaying her work nearby, watched Watford intently as he threw clay onto his wheel and made a vase right before their eyes.

“I liked it best when he pulled it up,” Emmy said.

Watford threw mostly vases on Saturday but said: “I now do more face jars than anything else at my shop at home.”

He will be hosted by Nells Art Gallery in Greenville Oct. 7 for a one-man show of his work including some ECU Pirate face jars.

Hamrick was having a good day at her own Simply Susan booth. She said a sale while she was setting up paid her booth rent.

Torkarski said many of the artists said they paid for their booths on sales at the Friday night exhibition preview party for participating artists and ticket-holders. That event, attended by 225, included wine and desserts and entertainment by John Van Dyke performing show tunes.

Saturday’s main event was free to the public, with 15 paid seminars including principles of aluminum casting, Chinese brush painting on clay, jewelry making, printmaking, photography, drawing, raku, sculpture, Ikebana flower arranging and others.

Avery said the council’s first festival showcases New Bern as an arts destination. “We see this festival as providing great visibility for the tremendous talent and resources in our community.”

Art takes over St. George arena

Bright colours, oil paintings and an array of different mediums will line the walls at St. George Arena this Sunday.

The St. George Art Show and Sale will display watercolours, oil paintings, glass stained creations and other mediums from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"As artists, we're always looking for a place to show what we've been working on, so this is a great opportunity to do that," said organizer Helen Mulligan.

Eight local artists from Brantford, Brant County and Guelph have been confirmed for the viewing.

"It's an opportunity to meet the artists. There will be a large variety in method, subject and medium."

All items will be for sale at varied prices determined by the artists. Mulligan adds that this show may be the beginning for future spring art shows in St. George.

"We're hoping that this will be well attended and very popular. If so, it would be nice to bring back an annual spring art show to St. George," said Mulligan.

The organizers are expecting the new St. George Arena to be an ideal location for this show and others with its natural light and large open space.

Mulligan's been painting watercolours and oils for years now. She's always been a painter, but her passion took a back seat some time ago.

"I didn't want to leave and stop doing it. But, I have the time to do it now. I paint first and do everything else later," she said.

As a child, Mulligan's aunt motivated her painting, but she'd always had an interest in art. She used to teach ceramics.

"Inspiration is something in you. I'm always doing something creative."

The art show will take place in the upstairs banquet hall at the St. George Arena and admission is free.