Dear Sister Mary Something

From a class with Carol Burdick, the Art of the Personal Essay
November 9, 2002

Dear Sister Mary Something,

Elaine

I suspect that you are "gone" now because years have brought my once brown hair to the peppered in gray that yours was when you slapped my  hand with the wooden ruler, your constant companion.

I learned not to talk in your class, not to question and thereby imply that you had not taught your lessons clearly.

I learned to name red, the color of my welt and to fear rectangles, the shape of that response on the back of my hand. Most of all, I learned to hate because when you finished with me you took your ruler to my little brother whose enormous sin was to write with his left hand, Satan's hand, the hand of evil.

David

David was quiet and frightened and less associated with Lucifer than you were with God. I remember your ruler, Sister Mary Something, and hope that you have found better ways to measure people,

Still Angry,
Elaine Hardman

A Draba or a Silphium?

Essays from class with Carol Burdick, A Place in the Universe, 2001
Would you rather be a Draba or a Silphium?

Being a Draba is tempting but I wish to be a Silphium. I couldn't think of anything more wonderful than growing for years and years to put my tap root into the earth so far that hours of sweating with an ax and shovel, a mattock and pry-bar, a pick and garden knife would fail to dislodge me.

I'd stand so confident, so solid, so certain in my being that a back hoe couldn't keep me from flowering in triumph, though asphalt if I chose. Yes, please, make me a Silhium and let the bison, brown and shaggy or black and white, nibble on my unbeaten stem and send Aldo to collect my seeds, future children of a simple soil world.


(Are dandelions related to Silpium? When we paved our driveway, the previous owners, dandelions, pushed through six inches of blacktop to blossom as they always had. I was cruel, dowsing them with vinegar and whomping the bumps in the paving with a sledge defeating them but recognizing that their growth was impressive.

silphium sunflower tribe within the daisy family

draba reptans, Carolina whitlow grass

KaBOOM! It's music time.

WELLSVILLE: The Fassett Greenspace Project has grown from phase one, the garden, toward phase 2, the teaching/play area with a generous grant from KaBOOM!.

            KaBoom isn’t a noise or a shout, it’s an idea that promotes play and for Wellsville it’s a set of 6 sculptural musical instruments to be permanently installed at the Fassett Greenspace Project. KaBOOM! and the Ralph C Wilson, Jr. Foundation awarded Built To Play funds to Wellsville’s amazing new community space for the purchase of the instruments.

Phase 1, the garden,
Photo by Elaine Hardman

            Built to Play is funding several discovery areas throughout Southeast Michigan and Western New York with the hope of inspiring active, creative, outdoor free play for children. Built to Play called for grant proposals for projects that would integrate play into everyday life in unexpected places and found the formerly empty lot at Fassett and Main Street with its life-sustaining garden and planed performance space a perfect fit. The grant proposal, written by Art for Rural America president, Cassandra Bull with an assist from Andrew Harris, brings $20,000, the cost of the instruments.

Aria, one of the six sculptural instrument
 to be installed at Fassett Greenspace Project.
Photo courtesy of Freenote Harmony Park.

            Why get instruments? Art for Rural America, the umbrella organization that is transforming the Fassett lot into a place for healthy living, hopes to have a positive impact on the social sustainability of the Wellsville community. AFRA sees music as a cultural phenomenon that builds community by strengthening relationships between people of diverse backgrounds. These outdoor instruments will invite a wide audience, encourage group play, stimulate improvisation, and allow for physical activity for families.

Contrabas Chimes, one of the six sculptural instrument
 to be installed at Fassett Greenspace Project. Photo courtesy of Freenote Harmony Park.

            AFRA’s President, Cassandra Bull, said, “Music is a universal language that brings benefits to listeners and creators. These sculptural instruments offer an environment for physical and cooperative play, creative expression, and emotional regeneration.”

            To learn more about the Fassett Greenspace Project go to ArtForRuralAmerica.org and choose Fassett Greenspace or find us on Facebook. To donate toward the installation of the instruments, send checks made out to Fassett Greenspace Project to AFRA, 130 North Main Street, Wellsville, NY 14895.

The Manta Ray, one of the six sculptural instrument
 to be installed at Fassett Greenspace Project.
Photo courtesy of Freenote Harmony Park.

            AFRA board members, including Bull, Harris, Andy Glanzman and Elaine Hardman are available to speak to your community organization. Contact us at ArtForRuralAmerica@Gmail.com or 585-808-0385. Volunteers with gardening knowledge willing to weed or water are always appreciated.   

Alfred Village Band Remembered

AVB, conducted by Mike Shoales

The beloved Barrett Potter, 2008

An essay written in 2011: I played in the Alfred Village Band last night and again drove home feeling that I was part of a Norman Rockwell painting. At rehearsal the previous night Nancy Lugar lugged in a sack of zucchini and cucumbers ready to stuff them in open hands, open cases, unlocked cars. Linda Staiger and Mike Shoales bantered back and forth while Jane Rainsford sidled around the band taking videos for Facebook.

At the concert we played an all time favorite, St. Louis Blues because Mary Ann VanScoter loves that piece and then we played Amparito Roca because Susan Olix Anderson loves it but our tempo was caffeine meets tornado or something. Those notes went flying.

The Mickey Mouse ears came out for the traditional march around the quad with old and young led by Adam with the cymbals and Valerie with a fife sometimes followed up by a dog. For the conclusion on this night, Earl Packard played the piccolo part for Stars and Stripes on the tuba giving piccolo the night off.

In years past, I would buy a tarp, paint on it and drag the ladder
to Alfred to put it up catching some passer-by to
climb the ladder or hold it for me.

The Alfred Village Band was begun in the 50s. It performs on Wednesday nights in July on the bandstand.  Mr. Cappidonia was a long time conductor and then Mr. Lester and Maestro Canale. Currently it is conducted by Mike Shoales.

Long, long time and dear members were Dick Stillman who wrote several big band arrangements and Barrett Potter and his velvet trumpet. Betty Harder pushed us to have uniform maroon shirts. Adam Jefferds played as a high school kid and then came back for several of his adult years.

Dottie Oakley, trombone

AVB, the younger crew wearing
the shirts that Betty Pushed us to buy.

Update 2018: There is no longer an Alfred Village Band. The village gave financial support for a long while but that went away.  Hopefully, some future Alfred resident will get it all going again.

Ravyn's Ink can be your ink

WELLSVILLE: Needles and such sharp piercing items are not among my favorite things. This was in my mind as I walked to what became an interesting and surprising visit to 13 W Pearl Street in Wellsville. Signs in the hall presented a caring attitude by explaining where the business stood on matters, making it clear that while they support creativity and self expression, a person has to be old enough.

                So what’s the business? A tattoo and piercing studio named Ravyn’s Ink owned by Trevor Foust.  

Trevor Faust

                Tattoos have been around for generations. Centuries ago inks were painstakingly hand applied inks but in the late 1800s Sam O’Reilly looked at Thomas Edison’s autograph printer and envisioned a new way to tattoo.  O’Reilly modified the machine meant to engrave metals and tinkered to create the first modern rotary-driven tattoo machine capable of injecting ink about a millimeter deep into the skin, into the dermis, by tapping a few hundred times per minute.

                Now, with better needles and metal free inks, the machine chatters on in the hands of Trevor or Ethereal or other artists bringing tattoos to men and women for reasons as varied as the stories that we all live.

                Foust apprenticed with the first owner of Ravyn’s Ink and ran the shop until 2 years ago when it became his shop. The space is large with a dedicated piercing room, 2 tattoo rooms, a retail area and a large waiting area. There are also, notably, many places to wash hands, the main thing that the New York State Department of Health website encourages tattoo clients to look for.

                Foust has a stellar record of inspections done by the county health department. There has never been a problem and he will continue the focus cleanliness and using only American made sterile, single use needles and metal free, hypoallergenic inks.

                Some things were surprising. For one, there is no certification for tattooists. Like Faust, many work as apprentices for a year or two under a practicing tattooist and then work on their own. Some people start with an inexpensive online kit and practice on themselves but Faust said that starter kits are not good quality equipment or materials.

                Also surprising to me were the laws regarding tattoos and piercings. Ear lobes can be pierced on anyone, anytime. A toddler can have pierced ears if their parent wants. Piercing elsewhere in the head or bellybutton or other parts require that a person be at least 16 and come to the shop with a parent where they can pick up a document to be signed and notarized.  After the 18^th birthday, a person can be pierced wherever and whenever they wish.

                One piercing, in the ear, called the daith, is placed in the inner cartilage of either ear. It is said to run through a pressure point that, for some people, relieves or reduced migraines. Everyone is different and there is no guarantee that it will work or help but some people find relief as effective as medication without the costs. The idea is to permanently stimulate a pressure point but if it doesn’t give pain relief, it functions as jewelry and may be worth the try.

                The majority of piercings are in ears, noses, and belly buttons of women. Faust likes to use titanium so that pierced skin isn’t subjected to harsh metals.

                 Tattoos are more limited. The client must be at least 18. Period.  Those closer to 18 have an easier time because skin toughens over time and the process is more likely to hurt or to take more applications to hold color. Often people say that tattoos on the foot, the back of the head and the back hurt more than other areas but some people fall asleep during their tattoo though it’s hard to see the experience as soothing.

                Tattooing is popular in late April, presumably when tax refunds give people extra cash and in the summer when arms and legs are bare. Piercings are more popular in the winter.

                Ethereal is on staff to pierce or tattoo also. She likes doing detailed designs on people while Faust is happier doing big, bold pieces with defined lines and dark colors. One of his favorite tattoo clients was a dad who sent photos. This dad had a daughter’s name on each upper arm and he posed behind the girls with his arms held to show their names above their heads. His son’s name was tattooed on the front of his forearm so he posed with that arm hugging the boy. It’s a family tattoo project full of love.

                In the retail area, Sarah Dabney sells commercial costume jewelry including plugs for gauges. She also has industrial bars, commonly put through 2 holes in the upper ear. Other people offer necklaces, earrings and tapers. 

                Tapers were new to me. First, a hole is punched in each ear with a device that actually punches a hole. There are choices for the size of the starting hole. Once punched, a person puts in tapers to incrementally stretch the holes, called gauges, so that plugs will fit.

                Piercings, like tattoos, need to be carefully cleaned and tended until they heal in 2 or 3 weeks. They can be cleaned with sea salt or ointment like A&D or The Real Goo, a petroleum free ointment to help heal piercings or tattoos made by Ethereal.

                Unrelated to body art but for sale are stickers, knives, lighters, glass jewelry and pottery. Faust would like to sell more locally made items and invites people to come in and talk about it.

                Walk-ins clients are welcome and first timers might dabble in body art by choosing from the $20 wall or by finding a butterfly, starting at $40. Of course, people are welcome to bring their own designs and talk with a tattooist for pricing. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 2:30 to 8, maybe earlier, but built around their full time jobs.

Julie's New Found Loved

Gisell Armstrong, from Dubendurf Switzerland and Sara Weber from Honeoye on the right.
Julie Harris on the left at the counter of her store in Wellsville. Photo provided.

WELLSVILLE: It’s always different, always interesting and always welcoming no matter the location or the name. The newest name is Julie’s New, Found, Loved. The Julie behind it is Julie Harris and a whole community of customers is glad to have found her.

                25 years ago, Harris was teaching at a preschool in Houghton and studying her opportunities for a business in the area. When her youngest child entered school she took her accumulated “dream fund” of $500 and made a down payment on a barn in Caneadea.  

                At the time the barn still had the scent of cows and horses but, with her husband, a contractor, part of it became her first show room with consignment used clothing and household items. As time and budget allowed, other areas of the barn were renovated so that there was a dedicated children’s room, an area with linens, a stretch of space for kitchenware and an aisle for holidays. For 17 years Julie walked on an ever growing area of concrete floors as the Red Barn Mall responded to requests from customers adding a line of new mattresses and living plants to her consignment items.      

                Julie worked mostly alone with some help from one of the children (generally someone who had to pay for something like car insurance) while her husband managed the weekend deliveries of

mattresses.  In the barn, everything was huge:  the space, the inventory, the paperwork for consignees  and the job of keeping it all tidy.

                Julie developed a system for numbering items. The first number tells what the thing is such as number 1 is pants while 2 signifies shirts. The next set of digits identifies which of the 1400 consignees brought the item. Every tag (a sticker for some things and a tie on for others) has the price of the item and a description such as the brand name.

                While at the Red Barn Mall, in 1999, Julie was approached by Houghton students who, for class credit, wrote a computer program to keep track of inventory. The first thing they helped her do was find a used computer and teach her how to turn it on.

                She expected that it would take time to be computer competent, let alone proficient, but the students were gracious and patient and after a sputtering start, she realized that the program could cut 12 hours of paper work down to an hour and a half at the keyboard. That deserved a celebration and the joy she found in that discovery is still evident when she talks about it.

                From the start, the consignment goods were a valued product in Caneadea. Clients could expect 50% of the sale price for their new or used items. Each accepted client could bring 25 items per season, by appointment. For all these years the business has generated sales tax for the county and cash for her clients.

                After 17 years of tromping on that concrete floor, Julie’s legs were tired and she sold the business moving to real-estate and making her first home sale to a former consignment client. Unfortunately, her move was at the time of an economic downturn so after a short while, she chose to leave real estate and make pottery at the Wellsville Creative Arts Center. Then she found this building for sale.

                She looked at it and considered starting another store. Maybe a consignment store. She looked at it a second time. Did she want to buy a building and start another business? After she looked at the building the 9^th time, her family gave her a shove and she purchased it to start Julie’s Consignment Cottage and that is where many of us have found her in times of clothing need for the last 10 years.

                This year, the cottage is refurbished, reorganized and rebranded as Julie’s: New, Found, Loved.  New is for the brand new things such as dresses (the most in demand item), a line of wares from GANZ , and locally made soaps and jewelry. She also has some vintage look games, toys and art materials. She said that grandmas love that stuff.

                The Found category involves items she sees when she is out and about. Right now there are multiple wire baskets and paper stars. The Loved part is for clothing, house wares and furniture on consignment.

                She says that consignment items have been loved but are worthy of being loved again. One of the things that caught my eye was a collection of beer steins rather like Schultz and Dooley but women with flowers in their hats. Somebody will love those.

                The rebranded store will be on the road as a pop up shop in an Avion Aluminum Camper.  With assistance from her family, the camper is being modified so that it will keep the vintage vibe and the camper sense but will work as a mobile store. The scheduled debut is on August 4^th at the Curtis Museum’s Classic Motorcycle Show in Hammondsport. It is roomy enough to accommodate 4 shoppers inside with space for others under the awning outside.

                Julie says that she has the best customers in the world. They are educated consumers and know the quality that some brands represent. They have money but recognize the value of the gently used item. They have busy lives and appreciate the variety found in her store where she has all sizes and styles of clothing,  shoes and jewelry.

                Julie’s is open on Tuesdays through Saturdays and often has a special sale sign outside. She communicates through Facebook (Julies New Found Loved) and will help people find a certain item in a given size if she can. Julie’s is located at 15 W Pearl Street, Wellsville. 585-593-1959

The Fassett Greenspace to have an Underhill Fountain

Cassandra Bull with Jean McKeown

WELLSVILLE: The Fasssett Greenspace Project has grown in the last few weeks from a promise to labyrinth of soil and block to a garden of seedlings. Much of the financial support for the project came from a Buffalo based organization, the Garman Family Foundation (GFF), administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo.

            Cassandra Bull, president of Art for Rural America (the not for profit founded by Andy Glanzman of Wellsville and sponsor of the Fassett Greenspace), applied to GFF and was awarded a grant of $15,667. Bull’s proposal had a fountain at the center of the labyrinth but when it was necessary to change the dimensions of the rings, the budget no longer could include a fountain. Bull notified GFF of the situation but instead of accepting Bull’s suggestion that a sculpture be the focal point, GFF sent an additional $6000 for the fountain.

Bill Underhill with Cassandra Bull on site 
discussing fountains.

            That, of course, sent some of the AFRA board members in search of a fountain. Glanzman, always thinking about how to involve local businesses and artisans, contacted his friend, sculptor Bill Underhill. Underhill teaches clay sculpture classes at the Wellsville Creative Arts Center and works in bronze using a method where a wax model is burned out to create a mold for bronze, in his private studio. Underhill began visiting the Greenspace and watching people at work  to understand the space and the possibilities of the project. Then, he began to design.

            On July 6, Jean McKeown, Vice President of Community Foundations, traveled to Wellsville to see the Fassett Greenspace Project. McKeown walked the labyrinth, reviewed the project and plans as well as the history of the plot and asked about community involvement. She met with Bull and Glanzman on site to learn more about AFRA and its board members and to get a sense of the town. Then they shifted the meeting to Bill Underhill’s studio.

            When Underhill was first approached about designing a fountain, he said that he worked with bowls but Bull told him that he had been working with potential fountains all his life.  

            When McKeown, Glanzman and Bull arrived in Underhill’s studio he said, “Bowls, I make bowls and I never thought about the fountain. I always thought that the shape, a bowl’s opening, was a complete form. Sometimes there’s a lid on a bowl and the shape is a secret inside but as I began to speculate and sketch I began to feel that the fountain could be a natural form of a bowl.”

            Underhill talked about an early life experience. “When I was a child, 4 or 5 years old, in Monterey, CA, I went for a ride in a glass bottom boat and remember sea creatures and sea urchins and sea anemone and how beautiful everything was.” Underhill said that he wanted to bring those natural forms and that sense of beauty from his experience into the fountain.

In Bill Underhill's studio

            He has a small bronze bowl that he made to reference that boat ride. He and Glanzman put that bowl into the sink and filled it with water. The edge of the bowl is not smooth and round but more like the live edge of tree bark. Water spilled unevenly over the bowl and through holes near the edge. A version of this bowl, Underhill said, expanded to be 36 inches in diameter, is his vision of a fountain for the Fassett Greenspace. The piece would first be made in a special casting wax that would be taken, they hope, to the foundry at Alfred University and cast there.

            This 3 foot, natural edge bowl would be placed inside of a 6 foot wide basin at the center of the labyrinth where it will be plumbed into place by the ever-needed volunteers and some expert help.

            The natural edge of this bowl shape will be in line with the space because the labyrinth is about life: the life of the volunteers in action, the life of green food and the life that can only water can give.  

            McKeown seemed pleased with the progress on the labyrinth itself and seemed interested in the sketches and mock ups for the fountain. She expressed excitement over being involved in such a singular project and in bringing the Garman Family Foundation into Allegany County. 

(Elaine Hardman is a member of the AFRA board and a regular volunteer at the Fassett Greenspace Project.  Find more information at ArtForRuralAmerica.org or on Facebook at Fassett Greenspace Project.)

Community members helped to fill the beds.

Dugan and Dugan donated equipment and labor
to move soil into the beds.

Sean Lehman of Lehamna Landscaping helped
to fill the garden beds.

Work well done.