Pen, Palette, Prelude
Newsletter of the NLAPW, Tampa Branch
February 2017
National League of American Pen Women, Tampa Branch Officers
President – Bonnie Phillips (813 685-5882) iteachpainting@gmail.com
VP/Programs - Barbara Routen
Recording Secretary - Judy Perez
Corresponding Secretary - Roxanne Tobaison
Treasurer – Gainor Roberts
Prospective Membership - Judy Johnson
Website: http://www.tampapenwomen.com/
President's Report - Bonnie's Brush
When I think of February I think of the color RED. Red hearts, which takes me back to Kindergarten and a decorated Valentine box. The word ❤️ (heart) reminds me of a human heart, physically and emotionally. Could you tell I just helped teach a Bloomingdale Library Life Writing class? One of the first sessions was on Clustering, or Spider as I first learned about writing a word, then writing a word that your first word reminded you about. It's a way to jog your memory thus helping to get a jump start when sitting down to write.
We National League of American Pen Women are creative beings. I'm in with Art but like to write creative non-fiction. I'll probably never write music but feel I could if I wanted to. That's what this organization does for the members, affirms our creativity.
We will have the opportunity to welcome at least one guest plus the speaker and potential members to our February meeting, so warmly welcome them. Every where I go I look for ladies who may qualify to join us. Do you? We don't want them to lose out on the joy we have by belonging to this great organization.
This month I am asking three members to volunteer to be on the Nominating Committee. The committee will present their nominations at the April meeting, and take office in May which is the beginning of the Pen Woman year. Sandy Huff has organized a field trip to the Lakeland Polk Museum for Tuesday, March 28, and I hear rumblings about a possible retreat. I'm looking forward to all PEN Women have to offer in the months to come.
"Don't Worry - Be Happy"
~Bonnie
~ BRANCH NEWS ~
Exciting News!
January Meeting - Show and Tell
Kat Heckenbach
Proudly displaying her work!
Novels
SciFi Paintings
Tampa Branch Monthly Meeting - 3rd Tuesday
Program: Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Managing the Arts in Entertainment
The speaker at our Feb. 21 meeting will be Robin Carson, former general manager of Busch Gardens Africa and Adventure Island in Tampa. As such, she was responsible for the entire park, including overseeing the entertainment (music, dance, theater), landscaping (topiaries, garden design) and community relations (writing, speaking) departments.
She began working at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., in 1976, became executive vice president and general manager of Sesame Place in Pennsylvania, SeaWorld San Antonio, Texas, and then came to the Tampa park. After that, she was vice president of marketing for the entire Busch Entertainment Corporation in St. Louis and then executive vice president of Kingsmill Resort and Kingsmill on the James, formerly a Busch property, now a Xanterra Parks Resorts property, in Williamsburg, Va., from which she retired in 2014.
She is a dynamic and humorous speaker, a musician, writer and visual artist--a veritable Renaissance woman who grew up in a time and place during which women were not often given such lofty responsibilities.
Please invite your daughters, women friends and Pen Women prospective members to hear Robin Carson.
Lunch Reservation due Thursday before (2/16)
Contact: Judy Perez 813-689-1121; dennisp41@verizon.net
Tuesday, Feb 21, 2017, 11:00 AM
Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club, Inverness Avenue, Temple Terrace, FL, United States
Miniature Art Society of Florida
The Leepa Rattner museum is on the grounds of St Pete college,
600 East Klosterman Road
Tarpon Springs FL 34689
727-712-5762 Admission is about $5 - Guests are welcome!
About noon we'll tear ourselves away from the live art demos and head up to Tarpon Springs for lunch. Right in the middle of all the fun tourist shops is Hellas restaurant, 785 Dodecanese blvd, Tarpon Springs, FL 727-943-2400. Leave room for their huge assortment of Greek pastries.
Save some extra time to pop into the shops. These use the original wooden rooms of the historic sponge exchange. More to see -- the old aquarium is small but great fun -- feed the stingrays & try to out-glare the alligator snapping turtle.
The boat ride out to the Gulf is fun too. They'll let you hunt for shells on a sandbar beside the old lighthouse.
~ Branch Member News ~
Making a New Friend: Dinner & Art by Judy Perez
Zaineb traveled to America from Morocco to visit her sister Meryem and to welcome her new little niece, Asma. Mute and deaf, Zaineb and her family developed their own special kind of sign language to understand each other. Zaineb also liked to watch YouTube video’s to learn about the world around her. But most of all, Zaineb like to draw and sketch. Doodling on scraps of paper, it was soon obvious she had a special “gift.”
My husband Dennis had met our new neighbors, Ahmed and Meryem when he stopped to ask if he could have some of the discarded limbs from an unsightly and decrepit tree they had to have removed from their property. It turned out, that ugly tree was Rosewood and Dennis showed his appreciation for their generosity by turning a large, beautiful bowl from the tree and presented it to them. Several visits and meals together later, a new friendship began.
After meeting Zaineb and the other family members who had traveled to meet the new baby, my neighbor Bonny and I chipped in together and set up an evening for Zainab to enjoy a new American pastime of painting through, “Painting With A Twist.” Zainab and Bonny each produced a painting worthy of their pride. I also gifted Zaineb with some Prismacolor art pencils and Bristol art paper, something she had never had.
When Dennis and I returned from our yearly trip to North Carolina, Ahmed and Meryem presented me with a color drawing which Zaineb sketched from a photograph of me holding little Asma. I was thrilled and stunned by her work. Self-taught, Zaineb used my gift to her and made a gift for me!
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart
And can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
An Example of the Process
New Book!
The new Chicken Soup for the Soul: Random Acts of Kindness book (with a story Barb ghostwrote for Rodney Burton) is available for presale at Amazon and will be released February 7: AMAZON LINK HERE
Music at the Routens'
Here’s some info about our upcoming house concert for the February PW newsletter:
The Routens’ February House Concert will feature
En Power & Light, a trio from Kansas.
The acoustic musical group has a history of captivating and
inspiring audiences across the country.
Here you can hear them in an intimate house concert setting.
The concert is at the Routen home in Brandon on
SUNDAY, February 26, 2017
at 7:00 p.m., with desserts served at 6:30 p.m.
The suggested donation is $15-20 per person
with 100 percent of the proceeds going directly to the artists.
To see and hear a preview of EN Power & Light, visit http://www.ListeningRoomNetwork.com/event-mrouten20170226.html.
If you want to attend, please email Barbara.Routen@gmail.com with your name and the number of people in your party.
At that time, the Routens’ address will be provided to you.
Come out and support live music!
Notes & Upcoming Events
- February Birthdays: Judy Perez
- March Birthdays: Carlene Earl
- Field Trip Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL Tuesday April 4 Lunch too
- PLEASE remember to RSVP for monthly meetings. It's important that we get an accurate head count for lunch. Thank you.
- February GIVE A HOOT: Judy P. , SWEET TREATS: Judy P. , INSPIRATION: Judy P.
- March GIVE A HOOT: Barb, SWEET TREATS: Judy J , INSPIRATION: Barb
February 4 & 5 - Mount Dora Arts Festival
Downtown Mount Dora
Saturday, 10 am to 7 pm
Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm
295+ Exhibitors
A very popular well-attended event; lots to see and lots of fun. For more Info: mountdoracenterforthearts.org
February 11 & 12 - 29th Annual Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts
1592 Main Street in Downtown Sarasota
10 am to 5 pm
150 Artists - For more info:www.artfestival.com
January 24 – February 24 - The American Watercolor Exhibition has stopped in Bradenton to display their hand painted masterpieces at the
Art Center Manatee
149th Traveling Exhibition
Kellogg Gallery
209 9th St West
Bradenton, FL 34205
Monday, Friday, Saturday 9am-5pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9am-6pm
Closed Sundays
$5 admission, open to the public http://artcentermanatee.org/aws-149th-exhibition/
~ NATIONAL NEWS ~
Digital Music Submissions
National Website New Highlight
In the Studio with…
National's website now has a new feature, In the Studio with… highlights an artist member and her process. We hope it inspires and informs other artists in their own work. Submissions are welcome from members — please send the article, along with high-resolution JPG images (showing the artist at work, progression of a piece focused on process, and finished work) to Art Editor Jamie Tate at arteditor@nlapw.org.
A Word From the Newsletter Editor
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SUBMITTED STORIES!
Please keep me in the loop, email me your news and anything you would like to share by the 20th of the month so it can be included in the following month's newsletter. cattgardiner@gmail.com