Janet Orselli & Rema Keen present creative Feats

There’s a fun collection of Feats currently at the Upstairs Artspace. Tonight the installation will come alive with an active performance blending the artwork of Janet Orselli with the storytelling of Rema Keen. I met with both artists at the Gallery Coffeehouse to find out more about how this collaboration came to life.

What was the genesis for this idea?

Janet: As we’ve collaborated it’s become an entity of its own. People might not see a total direct connection between the work and the performance that we do. A mutual friend said, “Oh, you’re an installation artist? I know a woman who’s a performance artist. You guys should get to know each other because you’re in the same general vicinity.”

Rema: Janet called me one Saturday. My friend had emailed me to let me know she’d given Janet my phone number and we talked for a while on the phone. Then a few days later I invited her out to my house. We had talked for a few hours, then 30 minutes on the phone, and the next day Janet said, “Let’s do something together.” I said, “Okay.” We talked about it and that’s how it initially began.

According to Janet’s email, you just met at the end of March this year. So, it was from this mutual friend introducing you that you decided to do something together?

Janet: I’ve done performances as part of my installations in the past. Each time it started out as just me doing the performance and then I started encouraging other people to do parts of it, but I’ve never actually collaborated with someone as far as planning it and putting it together.

When you got together and decided you wanted to do this, what were some of the key ideas you decided you wanted to play with?

Janet: Well, humor certainly as well as tying in to the art work. The idea of transformation and moving on, because it’s all about feet, the feet had to be pretty important. Feet are a symbol, kind of a metaphor for not getting stuck in the past, moving forward going on to the next great adventure.

Rema: There are a lot of different levels with feet and we’re having a good time with it. We talked about how we each do performances and what they entail. It’s been really interesting for me, I’ve learned a lot from Janet about her work. When she first said, “I’m an installation artist,” I thought she installed plants in landscape. We started to find threads of commonality in our work. We both wanted to involve other artists and learn more about each other’s art work. Storytelling is very audience interactive and about being right out there. She tells a story one way with her art work and I tell a story another way with mine. Combining them is just the next step.

Janet: I’ve always been looking recently for ways to involve the audience more in my work and not be so distant from them. A lot of times I’m unable to hear the reaction of the audience to my work because I’m not right there to come and see it. This is a way to share the work in a different art form, and share what is behind it without it being a secret. It makes it more accessible.

When people come to this performance what are they going to see?

Rema: A little of both. Of course they’re going to view Janet’s work upstairs. The performance will be downstairs. It is going to be storytelling. It’s going to be poetry, some movement, and gosh, it’s just going to be some fun, a lot about feet. This is going to be the first step in hopefully maybe a bigger collaboration. We’ve had a very short time to put something together so this is a piece of a work in progress. Next time we’ll do something on a larger scale. This is an experiment.

Do both of you live in the Tryon area, or are you commuting in because this is where the space is?

Janet: I live in Mill Spring which is not far.

Rema: I live in Campobello.

Is it because Upstairs Artspace had the space and they wanted to do the show?

Janet: I only really found out about my part of the show maybe two months ago. This is really quickly put together. Then it was a week later that I contacted Rema. It’s only been a month and a half that we knew that we were going to do this. It’s going to be fresh.

Have you done shows with the Upstairs Artspace before?

Janet: Yes, at their grand opening in the new space I had an installation in the whole downstairs.

This is a continuation of that relationship.

Rema: Before that in the mid ‘90’s I’d done some things with performances in the Upstairs when it was at the other location.

What are your backgrounds that led you to be ready to collaborate at this point?

Janet: Well my early background is an undergraduate in psychology. In 2oo1 I got my MFA from Clemson and began immediately focusing on installation art. Pretty much that’s what I’ve done since 2001 is work as a professional artist and focus on art doing installations in different museums and places.

Do you find that the psychology degree feeds into your artwork?

Janet: Oh, yes. There are always themes that run through it that relate to relationships and human connections.

Do you think people will learn something more from your artwork than they would if they sat down with you in an analyzing session and talked through it all with you?

Janet: That’s a good question. It’s just another form of communication that I see. It’s a different way to communicate. I learn more about myself and even about people through making the art and interacting with people about the art. It’s just a very unique form of communication.

And you Rema?

Rema: I went to college in Virginia and I got degrees in English Literature and Theatre. I travelled for many years in my twenties with the Roadside Theatre out of the Appalshop in Kentucky. Then I started my own theatre company with another woman called Too Many Hats. We toured for a while. I toured two one-woman shows, one of which I co-wrote based on the life of my grandmother. I’ve done theatre in one form or another pretty much all of my life. I’ve kept my finger in it. When I moved here I got out of the loop. I’ve done lots of other jobs. As an artist I’m sure you know there’re a lot of different things you have to do if you don’t do your art. I’m on the South Carolina Roster of Teaching Artists. I’m in the schools sometimes. My main business is a greenhouse business. I grow perennials and herbs. That’s what my day job is and I just do this when I can. In the last few years I’ve been concentrating on getting back into the art full time, storytelling and writing more. When it’s in your blood, if you don’t do it you think whatever else you do is not your real job. I should be an artist.

I understand that frustration. It’s like sitting at someone else’s computer answering emails I don’t care about.

Rema: When that novel is sitting on your desk at home.

Janet: It’s that desire to share that creative process with other people at a certain level that sometimes we miss in this day and age where we don’t have as much direct connection with other people. I think that’s why I want to get more involved with performance as a way to work directly with people about ideas, feelings, culture, what’s going on, and to find ways to help people to tell their stories. I feel like that’s what I’m doing through my art, I’m telling a story about myself and sometimes as I’m making the work I don’t know what it means until I get to the end. Other people tell me, “Oh, I see this in it and I see that in it.” I’m putting the pieces together and saying, “Oh wow! That’s about this larger picture and myself and my place in the world.” There’s a desire now at this point to bring other people into that process. A start is to work with Rema as well as to find ways to use that in the community. To encourage the community to be more involved in telling their story. This community has such great possibilities because it’s a small town and there are all these connections and history. It has this southern quality where storytelling is such a big part of being here in this rural setting. I just really want to enlarge the whole process and this is really just the beginning.

Rema: I think that’s where Janet and I connect is on that level. With storytelling theatre whether in the schools with fifth graders telling stories about their scars, or with the community of older people at Tryon Estates telling their stories. Behind every scar there’s a story. I think that’s where they connect. One of my favorite sayings is, “In the specific you find the universal.” I found that in telling my grandmother’s story about being a coal miner’s wife and her husband was killed in the coal mines leaving her with seven kids in his wake. Every time I told that story it never failed, where ever I was. Whether I was in Virginia in the coal fields or if I was in California somebody would come up and make a comment like, “My grandmother told stories just like that,” or “My grandfather died that way.” In the specific story about my grandmother people could relate to different aspects of it just in the telling.

Janet: I want to include the objects too. I think some people have stories within the objects, or they inspire stories. Especially old and worn objects, because just like a person that gets older this object has had a history too and becomes a symbol for people. For instance, let’s say an old shoes they have this history, somebody owned them, somebody wore them and you know the old roller skates and all of that. I’m thinking, I have a project that I did with some students to write stories where I brought out all of these old objects and they would pick an object. They would use that as a basis for a story. Either they would pretend they were the object and write from the object’s point of view or they would pretend that they had owned the object and what had happened to that object. I just like this combination of storytelling with using objects as inspiration or using objects in a play or something that is performed. We’re kind of throwing around those idea of how to my use of objects and Rema’s storytelling into a whole.

Do you think you’ll travel with this after your first performance here at the Upstairs?

Rema: Maybe, yeah. If we can get it up and going I think we would like that.

Janet: That would be fun. Even with the same installation I’ve had people come in with totally different experiences based on their own experience. I’ve had people come in and see all these old objects and say, “Oh, that’s so depressing.” While other people say, “This is the most comforting space. I feel so at home.” It is just amazing how people bring their own experience and background with them and the expression of how that space made them feel, or what memories it brought up. It’s really interesting to hear people’s perspective on that.

Rema: With storytelling, being on the stage, the audience is so much a part of the story. The way we do this is very minimal. The audience has to use their imagination and you have to put yourself out of the way to tell the story. It is interesting in every space when you start telling the story how you connect with the audience. You can feel it immediately if they’re with you. It does make a difference in the space and the town.

Shall we wander down and look at the work? The first thing that catches my eye is an old turtle shell, piano hammer and skate.

Janet: I have always loved turtles. They’re very symbolic to me. I like the combination of the slowness of the turtle and the roller skate. The turtle wants to go faster and accomplish things.

Is that a skate key you’re wearing around your neck?

Janet: Yes, I thought it was fun. I don’t think it would even work because it’s so rusty, but I like the idea of it.

The number one song on the charts the day I was born was Brand New Key by Melanie even though I never had a pair like this.

Janet: Oh, I did. I can’t believe they allowed it. They look like torture instruments, don’t they? That’s what I like about them too. It’s back in time. A different age, different time, different way of doing things people didn’t worry about it. I don’t think parents would let kids go on these skates today.

It’s dangerous, you’d hurt yourself.

Janet: You have to be protected. These started out as just fun things I was doing in my studio because I didn’t have enough space to work. This work is much smaller. My website will show you the larger installations. These are more a focus on individual works. Most of my works are a room you enter where it’s like a space. It’s like a room in someone’s house maybe with odd things in it. This is more of a display that what I usually do, with more focus on individual objects. Yet, I think they speak to each other. They’re connected.

Heavy Load, Beat It, these are just fun! Where do you find all this? Did you scavenge every thrift store for roller skates?

Janet: It’s so much fun naming them after the fact, to try to find something funny. I find that I can’t plan ahead what I’m going to do. I’m just open to whatever seems to speak to me. I just went through this series of everywhere I would go I’d find these old roller skates and I’d find these old, I think they’re called a shoe lass. I don’t even know if they still use those. I kept finding those and thought, “These seem to be coming up so how can I use them?”

These are child size. I remember my dad had one that had a metal extension but part if it was wood.

Janet: Those may be more like shoe trees to keep the show stretched. I have one whole series of pieces where I used old crutches. These are kind of connected to that same idea of motion and movement.

SinkOr makes me think of Wynken, Blynken, & Nod in their little shoe boat.

Janet: I like to play off of a lot of children’s themes and the idea of these almost as if they’re toys, but yet their not toys. They have a serious quality, but yet a fun quality too.

If I was a kid and walked into a house and saw them I’d want to play with them.

Janet: I would have been curious to see the fourth graders Cindy brought. I bet that was a challenge for them not to touch them.

It’s interesting to see how there are similar pieces, but each has its own unique thing going on with it. The piano hammers appear in a few, but never doing the same thing.

Janet: Sometimes by the title I make sense of what it’s about, but it’s also about the combination of all of them together. That’s why even though they’re displayed almost as individual items I think of them as a whole. Each is like a unique individual and maybe some part of them is being represented by the piece. Like Beat It, “we need to speed up and get going faster,” or Put Your Foot Down, “we need to put a stop to this.” Guilt is has the gavel coming down on your toe.

People will come in for the show and they’ll be able to see this up here, but the actual performance will be downstairs.

Janet: I think most of them are going to stay up here, but I’ve got related objects that we’ll have down there that will be part of the performance. It’ll have some connections.

How many people do you think will fit downstairs?

Janet: I know they have sixty chairs.

If people want a chair they need to be one of the first 60 people down there.

Janet: Yeah, and the doors open at 6:20 p.m. We’ll have some really light refreshments and hopefully we can get started right at 7 p.m. with the performance.

This is a one night only performance this evening and a chance to see two intriguing local artists join together in pushing the boundaries of their crafts together. For more information about Janet Orselli’s work visit her website www.janetorselli.com. You can also reach the artists by phone or email Janet at 828-899-8021 or jorselli@hotmail.com and Rema at 864-978-1615 or rema27@windstream.net.

Blair Martin turns Tryon history into inspiration

I ran into Blair a while back as she was moving into her new studio space over Owens Pharmacy. She was so excited about this space that she had seen from below with all the windows on the corner. Once she was moved in I stopped by to see how part of the old hospital had been converted into her artist’s studio.

Did you paint all this color for yourself when you moved in?

The former tenet had painted flowers all over the place. She had painted all of this color. She had painted the caps at the junctures of the pipes with smiley faces. You find them everywhere.

With the color and whimsy of your artwork, it fits you.

It does, it’s lively and I really couldn’t care less. I would have been upset if it had been battleship grey. I love it with the light and everything; it’s exactly what I wanted.

How did you find out about this place?

I’d just been asking around. I looked at a bunch of other spaces. Rents can be exorbitant for an artist who’s probably not going to generate much income anyway. I think Bill Ingham said, “I think there might be some spaces over Owen’s Pharmacy. I don’t know, but stop by and ask about it.” The guys with the surveying company are the sons of the owner of the building and the pharmacists are her daughter and son-in-law. When I asked they said, “Yeah, I think my mother would rent a space.” There are some great spaces up here for artists.

Did you have a studio space before?

I worked at home. I worked out in our sort of solarium on the end of the house. We also eat there, we sit there, we drink there, and so you know…

It wasn’t just your work space.

No. It’s open to everything else. It’s a small house. I enjoy painting there, but I really like having my own space. It couldn’t always be a mess. With this I lock the doors and nobody comes in. It can be a mess. I love it.

How long have you been in Tryon?

Almost five years now.

Where did you come from?

I’m originally from Richmond, Virginia and my husband’s company is still there. He has an ad agency. Then we also have a place in Key West we are trying to sell. Bill’s from Hendersonville originally and we used to come to visit his mother. We were looking around for just a cottage, a summer place since Key West is so hot. We planned to make that our primary residence and we had always wanted a mountain cottage. We went everywhere. We looked out west, Maine, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

We were driving around after coming down to visit his mother. He said, “I want to show you the area my mother grew up in,” because she grew up in Tryon. We thought it was charming and were going back to her house up US 176 and saw this “for sale” sign at the bottom of a piece of property that was up on the hill. I said, “That’s kind of a neat property.” He said, “That almost the kind of place like my mother describes that she grew up in.” It had a “for sale” sign and it was Sunday. We drove past it and I said, “You know what, let’s turn back. Let’s call the guy.” We did and he wasn’t there. I said, “Drive up there.” Bill does not do stuff like that. He said, “No.” I said, “Drive up there. I’ll go find out what this is.”

You were willing to be the nosey person.

We drive up to the top of the driveway which ended at the house. I got out of the car and knocked on the door and knocked and knocked. I think the front door was open so I knew someone was there. Finally, this poor woman came to the door in a towel dripping. I said, “Sorry to bother you, but I’m interested in your house.” She was somewhat put out. She said, “Pardon the towel; I’ve been in the pool. I didn’t know how to get into the house from the pool without you seeing me.” She suggested we make an appointment with her agent.

We went back to Richmond and Bill said, “If you’re really interested you call the agent and you can go back down there and look at it.” I called the agent, came down and looked at it and loved it. It’s this little rock cottage on the top of the hill right next to the Norman Wilder Conservancy. It was just charming. We found out after we had talked to the realtor and his mother that not only was it near where she grew up, it was the house she grew up in. His grandfather had built it from rock on the mountain that it sits on. It was too serendipitous to not pay attention. He had warned me, “Now if you decide you want it, do not tell her that you have this history with it because if we did get the house there would be no bargaining room at all.” Well, I told her. I felt like I needed to. What happened was she managed to get out of another contract. She felt like we ought to have it. She was just as nice about it as she could be. It turned out everything fell into place. So, that’s how we got here.

You stumbled upon a family home that he had never seen.

We didn’t even know if it was still here. We had no idea. It was built when she was a toddler. She only lived here until she was twelve. His grandfather died right after the house was built. He died in the house. They stayed there a little while longer and then moved away.

That’s a neat find. As an artist how did that transition affect your work?

I’d done a billion different jobs. I was working for a theatre a long time as the publicist, PR, and marketing. I did playwriting and set design and costume design and it was a great job.

What theatre was that?

Theatre Four. Anyway, I got recruited from there by a guy who was doing some design for me to interview with an ad agency in town and did. I’d always wanted to be in advertising. At least I thought I did. I don’t know anything about it. I went into advertising from that point and he made me creative director. I did that for fifteen years. I didn’t do any design. I basically was a writer and producer for all that time. I think I quit that job like nine times and every time they’d call and say just come on back it will be okay. I’d go back because I wanted the money.

I quit for the last time. I wanted to paint. I hadn’t really gotten started, but I was dabbling.

I started collecting Haitian art down in Key West when we’d go down there. I just absolutely loved it. I started going to Haiti. I went and bought a ton of stuff from artists. I was an otherworldly experience to be there because it was at the time, and probably still, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. It just absolutely dilapidated. There’s no infrastructure at all. I started meeting people and I was fascinated by the culture and the mixtures of religion. There’s a very dark sense of humor that permeates. I bought a whole boat load of stuff and brought it back and realized I had to open a gallery. I did, in an up and coming area in Richmond. I did that for about four years going back and forth to Haiti. I don’t think I lost any money, but I sure didn’t make any. I loved going to Haiti and buying the art and working with these very unusual people I met over there. I didn’t like being a shop keeper. I did a lot of talks on Haitian art because I learned so much about it by doing it. Finally, I decided I wanted to close it because I wanted to paint full time.

I started just doing that, very cartoonish.

The cactus?

It’s a cactus lady. In fact, it’s got a caption on it that says, “time of the month.” Somebody from Key West saw them and I started showing down there. I’ve only had one show in Richmond.

Did you have training in painting?

No, I had wanted to major in art. I lived in Richmond and there’s a wonderful art school there which is the Commonwealth University. It was 1968 when I started college, and it was still Richmond Polytechnic at the time. I told my mother I wanted to go there and she said, “Absolutely not, they’re all beatniks. You’re not going to a school with beatniks.” I did not go there and went to the University of Richmond. Their art department was nothing to speak of, so I majored in French and Italian because foreign languages were my love and didn’t really get back to art. I had jobs where I did a lot of illustrating. I didn’t start painting until about eight to ten years ago. I played around with different mediums. Oil I didn’t have the patience for because when I start something I want to finish it. The oil wouldn’t dry, I’d paint it anyway and it would turn to mud. Then I tried colored pencils and things were too tight. I’ve tried a lot of different things, but acrylics seem to be the best for me. I can manipulate it a little bit. It dries quickly so I can keep painting. That’s what I do. I tend to paint out of my head. I don’t have any interest in landscape or still life. I like people and I like nonsense stuff.

I’m sitting across from these mermen here.

I did a series, it was part of a show at the Upstairs and the subhead was “Tales from the family tree.” In this, for example, the guy in the hat is my grandfather, the turtle is my grandmother and the other two people were two friends. I remember they always used to go to the beach together every year. I love to marry people to animals. I did stories to go with all of them. The little boxes are part of the stories. A lot of them have stuff in the background from Key West. That’s a lighthouse from Key West with Jade and Pearl. She’s in the park in front of the light house where a lot of people did yoga with her dog and the flower in the box is a lotus.

The children’s book I’m working on is what some of these that are unfinished are about. It’s going to be based on something I did for my first granddaughter when she was born. I did a series in verse of what I called her “guardianimals.” I make up the stories visually.

The children’s book will be about the guardianimals?

That one’s called a “Mouch.” They absorb things that the child has a hard time with and they take care of it for them. That one is “Yardvark” that does yard work. That one is “Frocks” who likes to wear girlie dresses. That one is “Wake Uppy Puppy.”

Do you have a deadline set to finish it?

I do. I just went to this conference with a panel of editors for children’s picture books and they are committed to accept for six months any manuscripts you have for review. They’ll give you feedback regardless. That’s the goal. I have to be in the right frame of mind to write and I never know when that’s going to be.
It seems like this space certainly has a fanciful air with the light and color.
Energy is what I like. I like the energy in art and people. That’s why I don’t do still life or landscapes. I like to feel that electricity. I need to be doing something.

If other artists are interested in joining Blair in renting a downtown studio space you may stop by and inquire at Owen’s Pharmacy.

Dorothy Tatnall building skills and sharing joy at Tryon Arts & Crafts

I heard there was a student at Tryon Arts & Crafts winning hearts and sharing her new skills to help others. I stopped by Tryon Arts & Crafts on a Tuesday to meet Dorothy Tatnall and her friend Teresa Reinhart while she was working on a new project in Nancy’s pottery class.
What are you making there?

Dorothy: It’s a mobile with fish. We did one with leaves and now we’re doing fish.

The mobile I saw with the leaves out front was yours?

Dorothy: Yes.

Nancy: Dorothy’s got three things in the kiln right now. They’re being bisque fired.

When do those come out?

Nancy: The kiln is going now, so it will be Thursday.

Dorothy: It does take a while.

Nancy: Right now they’re green ware.

Green ware?

Nancy: They’ll be bisque ware when they come out. There’s no color they are just natural clay fired once so they’re hard and firm. That’s what her things will look like when they come out of the kiln on Thursday.

How long have you been taking classes here?

Dorothy: Two years I think it is.

Nancy: Dorothy made a birdhouse and some mugs like this with texture. What else did you make?

Dorothy: I made a bowl and I gave it to my dad and my step-mom and they’re putting their fruit in it.

Good use for it.

Nancy: You made the tic tac toe and the wind chimes.

Cute, the tic tac toe had hearts!

Dorothy: The name of it was “You Won my Heart.”

Nancy: We made whistles the first time with little animals.

Dorothy: It’s like an animal type thing, but you put a hole in it.

Oh cool!

Dorothy: I made a bunny rabbit.

Nancy: You did something with coils.

Dorothy: I made a bowl.

Nancy: Yes, a couple bowls. What else? We made some trivets and some trays.

How did you get started coming here?

Dorothy: We came to an open house and saw the stuff that was in the open house. I liked it, so I decided to take art classes.

And you’re still here two years later, so you must like it.

Dorothy: Yeah. I really like it.

Have you taken any other classes or have you focused on the pottery?

Dorothy: I took the stained glass class and I took the lapidary class with rocks and stuff. I took those classes and now I’m back here.

This is your favorite class. Now, you were going to show me something.

Dorothy: Yeah.

Beautiful! This was sold for the silent auction. The money from the auction did what?

Dorothy: It was for a scholarship to here for another person with disabilities.

Do they know who will get the scholarship, or is that still to be determined?

Teresa: It’s still going to be determined at the moment, but because Dorothy knows the community…

Dorothy: Yes.

Teresa: …they’re going to take her recommendation as far as the first one. Now if it happens that other people want to donate to the scholarship fund then we would love that.

Dorothy: Yes.

Teresa: The more the merrier.

So what’s happening with the fish mobile you’re working on now? Why are there two different colors of clay?

Dorothy: This is a low fire clay, and this is a high fire clay.

Will they all be part of the same mobile?

Dorothy: Yes.

What else is different about them?

Dorothy: This one will dry white, and this will be a brownish color.

Teresa: When it gets done you use different types of glazes on each one.

Depending on how it’s fired there are different types of glazes.

Teresa: We had done the leaves before and really liked them.

Dorothy: So, now we’re gonna do fish.

Did the leaf mobile have both types of clay?

Teresa: No just the red clay.

Dorothy: We didn’t paint both sides.

Are you going to paint both sides of the fish?

Teresa: We’re trying to, which is why we’re trying that.

I imagine if it’s a flat piece it’s hard to paint both sides. How are you going to do that?

Dorothy: I don’t know. Nancy might know.

Nancy: Once these are bisqued you can glaze both sides. However, we have these stilts to hold it up. We cannot let this sit on our kiln shelf because it’s like glass it just glues it right to it.

Teresa: Dorothy, while I cut do you want to quiet the edges and decorate?

Dorothy: Okay.

What does quiet the edges mean?

Dorothy: It’s to make the edges smooth. That’s why you have to quiet the edges because you can’t have rough edges. You do that with your fingers. You dip them in the water.

Teresa: She’s going to show you right now.

Nancy: If the edges are sharp, when they come out of the kiln they can cut you.

Dorothy you’re from Tryon and Teresa from Rutherfordton, so how did you meet?

Teresa: I actually work for Monarch which is a company that provides services for persons with developmental disabilities. That’s how we got to know each other and we’ve been together about three years now.

So did you grow up here in Tryon Dorothy?

Dorothy: No, actually I’m from Cleveland, Ohio.

But your dad and step-mom live down here now.

Dorothy: We used to live in Ohio, but then they moved down here and they brought me down here.

How long have you been in Tryon now?

Dorothy: Five years. My dad and step-mom have been here longer than I have.

How’s it living here compared to Cleveland?

Dorothy: I miss my sister because she lives there and my nieces and nephews live there, my brother, my step-brother…

You have a lot of family there. Do you go visit sometimes?

Dorothy: Sometimes I do.

What do you like about Tryon?

Dorothy: I live in this apartment building with other people and it’s across the street from IGA.

You can walk to the IGA?

Dorothy: You can walk to the IGA and the Dollar store too.

That’s handy.

Teresa: She has her own job.

Dorothy: I have a job at the Polk County Vocational Workshop.

What do you do over there?

Dorothy: Smile makers. We put together for the doctor’s office for the kids the pad and cell phone holder and candy.

It’s a little happy pack for the kids who have to go to the doctor?

Dorothy: Yeah! Basically that’s what it is.

That’s a nice job to have.

Teresa: She pays for her own classes with the money that she makes.

Dorothy: Yes, I do.

Wow!

Teresa: When they told us about the student art show she wanted to enter right away. Then they gave us the little form that said, “Do you want to sell your pieces?” We thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put the price of a class on it for somebody.

When it sold it would be the equivalent of somebody actually being able to take a class?

Dorothy: Yes.

Wonderful!

Teresa: Dorothy also has a spot in the community garden this year.

Dorothy: We’re growing squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, green peppers, yellow peppers, tomatoes, beans, corn, and flowers.

That’s a big garden!

Teresa: Dorothy also volunteers with the community. She helped with TROT.

What is TROT?

Dorothy: Helping children with disabilities hold on the horse.

Do you ride too?

Dorothy: No. I just walk. There are other people doing it too.

It’s a big social event.

Dorothy: Yeah, so I did that.

Teresa: And the barbecue festival.

What did you do for the barbecue festival?

Dorothy: Recycle. I think me and my dad are going to do it this year too. We usually do it on Saturday and then Sunday we go to it.

Will Tryon Arts & Crafts have something in conjunction with the festival?

Nancy: We always do. We have an open house and will have a booth too and there will be demonstration. I work with younger kids spinning pottery on the wheel.

Dorothy, do you think you think you’ll have another piece to auction for a class again?

Dorothy: I don’t know.

Teresa: We certainly wouldn’t mind.

Dorothy: No, we wouldn’t.

Teresa: We just think that other people with developmental disabilities should be able to do this too. It makes you feel good, don’t it Dorothy?

Dorothy: Yes.

Nancy: I think that the work that Dorothy has done just over the past couple of years is an inspiration for people to hear.

Dorothy: It was fun doing that stuff.

Well you’re looking like you’re having fun here today. Thank you for sharing it with me.

If you are interested in viewing Dorothy’s work or would like to donate to the scholarship fund she has started please contact Tryon Arts & Crafts or stop by their gallery and heritage museum on Harmon Field Road.

Lena Duncan infusing the community with talent

You’ve probably seen the back of Lena’s head more than her face when she’s playing piano in the pit for one of the Tryon Little Theatre musicals. However, for those on stage her face is the most important focal point, because she’s the one following the musical score. A nod from her tells the chorus when to cut off, or a big breath cues them for the next entrance. What the audience never sees is that while her hands are busy at the keys, her face is conducting the singers on stage.
This weekend will find Lena accompanying many hopeful young singers as they audition for Les Misérables. Next weekend she’ll be the master of the keys for various performers during the Morris Awards at Tryon Fine Arts Center. This summer she’ll be guiding teens to sing one of the most challenging scores written for musical theatre. Without her dedication and patience it would be difficult to pull off these musical events. Between our busy schedules, now that we’re not working on the same shows, Lena and I have been emailing back and forth. The following questions and answers come from those emails.

How many shows for Tryon Little Theatre have you done over the years and what are some of your favorites?

I have been a cast member of 8 TLT musicals and musical director for 3 TLT shows and 3 Tryon Youth Center/TLT summer youth productions. It’s hard to identify specific favorites as all of the shows have held a certain appeal.

When did you first get involved with TLT productions?

My first show was South Pacific in September of 2000. Other than a play or two in junior high, this was my first theatrical experience. Several friends were active with TLT and encouraged me to audition.

It sounds like you’ve been kept busy with TLT since you first got involved. What keeps drawing you back? Or, how do you explain to someone who’s never been worked on a production the value of the time and effort you put into rehearsing a production?

I believe I have participated in every major musical production since South Pacific. I enjoy the dramas and comedies as well, but as a spectator. To identify one specific thing would have to be the interaction with the cast and crew and the friendships and camaraderie that develop when you’re spending weeks working together on a project. Until you’ve actually done it, no one can really describe the time and effort that goes into planning and producing a show and the satisfaction of being involved in such a successful program.

You are also the pianist for a local church?

Currently, I am the pianist at Landrum Presbyterian Church. I have served there since 2004. Prior to that, I served as pianist for Columbus Baptist Church for 13 years and substitute in neighboring churches when my schedule allows.

What are some of your favorite types of music to play?

I enjoy playing all types of music and enjoy the challenge of technically difficult pieces. Because of limited practice time, most of what I play is driven by the project in progress, planning and playing for weekly church services and special occasions as they arise. I’m anxiously awaiting the score for Les Miserable, the TYC/TLT summer show for 2009.

How are the TLT/TYC shows different from the main stage series? What are some of your favorite moments working with the kids?

I don’t really see any difference in the process of TLT/TYC shows, except the age of the performers. We strive to give the kids the same quality experience that the adult shows have. I have always had a love of working with kids. They are energetic and usually enthusiastic about trying new things. I have been musical director for three summer youth productions and have enjoyed all of them, but would have to say that our experience with the production of CATS last summer is my favorite. The cast worked really hard on the music and choreography, but that show was a total package: the costume design, make-up, set design, the pit musicians, and the stage and tech crew. There were many people who voiced concern that CATS was beyond what our group could do, but under Chris’s direction, those young people set an example that holds true in most things: Set your expectations high and more times than not, you get more than you expected.

How long have you been playing piano and where did you get your musical education?

I do not have a degree in music. When I was in school, general music was not part of the school curriculum, but the PTA at our local elementary school saw the value in music education and funded a music teacher for our school. We had 30 minutes of general music, twice per week. Our general music teacher also taught piano lessons in a small room adjacent to the school auditorium and her students were allowed out of class for their assigned lesson time. I began piano lessons as a first grader and took lessons for 8 years. I did not have a piano at home during that time and had to go to my grandparents home to practice. Early on, I practiced regularly, but as I got older and involved in more activities, efforts to practice diminished. I regret that today, but isn’t that typical that we don’t realize what special opportunities we have at the time. Aside from musical instruction in the school setting, my church had a very strong music program, beginning with preschool age. So it’s difficult for me to remember a time when music was not a huge part of my life. Back then, most girls took piano lessons and it was like a rite of passage as older girls graduated and we had the opportunity to play for the children and youth choirs at church.

What are you preparing at this time for the Morris Awards?

I have been asked to provide accompaniment for two musical numbers that will be performed during the Awards ceremony. Pam McNeil will also be providing accompaniment for some of the performers.

What will people see when they come to this event?

This event is going to be a lot of fun. People can cast their ballot by visiting local businesses in the days leading up to the event. Attendees will be greeted to a red carpet experience, Tryon style that could include limousine arrivals and paparazzi.

Can you give us some tidbits to look forward to?

We have a group of talented people in our area that spans many decades of participation in the various community arts programs. This is an opportunity to showcase these talents. I believe there are going to be several vocal numbers and a dance or two.

Anything else you would like to mention to the community about the Morris Awards or the upcoming summer production of Les Mis?

I would just encourage the community to get out and cast their ballots and be sure to attend the Morris Awards.

As for Les Mis, auditions are May 1 and 2, with callbacks on May 3. I hope to see a large number of youth audition for this show. I believe this show has the potential to be another “best ever” production.

You’ll find Lena Duncan at 516 South Trade Street in the Tryon Little Theatre Workshop this weekend for the Les Misérables auditions and then at the piano again in the Tryon Fine Arts Center next Saturday May 9 for the Morris Awards. For more information and tickets to performances please call the Tryon Fine Arts Center box office at 828-859-8322 ext. 214.