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Arts & Life
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Submissions will be accepted April 27 through May 29.
The contest is open to U.S. residents 18 years of age or older as of Feb. 27, 2020. Entrants need not reside in California.
The winning artwork will be reproduced on the 2020-2021 California Duck Stamp. The top submissions will also be showcased at the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association’s art show in July.
The artwork must depict the species selected by the California Fish and Game Commission, which for the 2020-2021 hunting season is the canvasback.
These fast-flying, diving ducks are the largest of their genus, Aythya, and are characterized by a white back with a reddish-brown neck and head that slopes gently into a long black beak. In California, the canvasback migrates along the Pacific Flyway to wintering grounds on lakes, estuaries and protected bays.
The design is to be in full color and in the medium (or combination of mediums) of the artist’s choosing, except that no photographic process, digital art, metallic paints or fluorescent paints may be used in the finished design.
Photographs, computer-generated art, art produced from a computer printer or other computer/mechanical output device (airbrush method excepted) are not eligible for entry and will be disqualified.
The design must be the contestant’s original hand-drawn creation. The entry design may not be copied or duplicated from previously published art, including photographs, or from images in any format published on the Internet.
All entries must be accompanied by a completed participation agreement and entry form. These forms and the official rules are available online at wildlife.ca.gov/duck-stamp/contest.
Entries will be judged in June. The judges’ panel, which will consist of experts in the fields of ornithology, conservation, and art and printing, will choose first, second and third-place winners, as well as honorable mention.
Since 1971, CDFW’s annual contest has attracted top wildlife artists from around the country. All proceeds generated from stamp sales go directly to waterfowl conservation projects throughout California. In past years, hunters were required to purchase and affix the stamp to their hunting license.
Now California has moved to an automated licensing system and hunters are no longer required to carry the physical stamps in the field (proof of purchase prints directly onto the license).
However, CDFW will still produce the stamps, which can be requested by interested individuals at http://wildlife.ca.gov/licensing/collector-stamps .
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Don't miss Austin & Owens’ performance at the Coffee House Concert Series on Saturday, March 21, at Fore Family Winery tasting room, 3920 Main St., Kelseyville.
Travis Austin and Robert Owens have been performing music together now for more than 15 years.
As a traditional guitar duo, they have performed all around Northern California, gaining popularity with wineries, resorts, breweries and private wedding events.
Classically trained, Austin & Owens blend jazz flavors with Flamenco influences creating everything from elegant atmosphere music to electrifying stage performances.
Austin & Owens perform material ranging from classical pieces such as “Ave Maria” and “La Malaguena,” to film soundtrack favorites and even classic rock instrumental covers.
The doors open at 6:30 p.m., the show begins at 7 p.m.
Admission is $15 per person.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.uuclc.org , Watershed Books in Lakeport, at the Fore Family Winery tasting room and at the door (until sold out). Seating is limited so arrive early.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
The show is set for Saturday, March 14, at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $20 with open seating.
The Rural Jazz Collective is the result of Aiken’s desire to create an ensemble based on a freer, less restrictive approach to jazz performance and literature.
Aiken is well known to the Lake County music scene, starting as a music teacher for many years in the Kelseyville school system.
He studied organ and harpsichord at CSU Chico and received a graduate degree with a concentration in music composed before 1750 and after 1900. While at Chico he became interested in improvised music, especially jazz.
He has continued his pursuit of jazz and commercial music, and has played the keyboards with a number of groups in Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma and Butte counties.
Playing with Aiken are Steve Baird on bass, Travis Austin on guitar, and Steve DuBois on drums.
Baird has been performing around Lake and Mendocino counties since the early Eighties providing the bass pulse and vocals for a variety of jazz, rock and acoustic ensembles.
Austin is trained as a classical guitarist and is often seen playing neo-flamenco with partner Robert Owens.
DuBois is the drummer for several local bands including Bill Noteman and the Rockets, and Blues Farm.
The Rural Jazz Collective concert is sponsored by Mike Stempe, and Carol and Steve Schepper.
For tickets go to www.soperreesetheatre.com or to The Travel Center, 825 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets also are sold up to two hours ahead of the show at the theatre box office.
For more information call 707-263-0577.
The theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.
- Details
- Written by: Ted Kooser
Robert Bly is one of the last living major American poets of his generation, and W.W. Norton recently published his Collected Poems.
I and many other poets of the central states owe Bly, who grew up on a Minnesota farm, a great deal, for showing us how to write about what's around us, the turkey sheds, the great skies, the rain-filled roadside ditches, all of it.
Here's one poem about our life force that I'm especially fond of.
Why We Don't Die
In late September many voices
Tell you you will die.
That leaf says it, that coolness.
All of them are right.
Our many souls—what
Can they do about it?
Nothing. They’re already
Part of the invisible.
Our souls have been
Longing to go home
Anyway. “It's late,” they say,
“Lock the door, let’s go.”
The body doesn't agree. It says
“We buried a little iron
Ball under that tree.
Let’s go get it.”
American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Copyright © 2018, 2011, 2005, 2001, 1997, 1994, 1985, 1981, 1979, 1977, 1975, 1973, 1972, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960, 1959, 1953 by Robert Bly. Used with permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction copyright @2020 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.