OPL shows watercolors by Hans Stuy
(Oneida, NY – April 2015) Oneida artist Hans Stuy is exhibiting a selection of his watercolor landscapes in the Oneida Public Library Meeting Room through April 24.
Though a life-long musician who has often performed in the Central New York music scene, Stuy only recently took up painting.
Since retirement in 2013 from the Onondaga County Water Authority, he has devoted considerable time in learning and experimenting with watercolors.
Born in Indonesia, Stuy at the age of 3 moved with his family to Canastota, where he grew up. A graduate of Canastota High School, he went on to study at the New England Aeronautical Institute. He lives with his wife of 37 years, Jacqueline, in Oneida.
The public is invited to an artist’s reception that will be held at the conclusion of the Stuy exhibit on Friday, April 24, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the library.
Children’s author Constance Watkins joins Story Hour
(Oneida, NY – April 2015) Artist and children’s book author Constance Watkins will read her latest work “A Duck Named Eddie” for story time during the Ready! Set! Read! program at Oneida Public Library on Thursday, April 16, at 10 a.m.
“A Duck Named Eddie,” boasting illustrations from Watkins’ own artwork, is her sixth book for children. Her previous titles are “The Icebox Snowball,” “Joey Days,” “That Was the Kitten That Was,” “Happy Was His Name” and “Mushu.”
Watkins is active in the local art scene, being a member of the Kirkland Art Center, Utica Art Association and the Old Forge Art Gallery. She has exhibited her own pastels, acrylics and photographs throughout the Mohawk Valley, including the Oneida Public Library, and has won several awards for her work.
She will be bring copies of “A Duck Named Eddie to the OPL program for sale and signing.
Tom Townsley introduces his poetry April 18
Musician, artist, teacher and broadcaster Tom Townsley has now turned his gifted hand to poetry and will introduce his new collection, “Reading the Empty Page,” at Oneida Public Library on Saturday, April 18, at 1:00 p.m.
The poems in, “Reading the Empty Page,” described by one critic as “reminiscent of Wallace Steven’s ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,’” are meditations on language, meaning and poetry itself.
A resident of Verona, Townsley has taught English and fine arts courses at Syracuse University, Utica College and Mohawk Valley Community College. As a musician, he has lent his skills in vocals and the harmonica to the blues scene in Central New York for decades, most notably in the band Tom Townsley and the Backsliders.
For 26 years Townsley was the host of “The Sunday Night Blues Show” on WAER-FM out of Syracuse University. He bowed out in July 2012 to take up full-time teaching at Mohawk Valley Community College.
Townsley is also a painter of what he calls “abstract expressionism,” using acrylics and highly textured surfaces to full effect. He has had art shows at the Delavan Art Gallery and the May Memorial Unitarian Church in Syracuse, the Resonance Center in Utica, the Rome Art and Community Center and numerous other venues in Central New York.
Copies of “Reading the Empty Page” will be available for sale at the reading as well as signing by the author.