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CORNERSTONE Arts and Music Festival (2000)
by Larry Seiler I know a good number of WetCanvas! regulars have shown curiosity for an event I have participated in for 17 years now. I am hoping that while everyone's worldview or tolerances might not find interest in "Christian" festivals, per se....that you will appreciate at the very least what goes into this event as well as the fun I have as an artist instructing and demonstrating there. |
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Cornerstone Festival is held in Bushnell, Illinois roughly the around the 4th of July week. Nearly 150 bands are scheduled to perform on about 23 stages over the course of 5 days, for which 30,000 to 40,000 or more people come to camp and take-in the festivities. Here is the band POD, (popular with youth and seen on MTV)- performing at main stage.
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Over the years, my sons have grown up here. Once they stood on five gallon pails to see bands perform over the heads of the crowd, and now my son-Jason, is actively involved with seeing this fest put together smoothly. He is an artist for an inner city ministry that feeds nearly 300 homeless people daily in Chicago, that puts out an internationally known and subscribed magazine called, "Cornerstone Magazine." He is a wonderful artist, doing layout and photoshop work for the magazine, but also holds the position of doing a two page comic strip at the end of the magazine for each issue. In addition, he is known among "who's who" of caricature artists with his own site at http://www.caricature.org
The kid became a full-fledged chip off the old block by picking up the guitar and writing songs, and has a band called, "Left Out" managed by Grrr Records and whose three cd's are distributed by Diamante Records. His band was up for two dove awards this year, best hard song, and best hard band. An alternative punk band with more complicated rythyms than most punk bands are known for. They are much fun, and what joy it was for his mother and I to be on stage to watch his band's second year at the festival. Here he is doing his punk vocal thing! [ Editor's Note: Now we know where Larry's son gets his creative genes... :-) ] |
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Throughout the week when I wasn't instructing, I found good occasion to enjoy the music... setting up my easel and painting just outside the tents. Here is one I did, drawing a good crowd of my own to watch outside what is
known as the "Gallery" tent where a group from Brazil was playing on stage called, "La Semilla." Outside, the skies were overcast, and a steady slow rain. |
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I haven't had a great deal of experience painting in the rains, but now I know that one can do an oil plein air in such conditions. The only nuisance was the splattering of drops on my painting, and the glare of the sky's reflection on the collecting water's surface a bit of a problem to see the paint and color. I pushed my brush through it in-spite of it. A neat experience to say the lest. The painting is only 6" x 9", and the challenge was taking a great deal of visual information and isolating it to a small statement. People being objects only suggested.
This next piece was done the next day- with a bit of welcomed sun, painted just outside the Artrageous tent. My son was my subject, since he was working on location himself. Again, the challenge to ask myself what NOT to paint, using dips and dabs to suggest people and details. |
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