Archive for the 'Art' Category

Friday 1/19/2007 Trip-Beneath the Smoke and Heaven’s Eyes galleries

Bryan January 19th, 2007

I decided to stop by Beneath the Smoke and Heaven’s Eyes, the galleries of nature photographer Ken Jenkins.  Ken has his photographs for sale in varying sizes, mattes, and frames (or unmated and unframed, your choice).   Unfortunately, I didn’t allot enough time to spend looking (I only spent about an hour).  In addition to his photographs, he has a great selection of nature books to peruse.  He has SOME hiking, camping, and photography accessories for sale as well.

Items purchased: small matted and framed photograph of a black bear cub called "The Perfect Tree", small matted vertical of Cades Cove complete with fall color, and A Year in the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park by Chuck Summers.

Thursday 1/18/2007 Evening Presentation-The Spiritual Side of Nature

Bryan January 18th, 2007

Ken Jenkins  and Chuck Summers present this program regularly every year emphasizing God’s hand in our creation.  The salmon return to the very stream they were born to lay their eggs before they die.   There is no doubt of God’s design in their lives.

A piece Chuck shared with us:

Slow Me Down Lord

Slow me down, Lord! Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of
my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of
time.

Give me, amidst the confusion of my day, the calmness of the
everlasting hills. Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the
music of the singing streams that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magic restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking Minute Vacations. . . of slowing down to
look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few
lines from a good book.

Remind me each day of the fable of the hare and the tortoise that I
may know that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more
to life than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak and know
that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well. Slow me
down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of
life’s enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my greater
destiny.

Amen.

- Wilfred A. Peterson

Wednesday 1/17/2007 Evening Presentation-Notes from the Field

Bryan January 17th, 2007

Ken does a lot of the evening programs throughout Wilderness Wildlife Week and this one is a regular theme.  Ken reviews his notes from the prior year and shares lessons from the previous year along with the supporting photos.

Tonight’s highlights:

Ken’s story of photographing Giant Sequoia trees in the Sierra Nevada when he realized he was near a forest fire.  When he found the fire, the forest service was already there.  Of course Ken wanted to help and was quite excited.  The forester didn’t seem to be in too big of a hurry, and explained to Ken that the Sequoias contain a lot of tannin, which makes them much more resistant to fire.  Also, the seed pods are extremely difficult to crack, but fire cracks them right open.

He also quoted Vance Havner to describe the beaver and its diligence.  I’ll be pursuing a few of his writings in the coming months.

Monday 1/15/2007 Evening Presentation-And Heaven and Nature Sing

Bryan January 15th, 2007

This is one of the highlights of Wilderness Wildlife Week.  Ken Jenkins, the wildlife photographer collaborated with talented singer and my friend Judy Felts and others for And Heaven and Nature Sing.  Ken provides a bit of commentary and then he turns the show over to Judy for music.  Judy does a fantastic job of setting Ken’s photographs to hymns.  Perhaps most stirring for me where the renditions of Be Thou My Vision and You Raise Me Up.  My words can’t do justice to Ken’s photographs, much less the entire experience.

As always, Ken adds a lot of color with his stories and tonight was no exception.  Ken related the story of the sculptor who when asked: "How did you sculpt that elephant?", simply replies "I chipped away everything that wasn’t an elephant."  God, the master artist, is doing that same with us… chipping away anything that isn’t his son.

Saturday 1/13/2007 Evening Presentations

Bryan January 13th, 2007

Saturday evening’s festivities for Wilderness Wildlife Week included the opening comments from Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains Association.  The Friends organization supports the park by contributing volunteer labor and funds for projects in the park.  GSMA supports the park by providing funding for many of the park staff positions that would otherwise go unfunded, such as seasonal education and interpretive positions.  Both organizations are supported by membership and donations.  The Friends organization also raises money at the Evergreen Ball.  The GMSA also raised money from sales at the stores located at the park information centers as area visitor’s centers in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville.

The evening eased into a photo presentation by Ken Jenkins, the visionary of Wilderness Wildlife Week, called Labor of Love: 30 years with Wildlife.  Ken presented his photos from all across America from his home in the Smokies to the Pacific Northwest to Denali National Park. Ken captures the antics of bears, elk, marmots and most of the rest of nature like no other.

The evening concluded with a photo presentation by Don McGowan called Introduction to the Beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains through music and slides.

I only wish I could include some of the photos presented at the photo presentations this week.