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BRC Activities, Cell Perches & HVO

Small Things Count

March 11, 2023

Each March, the local art league stages it “Tiny Things” juried competition in which all entries must measure no more than 8 x 8 inches. This restriction compels artists to condense their expressive aspirations into a cramped and challenging format. As any banjo is too outsized for this exhibit, the BRC craftsman frequently uses left-over fretboard inlays from past 5-string projects to decorate a desktop smartphone holder which he enters into the show. This creative strategy is based on the belief that very few people have much use for a banjo, but nearly everyone could use a cell phone perch. Most BRC tabletop stands are thematically ornamented for select family members and friends and then gifted to them.

Pictured above, “The Artful Charger Cell Perch” is destined for a neighbor who is a classic oil-on-canvas painter. He frequently exchanges creative ideas and mutual critiques with the BRC craftsman’s spouse who is an award-winning artist and art league instructor.

As all BRC banjos have a small inlay on the heel of the neck which is for the eyes only of the musician, the base of this smartphone holder displays a unicorn on its undersurface to signify the vital roles of fantasy and imagination in painting.

The “Music is the best medicine for the mind and soul” cell perch (above) was recently gifted in thanks to the BRC craftsman`s older brother who guided the former into the realm of music many decades ago. The inlays on this smartphone holder were inherited from the “Inside Bluegrass” banjo depicted on the May 14, 2022, BRC posting.  “The Inside Story” can be accessed by entering the word “inside” in the our homepage search engine. Enjoy.

Each year, the Tiny Things art show occurs simultaneously in March with a sprawling weekend film festival in our university community. This allows curious out-of-town film buffs attending the 20th annual movie fest to visit the gallery, study the wares, and carry away their purchases.

From the BRC: Wondrous things come in small packages.

P.S. Have a grand St. Paddy`s Day.

BRC Activities

Tasteful Art

February 25, 2023

The community art league has its festive “Let Them Eat Art” fund raiser reception at the end of every February to wrap-up its annual food-themed show which was entitled “Nibble” this year. Munchies and boutique beverages are supplied by local entrepreneurs, and gallery visitors cast votes to determine the most delectable finger food, drink, and dessert offerings. Ballots are counted at the end of the gala evening. After snacking on culinary delights, sipping flavorful beverages, and examining the Gone Fishin`  BRC 5-stringer (center right), art league members and guests gather to listen to the announcement of the people’s choice award winners.

Our banjo craftsman is pictured below with a valued customer who, over the years, has purchased three BRC banjos- one for each of her three children. The  Nibble exhibit remained open an extra day, so attendees of the university’s 23rd annual Chancellor`s Art Showcase could visit the gallery which is contiguous with the Missouri Theatre.

In the coming week, our BRC founder will enjoy yet another birthday milestone, and his all time favorite greeting card is revisited again below.

From the BRC: Alas, springtime cannot be far away.

BRC Events

Sunrise at the BRC

February 11, 2023

Located in the basement of our home, the BRC workshop faces east across one of the three lakes in our neighborhood. The shoreline behind our house is frequented by deer, foxes, raccoons, and the occasional rambling coyote. Grandkids catch hefty catfish from our dock in the summertime. This winter, sunrises have been a frequent spectacle of meteorology.  By November, wide temperature swings brought freeze-thaw cycles to our lake while intermittently crystalizing its icy monochrome surface.  It is said that Mark Twain advised, “If you don’t like the weather in Missouri, wait five minutes.”

In early December, sunrises were streaked with feathery red-orange hues that mirrored themselves on the waters and frequently predicted impending snow flurries.

Later in December, the Heartland was visited by angry crimson skies (below) heralding the arrival of an historic bomb-cyclone storm that pummeled the landscape and all who lived here.

When the colossal storm finally abated, a gold-striped horizon and windswept morning sky (below) emerged at sunup to reveal that about 600 Canada geese had been driven south by the storm and taken refuge on our frozen neighborhood lakes.

Home owners began to shoot bottle rockets at the noisy  flock to hasten its departure, but to no avail whatsoever. Only the arrival of a hungry coyote stealthily prowling the shorelines was sufficiently alarming to alert the geese to a menacing predator, and the giant flock of birds promptly took wing and fled en masse to faraway environs. As dawn unfolds daily, we are not infrequently treated to a “Giverny in the Sky” alluding to Monet`s serial paintings of his pond in France visited by the BRC wife and her sister a few years ago.

From the BRC: Have a sunny and Happy Valentine`s Day.

Art Shows

Gone Fishin`

January 28, 2023

Every January, the local community art league embarks into the new calendar year with its annual Food Show. The theme of the 2023 juried exhibit is  “Nibble.” This yearly contest is highlighted by an evening fund raiser each February entitled “Let Them Eat Art” where local restauranteurs and brewpub owners compete for awards by concocting tasty treats and beverages based on the themes of the artworks on display in the gallery. For this culinary art show, the BRC craftsman designed the Gone Fishin` banjo. The peg head boldly displays a leaping “lunker” ready to battle any sporting angler. Meanwhile, a peaceful fisherman carefully reels in a fish that nibbled at some bait and fell prey to the hook within it.

The lower fretboard illustrates hungry fish in various stages of eagerly breaching the water`s surface in search of a snack while swimming among hidden barbed hooks clothed in bait. At the fifth fret space, an angler contentedly lands a catch.

In the upper neck, busy fish glide to and fro looking for a meal in waters coursed by attractive lures and thinly disguised hooks.

At the gala January opening reception, exhibit hall guests closely study the features of the Gone Fishin` banjo.

Next month at the Let Them Eat Art fund raiser, gallery visitors will vote on the best food and beverage offerings, and the winners will be ceremoniously announced at the end of the evening.

From the BRC: Have a Happy Groundhog Day.

BRC Activities, Jamming

Thanks & A Maxim

January 14, 2023

Not too long ago, the Gainor & Friends jammers surpassed the $29K milestone in donations to the local Children`s Hospital since the band’s inception in 1995. With our tenure at the Broadway Brewery since 2009, the generous patrons at the family-friendly brewpub have accounted for three-fourths of those monies with their faithful tipping at our weekly Sunday afternoon gigs.

The G&F band had its very first performance years ago at the inaugural autumn Pumpkin Festival in the farming village of Hartsburg situated near the Missouri River. Harmony singer Tara is seen below (seated right) in an archival photo taken at the central Missouri agricultural festival during our initial sunny outdoor gig there.

Twenty-seven years later, Tara is seen below (far right front row) still providing harmony vocals with the G&F band recently on a Sunday afternoon at the Broadway Brewery. She performed for a dozen years with the G&F Singers on the pediatric ward of the Children`s Hospital and also on the psychiatric ward of the University Hospital during the Holiday Season. She is a 2013 inductee into the BRC Hall of Fame.

Being blessed with gifted singers and musicians, another one of the G&F band`s mirthful Latin mottos has been, “E bandito rehearsus unim dispersus ad infinitum.” This maxim roughly translates, “The band that rehearses together disperses forever.” We are thankful to all the performers who have generously shared their time and talents with us over these many years.

From the BRC: Keep on pickin’ and singing.