[accessibleimage] from stained glass to Bonsai

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5 articles, stained glass to Bonsai.

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Lisa

links

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct-fea--stainedglassa1229dec29,0,5587878.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticut



http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/377638p-320814c.html

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/baldwin.ssf?/base/news/1133864225195241.xml&coll=3

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051205/NEWS0104/512050344/1060/news01

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=425194&category=ALBANY&BCCode=&newsdate=12/1/2005

article 1

Plumber turns to fragile art of stained glass



By ANDREW SHAW

Greenwich Time

December 29, 2005, 12:35 PM EST

GREENWICH, Conn. -- A Greenwich plumber decided one day last spring that he wanted to be a stained glass artist. Never mind that he'd never taken an art class, never worked with stained glass and is color blind.

John Sudell's finished work, a colorful spectrum of glass with a marine theme, is part of a Holiday Lighthouse exhibit of local artists at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk on display until Jan. 17.

It's an artistic work from an amateur first-timer that defies the odds.

"I figured I'd give it a shot," Sudell said of his new hobby. "I'm amazed that I made it. I'm good with my hands, but I'm amazed to get it done."

Sudell's business, J.J. Sudell Plumbing and Heating, has been around for 30 years. He credits plumbing with giving him the knowledge of soldering necessary to work with stained glass, although he'd never worked with glass before.

Sudell, 64, took a few stained glass classes with Greenwich Continuing Education in the spring to give him a background, but quit after three classes.

"(The teacher) was looking for showcase material. I was looking for something that looked good to (the) naked eye," he said.

His naked eye, though, can only distinguish a few colors.

"If you put something side by side and said, 'Oh that's green,' I'd say that's OK for a while, I could work with that," he said, adding that there was no set way of getting around his disadvantage. "What looked good to me, I put together."

He went to work, constructing the lighthouse in three different sections. It stands 53 inches high and is 22 inches wide at the base _ a lot of fragile glass ready to break.

"I had visions of me breaking glass. Imagine how many pieces of glass you break doing this," he said with a shudder. "You have to walk away from it for a while."

His lighthouse, which is on display with the works of 22 other artists, has rows of fish leading up to the top, which shows a sunrise, a rainbow and stars.

For a plumber, the chance to work with his hands to create a piece of art was welcome, although he said the other workers at his business teased him about it. In the end, though, they supported his new creative outlet.

His customers support it too. Florence Phillips, a longtime client of Sudell's, was amazed that a man who has trouble seeing color and no artistic background could create something so vibrant and professional.

"The lighthouses are spread around the aquarium. I was trying to find John's, and I asked someone who worked there to help me," Phillips said. "I saw a beautiful thing behind her, and thought, 'I wonder if that's it?' It was John's. I was dazzled."

The piece is titled, "Uncle Fritz's Lighthouse," in honor of his uncle, who created the stained-glass entrance at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Byram after picking up the art form as a hobby at age 80.

"I did this in honor of him," Sudell said of his artistic inspiration.

But if you know about the lighthouse's other title, you'd know not to expect any future masterpieces crafted by the handyman. This was a one-time deal, despite his wife's requests for stained-glass gifts for their family.

"The other name was, 'The First Attempt, Last Attempt,"' he said.

When the exhibit is over, Sudell said, he might offer it on a rotating basis for display purposes to area groups, since he doesn't have much room for it at home.

That might just gain him some notoriety in Greenwich for his newfound talent, even if it appears he's not quite ready for the limelight.

"My kids went to see it...and they point and say, 'My father built this one!"' Sudell said, noting his embarrassment. "And then you want to just crawl in a hole."

article 2 excerpt

N.Y. tales: The good, mad, ugly

COMPILED By PAUL H.B. SHIN

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER



New York's first transit strike in 25 years got people fired up, walking and talking - regardless of whether they backed Transport Workers Union Local 100's decision to put the city in a headlock for 60 hours. Here's what Daily News readers had to say about their travel woes and the illegal strike that almost stole Christmas:

Jeanne Martin, who runs an after-school program in Manhattan and employs an art teacher who is blind, blasted cabbies who refused to stop for the young woman and her Seeing Eye dog.

"Can you imagine? A young blind woman with a dog trying to hail a cab and go to work, and no one cared enough to stop for her," Martin fumed. "The taxi drivers of this city that passed her by should be ashamed of themselves.

"Your headline [Friday], 'NOBODY WINS,' is wrong. The taxi drivers made out like bandits."



article 3

He always looked for ways to better educate his students

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

By BRENDA G. ANDERSON

Correspondent

Ross Hobbs believes in education, he believes in thinking outside of the box and he believes in turning any negative situation into a positive one.

Because of his attitude, Hobbs has accomplished some extraordinary feats in his academic career and his private life.

After an active social life in high school, Hobbs graduated from Livingston University in 1972 with an art and history degree.



"I had been accepted in the Peace Corps. In the 1960s there was a social revolution going on in our country, and I wanted to be a part of it. I didn't go into the Peace Corps but went to Selma as a teacher. I was the only white person at the elementary school. I taught for two years then returned to Livingston for my master's," he said. "I also married my math teacher at Livingston.

"I returned to Selma where I was a principal for 19 years at Byrd Elementary School. Later, I got my education specialist degree," he said.

During this time, Hobbs also taught adult education, served as a marketing director for seven banks and was constantly thinking of ways to better educate his students.

"After 19 years as principal, I was asked to start a school of academics and the arts that served all sixth-graders in the Selma public schools. For five years, I was the principal at the School of Discovery. It was a wonderful school where the arts were incorporated into every discipline. We had a creative curriculum for these children," he said.

"I tried to expose these kids to everything I could. Some had never seen the ocean. You can read about the ocean, but until you feel the sea spray in your face or taste the salt water, you won't understand it," he said.

"I had five gardens set up on campus. One was for the handicapped children. I wanted my blind students to use their senses, to smell the flowers, feel the different texture of leaves and hear the water flowing.

"I had fresh flowers and soft music playing in the halls," said Hobbs. "I always thought outside of the box to help these children."

Because of this, Hobbs was awarded the Alabama Art Award of the Year and the Southeastern Art Award of the Year. His resume lists award after award for his work in the educational and art community. But his most prized is the Spirit of America award for helping refugees from Laos.

Time moved on and he was offered a job in North Carolina to develop a school based on the School of Discovery, but declined at the last minute. Instead, Hobbs and his wife went to work for the Alabama Department of Education helping schools in trouble with test scores.

In addition, Hobbs was restoring homes built in 1825, 1855 and two built in 1875. "I used my own money as well as grant money to restore these beautiful places. I had a construction crew, which I supervised. Art and my history degree came into play with these projects," he said.

After 35 years in education and a stack of prestigious awards, Hobbs decided to retire and move south to Fairhope. "I was a shaker and a doer, now I am slowly getting involved in the community. Right now I am working on my yard and my house," he said.

article 4

Sr. Mary DePazzi, an expert in bonsai

Nurtured children at St. Aloysius

By Jay Pope


Sister Mary DePazzi always had an interest in trees, then learned she could have a forest of them covering a table top.

Bonsai, the cultivation of miniature trees, has been described as a four-dimensional art form - living sculpture.

"Bonsai is almost a painting," said Sister DePazzi, one of the region's foremost practitioners of the Japanese art.

Although legally blind for more than five decades, Sister DePazzi served her faith for 68 years, and helped found the Bonsai Society of Cincinnati and Radio Reading Services for the Blind.

She suffered a stroke in recent years. She died at Lourdes Hall, St. Joseph Heights, Park Hills on Friday. She was 89.

Sister DePazzi was born in Jamestown, Ohio, in 1916 as Catherine Shane.

After graduating from Notre Dame Academy in Covington, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1935 and made her first vows in 1937.

After her first five-month service at a Notre Dame House in Aurora, Ill., she returned to Cincinnati and worked at St. Aloysius Orphanage in Bond Hill. After eight years she transferred to a Winnebago Indian Reservation school in Nebraska, then returned to St. Aloysius and continued to serve another 24 years.

At the orphanage, she was group mother and substitute teacher, and also served as a child-care worker and health care provider to the children.

In 1972, Sister DePazzi moved to St. Joseph Heights of Park Hills.

In the early 1950s, Sister DePazzi's eyesight began to fail due to macular degeneration, but she did not let it get in the way of her interests.

She became an avid "reader" of taped books, said Sister Carol Baglan of Covington.

"When I learned about the books and magazines on tape," Sister DePazzi said in 2001, "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!"

In order to help others who were visually impaired, she became one of the founders of Radio Reading Services for the Blind. She served on the local board in Cincinnati, state board in Columbus and on the committee for 15 years.

Sister DePazzi was also doing bonsai and exhibiting with other enthusiasts before the Cincinnati Bonsai Society was formed in 1964. She belonged to all the committees and served as president from 1977 to 1979.

"She never let (blindness) stop her from what she wanted to do," said Baglan. "She would take her walking stick, get on a bus and go to her organizations. She was out and involved."

Some of Sister DePazzi's bonsai trees can be found at the permanent Krohn Conservatory Bonsai Collection. She asked that one of the trees from the conservatory be buried with her.

Survivors include a nephew, Richard Shane of Dayton, Ohio; a niece, Mary Kay Counos of Wilbraham, Mass.; and several great-nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be from 4-6:30 p.m. with a Mass of Christian burial at 7 p.m. today at the Provincial House at St. Joseph Heights, Park Hills. Burial will be at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the convent cemetery in Park Hills. Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home in Covington is handling arrangements.

Memorials: Sisters of Notre Dame, 1601 Dixie Hwy., Park Hills, KY 41011; or Radio Reading Services, Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 2045 Gilbert Ave., Cincinnati OH 45202.

article 5

An artistic vision adds delight to his life

Although legally blind, newsstand operator Fred Tromp learns to sculpt in wood and make greeting cards 



By DANIELLE FURFARO, Staff writer

First published: Thursday, December 1, 2005



ALBANY -- Fred Tromp greets every customer at his newsstand in the state Justice Building with the same cheerful refrain.

"Happy day," he says in a sing-song-y voice to all, whether he recognizes them or not. He's legally blind, but with his one fairly good eye, he quickly sizes up what the customers are buying, how much money they owe and how much change to give. Some, who are aware of his disability, tell him what they've got and the item's price.

Tromp, 59, has been blind in his left eye for decades as a result of diabetes. He has also battled severe tunnel vision in his right eye.

"I can see your face, but not your shoulders," he explains. "Or your shoulders and not your face."

The longtime Latham resident is almost always smiling, exhaling a gentle "yay" when something good happens.

He has owned and operated his newsstand for 23 years under a program of the state Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped that offers business opportunities in government buildings.

"I work alone from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.," said Tromp. "I try to make it fun and less like work."

On the counter next to him sits one of the intricately carved brook trout that he creates in his spare time.

"I like working with the grain of the wood, it's so smooth and wonderful," said Tromp.

He took up carving around the same time he opened his business. As a young man, he loved to hunt and fish, but as his sight declined, his interests shifted to sculpting wildlife.

Under his counter, Tromp keeps a collection of mallards carved by his old friend and mentor Ellsworth Bell.

"He was the one who showed me how to carve," said Tromp, offering a magnifying glass to inspect Bell's craftsmanship. "He made these in 1984."

In addition to carving, Tromp also raises roses, which he photographs and makes into greeting cards.

Last spring, Tromp was walking down Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham on his way to Faddegon's Nursery for gardening materials when he came across the Local Color Art Gallery, which is operated by the Colonie Art League. He introduced himself and mentioned that he was a sculptor. Now several of his pieces are on display in the gallery.

"He is such a remarkable person," said Diane Bollman-Buyer, committee chairwoman of the gallery. "To know that he is doing this while legally blind is amazing."

Tromp lives with one of his three children, his 29-year-old son, Michael. His wife, Barbara, died of pheochromocytoma, a rare cancer, in 2001 at the age of 51.

An earlier brush with death left Tromp with a greater sense of spirituality.

"Have you ever heard of dying and going to heaven?" he asks. He then tells about a heart attack and subsequent infection he suffered in 1989, which caused his heart to stop repeatedly on an operating table. For a few moments, he said he went to heaven. "I was sent to a room to be quick-judged. Then I was sent to about 20 other rooms. I was standing on the clouds and I was afraid I'd fall through."

That moment changed his life. "Since then," he said, "I haven't worried about anything."






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