Zen and the art of wood carving
Lawrence artist sculpts Buddha from dead tree
There's yard art, and then there's yard art. Lawrence sculptor Dave Werdin-Kennicott's latest work belongs in the latter category - that of something different and special.
Music to soothe the ailing soul
Concert to benefit families of children with cancer
Short of actually losing a child, there are few things more difficult for parents than having to nurse a child through a life-threatening illness such as cancer.
Grilled to perfection
Pizza a tasty alternative in outdoor summer cooking
Tired of grilling burgers and hot dogs? Maybe it's time to put that grill to a different use and create something that will wow the guests at your next backyard barbecue. Like a grilled pizza.
Pampered pets
Juicy steaks. Personal pools. Acupuncture. These animals are living in the lap of luxury.
Welcome to Animal Planet. The Lawrence home of Gary Rogers and Leola Roach is sanctuary to a veritable zoo of critters: two cats, two dogs and seven birds of various origins. But reigning supreme over this kingdom of beasts is Venus, an Umbrella cockatoo with snow-white feathers and black, penetrating eyes.
Swordplay
Steel, history and art combine to inspire Lawrence blade enthusiasts
You do not want to meet Tyler Rea in a dark alley. Wrapped in a sarong, a tiger-claw blade extending from each clenched fist, he is the picture of focused ferocity. Rea, 34, is trained in the Indonesian martial art of pentjak silat, a stunningly efficient system to kill opponents using a claw-blade defense.
The fashion eye of the regular guy
Tom Frame is not a fashion plate. He will never make Mr. Blackwell's annual list of best-dressed men. He is completely out of touch with what the men's silhouette for summer looks like. Even the Fab Five of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" fame would pass on this guy. And Frame, 77, couldn't care less.
Hooked on the Flint Hills
Artists pay homage to prairies, skies that keep them inspired
There's something about the Flint Hills that keeps luring back noted Lawrence landscape artist Robert Sudlow. "It's kind of like a moonscape: Everything's there and nothing's there," says Sudlow, 85, who taught painting at Kansas University from 1947 until he retired 40 years later.
Digging the spirit
Former fossil finder crafts religious icons from dinosaur bones and 'bling bling'
Behold "Jurassic Jesus." The 500-pound sculpture is an example of Alan Detrich's latest passion: crafting religious icons from dinosaur bones, precious metals and tiny transistor parts.
Legacy in arts
Longtime KU professor steps down
When Peter Thompson pulled into Lawrence in 1965, he thought his new position as a painting and drawing instructor at Kansas University would be temporary - a mere pit stop in his academic career.
Aiming low
Big boys who dunk on short goals say there's no shame in their game
Grant Randall isn't an imposing guy. At 5 feet 8 inches tall and 160 pounds, he'd be no match for Wayne Simien, battling under the net against Kansas University's former big man. During his four years as a KU undergraduate, Randall never stood a chance of stepping into the spotlight during a Jayhawk game at Allen Fieldhouse and hearing the roar of the crowd as he sank a basket.
Pimpin rides
Lawrence's Art Tougeau parade is a colorful, kooky non sequitur on wheels
The Art Tougeau Parade is a Lawrence rarity - a community happening that's neither a fund-raiser for a worthy cause nor a political statement. It's done for the sheer joy of pursuing wackiness for its own sake. Call it what you like - words like silly, inspired and hilarious come to mind. The colorful, kooky parade is a non sequitur on wheels.
Message in a bottle
Film sparks Lawrence wine interest
The secret's out of the bottle: Lawrence has become a wine lover's town. And, based on interviews with people in the Lawrence restaurant and liquor business, a good deal of the credit for the boom of interest in wine goes to the film "Sideways."
Grinding it out
Artist's coffee-on-canvas paintings look like sepia photos
Chanisa Arthachinda loves shots of industrial-strength espresso, but not for the usual reasons. It isn't the taste that she craves, nor is she addicted to the energizing jolt of caffeine the stuff instantly delivers to coffee drinkers. Instead, she paints with it.
Honoring history
Composer to unveil 'Phoenix of the Plains'
When Geoffrey Wilcken accepted a commission from the Lawrence Civic Choir in 2003 to create a musical composition in honor of Lawrence's sesquicentennial, he knew he had a big job ahead of him.
Flamenco!
Guitarist, dancers interrupt European tour to inoculate city
Gerald Lubensky was just a youngster when his heart was pierced by the beauty and power of flamenco, a distinctive style of dancing -- more of an art form, really -- that comes from Andalucia, the eight-province region of southern Spain.
Fashionable faith
Downtown shop converts pop culture into Christian apparel
At Extreme Christian Clothing, God is in fashion. So is Jesus, heaven and Scripture. Even -- gulp -- Satan makes an appearance or two.
Series allows area poets to put a voice to their verse
Crafting poetry can be a lonely discipline. But the reward comes when poets can share their writing with others, especially when it means reciting one of their poems -- in their own voice -- to a receptive audience.
Beer men
For some guys, the best brews are the ones they create in their homes
Lots of guys love beer. Heck, enjoying a cold one now and again is almost an essential part of guyhood.
For the joy of it, centenarian still putting brush to paper
At 101, some of the senses Dorothy Rosenthal uses to perceive the world around her have dulled with age. Her hearing, for instance, is not the greatest. It's important for visitors to face her while talking, so she can read their lips.
Kansan stars in classic opera 'Carmen' at Lied
You can take the farm boy out of Kansas, but you can't take Kansas out of the farm boy -- even when he's a principal soloist with the New York City Opera, based in Lincoln Center, with almost 1,500 performances of more than 100 different operatic parts to his credit since the 1980s.
Strange stagefellows
Troupe's double bill ventures into avant-garde
Those who enjoy experimental or avant-garde theater -- performances that push the envelope of an audience's expectations -- will likely find much to appreciate in two plays being staged by E.M.U. Theatre.
Sweet support for the arts honors past patron
Alice Ann would have loved it. That's what folks who knew Alice Ann Callahan Russell are saying about Sunday's 17th annual Chocolate Auction, a fund-raiser for the Baldwin Community Arts Council.
Cinema with soul
New group shares enthusiasm for spirituality in film
Nearly everyone who loves movies knows what it's like to discover a treasure of a film -- one that's so good, so mind-expanding, so heart-stirring, it comes across as a revelation. Those are the kind of films that capture the attention of C. Shaffia Laue, a holistic psychiatrist based in Lawrence.
KU Opera's 'Cosi' to have Midwest flavor
Mozart set his opera "Cosi fan Tutte" -- which premiered in 1789 -- in late 18th century Italy.
Director adjusts to new position in 'Flaming Idiots'
When "Flaming Idiots" -- a new farce being staged by the Lawrence Community Theatre -- opens Friday, it's going to be a challenging experience for Charles Whitman.
Hypothetical chapels
KU architecture students design models of sacred space
Kansas University already has an intimate worship space: Danforth Chapel. But if the school should ever decide to build another one, say, on west campus, a dozen architectural models for such a chapel already exist.
The secret's out
Popular Free State dish represents Kansas in new cookbook, 'American Sandwich'
Regulars at the Free State Brewing Co. have long known that the restaurant's Portobello Parmesan Sandwich is a heck of a good meal -- meaty (though vegetarian), juicy and flavorful.
Kooky art fair turns 15, honors 'founding mothers'
Lawrence's Bizarre Bazaar was born of humble roots. The show and sale of eclectic, funky and sometimes kooky art traces its beginnings to an effort by two neighbors, Nan Renbarger and Dixie Lubin -- both artists -- to have their work seen by more people.
Thou shalt act
Teens to perform in plays based on Ten Commandments
Just because the Ten Commandments are written in stone -- well, at the least the original version was -- doesn't mean you can't have fun with them. That's the idea behind "10 X 10," a new youth production that will be performed Nov. 5-6 at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.
Barbecue breakthrough
Lawrence boasts a bigger menu of smoked meats
When veteran restaurateur Bob Schumm opened Buffalo Bob's Smokehouse in downtown Lawrence in 1977, he had the city's barbecue market to himself.
Sisterly city art exchange
Photographs of German Sister City go up at library in time for visit by Eutin, Hiratsuka delegations
Fifteen years after the launch of Lawrence's Sister Cities exchange program with Eutin, Germany, and Hiratsuka, Japan, the relationships that have been built continue to yield artistic and cultural rewards.
Revolution in the making
Lawrence physician's book about how the Atkins Diet can help manage diabetes gaining national attention
Pat Dieckhaus is proof that the low-carbohydrate, high-protein Atkins Diet can help not only those who are trying to lose substantial amounts of weight, but also people wishing to head off the risk of developing adult-onset diabetes.
Former KU student and MIT graduate advocates low-tech living in new book
Eric Brende belongs to a rare breed. Not only is he a soap-making, rickshaw-driving Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, which makes him unusual enough.
War paint
Paintball popularity exploding around Lawrence
It hurts. That's the first thing you should know about how it feels to get hit by a speeding paintball. Some paintball enthusiasts liken the sensation to being snapped by a towel, but that doesn't quite capture the unique zing of a paint-filled gelatin capsule meeting your collarbone or bare skin at about 280 feet per second. That's one heck of a towel snap.
Hooked on fishing
Crown Casting Club reels in young anglers
Tiara Barrett was exultant about her catch. "I got a big-mouth bass -- 12 inches, I think. I'm just happy to see the fish and catch it. I'm trying to get another one," said Tiara, 10, a fifth-grader at Deerfield School.
Head over wheels
Tricked out tires, rims and the people who own them
When Coco Hinojos drives his pearl-white Cadillac CTS sedan around Lawrence, the car gets plenty of attention. Especially since he slapped on a $2,000 set of custom, chrome-plated wheels -- known to auto enthusiasts as rims -- and special, low-profile tires.
Young leukemia patient inspires benefit
Concert proceeds earmarked for foundation that assists families of children with cancer
When Emily Venters was diagnosed with leukemia four days after her third birthday, her mother's friends from a Lawrence group called MOMS Club did what they could to support the little girl's family.
Reporter testifies to irony of name
For the past several weeks, I have watched with increasing interest the Journal-World's series of occasional feature stories about Lawrence residents who have the same names as famous people. First there was Roy Williams, then James Bond and, most recently, Minnie Pearl.
'It's like listening to music'
Topeka man exhibits private Sudlow collection
When Horace Eubank saw his first Robert Sudlow painting, he had no idea it would spark a passion for the noted Lawrence landscape artist's work that would last nearly 40 years -- and counting.
Strolling violinist strikes palatable chords for diners
Merav Singer's repertoire is likely a little more varied than those of most violinists. "I play everything -- lots of classical, very Romantic pieces, encore music, Broadway show tunes, country, theme songs from movies, 'Titanic,' 'Schindler's List' ... songs that people recognize," says Singer, 32.
Van Go JAMS fund-raiser marks agency's maiden voyage
The first major fund-raiser for Lawrence's Van Go Mobile Arts has a distinctly nautical theme that's much in keeping with the organization's image as a center of youthful creativity and whimsy.
Space constraints squeeze 'Gypsy' cast
Mary Doveton has overseen a lot of shows at the Lawrence Community Theatre. But the upcoming production of the Broadway musical "Gypsy" stands out, in her mind, as a special challenge.
Making mothers' days
Club offers camaraderie, grown-up conversation for stay-at-home moms
Julee Travis swapped one rewarding, full-time job for another. Travis, 31, gave up working as a communications coordinator for Cottonwood Inc., in order to become a stay-at-home mom and devote all of her time to raising her children, Nicholas, 3, and Samantha, 6.
Annual event inspires artist
Now in its 43rd year, Art in the Park includes exhibits, activities and more
Each year, artists and art lovers crowd South Park the first weekend in May to attend a long-standing, annual event called Art in the Park. And you can bet Julie Kingsbury, a Lawrence metalsmith, will be on hand to display and sell her silver-and-gemstone jewelry, as well as chat with customers examining her work.
Forget finesse. Lacrosse players take a beating on the field of hard knocks
As soon as the practice begins, so does the hitting. "Damn, C.J.!" says one frustrated player after getting knocked to the ground by a teammate at a recent afternoon practice of the Kansas University Men's Lacrosse Club at Broken Arrow Park.
Forget finesse. Lacrosse players take a beating on the field of hard knocks
As soon as the practice begins, so does the hitting. "Damn, C.J.!" says one frustrated player after getting knocked to the ground by a teammate at a recent afternoon practice of the Kansas University Men's Lacrosse Club at Broken Arrow Park.
Low-carb craze challenges bakeries
Local restaurants weigh in on diet's effects
For thousands of years, Western culture has regarded bread as the "staff of life." These days, however, more Americans seem to view bread as the kiss of death.
Auction counts on benevolent artists, bidders
If there's one fund-raiser that many Lawrence artists seem more than happy to participate in each year, it's the Lawrence Art Auction, an event that helps fund the gallery exhibition program at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.
Authentic Mexican fare
Customers fuel up at tiny restaurant
You rarely find authentic Mexican food in a gas station. But that's the case with Tortas Jalisco, a tiny Lawrence restaurant serving Mexican dishes in the corner of the Phillips 66 gas station at 3300 W. Sixth St.
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