Monday, October 22, 2012

Latvian artist exhibiting his work at Hopkins District Library

by Zinta Aistars for ADVANCE NEWS
October 22, 2012
Published in Penasee Globe


Natalie Bazan, library director, talking to artist Viestarts Aistars


It may be small, but the Hopkins District Library reaches far and pulls in close. The library often exhibits the work of local artists, and now on exhibit are five works by Latvian artist Viestarts Aistars, of Kalamazoo.

"I'm very pleased to show my work in Hopkins," said Aistars. "This is a beautiful area, and the countryside reminds me of parts of Latvia."

Aistars was born in 1927 in Dobele, Latvia, a small Eastern European country on the Baltic Sea. He immigrated to the United States in the aftermath of World War II, when Latvia was occupied by the Soviet army and the Aistars family was listed for deportation to concentration camps in Siberia, where many Latvians died.

Chicago was Aistars’ first home in the United States, and he enrolled in ...

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON MLIVE.COM.

To learn more about the artist, Viestarts Aistars, see his work on his blog and on his Facebook page.



Sunday, October 14, 2012

A Daughter's Wedding

On September 1, 2012, my daughter Lorena married Derek in Chicago ... a beautiful church ceremony that concluded on a cruise ship on Lake Michigan, the incredible skyline of Chicago in the distance. Truly a day to remember, leaving this mama's heart warm with memory.

A small sample of images from the day ...

My son walked my daughter down the aisle; here, a quiet moment just before...


Sister and brother walking down the aisle

























Friday, October 12, 2012

Byron Center teacher brings art class into the digital world

by Zinta Aistars
Published in ADVANCE News, MLive.com
October 12, 2012

Janine Campbell


Janine Campbell, a visual arts teacher at West Middle School in Byron Center, is plugged in.

She’s so plugged in, in fact, that teachers all across the state, even across the country, are taking notice.

Campbell teaches art to seventh- and eighth-grade students, and she does much of it online, through social media, blogs and videos.

“Kids are online anyway,” Campbell says, “and they understand it well. It’s an extension of what they are doing already.”

Campbell’s teaching art hand-in-hand with technology has caught the interest of other art educators hoping to learn from her success.

Campbell has been invited to...

READ THE FULL NEWS ARTICLE ON MLIVE.COM.