"Luminations in a Shadowy Woods"
Artists Paul Neufelder and Betty Wilkerson Shine
It was like walking through a Tolkien forest...
...the sun had started to set as we pulled into the parking area. A feeling of magic and mystery surrounded the woods. We were shuttled to a small path where we began to see the first signs of the lamps.
Paul and Betty had created these wonderful sculptures out of cement, steel rods, canvass, and pure imagination.
We walked down a path that was lined with lamps almost four feet tall. Thinking this had to be one of the greatest things we had ever seen-until we rounded a bend and caught sight of the valley below us.
The landscape was covered with them. Over three hundred lamps of every size, shape, and color. The painted shades on every lamp as unique as snowflakes. They lighted the path to the house of artist and hostess Betty Wilkerson. They brightened the area where Kukari Kubo and her family were preparing food for the guests. (A delicious vegetable stir fry with bread baked over a fire in a homemade oven)
As I walked around the pond a feeling of serenity and peace came over me. The weather was perfect, the stars were out and the frogs sung tunes from their greatest hits collection.
I asked Paul how it felt, to see his work displayed like this... "Satisfied, I could only imagine what the effect would be. I couldn't be happier with it."
Plans for an autumn show are in the works, and this is an invitation to anyone wishing to witness the magic firsthand. Other artists (poets, musicians, and storytellers) are welcome to come and share in the festivities.
For more information contact Paul Neufelder at (812) 372-2941 or e-mail him at at Finearts@artneus.com
You can contact Betty Wilkerson via e-mail at bj@scican.net