Celebrating the Beauty of the Natural World through Artwork | “Outside and Around Us”

Artwork provided by Aiken Center for the Arts, used with permission Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape. An upcoming exhibition at Aiken Center for the Arts, “Outside and Around Us,” features plein air artwork by local artists Al Beyer, Bill Daniel, Sally Donovan, and Andrew Murphy from December 3, 2020 through January 29, 2021. For these artists, there is something about being in the environment as they paint that is important to them. It is more than simply painting outside; there is value from being in the open air. They are offered the opportunity to

Story of Hanukkah

Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights, celebrated to commemorate the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after Judah Maccabee’s victory over the occupying Greek army in 165 BC. In the land of Judah, ruling Syrian King Antiochus ordered the Jewish population to reject all their religious beliefs and practices and worship Greek gods. For fear of the occupying Greek military that enforced King Antiochus’ decree, some Jews obeyed that command, but the majority chose to rebel against it. Thus were sown the seeds of what would ultimately become the celebration of Hanukkah. Fights broke out in a village near Jerusalem when Greek soldiers demanded that the Jewish villagers

OPEN – HANDED Generosity

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across water to create many ripples.” MOTHER TERESA As we enter yet another month of the COVID-19 epidemic, I look around in wonder at the generosity I see in our community. Not only on the front lines in the ER, hospitals, police force, etc. but the dedicated service workers who continue to show up to keep a job, knowing they may be risking their own health as well as that of their families. What intrigues me the most is the generosity of those who daily continue to carry on the work of their churches and organizations manning the

Americana in Aiken

I drive down a beautiful Southern lane shaded by live oaks and arrive at a small 5 acre family farm. There are chickens, laying hens, in a pen in the front field, and bunnies in a bunny hutch next to the driveway. The setting is pure Americana. In the woods behind the house are a paddock of goats and another pen of “eating” chickens. I am here to learn the story of this family and how The Sharpener’s Edge came to be. Colleen grew up in Westchester County, New York, and trained as an CPA. Jim, an aircraft mechanic, is from Long Island. Jim’s aunt set them up on a

December 2020 Issue

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