Rolla Presbyterian Manor
JANUARY 2023
Rolla artists’ work featured in 2023 Art is Ageless calendar, cards A select number of works featured in the Art is Ageless® exhibition and competition at Rolla Presbyterian Manor will now appear in the 2023 Art is Ageless calendar, notecards and postcards. “Community Matters” spoke to five Rolla-area artists whose work is featured alongside other talented senior artists across Missouri and Kansas. “Since I was a kid, I’ve always liked to draw pictures,” Carol Jessup said. “I started out with crayons.” The 85-year-old artist has two pieces shown in 2023 Art is Ageless materials, each in a different medium. “Sunrise on Lake Superior” is an oil landscape that’s reproduced on a postcard in the calendar. Carol based the painting on a snapshot of the Great Lake taken near her former home in Duluth, Minnesota. “We lived in that area for a while, and it’s beautiful,” she said. “About every weekend we managed to drive up to Split Rock Lighthouse with our kids.” Carol bases many of her paintings on photographs she’s taken, and her
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Editor’s Note: In a nod to our Presbyterian heritage, we regularly feature a column from a PMMA® chaplain in our newsletter. This month’s column comes from Robert “Bob” Giffin, chaplain at Topeka Presbyterian Manor®.
Strike… Strike one! Ok, that’s just one. Two more chances. Strike two! Golly geezers. Ok, no panic here. One more chance. Strike…
Bob Giffin
As we start 2023, another new year with more new beginnings and more new starts, there will be more opportunities for success. And yes, more opportunities to strike out. In fact, it seems we are better at striking out than succeeding! If that sounds like you, well, you’re in good company! • Babe Ruth is most famous for hitting 714 home runs. But he struck out 1,330 times. • Abraham Lincoln, whose face is famously enshrined on Mount Rushmore, struck out in all of his eight election bids before finally winning one and becoming the 16th President of the United States. • Thomas Edison struck out 10,000 times to invent the light bulb. But he didn’t consider all those strike outs to be failures. “I
“Sunrise on Lake Superior” by Carol Jessup
Chaplain – continued on page 2
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Chaplain – continued from page 1 have not failed 10,000 times,” Edison said, “I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
resolutions is pretty high, but that does not have to include you! If you fall, get up. If you miss, swing again. Don’t give up on you in 2023!
Babe Ruth, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Edison share common ground: they never gave up. They kept taking swings at their goals.
Writing to a people and a church that was struggling to be successful, the Apostle Paul said: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at
the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9, NIV). u Resources: discoverhappyhabits.com/new-yearsresolution-statistics throughtco.com/The Failed Inventions of Thomas Alva Edison Timesmojo.com/did-babe-ruth-strike-outmore-than-anyone history.answers.com
I played a lot of whiffle ball in the back yard with my five kids. I could throw a wicked curve and a swift fastball! But, as my friend Glen used to say: “Here’s the deal.” The deal is that it was never strike three on them! No matter how many times they swung and missed at what could have been strike three, it never was “strike three”: they were never called out for swinging and missing. I wanted them to keep trying because sooner or later I knew they’d get a hit. Millions of Americans have already made resolutions for this New Year. Resolutions to eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight, quit smoking, save money…all good and noble goals and yet, 88% fail in keeping their resolution. The strike out rate on Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
Community Matters 573-364-7336 ◆ Fax: 573-364-7495 1200 Homelife Plaza Rolla, MO 65401-2595 RollaPresbyterianManor.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2023
is published monthly for residents and friends of Rolla Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
To submit or suggest articles: lwaldron@pmma.org@PMMA.org Ann Caudill, executive director Lorri Waldron, marketing director
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
Art is Ageless – continued from page 1 favorite medium is watercolor. But she created her second winning piece with needle and thread. “Gardening” will appear on an Art is Ageless birthday card.
entries was inspired by an interior decoration scheme.
“It has a lot of different stiches, so making it was a learning experience for me,” she said.
Ellen looked up the lyrics to the title song of the rock opera “Hair,” which contains numerous descriptions of all kinds of tresses, from “straight” and “curly” to “bangled” and “tangled.”
Carol learned about the Art is Ageless exhibition and competition many years ago, when her motherin-law lived at Rolla Presbyterian Manor. “I just decided, oh what the heck,” she said. “I think it’s a wonderful program, and it gives people a chance to express themselves in a creative way.” One of Ellen Reynolds’ winning
“I got a new beautician, and she was going to decorate her salon with all black and white,” she said.
The result is “Homage to the Musical Hair,” a pen-and-ink and charcoal drawing that Ellen gave to her stylist. It appears in the 2023 Art is Ageless calendar. An artist from “way back,” Ellen worked as an elementary-school art teacher for 28 years. After she retired from teaching, she became the administrator of the Texas County Museum of Art and History. “I’ve been in art all this time, I guess,” said the 72-year-old. In contrast with her calendar feature, “Spring Flowers/Spring Boots” is a colorful watercolor painting. “I had seen boots that were used for vases, and I thought that was neat,” Ellen said. “Then I made up my own flowers.” The colorful result is featured on an Art is Ageless notecard. Ellen has been submitting work to the Art is Ageless exhibition at Rolla Presbyterian Manor for about 10 years, even before she was eligible for the competition, which is open to artists 65 and older.
Homage to Hair the Musical by Ellen Reynolds
Her parents lived at Presbyterian Manor, which is how she became familiar with Art is Ageless.
Spring Flowers/Spring Boots” by Ellen Reynolds
“My folks were very, very happy there,” she said. “They were always well taken care of; the people were friendly and everything was clean. “I ate a lot of meals there, too, and the food was good.” Helen Hoertel picked up the art of quilling after she received a Mother’s Day card that featured an intricate rolled paper pattern. The 90-year-old artist likes to keep her hands busy when she’s watching the evening news, and she decided to make Christmas cards using “Red Quilled Christmas” by Helen Hoertel.
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the technique. “Red Quilled Christmas” will be featured in the honorable mention gallery in the Art is Ageless calendar. Sophia deLaat’s gourd art has been delighting Rolla Presbyterian Manor residents for years. “Gourds seem to lend themselves to creating all different kinds of shapes,” she said. One such shape is that of an angel. Around 10 years ago, Sophia began making illuminated angel gourd sculptures inspired by a vision of laughing angels she saw in a dream. “All my work has some kind of praise aspect to it, a recognition that there is poetry all around us,” she said.
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The gourd angels reflected the “multifaceted” nature of these angelic beings. Her “Christmas Angel” will appear in the Art is Ageless calendar. Though she estimates it’s only 10 inches high, Sophia imbued the figure with delicate pattern and detail, some of it gilded. The 73-year-old artist says she’s grateful for the opportunity to share her work with the Presbyterian Manor community, and she enjoyed speaking with residents during the Art is Ageless calendar reception last month. “The people (at Presbyterian Manor) have just been so supportive,” she said. “How many places do artists have the opportunity to connect with their audience in this way? “It makes it worthwhile to cultivate a creative practice” u
COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2023
Sophia deLaat’s gourd art, “Christmas Angel”