Dayhoff uses computer screen as easel by Lyndi McNulty

Dayhoff uses computer screen as easel

By Lyndi McNulty Eye for Art http://tinyurl.com/ygpfy7r

Published: Monday, November 16, 2009 1:24 PM EST

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2009/11/16/advocate_of_eldersburg/columns/eye_for_art/doc4b0197d38917e200489972.txt
My Off Track Art work station on August 21, 2009 Kevin Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/yegvz39 Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/qzhwj or here: http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/258030332/my-off-track-art-work-station-on-august-21-2009

~~~~~

Kevin Dayhoff greeted me with a quick smile and a familiar “How’s your behavior?” as he peered from behind his computer screen as I entered the Off Track Art gallery at 11 Liberty St. in downtown Westminster last week for an interview.

He was a collage artist at work. However, it was not the traditional cluttered scene of an artist’s studio. There was no easel, piles of images and collage materials, an array of glues or even a palette plate of paint daubs sitting on top of boxes of art supplies. His canvas was his computer screen, and he was trying to get an image to paste properly into a collage.

The gallery is wonderful display of the work of 14 other artists. They all belong in an artists’ cooperative, Off Track Art, situated alongside the railroad tracks in the center of town at Main and Liberty streets.

Dayhoff is a lifelong Carroll County artist. A native of Westminster, he has had a wide range of experience and interests. He has been a landscaper, artist, writer and even the local town mayor.

He inherited his art talent from his parents. His father was an artist-painter-cabinetmaker. His mother is a culinary artist. In 1958, his interest in art surfaced when he was only five years old. People took a special interest in his drawing. His mother encouraged him draw a pirate when he was 5 and entered it into a drawing contest.

All through Carroll County Public Schools, Dayhoff drew, created collages, and wrote short stories. He was the boy sports editor for the Westminster High School yearbook and collaged many of the photographs in the 1971 yearbook – the year he graduated. In addition, Dayhoff studied photography in the 1960s in 4-H. Later, as a landscape designer, he took photographs of the properties and expanded that into his artwork.

When asked about what it was like to grow up an artist in Carroll County, Dayhoff has nothing but praise.

“There is no better place to be an artist than Carroll County. I have rarely met disapproval, only encouragement,” he said.

Read the rest of Ms. McNulty’s article here: Dayhoff uses computer screen as easel by Lyndi McNulty

20091116 Dayhoff uses computer screen as easel by Lyndi McNulty

Art McNulty Eye for Art Advocate, Art Off Track Art, Dayhoff Art, Dayhoff bio and disclosures, Dayhoff Daily Photoblog, Dayhoff Off Track Art, Dayhoff photos, Newspapers Westminster Advocate

Dayhoff uses computer screen as easel by Lyndi McNulty http://tinyurl.com/ygpfy7r #art #writing

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/11/dayhoff-uses-computer-screen-as-easel.html http://tinyurl.com/ygpfy7r

*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/) http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

20080514 Eye for Art: Young photographer has high hopes for artistic future by Lyndi McNulty

Eye for Art: Kasey Keefer - Young photographer has high hopes for artistic future by Lyndi McNulty in The Advocate

May 14, 2008

http://westminsteradvocate.com

14.MAY.08 Eye for Art: Young photographer has high hopes for artistic future

http://westminsteradvocate.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=3514&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1322&hn=westminsteradvocate&he=.com

Kasey Keefer has grown up on the outskirts of the City of Westminster. He is a creative 17 year old who will soon become an Eagle Scout on May 28. Keefer is also a talented photographer.

“My Dad, Andy, has always been the family photographer for all five children for school, sports, and scouts,” Keefer remembered. “He has been an amateur photographer as long as I can remember. Anytime there is a family event, he is there taking his ‘15’ shots so that he can get the right one. He believes that someone will blink,” Keefer laughed. “Dad puts up with all the derisive comments on the length of time all this takes because he knows that everyone will love the photographs when they are finished.”

“I picked up some of his skills by being around him. One Christmas, my parents bought me a digital camera to take on my scout trips since I go so many places. After using for a while, I realized that I enjoyed taking photographs and that is when I got serious about it,” he said.

“One of the times I really started to play around with the camera and explore with it was when I went to The Bahamas High Adventure Seabase with the Boy Scouts,” Keefer said. “We met with the captain of a tall sailing ship who taught us how to sail.”

“For 10 days the Captain and 10 Boy Scouts sailed the ship around the Abaco Islands doing everything from swabbing the deck to raising sails. Sunsets, water, and native plants made great subjects. One evening the boat was keeled a little bit, and the flag was illuminated by the sunset. I had fun playing with that as a photographer.”

“After that, I started to shoot and learn more and more. I would read photo magazines, study other photographers’ work, and examine my own to figure out what I did or didn’t like about it, and what would make it better.”

“Last summer I went to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico with 12 Boy Scouts. I saved up and got a more capable camera for that trip. We backpacked through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for ten days. It was just amazing. I was looking forward to that trip as a way to really take some good photos. The last day of the trip, we got up at 3:30 a.m. to climb to the top of Schaeffer’s Peak; we watched the sunrise as if it were a movie. Everyone was standing there, looking in the same direction, just waiting silently. I moved around and shot a series of photographs so I could stitch them into panoramas on the computer. That means I took the photographs, lined them up side by side on the computer screen, and made them into one long photo,” he said.

“Anything and everything is a possibility for a photo for me. Every time there is a sunset or an ice storm I would grab my camera and go outside and take photos. I would spend hours just shooting and learning. Now I take my camera everywhere with me. I do macro photography which means that you get really close to an object such as a flower or a leaf.”

“Currently, I want to keep shooting and learning about photography,” Keefer said. “I want to do a photo show and I have just started selling my work.”

You can contact Keefer at Klunkymunky@comcast.net.

— Lyndi McNulty is owner of Gizmos Art in Westminster.

20070207 Eye for Art Ruchlewicz an avid photographer by Lyndi McNulty in The Advocate

Eye for Art: Ruchlewicz an avid photographer

by Lyndi McNulty in The Advocate

February 7, 2007

http://westminsteradvocate.com/

http://westminsteradvocate.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=75&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=1783&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1322&hn=westminsteradvocate&he=.com

07.FEB.07 Eye for Art: Ruchlewicz an avid photographer

Stan Ruchlewicz is the administrator of Economic Development for the City of Westminster, and he has an artistic side, too. Ruchlewicz is an avid photographer.

He said his first love is teaching and judging high school marching bands and drum and bugle corps.

Through traveling as a judge, he said he visited many interesting places.

“So, I took pictures,” Ruchlewicz said. “Back in the dark ages, I was using a small Instamatic. Eventually, I grew out of the Instamatic into a 35mm camera.”

In 1989, Ruchlewicz was hired in Havre de Grace as director of Planning. He was also appointed to the governor’s Save the Lighthouse Commission.

“Then, I really needed to get a good camera to take pictures since we toured the various Chesapeake Bay lighthouses on our annual visits,” he said,

Also at that time, Ruchlewicz began to take photographs of downtown buildings, streetscapes and events for promotional and reference materials for his job, he said.

Later, his financee, Pat Miller, converted him to go digital.

“Now, I can take hundreds of photographs at a time and not worry about printing costs since I can view the shots on the computer and choose to print only the best,” he said.

Ruchlewicz and his fiancee both take photos.

“I do the large scale photos, such as buildings, landscapes and event crowds, while she enjoys doing architectural details, like gargoyles and grotesques and individual people,” he said. “Grotesques are the funny little guys that are on old buildings but don’t put out rainwater like gargoyles do.”

Today, Ruchlewicz is still shooting buildings and street scenes along Main Streets, events in downtown Westminster, lighthouses and his world travels.

“A lot of the photos I take are of streetscape features such as signage, trash cans, benches, streetlights, window displays, storefronts and building facades,” Ruchlewicz said. “I use them as examples of how to improve local buildings and to give local store owners new ideas on how to improve their businesses.”

Casey Willson, retail industry manager for the Maryland Small Business Development Center, uses some of Ruchlewicz’s pictures for his presentations to small business owners around the state.

Ruchlewicz’s work is everywhere in town.

The postcards of downtown Westminster, such as the view of Main Street from the roof of the old fire house, the downtown mural, the McDaniel College entrance, City Hall and the train passing in front of Johannson’s are all his work.

The postcards are all copyrighted by the City of Westminster under the Downtown Westminster Main Street Program.

Ruchlewicz’s photographs also appear in the new Westminster brochure, and recent Hickory Stick and ArtWorks billboards used his photographs, too.

Additionally, his photos from the Corbit’s Charge event can be viewed on the Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table Web site at http://www.pccwrt.addr.com.

“The most utilized image of mine is of the old clock tower in Westminster that is currently the symbol of our town. It is being used as a brand for people to remember us when they visit,” Ruchlewicz said.

Ruchlewicz’s newest project is converting his photographs into digital art.

“For example, I take photos of England and convert them into images that resemble old etchings and engravings from the 19th century,” he said. “Besides creating art, it also helps me learn how to use some of my new computer features.”

In the future, Ruchlewicz said he would like to put his photographs in an art show and perhaps sell some commercially.

And his travels continue.

“I plan to go to Budapest in the spring to continue my photographic adventures and to bring some new ideas back to Westminster’s downtown,” he said.

— Lyndi McNulty owns Gizmos Art in Westminster.

Art – Eye for Art by Lyndi McNulty in The Advocate

20050713 Today’s Youth – They are Fantastic

Today’s Youth – They are Fantastic

Westminster Advocate

July 13th, 2005 by Kevin Dayhoff (528 words)

Four stills and a quantity of corn whisky were seized by police officers Tuesday morning at a local church. Deacon Willie Brown was arrested. Brown admitted in court that he had been tempted by the devil. Now that I have your attention, I should mention that the “Church of the Holy Moonshiners” incident occurred in 1921. In the July 8th, 1921 Union Bridge Pilot article I read, no mention was made as to how popular services were at the church...

However, this column is not going to be about history. It is about our future. Today’s column is about one of my favorite soapbox topics - today’s kids. I think they are fantastic.

Over the years, I have been very fortunate to have many great opportunities to spend time with young folks in our community; whether it is attending a Carroll County Children’s Chorus event, visiting or reading in schools, 4-H activities, Scouts or just spending time with my nieces and nephews.

Whether they are still in school, or in college, just joining the workforce or serving in uniform, today’s youth are an inspiration for us all. Today’s youngest generation is doing great things and I, for one, really appreciate it and want to thank them. And not just when I need them to teach me how to program my cell phone.

According to the United Nations Statistics Division, 21 per cent of the US population is under 15 years old. Thirty-four per cent of our population is over 60. That 21% is sure going to have to work hard to take care of that 34%. Might be a good plan to spend some time with them now. I don’t know about you, but with the way food is currently packaged, when I grow older, I’ll need some help with the circular saw and hammer necessary to break into my food.

Over and over, I am greatly impressed by the number of adult volunteers and teachers and youth leaders who give of themselves tirelessly, to give our youngest generation a leg up on the many challenges they will face.

Moreover, speaking of volunteering, perhaps we should all take note of the example today’s fantastic youth are setting for us. According to “Youth Service America”, youth volunteering is up 12% over the last 10 years. 73% of America's 60 million young people believe they can make a difference in their communities. Teenagers volunteer 2.4 billion hours annually. Teenage service is worth $34.3 billion to the US economy. Youth who volunteer just one hour a week are 50% less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or engage in destructive behavior. Youth who volunteer are more likely to do well in school, graduate, vote, and be philanthropic.

There are so many great organizations in our community that are making a difference and enabling our children to make a difference. Please find one for which you can donate your time or your money. Moreover, take time to thank a teacher, a choir director, a Scout leader or a volunteer today. They aren’t doing it for the money. They are making a huge investment in our future for which we are all benefiting.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr DOT org
####

Labels: Art Writing Essays and articles