From Little Cranberry, oil on board by Adele Ursone, from the September art exhibit, The Peninsula Painters (through September30)

@Blue Hill Library

     Unless otherwise noted these events are free and open to everyone. Many of these free events are made possible by generous funding from the  Friends of the Blue Hill Library. If you like what you see, thank a Friend. Or better yet, become one! There are many ways you can help support the Library.

• Join us THIS THURSDAY! September 26 at 7:00 PM, for another installment of Art Adventures! local musicians Jay Peterson and Don Carmichael will present an interactive program about "Western Swing" --a uniquely American blend of jazz, country, Dixieland, blues, traditional fiddle styles, and recently even bebop.       

•  Join us THIS FRIDAY! September 27, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM for a reception for Jeff Kaley's exhibit in the Howard Room glass cases, Asian Artifacts and Handworks, collected from all of the Asian countries he's visited.  This will be a great opportunity to view the exhibit and ask questions of Jeff, as well as sample some tastes of Asia that Jeff plans to make and bring, including Chai, Newari Potato Salad, channa, and papadams.

Handwritten Tibetan text, and Buddha head and Cambodian dancer statues.

    Watercolor and oil paintings by Blue Hill artist Trish Pettigrew will be on display at the Library during the month of October. The title of the show, Chasing Horizons, is evocative of the subject matter of many of Pettigrew's landscapes, as well as being a metaphor for her personal goals as an artist.
 
      About her show Trish offers, "The process of painting is, for me, a balance between the controlled effort to capture the spirit and essence of a particular time and place, and the intuitive exploration of my spontaneous and emotional response to the subject.  The coastal Maine landscape provides limitless inspiration for my paintings, and elicits nothing less than a reverence for the natural beauty of our locale."

      Trish first began painting while earning her degree in art education, and later studied with several well-known artists including Val Thelin,  DeWitt Hardy, and Barbara Neechis.  Before moving to Blue Hill, her work was represented at several galleries in southern Maine, and won numerous awards in juried shows.  In recent years her work has been shown at the Gallery at Caterpillar Hill, the Camden Falls Gallery, and Jud Hartmann Gallery.
 
      The show will be available for viewing during regular Library hours through the end of October. For more information call the Library at 374-5515

     October is the time when two popular kids' programs start up again at the Library.  The weekly Chess Club resumes on Friday, October 4, 3:00 to 3:45 PM and is for children ages 7 and up and for all levels of skill.  Snacks and chess sets are provided.

And on Saturdays starting October 5, from 10:30 AM to noon, will be LEGO Club for kids 7 to 12 years of age. Kids ages 4 to 6 are also invited but must be accompanied by an adult. Kids can bring their own or use the Library's. Donations of LEGOs would be greatly appreciated. The Library's Reader Dog Program, also popular, is taking the fall off but will be back again starting in January.

                A new program-"Tween Zone Lounge" for kids ages 11 to 15 will be on Friday afternoons starting October 4, from 4:00 to 5:45, upstairs in the Howard Room.  Games, movies, crafts, and snacks will be provided. Tween Zone Lounge will be a place for kids to meet, recreate, yack, and relax after school. Any "tween" aged kids who want to suggest or help plan activities should contact Pat at the number below.

The library also has two year-round programs for children:

• Preschool Storytime for kids up to age 4 on Tuesdays at 10:30.
• Play Group for babies and toddlers up to age 3 on Wednesdays at 10:30.

For more information on any of these programs, call Pat at 374-5515.

       Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin" comes to the Grand in Ellsworth on Saturday, October 5, by live simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. To help music lovers prepare for this event, the Bagaduce Music Lending Library and Friends of the Blue Hill Public Library will join together to introduce and study this theatrical journey at 1:00 PM on Friday, October 4, in the Howard Room of the Blue Hill Public Library.

Anna Netrebko as Tatiana and Mariusz Kwiecien as the title character of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin."Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera, taken on September 16, 2013 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

   Deborah Warner's new production of Tchaikovsky's dramatic romance is set in the late 19th century, moving episodically from farmhouse to ballroom, with a powerful snowstorm providing the dramatic setting for the finale. Anna Netrebko and Mariusz Kwiecien star as the love-struck Tatiana and the imperious Onegin, and Russian maestro Valery Gergiev conducts.

      Local opera enthusiasts Linda Lesko and David Porter will summarize the plot, introduce the music and offer some ideas of special ways to enjoy the Saturday simulcast. All are welcome, no previous opera knowledge is needed, and admission is free. For more information, call the library at 374-5515.

Don't hesitate to call us for more information at 207-374-5515.