All posts by Elizabeth Howard

Slipping and Falling…


 

My father was an aviator in the Great War.     He was also 40 years older than I, and understandably we did not share a lot of the things little boys and daddies are supposed to share: like tossing around a football or baseball or his telling me stories of his youth and how he became who he was. And, he was a hard-driving, self-made man, from the slums of South Bend Indiana and yet gained entrance into the Notre Dame School of Architecture, from which he left to join the American army sometime … Continue reading Slipping and Falling…

Strange Fruit


 

    Virginia artist Jennifer Cox calls her latest series of paintings, Wanton Biophilia, describing them as “a mash-up of psychology and biology; the result of a lifetime of fascination with the natural world filtered through my subconscious, my experiences, my thought processes and philosophical leanings.” Combining natural and imagined flora and fauna, Cox says, “I always start with what comes out    of my head — whether I’m waking from a nap or envisioning something I’ve seen. I’m a voracious looker. I stop in the woods and look at mushrooms. sticks, branches against the sky. I’m … Continue reading Strange Fruit

Happy New Year!


 

  HAPPY NEW YEAR! to all our readers. Thank you for your interest and support. We look forward to your continued input and submissions as Streetlight approaches its third year online. Cheers to 2016! From our editors, Trudy Hale, editor in chief Sharon Leiter and Lisa Ryan, poetry Erika Raskin, fiction Susan Shafarzek,  memoir, non-fiction Elizabeth Howard, art Suzanne Freeman, facebook/twitter, social media Spriggan Radfae, tech, layout and design Follow us!

A Place to Take Stock


 

  Every year, my husband and I spend two weeks at a 70-year-old cabin in the Allegheny Mountains, west of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. I have been going there since the summer after I graduated from college, when the cabin had no electricity, plumbing or running water. But 100 feet off our back porch was the constant, comforting sound of the Maury River flowing through the mountain pass where the cabin was built—a sound that more than made up for the lack of 20th-century conveniences. Now, 40 years later, the cabin still has no … Continue reading A Place to Take Stock

A Common Language


 

I had a fantasy when I began volunteering for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Charlottesville. I would help newly arrived refugees document their identities, tell their stories and illustrate them with family photographs brought from their homelands. We would talk, become friends and I would save their stories. Naively, I didn’t understand that many arriving refugees spoke little or no English. Those who did land with language skills were eager to go to work as soon as possible. Getting acquainted and discussing their pasts was not their top priority. I signed up to assist the teacher … Continue reading A Common Language

Winning and Losing: Andrew Shurtleff Photographs


 

                                 For photographer Andrew Shurtleff, the goal in covering sports and political events is “to report the story — whether winning or losing — through photographs. I look for moments that reveal what’s really going on.” Shurtleff, as director of photography for the Charlottesville Daily Progress, has photographed the competitors — UVA sports teams as well as visiting titans of politics — from President Barack Obama, to Justice Anthony Scalia, Republican contenders Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and front runner Donald … Continue reading Winning and Losing: Andrew Shurtleff Photographs

A Balancing Act


 

                      Balancing Craft and Business…   Sharyn McCrumb, known for her Appalachian “ballad” novels, including The New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and Ghost Riders will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Virginia Writers’ Club Symposium. The Symposium, “Navigating Your Writing Life: Balancing Craft and Business,” will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., August 1 at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville. The Symposium is sponsored by the statewide VA Writers Club (VWC). Named … Continue reading A Balancing Act

Rick Weaver: The Art of Imagination


 

  Rick Weaver seems an artist equally interested in what can and cannot be seen. Whether working with paint brushes, carving tools or modeling clay, his creations blend the subject at hand with what he imagines is missing. Initially trained in classical drawing and painting, Weaver now concentrates on sculptures, life size as well as those larger and smaller. He’s currently completing a commission of a Native American boy for an art association in St. Augustine, Florida. He’s  shaping the 54″ statue in wax eventually to be cast in bronze.     The young Native … Continue reading Rick Weaver: The Art of Imagination

Through the Looking Glass….


 

                                              LOOK3…   June 10-13th all eyes will be on LOOK3, Charlottesville’s stellar photography festival now in its seventh year. The town will host numerous famous photographers as well as revealing talks, exhibits and shows in a variety of venues. This year’s Festival is curated by Kathy Ryan, Director of Photography at The New York Times Magazine and Scott Thode, the current Visuals Editor for E.O. Wilson’s Life On Earth. The LOOK3 Festival of the … Continue reading Through the Looking Glass….