PAGE 16, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1980, WHITBY FREE PRESS Betwee n You and Me BN, RUTH COLES A man paitits with his brama aand net with bis hands. Michelangelo. Early in the new year I met a young man who had just moved te Whtby with bis family, an artist of note, anoOier asset for our townl. New artiost a sset to to wn He is Ken Lennox of Otter Creek, chosen as Witby's number one artlst during the "County Town Carnival" and the celebration of it's 125 birthday. At tbe age of two, Ken drew in bis mnother's coek books and as a prescbeoler be often visited libraries te 1look at books on art, He tells me be was obsessed with herses and drawings of borse's beads 1 New wben he looks at old scbool pictures he can see bis drawings in Oie background wbicb bad been bung on the wail. Acadrnicaily be dld exceptionaily well wben be was a youngster and on tbrough bis school years to bis attendance at Torento's Tbree Sebool of Art, wbere he studled fine art and Ryerson Polytechnlcal Insitutue where be studied grapbic arts management. Always top ef bis class and interested in sports, bis favourite was soccer, hie was an is one of those people wbe goes al eut ne matter what he dees or wbat ever the en- deavor. I found bim te, be an interesting person wlien I first met him and a clever artist but I bad ne idea he had 50 many talents. This time we met I learned about bis other In- terests in whicb be excelis and reallzed my first impression were right-he is interestlng and gifted. As an artist he dees portraits, either frem 111e or a pic- ture. Pastels, he tels me are Oie best nmedium and ho uses Conte, a type of pastel manufactured in'France, most suitable for portraiture, he uses acrylics, olls and pen and ink as well. Ken dees fine art prints of old buildings in pen and ink, be-ace many of historic Durbam. In this way be is providing bte public of Ontario with a very Important link te their cultural heritage. He bas been preparlng two major manuscripts both ef whlch include his pepular pen and ink drawlngs as weil as detaied historical information. These projects are as foilows; Historical Railway Stations of Ontario, 15 in ail wlth more te be done and Histerical Landmarks of Witby an Area ef wbicb there are many. The alm of both the above publications is te cemmunicate te Oie public, Oie importance, value and beauty of it's beritage. Some Urne ago I bougb a pan and lnk drawlng of Oie old railroad station whlch ls now our art gallery and would &ie te buy more of these drawings from Ken later on. Ken dees illustration of or for anything, logos, let- terbeada and se on. I am looking forward te bavlng bim do some work for me, portraits of grandchildren, a pen and ink drawlng of our house and maybe copies of old pictures. The secret of bis success may lay in Oie folewlng words, "it's net wbat you put In but wbat you leave eut, that is Oie art ofilt." A fine and talented artlst that goes wlitout saying but I must tell you about bis ot.ber talents. A musîian, he plays the piano beautifully and has played jazz down south a a Mardi-Gras. He can play anythlng, just hum a tune and he bas It. I guess bis frlends often have a "'get Ken nigbt" and try to stump him but te no aval as yet. Somethlng whlch absolutely amazed me was, bis gif t due ne doubt to bis musical ear for dialects and belng able to mimlc any accent it seems of any language. It's uncaniy to hear bim swltcb from the Italian accent to Scottish, Irish, Pakistani, German, and you name it, be can do it. So what other interests does he bave? Raising budgies no less, seventy of them, ail colours and many varieties. He breeda tbem and bas studled the theories of genetics and Is successfully mlxing colours. Gorgeous, lovely colours even an albino. Two from "down under", wild budgles ini those countries, tbey almost look like monkeys, that is their faces. Yellow and green tbeyý reaily are darling and they looked 80 comical te me. ,Tbey are gregarious breed of bird, easy to care for and they can babysit tbemselves for a few days If provlded witb enougb food and water. Tbey have to be isolated to be able to mimic althougb if you bave one and get another qulte possibly tbey will both talk but not if tbere are more, tbey just make a great noise, cblrping. Whitby it seems to me bas lt's share of gifted people and maybe some day we may bave an artist's colony. There are other tbings Ken does wbicb I have forgotten to mention and one is calligrapby whicb is script wrltlng, documents and so on. I saw a cbapter of Romans done in thi script, beautiful and I tbink he said be bad done the whole Book of Romans. But te, end on a silly note and I hope net burtful to Ken; he is net qulte perfect. He asked me te look at bis African violets, the phoône rang SO I loeked aroung, not a violet te be seen. Wbein be returned be showed me bis "violets". Tbey were geraniunsl1 Lion convention Whitby Lions Club wiil be bosting Oie District A-16 Convention at Iroquois Park Arena on April 24, 25, 26, 1981. The convention will feature a mammoth parade through Whitby on Saturday April 25, 1981 at 10 a.m. mar- tiailing at Denis O'Connor High School and winding tbrougb the downtown core te the convention centre at Iroquois Park, as well as district -elections, Oie Governer's BaIl and other activities. I 1980 CARAVELLE 2 DR *6 cyl., Auto Trans, PIS, PIB, Landau Roof, Radio, Dot rester, *W.S.W. Radials, Loft R/C MIrror, Side Mouldiiigs, Bock 1 Heater, Plus Much Mors, FInished ln Tan W/Tan Interlor & 1980 VOLARE WAGON, 6 cyl., Auto Trans, PIS, PIB, AM Radie, Dot rester, W.S.W. Radiais, Deluxe Wheel Covers, Side Meuid, Left R/C Mirrer. 8 II%- DÉ 7 lu 1980 CARAVELLE 2 URi 6 cyl., Auto Trans, PIS, P/B, Dot router, AM Radio, Left RIC MIrror, Landau Roof, W.S.W. Radiais, Wheei Covers, HID Battery, Block Heater, Side Mouidings, Finished ln White «/Green Interior &Vinyi Roof. LiC Pli 184 I - N -2 e e4e ilq Py o týC rse M. AJAX ee ,- -- -- iý 1