CAprrAL TES, October 25, 1989 Perspective on art: "Shy" artist expresses himself Jennifer Cahill Capital Times Staff Many times I have heard artists lecture and wondered how can such a shy person paint so expressively. Do they have to be a paradox? Wednesday, October 19, the Gallery Lounge hosted artist and teacher Fredric C. Haag for a slide presentation of his work followed by a question and answer period. I found him to be as colorful and open as his works. "It was very representative of him, he was a very free spirit." said Ed Palek, a finance student who attended the lecture. "My paintings tend to be autobiographical," Haag explained. "In the sense that my paintings follow my life and what I come in contact with day to day." "Almost every work is based on memory, direct observation or drawings," he said. The freedom and openness of his forms depend on his emotional state while painting. But all his paintings are in the context of realism."l never felt comfortable moving into abstraction." Haag explained. Also, the artist paints lifesize influence to him because because he worked well with color and realistic image. Janet Pappas's Hairstyling Center For first time customers: We are offering $ 10 off any perm; offer good Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays During the question and answer period, art instructor Linda Ross pointed out that Haag is "very prolific." images on 5'5" to 6'6" foot canvases. Ultimately, his goal is to produce honests works of his feelings of beauty and pleasure. During the slide show he said that his style is a see-saw balance between "order and disorder, the rational and the disrational." His slide show was an analogy of his works but he filled in the story behind the art. In May 1984 he graduated from The Phiadelphia Collage of Art, and in September 1984 he went to State College to study for his Masters of Fine Art and work as a teaching assistant. He is currently teaching art at York College. At first he said that his work seemed to stiffen ."I think it was the overall conservative nature of State College," he said. Soon he did a series of studio arrangement that were were loosely painted,animated stilifes. Haag said that Larry Rivers, Bonnard and Farefield Porter were strong j o i n the Capital Times 305 Second Street Highspire Mini Mall Highspire, Pa. 17034 939-9447 ARTS & We use and sell: • Nexus • Tressa • Sebastion Appointment not always necessary LEISURE Look into By Christopher Burns Capital Times Staff The audience was hysterical. But to the people who were hypnotized, the rabbit, cat, elephant, mouse, and horse were real. At Astonishing Neal's hypnotism and ESP show Oct. 21, an audience of approximately 150 members of the Penn State Harrisburg community were treated to one of the more entertaining shows on campus to date. Neal put five members of the audience into a deep hypnotic sleep, then asked them to imagine an animal that they would see at a zoo or farm. What ensued was hilarious. Neal suggested that the animals were trying to escape, and the participants would have to catch them and bring them back to the stage. If you can imagine a baby elephant dragging someone around the a room while the person is holding on to its tail you know why the audience was laughing. Another person chased an invisible mouse, which she usually found on someones head. Back and forth she went while a man was busy trying to catch his horse. "That is the part of the show I enjoy the most," Neal said in an interview after the show. "No one reacts in the same way, so I go with the flow." He explained, "This is what is known as a positive hallucination. A person imagines something to be there that really isn't." Neal later convinced the same people Wanted: Handyman with carpenter skills for occasional work. Tools provided. Call 944-4933 Tolunial Jun - 45 cent drafts - nightly specials - 10% student discount on all take out orders with I.D. 9 East Main St., Middletown, Pa. Phone 944-9971 these eyes that he was invisible, and the worst ghost they had ever seen. With this suggestion firmly planted in their minds, the hallucinations of a floating microphone and an evil spirit chasing them made the hypnotic pawns scatter like mobil homes in a tornado. "With negative hallucinations, a person's brain will block out the image of what ever a hypnotist suggests," Neal said. "The important point to remember here is that a person can not be hypnotized if they are not willing. If there is the slightest bit of skepticism, the hypnosis will not work." When asked about skeptics, Neal replied, "I don't try to convince skeptics. They will always believe there is some sort of trick or slight of hand with what I do." At the start of the show, Neal had asked the audience to reserve any skepticism and try to enjoy what was happening around them. Some of the other amazing feats Neal accomplished included bending nails in other people's hands, distorting keys that were in pockets, and describing what a person in the audience had written down on paper while being completely blind folded with silver dollars and four layers of tape. Neal has been criss crossing the country for the past 49 days doing his show at 47 different colleges and universities. "I learned a long time ago that there. are two important things to life," he said. "First, have fun and do what you enjoy doing; second, don't hurt another human being." In addition to maintaining a very busy performance schedule, The Astonishing Neal is the founder of the Neal Institute of Clinical Hypnosis located in Lehighton, PA. There are a number of services the institute has to offer and information can be obtained by calling 1-215-377-6325. LEHMAN CLEANERS INC. "JUST A LITTLE FINER" DRY CLEANERS ALTERATIONS Mon. thru Fri. 8 am - 5:45 pm Sat. 8 am - 2 pm PHONE 944 -6841 , Spruce & Conewago Streets Middletown, Pa.
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