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arts & culture
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HOROSCOPES
» WHAT'S YOUR
SIGN?
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, SEPT. 12, 2016
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Schedule meetings and parties for the next two days. Group and community events have you engaged.
Lack of funds hampers progress. No shouting. Think quickly, and move slowly.
Taurus
(April 20-May 20)
Expect more responsibility over the next few days.
Career opportunities arise, requiring quick attention.
Don't be confused by an elder's inconsistency. Discuss it later. Do what's obviously
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
(May 21-June 20) New expenses require stable income. Investigate possibilities over the next two days. Study, research and travel offer different options for exploration. Pursue practical passions and prepare a marketing campaign.
marketing campaign.
Cancer
(June 21-July 22) Changes necessitate budget revisions. Today and tomorrow favor financial planning. Buy or sell. Make agreements. Expensive pitfalls line the road ahead. Keep your family on the right track.
Leo
(July 23-Aug. 22)
Partnership pulls you through a risky situation over the next two days. It could get romantic, if you can keep from arguing. Listen with an open mind and heart.
Virgo
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Dig into a big job. Focus on your work today and tomorrow. Avoid gossip and controversy. Don't pick your health; keep to your routines. Get quietly productive.
Libra
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Your relaxation could get disrupted over the next few days. Enjoy the game, without taking expensive risks. Flexibility allows for grace with unexpected circumstances. Romance could spark
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Home and family demand more attention today and tomorrow. Run into something unanticipated. Tempers may be short. Don't discuss money. Take it easy, and
keep your cool.
Sagittarius
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Your creative muses sing to you today and tomorrow.
Write, edit and prepare documents. Hunt for answers.
Sharp words hurt. Practice your communicative skills.
Resolve a misunderstanding.
Capricorn
[Dec. 22-Jan. 19] Abundance can be yours, over the next few days. The possibility of misunderstanding or disagreement is high today. Repay a debt. There's more work coming your
Aquarius
Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Prepare to launch your latest initiative. You're especially powerful today and tomorrow. Don't try a new trick publicly yet. Keep practicing. The more you learn, the better you learn.
better you look.
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20)
Balance stressful situations with peaceful ones. Take time over the two days for private contemplation, meditation and planning. Don't get stopped by past failures.
Consider your next move.
Alumna finds success with body painting
OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez
For Elsa Rhae, body painter and 2013 University graduate in film and media studies, her senior year involved one fateful decision: which elective to take in order to fulfill her degree.
It is a common dilemma at the University. Her final choice, a stage makeup course, would lead her into a new career path. She said the kit she was required to buy for class hooked her.
"It was the kit," Rhae said. "We had to buy that kit. Full of really not-that-quality makeup, but I never really had anything like it."
During her time in the stage makeup class, Rhae would take the class's required and use them at home for her own projects.
up other makeup looks on the internet" and try to create characters based off what she saw.
And from then on, she aspired to make the most of what she had. Rhae, a Lenexa native, said she would "go home and look
To this day, she remembers doing a sunflower design on her forehead, one of the first times she tried to body paint with the kit.
Then, the idea came to her to show others what she was doing. She already had a YouTube channel - a longtime passion of hers - she would use what she learned from her film courses and combine that with her newfound love for painting.
"I was like, Hey, I bet I could take this platform and combine it with this platform, tie that together and turn it into something that I can make revenue off of," Rhae said.
Jump to May of 2014. Rhae has a small following of a few hundred subscribers on YouTube, but a video inspired by her interest in "Game of
Thrones" would soon go viral. The video currently sits at over 300,000 views.
Now at 126,000 subscribers and counting, Rhae attributes her success to thinking out of the box and sticking to what she wants to do, not what the popular trends are.
"Whether it makes me more popular or not, it makes me enjoy it more," Rhae said.
Molly Munyan, a balloon artist and friend of Rhae's, said that as a collaborator, Rhae also shows a quality of trust in her work and reliability that she will deliver each time she does something new.
Rhae and Munyan are current Kansas City residents that met through mutual friends, they've bonded professionally and
"That's one of the best things about my friendship with Elsa as an artist," Munyan said. "I don't need to worry about the end product."
personally because of an equal desire to shine a new light on their forms of art.
"We work really well together because we are both similarly trying to take back our art forms from fat old men," Munyan said jokingly. "Normally, people think about face paint and they think about some old lady doing it at a birthday party. Likewise with balloons. We both have a very strong opinion on the fact that it's not a lame art form."
To further prove this point, Rhae and Munyan said they plan on going on a trip this November to Thailand to show their work to new cultures.
"We've realized that the crowd reactions to both our art forms is kind of universal, and regardless of where you are and where you're from, it's really cool to see a painted woman," she said.
Besides body paint, Rhae said she wants to
further expand her artistic reach on all social media and online platforms. She already has had a hand with a variety of murals and paintings on her YouTube channel in addition to the body paint, but she plans on adding elements like jewelry making and cake decorating to her work.
Even outer space exploration is something Rhae wants to one day bring into the mix.
"But in like 30 years," Rhae said.
For Rhae, the reason for doing all this is simple. Creativity and art is understood in just about every corner of the earth, a big reason traveling is something on her mind for the future.
"We can create laughter and smiles with face paint and balloons regardless of age, gender, language," Rhae said. "That's why traveling would be amazing. I could spread creativity anywhere."
Body paint artist Elsa Rhae found her passion through a randomly-chosen elective during her senior year at the University. Rhae now shares her passion with 126,000 subscribers on YouTube. Contributed Photo
Artist aims to save trees through workshops
▶ SAMANTHA SEXTON
@Sambiscuit
A ravenous wood-boring beetle is devouring ash trees in Kansas and surrounding states, but some students and instructors in the University's visual arts department are trying to help.
The ash trees face a 100 percent mortality rate once they are infected with the unstoppable beetle, said Matthew Burke, an associate professor in the Department of Visual Art.
Despite the trees' slim chances, Jim Rogers, a visiting artist from Massachusetts, has been teaching University students to construct information kiosks that aim to help inform Kansans about the issues of the ash and how they may
"We have a large population of ash trees in this area that may soon become extinct," Burke said. "There's very little that can be done about it."
be able to help.
"Once a tree is infected, it has to be cut down or the beetle can spread," Rogers said. "We've been using a lot of that local lumber to construct the kiosks which will hopefully go back to help."
Burke was approached last semester by Ryan Armbrust, a Kansas Forest Service assistant forester, who had a three-fold plan for how he wanted the kiosks made.
Burke was more than happy to help and has even made the workshops a component of the sustainability class that he teaches every fall. Rogers was also able to help teach how to use repurposed lumber, something he has plenty of experience with.
"He wanted the lumber to be locally sourced, built within a learning environment locally and to educate locals how they could help themselves," Burke said.
"It's always best when
you can use local lumber," Rogers said. "I prefer to use wood from trees that had to be removed regardless, whether they were in the way of a power line or other construction."
Rogers said one of his clients in Massachusetts has to remove an old oak from his yard that he had spent the past 30 years looking at. When Rogers returns from Kansas, the tree will be cut down and repurposed into a kitchen table for the client.
While Rogers has been teaching the workshops, 75 students have volunteered their time to learn and help with the project and though Rogers' visit is coming to a close, Burke will have scheduled time when students, regardless of major, will be allowed to continue to build the kiosks.
"We want to build six kiosks," Rogers said. "If we get the same sort of participation that we've been seeing, they should be done in
a little over a week."
Though this year's project is for a good cause, Burke said that the visiting artist program typically allows for more engaged students and a healthier learning environment.
environment within the department that helps students to click with the concepts and grow as artists.
We have a large population of ash trees in this area that may soon become extinct. There's very little that can be done about it."
Matthew Burke Associate professor
"When the ash is cut down, a greater variety of vegetation is put in its place to diversify and strengthen the health of the ecosystem," Burke said. "The same sort of concept can be applied to visiting artists."
Burke said that the program allows for a diverse
"Students will get used to the way I teach after a week and a few may not like it or recognize their ability because of how I instruct," Burke said. "But when we bring in someone new, not only does it show how their education here can be used later in life, but it gives those students an opportunity to maybe connect with someone and experience the art in a new way."
Rogers said that he hopes to come back to the University next year if possible. Any student who might want to help with the kiosks can contact Professor Burke or check the Department of Visual Art's available workshops for other projects.
-Edited by Chandler Boese
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