Abbott’s reception to be at Arts Place

 An opening reception for the exhibit of the works of Thomas W. Abbott will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at Arts Place Portland Center.
Abbott’s exhibit “Reflections of Home” will be on display today through Dec. 16 at Arts Place, 131 E. Walnut St. 
Abbott is a native of Bryant and grew up in Portland, graduating from Portland High School in 1972. He lived in South Florida for a number of years and recently returned to Portland to care for his elderly mother. 
He first learned the art of printmaking, then began painting with watercolors and in 1992 received private lessons from artist Stephen Scott Young and began perfecting his figure drawing techniques by attending master classes of nude figure study with Don Andrews. He then studied the elemental principles of painting by exploring the works of Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth.
His works have been displayed in galleries around the nation and featured in Watercolor Artist Magazine. 
For more information about the exhibit, call visual arts director Kimberly Anderson at (260) 726-4809.  

Pottery workshop
Arts Place in Portland will offer a three day altered pottery workshop taught by Kimberly Anderson, director of visual arts.
The workshop will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 and Dec. 5 and from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 and the cost is $45. 
Students will take their pots to the next level by altering the form on and off the wheel, learning to cut, push, pull and add clay to wheel-thrown forms. 
Registration forms for the class are available at Arts Place, 131 E. Walnut St., or online at www.artsland.org.
For more information, call Anderson at (260) 726-4809. 

Ornament making
Anyone who enjoys making crafts is invited to make Christmas ornaments on Saturday at Jay County Public Library’s Friends Room from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 
Instructions and materials will be available to make ornaments  from old book pages and decorative paper. 

Honor society
Ball State University student Audrey Franklin, of Portland, was recently inducted into the the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at BSU.