Louisiana Artists Slated for Beatles at the Ridge

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. - Aug. 8, 2016 - PRLog -- Two gifted Louisiana artists will be featured at the acclaimed "Beatles at the Ridge" festival in Walnut Ridge, AR, on September 16 and 17. Lisa Harp and Rande Kessler of Monroe, LA will both take part in the 2016 Authors and Artists' Beatles Symposium, sharing their unique art with Beatles fans from all over the United States.

Harp went to college and lived most of her adult life in Monroe, Louisiana but transferred to Kearny, Nebraska from 2011-2014 where she discovered the intricate artistry of antique buttons. "How had I never seen these before?" she wondered. Harp began collecting Coco Chanel's signature buttons and rare historic buttons as well. She transformed these into rings, necklaces, and bracelets, each with its own story. After moving back to Louisiana in 2014, Lisa created HarpStrings Jewelry, which is featured in boutiques and galleries throughout Louisiana, Alabama, California, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. These lovely works of art are also available through Mississippi Magazine.

On Saturday, Sept. 17 at 3:00 p.m., Harp will present "Buttons That Tell a Story" for Beatles at the Ridge festival attendees. She'll exhibit some rare Beatles pieces that she created using Fab Four pins from the early 1960s. Harp will also discuss the stories behind other non-Beatle necklaces she's created from unusual European buttons.

Also hailing from Monroe, LA is pen and ink artist and photographer, Rande Kessler. Kessler is returning to Beatles at the Ridge for the third year in a row. This year, he has created a new collectible T-shirt for Beatles fans from his popular "Doors of Liverpool" art poster. In 1993, Kessler photographed the front doors of all the Beatles' childhood homes and included those in a collage with the gates of Strawberry Fields, Gambier Terrace, and the doors of The Cavern Club and Blue Angel where The Beatles once performed. This remarkable collage is now the centerpiece for Kessler's 2016 T-shirt for Ridge goers.

Kessler, who created the cover sketch of John Lennon for Vol. 3 in The John Lennon Series, She Loves You, was one of three artists chosen to exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi in April for their first Beatles Symposium. He was also selected as Louisiana's Caroline Dorman Artist of the Year and featured in a one-man show. In 1996, he won the Melrose Arts Festival competition with his pen and ink rendering of "Beaufort Plantation." Kessler will be on hand both days at the Ridge festival to answer questions about his work and his time in Liverpool.

Beatles at the Ridge features live bands, a teen talent contest, Beatles vendors, local crafts, and family fun. The Beatles Authors and Artists' Symposium will host 5 distinguished Beatles authors, 2 major Beatles collections, and a featured teen musician, Cameron Hicks. The highlight of the weekend is Louise Harrison's Beatles Tribute Band, "Liverpool Legends" who will perform on Saturday evening. All events, bands, and lectures are free of charge. For more information on the Festival, visit beatlesattheridge.com or contact Charles Snapp at snapp1@sbcglobal.net