Bits ‘n’ Pieces: Camas exhibit features all-comers photography

As she explored local hiking trails, German native and Camas newcomer Kirsten Muskat kept bumping into fellow shutterbugs who were busy pointing their lenses at all that beauty.

Muskat, a professional photographer, hatched the idea of a supportive group for all comers, from newbies to professionals like herself.

Muskat’s great-uncle was a professional equine photographer, she said, and she spent much of her youth tailing him to horse events to watch him work. That led to lots of study, and that led to a career. Muskat operates two photography businesses; take a look at http://freshexposures.com and http://gooddogphoto.com.

Last year she also kicked off the Camas Photography Club, which meets monthly and is ready to show its stuff. The Second Story Gallery, upstairs in the Camas Public Library, will display the digital creations of club members from July 6 through 28. There’s a First Friday reception set for 5 to 8 p.m. July 6. Photographers on display include Karen Elliot, Patty Ingram, Bill Morris, Kirsten Muskat, Lois Settlemeyer, David Shibata, Stephanie Roberts, Lou Steffey, Jim Stewart, Joyce Lee-Westdal, Lincoln Westdal and Lisa Ziomkowski-Boten.

“The club is noncompetitive. We are trying to increase our skills,” Muskat said. The group usually settles on an open-ended monthly “assignment” for members to work on. Learn more at http://camascameraclub.org.

— Scott Hewitt

This La Center food exhibit rocks

Don’t try to take a bite out of the eggs, bacon, hamburger, french fries or other dishes on display at the La Center Historical Museum.

The exhibit, “A Dinner Table Feast for the Eyes,” is made entirely out of rocks found by Betty Carpenter and other members of the Cathlapootle Gem Club of Woodland.

Carpenter, 85, who lives west of Amboy, said it was hard to find a museum that would display the odd collection of rocks, which also includes samples that look like pork chops, bread and gelatin.

“Most museums cannot set it up, because they need to display it all correctly,” Carpenter said, adding that the foodlike rocks have to be set out and displayed on dinner plates. “To see it, it’s fabulous. It does resemble food, but it’s all rock.”

The rocks were gathered by the club from spots in California, Utah, Oregon and Washington, said Barbara Barnhart, president of the museum.

“It’s really kind of cute and worth seeing,” Barnhart said. “They spent a long time collecting it. There are a lot of neat dessert-looking things.”

The exhibit is on semi-permanent display at the museum, 410 W. Fifth St. in La Center. The museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. the first and third Saturdays of each month, and on Wednesdays by appointment. For information call 360-263-3308 or visit http://thelacentermuseum.org.

— Sue Vorenberg

Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.