Chestnut Hill Local

Local photog engineers new book about Wissahickon

by LEN LEAR

Former Chestnut Hiller and current Germantown resident Laurie Cameron, 66, is an engineer, as is every other male member of his family. For years he worked in the field of residential energy conservation. In the late 1990s, however, Laurie spent countless hours -- as do so many other area residents -- jogging, hiking, biking and skiing the trails of the Wissahickon.

(The six-mile-long, 1,000-acre forested gorge that Wissahickon Creek runs through has been used for these recreational purposes for hundreds of years, as well as for hunting, fishing and horseback riding, by the Lenni Lenape Indians and later by mill workers and area residents.)

Cameron (whose name almost requires that he be an expert with a "camera") was so captivated by the beauty of the area, as are most others who use it, that he began bringing along a small point-and-shoot camera every time he would enter the Wissahickon Valley. He'd shoot pictures throughout the seasons, capturing the timeless and mysterious qualities of the majestic trees and rocks, water and light streams throughout every season of the year. Laurie even took a course in digital imaging at Philadelphia Community College to improve his photos.

In 2001 Cameron entered some of his photos of the...

Mother, daughter, wife, friend and lady scoutmaster? Doesn't seem like your basic white bread combination. For Ann Perrone, it's her passion. Even though this former scoutmaster has retired from a life of building fires, smelling wood smoke and camping in the words, she wouldn't take back one day of it.

In fact, she kept reiterating, "I'll miss it, and I love it." She led Troop 221 in Chestnut Hill of the Boy Scouts for three years. Her responsibilities as the scoutmaster included overseeing activities and service projects. She also took a group of boys and turned them into a group of distinguished young men, showing them how to be leaders in today's community.

It started back in 1990 with her son, Eric. Ann took him to his Tiger Cub Scouts meeting. The troop committee of the Boy Scouts asked if she could help out with the scouts. This was not far...

Those who frequent Red Mountain Yoga in Germantown to unwind during the week can now visit its neighbor for an equally calming experience.

Orion's Light Massage and Art Studio offers exactly what the name suggests. Yes, an art gallery and a massage office rolled into one, right next to a yoga studio. What more could a relaxation-deprived person ask for?

Licensed massage therapist and Germantown resident Judith Pritchard will operate Orion's. The front of the building will feature artwork by local artists, while a second room at the back will serve as a massage space.

Pritchard, 29, originally wanted to open just a massage office. A trip to Portland, Oregon, to attend a seminar on cancer massage sparked her interest in incorporating art.

"I had a friend out there who had lots of artist friends," said Pritchard. "I remembered how much I like being around artists and their creativity."

However, it was really the space next to Red Mountain that set her fledgling idea into motion.

Palladio owner, ex-Hiller, wins nationwide competition

By MARIE FOWLER

"We make people cry all the time," Jay Davidson Susanin of Palladio says, "and that's the most gratifying part of the process."

Palladio, named for the fabulous Palladian windows that admit great washes of light into the former bank building on Butler Avenue in Ambler, was the idea of this former Chestnut Hill businessman's younger brother, a Wall Street financial analyst. Playing to Susanin's strengths, the financier incorporated custom picture framing, the retail sale of unique gifts and accessories, photo restoration, interior design and landscape design into the business.

Custom framing constitutes the lion's share of the business at present. "It's not just a question of mat and frame," Susanin says; "it's a transformation into a work of art."

Palladio's frames are from industry leader Larson-Juhl. One of some 2,000 partners nationwide, Susanin competed in a recent Larson-Juhl contest. Designers were shown a series of household rooms with frames artfully arranged to illustrate how framed artwork contributes to the décor of an interior space. Participating designers were challenged to come up with a concept for "the next room" in the series.

Susanin was chosen as one of three finalists in the first...

Hill area artists' icons on exhibit in church

By MARIE FOWLER

"It must be genetic," says Mary Hansbury of Chestnut Hill, referring to her love of iconography. After all, both her parents came to this area from Ireland, home of the legendary Book of Kells, a cornerstone of holy art.

Hansbury is one of 10 area artists whose work is currently on view in "Hope of Glory" at All Saints' Church in Wynnewood. This exhibition features icons made in the Byzantine-Russian tradition of the 15th and early 16th centuries, revived in this country by master iconographer Vladislav Andrejev. The exhibiting artists are all students of the Philadelphia Iconography Workshop of Andrejev's Prosopon School of Iconology. Internationally acclaimed iconographer Susan vonMedicus of Fort Washington heads the Philadelphia workshop.

While these egg tempera paintings, using all natural materials, may be enjoyed solely as objects of art, they are, in reality, liturgical images. "Icon" comes from the Greek "eikon," meaning "image." Icons are religious paintings, the creation of which are to the iconographers a form of prayer. Each step of the process is highly symbolic and properly called "writing," not painting.

As vonMedicus often observes, "Icons are not expressions...

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