In art, Diane Bostick does it all.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Sempronius resident Diane Bostic is an author, musician and educational performer.
Sempronius resident Diane Bostic is an author, musician and educational performer.
She became a published author last year with the release of her book of poetry and song lyrics, “Naked Feathers.” Songs she wrote will appear on her 11-song album and another by Syracuse jazz musician Kim Kipfer in 2008. Soon she will take the educational character she created, Sarah Irene McGee, to summer festivals in the central New York area.
While each form of expression reaches people in its own way, all of Bostick's art is the product of considerable work on her part. “Naked Feathers” was compiled from a body of poetry and lyrics she began amassing at the age of 17. She wasn't inspired to publish her literature until Kipfer - a longtime collaborator with Bostick when she lived in Syracuse - called her to request to record two of her songs.
“I thought if someone was calling me after 20 years asking me that, maybe my stuff's good enough to put into a book,” she said.
Bostick is reluctant to attach one unifying theme to the book that resulted. However, she believes every work contains an aspect of nature with which readers can relate, whether it's the experience of owning a cat or the sight of black squirrels. “Naked Feathers” also serves as a love letter to the Finger Lakes region.
“I talk about the seasons that disappear when you go south,” Bostick said.
Proceeds from “Naked Feathers” are donated to victims of domestic abuse. Bostick hopes the tranquillity and mirth of her work resonates with readers who may be troubled by such conflicts.
“It's very light in spirit, it's for the people who have gone through pain to find something to smile about,” she said. “Tragedy is only separated from comedy by space and time.”
While all the writing for “Naked Feathers” was already packed into boxes in Bostick's home, narrowing her work down and piecing it into a collection fit for publishing was a four-month process. She found illustrators in her brother, Christopher Bostick, and other friends. Only one poem, also titled “Naked Feathers,” was written expressly for the book.
The 77-page work was published in June 2006, but Bostick's recent move to Sempronius from south Florida kept her from promoting “Naked Feathers” until this past April. She has built the book's online presence through Barnes and Noble's Web site and her own at www.nakedfeathers.net. Bostick has also pushed the book locally through presentations at Powers Library and Coffee 'N Cream in Moravia.
Although Bostick left Florida, her songwriting partner Carrie Lynn Kaplan continues working in Miami to complete a full-length album of their musical collaborations.
“She's really good at putting a little quirky twist on the songs,” Kaplan said.
That sly humor snakes through songs like “The Barefoot Mailmen,” an up-tempo work that matches a fiddle and electric guitar to Bostick's lyrical story about the 12 letter carriers who once walked the beaches of Miami with no shoes. Like much of Bostick's work with a historical tilt, the song was crafted from hours of research. She hopes her appreciation for the past brushes off on the people who buy the album.
“History is an endangered species in our society,” Bostick said.
A rich history also informs her Sarah Irene McGee character, who works as a cook on an Erie Canal ship during the waterway's early days in the mid-19th century. When Bostick created her in 1994, she gave McGee a back story of immigration to the U.S. from Ireland due to the potato famine. McGee's mother died during the widespread malady, and her brother would later perish in the Civil War.
After placing the character on hiatus while in Florida, Bostick revived McGee when she returned to central New York. The character made its first appearance in more than a decade at a recent meeting of the Cayuga-Owasco Lakes Historical Society.
“She has a good grasp of the history and she makes you believe she's really there,” said Mary Donovan, president of the society.
This summer Bostick hopes to bring McGee to festivals to meet with children, sing, tell jokes and paint faces. Like the character does on the canal, Bostick peels potatoes and bakes potato cakes during “Historical Potatoes,” a show that chronicles the hardships McGee has survived. The potato is similarly perseverant for its ability to grow in cold and rocky areas.
“If more people liked potatoes, we'd be a better world,” McGee tells her audiences.
Bostick humored audiences with other characters when she headed Zeda Productions, a Syracuse-based entertainment company that performed theater and comedy. For nursing home audiences, Bostick impersonated familiar faces like Katherine Hepburn, and even worked alongside fellow performer Art Benshadel's Humphrey Bogart to recreate the banter of “The African Queen.”
“She knows how to work an audience really well and get them involved,” Benshadel said.
Bostick closed Zeda Productions when New York cut funding for entertainment programs. She saw more opportunities in Florida, and spent the next decade working with Kaplan while supporting herself through several performance gigs, such as delivering singing telegrams.
“I had to dress like a bumblebee and sing 'Happy Birthday' to a Puerto Rican baggage handler at Miami International Airport,” Bostick said with some amusement.
When Hurricanes Wilma and Katrina devastated Bostick's neighborhood in 2005, she decided to return north with her husband, Magella, and resume his renovation business. They began with a 2,000-square-foot 1875 farmhouse in Sempronius, where they are also currently residing.
With a book already released and two albums with her work on the way, Bostick's ambitions are ever-expanding even as she looks forward to a summer full of engagements as Sarah Irene McGee. She is currently branching out into short story writing and planning to record a spoken poetry CD.
“She's a go-get-'em kind of girl, and no-nonsense when it comes to her career,” Benshadel said. “She's got a good one ahead of her.”
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
If you read
What: “Naked Feathers”
Who: Diane Bostick
Publisher: iUniverse
Cost: $10.95
To purchase: Visit www.barnesandnoble.com and www.iuniverse.com
For more information: Visit www.nakedfeathers.net
Improve your writing with Diane Bostick
What: “The Writing Light” workshop
When: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, beginning June 28
Where: Powers Library, 29 Church St., Moravia
For details: Call 406-0484
While each form of expression reaches people in its own way, all of Bostick's art is the product of considerable work on her part. “Naked Feathers” was compiled from a body of poetry and lyrics she began amassing at the age of 17. She wasn't inspired to publish her literature until Kipfer - a longtime collaborator with Bostick when she lived in Syracuse - called her to request to record two of her songs.
“I thought if someone was calling me after 20 years asking me that, maybe my stuff's good enough to put into a book,” she said.
Bostick is reluctant to attach one unifying theme to the book that resulted. However, she believes every work contains an aspect of nature with which readers can relate, whether it's the experience of owning a cat or the sight of black squirrels. “Naked Feathers” also serves as a love letter to the Finger Lakes region.
“I talk about the seasons that disappear when you go south,” Bostick said.
Proceeds from “Naked Feathers” are donated to victims of domestic abuse. Bostick hopes the tranquillity and mirth of her work resonates with readers who may be troubled by such conflicts.
“It's very light in spirit, it's for the people who have gone through pain to find something to smile about,” she said. “Tragedy is only separated from comedy by space and time.”
While all the writing for “Naked Feathers” was already packed into boxes in Bostick's home, narrowing her work down and piecing it into a collection fit for publishing was a four-month process. She found illustrators in her brother, Christopher Bostick, and other friends. Only one poem, also titled “Naked Feathers,” was written expressly for the book.
The 77-page work was published in June 2006, but Bostick's recent move to Sempronius from south Florida kept her from promoting “Naked Feathers” until this past April. She has built the book's online presence through Barnes and Noble's Web site and her own at www.nakedfeathers.net. Bostick has also pushed the book locally through presentations at Powers Library and Coffee 'N Cream in Moravia.
Although Bostick left Florida, her songwriting partner Carrie Lynn Kaplan continues working in Miami to complete a full-length album of their musical collaborations.
“She's really good at putting a little quirky twist on the songs,” Kaplan said.
That sly humor snakes through songs like “The Barefoot Mailmen,” an up-tempo work that matches a fiddle and electric guitar to Bostick's lyrical story about the 12 letter carriers who once walked the beaches of Miami with no shoes. Like much of Bostick's work with a historical tilt, the song was crafted from hours of research. She hopes her appreciation for the past brushes off on the people who buy the album.
“History is an endangered species in our society,” Bostick said.
A rich history also informs her Sarah Irene McGee character, who works as a cook on an Erie Canal ship during the waterway's early days in the mid-19th century. When Bostick created her in 1994, she gave McGee a back story of immigration to the U.S. from Ireland due to the potato famine. McGee's mother died during the widespread malady, and her brother would later perish in the Civil War.
After placing the character on hiatus while in Florida, Bostick revived McGee when she returned to central New York. The character made its first appearance in more than a decade at a recent meeting of the Cayuga-Owasco Lakes Historical Society.
“She has a good grasp of the history and she makes you believe she's really there,” said Mary Donovan, president of the society.
This summer Bostick hopes to bring McGee to festivals to meet with children, sing, tell jokes and paint faces. Like the character does on the canal, Bostick peels potatoes and bakes potato cakes during “Historical Potatoes,” a show that chronicles the hardships McGee has survived. The potato is similarly perseverant for its ability to grow in cold and rocky areas.
“If more people liked potatoes, we'd be a better world,” McGee tells her audiences.
Bostick humored audiences with other characters when she headed Zeda Productions, a Syracuse-based entertainment company that performed theater and comedy. For nursing home audiences, Bostick impersonated familiar faces like Katherine Hepburn, and even worked alongside fellow performer Art Benshadel's Humphrey Bogart to recreate the banter of “The African Queen.”
“She knows how to work an audience really well and get them involved,” Benshadel said.
Bostick closed Zeda Productions when New York cut funding for entertainment programs. She saw more opportunities in Florida, and spent the next decade working with Kaplan while supporting herself through several performance gigs, such as delivering singing telegrams.
“I had to dress like a bumblebee and sing 'Happy Birthday' to a Puerto Rican baggage handler at Miami International Airport,” Bostick said with some amusement.
When Hurricanes Wilma and Katrina devastated Bostick's neighborhood in 2005, she decided to return north with her husband, Magella, and resume his renovation business. They began with a 2,000-square-foot 1875 farmhouse in Sempronius, where they are also currently residing.
With a book already released and two albums with her work on the way, Bostick's ambitions are ever-expanding even as she looks forward to a summer full of engagements as Sarah Irene McGee. She is currently branching out into short story writing and planning to record a spoken poetry CD.
“She's a go-get-'em kind of girl, and no-nonsense when it comes to her career,” Benshadel said. “She's got a good one ahead of her.”
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
If you read
What: “Naked Feathers”
Who: Diane Bostick
Publisher: iUniverse
Cost: $10.95
To purchase: Visit www.barnesandnoble.com and www.iuniverse.com
For more information: Visit www.nakedfeathers.net
Improve your writing with Diane Bostick
What: “The Writing Light” workshop
When: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, beginning June 28
Where: Powers Library, 29 Church St., Moravia
For details: Call 406-0484
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