The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

It's a soul connection with Garcia by Dominik Kurek Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene 23 | Friday, June 21, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Oakville's Anthony Garcia has turned the adversities of his life into something positive: music. Now, the singer-songwriter is releasing his second album, Soul Connection, with a CD launch party at the Maluca Restaurant and Wine Bar, 142 Lakeshore Rd. E., on Sunday (June 23). The event runs from 2-5 p.m. "In my life, I've seen how some things have been disappointments and are things that were considered bad in my life and have turned out to be the best thing for me," he said. "On a very deep, subtle level, I'm experiencing that more and more, how disappointments that have happened have taken me to a place where I can say, `wow, that's amazing how I can go through that,' to experiences of something deeper." Garcia is an adult contemporary musician influenced by jazz, pop, Latin and country music who says his music is about unity. It's personal, romantic and spiritual. "My music is spiritual, not in the religious sense, but in the sense of using whatever is happening to us as a stepping stone for more freedom," he said. "The music is about using connections, using the soul, the heart, love, using relationships as a vehicle towards more freedom." Garcia is a longtime musician who began focusing on writing in 2006 and then released his first CD, titled Surrender, in 2009. His album release party will include music from the new CD, as well as a few tunes from the previous one. Cover charge costs $12. For tickets, email tgarcia150@gmail.com. For more information, visit www.anthonygarcia.ca. Oakville's Lego filmmaker Austin Amaral, 13, recently received an honourable mention at the Toronto International Film Festival's Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase and picked up a slew of awards from the Halton District School Board's student film festival, the Eddies. photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) Hard work paying off for Lego filmmaker by Dominik Kurek Oakville Beaver Staff Oakville's Austin Amaral has been placed in a bit of a spotlight for doing something he truly enjoys. The 13-year-old Lego filmmaker recently picked up an honourable mention from the Toronto International Film Festival's Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase, the second year in a row he's done that, plus he picked up a slew of awards locally for his film "Bearing" For Gold. These achievements have landed the Grade 8 Falgarwood Public School student on television in spots on TVO Kids and YTV and an interview on CBC News. He admits he was hoping to win the TIFF showcase after receiving an honourable mention a year ago, but is happy regardless. "I was happy with it. Being nominated is good enough," he said. He did have more luck locally. He picked up the Best Overall, Best Animation, Best Special F/X, Best Audio and Best Cinematography awards at the Halton District School Board's annual Halton Student Film Festival, called the Eddies. "Really, all I wanted was best special effects and best animation, but I got all the extra stuff. I didn't expect that much," he said. Amaral received the awards for his sixand-a-half minute stop-motion film that he spent 200 hours making. "I don't think you can count how much Lego I used because there was a ton. There were four main sets I made and each one took about a week to build," he said. The video, running 12 frames per second, required approximately 6,000 photos. It is about a thief who tries to rob a goldmine, but blows it up accidentally, so he uses dynamite from the mine to break into a bank instead. "When you're filming for a long period of time, dust is the worst enemy. Dust accumulates on the Lego so you constantly have to have a Swiffer to clean it all up," he said. Amaral's film studio is a long table in his family's living room, which he sets up when- ever he begins a film project. He's made more than a dozen films, using Lego for most. "I like using it because it's fun to build. With Claymation it's really hard to make your guys look good, but with Lego, you already have a base model. It's just easier to use," he admits. Amaral can't even count how much Lego he owns. Amaral picked up his filmmaking passion after attending a number of youth film camps locally. He's also picked up some building techniques, such as making Lego look like water, by attending Lego fairs. He's also discovered some techniques through trial and error. He films only once the sun goes down and lights his sets with electrical light fixtures. Using daylight makes the video image flicker due to the changing light of the sun, something he learned with his first production. Amaral hopes to continue his filmmaking into the future including when he grows up, saying he would like to do sound for movies or cut scenes for video games. The Oakville Youth Arts Council (OYAC) is hosting an exhibit featuring the works of local youths who won a recent Art Battle. The exhibit, titled For the Love of Art: an Oakville Youth Arts Council Juried Show, opens on Tuesday, June 25 at the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre (QEPCCC), 2302 Bridge Rd. The exhibit comes down on Tuesday, Aug. 27. The show features the works of five local high school students. The students competed in the Art Battle in May in two categories, These young artists had to battle for a spot in this exhibit Junior (Grade 9 and 10) and Senior (Grade 11 and 12). The competitors were selected for the Art Battle after being chosen as the best in their own schools. The students were given 30 minutes and limited materials for use and had to come up with an art piece that adhered to a theme. For the seniors, the theme was "Standing Out", while the Juniors had a theme of "Society's Perception of True Beauty". The exhibit will feature five winners from the Art Battle. The senior winners are: · First ­ Rui Jie Wang, Abbey Park High School · Second ­ Megan Boni, T.A. Blakelock High School The junior winners are: · First ­ Virginia Crease, Abbey Park High School · Second ­ Hazel Ho, Appleby College · Third ­ Michaela Gardner, White Oaks Secondary School The show will feature paintings and drawings by these five artists as well as the 12 paintings that were created during the Art Battle. This show is meant to celebrate the spontaneity and creativity of Oakville's young artists, and gives these students the opportunity to show and sell their work. OYAC was formed last year to organize events that empower youth, student, and emerging artists. It works closely with the Oakville Arts Council and the Special Events Committee at QEPCCC. There will be a reception for the art show on Monday, July 8 from 6-8 p.m.