Two pale-skinned ballerinas pirouette in a heap of fallen leaves amongst a crowd of white naked birch trees in the setting sun.

In Jasna Gopic’s piece of art entitled “Ballerinas,” the vibrant reds and oranges used to detail her autumn scene came from, none other than, several bottles of nail polish.

Gopic uses glass as her canvas and polish as her weapon to create a variety of themes from landscapes and cityscapes to abstract designs and still life.

Her exhibit “Polished World of Imagination” has been on display since Monday, Jan. 12 inside the Rankin Art Gallery and will be available for viewing until Friday, Jan. 23.

Gopic’s passion for polish painting is expressed on her Web site josnagopic.com. She explains, “I especially love to express the properties of nail polish because in one picture, there are two stages. One can be seen during the day and the other at night.”

As a rule of thumb, Gopic’s only tool to use with the polish medium is the standard nail brush supplied, no fan tipped bristles or saber points. She also keeps her work so detailed that sometimes a magnifying glass is needed to see every intricate feature.

In West Michigan’s arts and entertainment magazine On-the-Town, Gopic said, “I love adding many details to my artwork and I love to show people what my work can do.”

The challenges with nail polish’s consistency, quick drying, and texture have never been an issue for Gopic. She feels as an artist it is important to do the unexpected.

“I love to experiment,” she said. “It’s always a challenge to find a new medium that’s unique.” And as far as she is concerned, she is the only one to create art from polish.

“I began as a teenager,” said Gopic in an interview with the Grand Rapids Press. “First, with pencil, but then with polish. Who knows? I can’t explain. I just like a challenge.”

But, she doesn’t seclude herself from other forms of art. Gopic, a Siberia native who majored in geography at the University of Belgrade, also experiments with acrylics, oils, pencils and photography.

Her works have appeared in exhibits and personal shows in Europe and across Michigan, as well as on TV.

Ferris is bringing in a comedian that promises to bring laughs to start of semester.

Entertainment Unlimited presents comedian Dan Cummins Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. in the Rankin Center Dome Room.

Everyone is welcome and admission is free.

“I did do a show at Ferris last year. I had a great time and remember it being a nice, full crowd. I am working on a lot of new material so [the show] won’t have the same exact jokes as last time.”

According to his Web site dancummins.tv, Cummins combines absurd, imaginative, yet relatable topics with a laid back delivery style; he is one of the most requested comics on the college circuit.

Doing stand-up shows since 2005, the 31-year-old psychology major “never dreamed of being a comic growing up,” he said, “I was gonna be a counselor.”

According to his myspace page, myspace.com/dancummins, he likes jokes and creates as much as he can to meet those millions of fans he wishes to meet and to help him get “an hour special in the next year or so. The more jokes I can get on TV, the more fans I’ll gain, and the more fun touring will be,” Cummins said.

Cummins has had some good starts. He has, according to his Web site, “landed spots on ‘The Late, Late Show,’ ‘Last Comic Standing: Season 6,’ ‘Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham,’ and his first half-hour special – ‘Comedy Central Presents Dan Cummins.’”

Cummins said all he wants to do is be a better comic. He has no plans for doing anything more then his shows and promoting his comedy album, “Things I’ve Thought About,” which is due for release through Warner Brothers on May 12.

Not only that, Cummins said, “I recently saved a ton of money on my car insurance…by fleeing the scene of the accident.”

If you want more information on Cummins, visit his myspace page at myspace.com/dancummins, his Web site dancummins. tv, or email him at dan@dancummins. tv.

For more information email Jalena Strayer at eu@ferris.edu or call x2610.

When I was in junior high, most of my monthly savings were spent on Butterfingers and magazines. My favorite was Seventeen, but I’d also grab YM and sometimes sneak a Cosmo.

Then as I creeped up the age demo, my flavor for magazines was Glamour, Elle and Vogue. I’d take them into my room and I’d sink into a fugue of longing for that handbag, this shade of eye shadow, that hair style or that boyfriend.

But for the past three years my love affair for the glossies has gone sour. I rarely find anything that I feel compelled to buy. What motivated my magazine love as a teenager was learning the answers to the burning questions of my life, which at that time were: How to be pretty? How to be cool? How to find a boyfriend?

My concerns today are different: I now want a magazine to tell me something surprising, something I don’t know. I want a magazine to tell me an amazing story.

The first problem I encounter on my quest is trying to find the story. The repeated pages of advertisements drown out anything worth reading. And the unrealistic photo-shopped body images laid out in those ads and fashion spreads can be a confidence killer for anyone. I have an artistic appreciation for fashion but magazines should think about dressing girls who won’t blow away.

Once I finally find a story, I can usually tell you exactly how it’s going to go just by reading the headline. Of almost all the Cosmos I have read, inside are the same ridiculous articles hashed out with different titles. Magazines are the one case where I believe you can judge a book by its cover.

In addition to predictability in magazines, there is also the problem of readability. As more readers get their information from the web, magazines have concluded that readers want things to be more like the web: shorter and more packaged with more graphics. Well, no, if I want the Internet I’ll turn on the freaking computer.

Content may be an even bigger issue. There are too many stories about socialites, or, at any rate, too few stories that sufficiently demonstrate why we should care about these creatures. What once felt like a jolly gossip skip through Hollywood, now feels like an intravenous feed.

Then there are the mixed messages they send. What I don’t understand is how some magazines can have articles about gaining self-confidence and how every woman is beautiful on one page, then a three week “onlydrink- water-and-eat-a-carrot” diet on the next page, and a recipe for 1,000 calorie a slice cake afterward.

I don’t mean to kick an industry when it’s down, but most magazines are just a broken record to me. The so called news stands at the checkout line look like desperation wrapped up in a shiny, sparkling, and mostly pink, coating.

As the 35th Annual People’s Choice Awards came to an end last Wednesday, the Oscar buzz on nominees has begun. We had entered the middle of awards season.

Some winners of the People’s Choice Awards and 55th Annual Golden Globes, which ended Sunday evening, are also possible nominees for an Academy Award, which is taking place live on Feb. 22.

A recap of the People’s Choice Awards include winners like movies “The Dark Knight,” which won five awards total, including favorite movie (with Christian Bale saying “Here’s to Heath [Ledger]”) “WALL-E” for favorite family movie, “27 Dresses” for favorite comedy movie, and “The Secret Life of Bees” for favorite drama.

As for actors and actresses alike, Reese Witherspoon won favorite female movie star, Will Smith won favorite male movie star and favorite male action star, Angelina Jolie won favorite female action star, Brad Pitt won the leading man award, and Kate Hudson won the leading lady award.

TV shows had seven categories. Some of the winners include “Dancing with the Stars” won over “American Idol” for favorite reality TV show, “Two and a Half Men” won favorite TV comedy, “House” won over “CSI” and “Grey’s Anatomy” for favorite TV drama.

People’s Choice also includes music. Chris Brown won favorite male singer, Carrie Underwood won favorite female singer, Rascal Flatts won favorite music group.

The Golden Globes, held on Sunday night, were quite interesting because most of the winners of the People’s Choice Awards were nominees but did not win a Golden Globe.

Two bright moments of the Golden Globes were Best Supporting Actor award going to Heath Ledger and a Golden Globe going to Steven Spielberg honoring him and his work.

Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe went to Kate Winslet. Not only did she win that but also won the Best Actress award in a motion picture drama.

The Best Actress award in a motion picture musical or comedy went to up-and-coming actress, Sally Hawkins for “Happy-Go- Lucky.”

Best Actor award in a motion picture musical or comedy went to Colin Farrell. Best Actor award in a motion picture drama went to Mickey Rourke.

TV show “30 Rock” was big, it won best television series and its two main actors, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, won TV series best actor and best actress.

“Slumdog Millionaire” was the big hit of the night with four Golden Globes total including best motion picture drama.

As for Oscar maybe’s, “The Dark Knight” and “WALL-E” are back for possible Best Picture nominees.

Other best picture nominees from movies.aol.com include, “Doubt,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Revolutionary Road,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Best Actor nominees from movies. aol.com may include Sean Penn in “Milk,” Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler,” Leonardo DiCaprio in “Revolutionary Road,” Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and more.

Best Actress nominees from movies.aol.com may include Angelina Jolie in “The Changeling,” Keira Knightley in “The Duchess,” Meryl Streep in “Doubt,” Kate Winslet in “Revolutionary Road,” Dakota Fanning in “The Secret Life of Bees” and more.

As the Oscars are soon coming, the nominees that appeared in the Golden Globes still have a chance to win an Academy Award.

“Slumdog Millionaire” has a great chance of winning but since it did receive its Golden Globes, the other nominees it won against might have the better chance of winning the Oscar.

A lot of possibilities can occur at the Oscars. There are so many good actors, actresses, and movies out there that it’s hard to say who will win.

I think “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “The Reader” and “Revolutionary Road” have the better chance of winning the big award, but “Frost/Nixon” and “Slumdog Millionaire” are inches behind.

This is not it for possible Oscar nominees but from what it looks like there are a lot of good movies and actors/actresses on the nomination list; this year’s Oscars will be interesting.