Commission work: the big reveal
Remember that commission I finished and delivered last month? I can finally show it to you. Et voilà!
Yes — there’s a very good reason the collages feature those enormous, Marie Antoinette-style wigs. Book-It Repertory Theatre’s most recent fundraising gala was called the Big Wig Blowout.” And guests were encouraged to wear a wig to the (online) milestone celebration. Book-It turns 30 this year.
Book-It Repertory Theatre’s founders: Myra Platt (left) and Jane Jones (right)
Founders Jane Jones and Myra Platt created Book-It to “[turn] great literature into great theater” to encourage people to read. Fortunately, the company’s kept several of their playbills, and my mission was to incorporate some into the collages. I had plenty of material to work with: eye-catching program covers, plus rehearsal photos and various images of Ms. Jones and Ms. Platt. Really, it was more a question of what not to use.
Elements of the commissioned collage piece
I couldn’t show you the collages earlier because this project was a farewell gift; the director-founders are retiring after three decades of leadership. Even though I don’t know them personally, that knowledge made this project a little bittersweet for me. Things are changing for Book-It.
But these are creative people: they’ve pivoted to go audio-only for next season’s productions, like a podcast for Book-It subscribers. Who knows — maybe I’ll listen while I’m working on someone else’s collage next year. If you’re considering a commissioned artwork of your own, email me or send me a direct message on Instagram. Could be a lot of fun!
"Medicine Ball": throwdown of the arts
Ladies! Gentlemen! No need to fight over me: there's plenty of my art to go around! [secretly hopes her art inspires the duelers to throw down harder]
"It's Already Happened Here" by Lisa Myers Bulmash. ©2017
I'm one of seven visual artists whose work kicks off Seattle's literary Cage Match of the Millennium. We've created work especially for "Medicine Ball: Playwrights v. Poets."
A team of playwrights and a team of poets are now creating works inspired by the visual art, which speaks to the theme of "unity." Then on the weekend of June 22nd, the teams face off in front of an audience -- that's where you come in -- and the audience decides which poem or play they like best. Mainly, this battle is for (a little bit of) honor and glory: Winners take home a bottle of cheap wine; losers get a can of warm, cheap beer.
Should be interesting to see where they take my collage, which addresses a harsher kind of unity.
I'm sure the Confederate flag and the illustration of human trafficking are going to be a challenge. But you're up to it, right, poets? How about you, playwrights?