My first solo show!

BIG news, everyone: I'm going to have a SOLO SHOW of my art work!

Arts of the Terrace 2012

You remember the Arts of the Terrace group show from September? I had a great time at the reception, and giving away a print of "We See" to one of my fans. The merit prize I won was icing on the cake.

I also got a chance to talk to one of the arts commissioners, Judy Ryan, who's also a mixed media artist. (I love how the racehorse almost leaps off the canvas in her piece below.)

Judy was very encouraging -- she offered me the opportunity to show my work for a month in the Mountlake Terrace library! So look at the wall below:

Now replace those pieces with my art work. squeals with delight and a wee bit of terror

My exhibit will be during the month of May 2013. If you've recently had a solo show -- or even if solo shows are old hat to you -- I'd love to hear about your experiences on my Facebook page. Let's talk!

Thursday with LHPAC: Within "Earshot"

Usually I give you more visuals than audio here, but I think you'll like this detour into the world of Evan Flory-Barnes.

The Earshot Jazz Festival's featured Seattle artist performed just a couple of days ago at the Royal Room. This evening, he'll appear at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (LHPAC).

Photo credit: Daniel Sheehan

The bassist teaches a free jazz education workshop to teens in the early evening. Right afterwards, Flory-Barnes and his festival band Folks perform for the paying crowd (that's you, Mom and Dad). Details:

WHEN: November 1st, 2012; 5pm (workshop) and 8pm (concert)
WHERE: Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S., Seattle
TICKETS: workshop is free; buy concert tickets here
MORE INFO: "Evan Flory-Barnes: Folks"

If your teen was a workshop student earlier in the evening, he or she gets into the concert for free. With a bonus like that, the music sounds even sweeter.

FTC disclosure: I'm partnering with the LHPAC on a series I call "Thursday with LHPAC", generally published on Thursdays. I am being paid an honorarium for my work. However, all opinions and views expressed in this series are my own.

BAMignite photo contest: the good kind of "Paper Cuts"

Is it the smell of an old book that makes me love almost every kind of paper? The colors... the textures that range from gossamer to one-step-away-from-concrete? Ohhh... paper. 

*clears throat* Sorry. I guess you can tell I'm hungrily awaiting an upcoming exhibit at the Bellevue Arts Museum: "Nikki McClure: Cutting Her Own Path, 1996-2012."

"Ditch the Car", Nikki McClure. Photo credit: Dan Kvitka. Used with permission from Bellevue Arts Museum.

Nikki McClure uses X-ACTO blades to cut away black paper until she's left with small slices of everyday life. (And yes, she's self-taught. Daaang.) The exhibit opens two weeks from today.

Now you have a chance to show off what you do with paper -- or fibers, or threads, or photography. Take a photo related to one of these four themes:

• Paper cuts (a paper creation with emotional impact)
• Threads (lines of fiber, color... get creative!)
• Twisted (actual knots, or something that expresses the twists of your life)
• Made in My Town (especially Bellevue-related photos)

Next step: upload it to the museum's Facebook page. The deadline is November 10th.

Finally: On November 16th, BAM will project the photos at the next BAMignite art party.

Those who took the top five photos get free tickets to the party, plus more prizes. How 'bout that?!

As you can see on my Pinterest board "Fun with Paper," I'm constantly amazed by what you can do with paper. And although I don't do much fiber work, I have a soft spot in my heart for yarnbombing.  

But which photo to enter in the contest? What would you send in? Go on, take a picture and enter! (And tell 'em you heard it from me.)