Artfully Edmonds: Arts Foundation shines spotlight on painter Alice Owen

"Winter Pond" by Alice Owen. Photo courtesy of Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation.
“Winter Pond” by Alice Owen. Photo courtesy of Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation

Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation (EAFF) board member Darlene McLellan tells Artfully Edmonds, “The EAFF is pleased to showcase the work of local artist Alice Owen at the Frances Anderson Center from Monday, Aug. 1 through Sept. 14.”

Paintings by Alice Owen featured at the EAF Foundation Gallery though September 14
Paintings by Alice Owen featured at the EAF Foundation Gallery though September 14

Meet the Artist

The EAFF has scheduled a “Meet the Artist” opportunity with Alice for the upcoming Art Walk Edmonds, Thursday, Aug. 18 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the EAFF Gallery, Frances Anderson Center.

Enthusiasts and collectors of Owen’s work (who has been exhibiting her watercolors in Edmonds since 1993) extend well beyond the Puget Sound area.

When I first began writing for My Edmonds News, I was walking the gallery and downtown studio “beat.” While  introducing myself to art team and Edmonds’ businesswomen, Denise Cole and Tracy Felix, it was Cole who described Owen as “one of Edmonds’ grande dames of Edmonds art.”

Just a few of the local galleries and community exhibitions that have featured the prolific artist’s work include Gallery North, Semantics Gallery, Main Street Gallery (which has closed in favor of its Chelan, Wash. location); the Edmonds Arts Festival, and the Northwest Holiday Art Show. Alice created the first poster for Edmonds in Bloom in 1996.

A signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society, Alice is also a member of the Montana Watercolor Society and a juried member of Women Painters of Washington.

Alice illustrated four of the six cookbooks that she and her late husband, John Owen, collaborated on.

Artist’s Statement

Of her work, Alice says, “I hope my painting is about deepening an experience. I like focusing in, trying to achieve an intimacy and intensity with a close-up view so that the painting is more than an ordinary moment of existence. I work primarily in watercolor and gouache, and shapes and colors are what draw me to a subject as I work toward more abstraction.”

A number of well-wishers contacted Artfully Edmonds upon learning that the work of Alice Owen was being featured in this week’s column. Among them were Tracy Felix, co-owner of ARTspot (408 Main St.) who says, “Alice volunteered to be my official mentor when I was accepted into Women Painters of Washington. She always made sure I knew about the meetings and that I felt included. I am so lucky to know this generous and talented artist. Thank you, Alice, for all that you have done to bring other artists along.”

More recently, Denise Cole added to her observations of Alice with this statement, “Alice Owen is truly one of the greatest painters in Edmond’s history! To meet her, you would never know how successful and renowned she is, as she is also one of the humblest artists I have ever met. I am delighted that she is being honored with an EAFF exhibition.”

Art collector and local author Nicki Chen says of Owen’s work, “Alice’s paintings, with their bold use of color, are the perfect antidote for a cloudy day.”

“Invitation” by Alice Owen. From the art collection of Emily Hill.

Darlene McLellan adds a personal note about Alice in these words: “Alice has been such a large part of Edmonds Arts Festival over the years. Working with schools via the Visual Arts Idea grants (K-12 Visual arts in the classroom) offered by the EAF Foundation, I’ve really appreciated Alice’s insight and support of local schools, aware of needs and providing suggestions as well as her personal time and talents to improve arts education in a variety of ways.

“She was one of the three artists asked to demonstrate at the opening of ArtWorks in Edmonds in 2004 and, as expected, she was right there giving and supporting the message and value of arts for all. I’m delighted that she willingly said yes to her upcoming exhibit at the EAF Foundation Gallery. It will be quite a treat!”

The EAFF Gallery is located in the Frances Anderson Center, 700 Main St.

Gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For additional information about EAFF or the Alice Owen exhibition, call 425-771-0228.

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Charlie Beck and Charmaine Slaven, the married-to-each other duo that comprises "Squirrel Butter"
Charlie Beck and Charmaine Slaven, the married-to-each other duo that comprises “Squirrel Butter”

Thursday, July 28
5-6:30 p.m. 
Hazel Miller Plaza

Squirrel Butter duo Charlie Beck and Charmaine Slaven will bring Cajun, Americana, Bluegrass and Blues to the courtyard outside The Cheesemonger’s Table just about dinner time Thursday night.

A popular husband-wife team, Charlie and Charmaine have been playing Seattle-area festivals and as buskers at the Pike Place Market (usually outside “the original” Starbucks) for over 10 years now.

Their fame, by last year, has risen to the microphones of Prairie Home Companion, where they performed Reuben’s Train. Here on this YouTube clip they play traditional Appalachian folk music at the Pacific Northwest Folklore Society.

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“Thoroughly Modern Millie” will be thoroughly successful if the talent represented by this Driftwood Teen Troupe cast is any indication. Photo courtesy of Dorothy Pierce.

Theatre District News

Friday, July 29
8 p.m.
Driftwood Players ~ Teen Troupe
Wade James Theatre
950 Main St.

 

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Directed by Dorothy Pierce
Music Direction by Jordyn Meeker
Choreography by Alia Thomaier

Driftwood Playbill: “Set in New York City in 1922, Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of Miss Millie Dillmount from Kansas who comes to New York in search of a new life. Her grand plan is to find a job as a secretary for a wealthy man and then marry him. However, her plan goes completely awry.

The owner of her dingy hotel has a side business of kidnapping young girls to sell to the Far East; her wealthy boss is slow in proposing marriage; and the man she actually falls in love with doesn’t have a dime to his name – or so he tells her.

Filled with frisky flappers, dashing leading men and a dragon-lady of a villainess that audiences will love to hate, Thoroughly Modern Millie is a perfectly constructed evening of madcap merriment.”

That is “An-Edmonds-Kind-of “madcap merriment” thanks to the talents of young thespians who flock to the Driftwood to enroll in stage arts.

Local notes

Production director Dorothy Pierce lists on her Facebook page that she is a drama instructor in improv, creative acting and stage makeup at Edmonds Heights K-12. She is also an educator in Driftwood Players’ Teen Troupe program.

Jordyn Meeker, who provides music direction for the production, is owner and voice teacher of Edge Arts and Dance in Shoreline. She surprised Artfully Edmonds by revealing in her TPS bio that she is a member of “Restless Vocal Band,” a seven-member capella group that favors pop.

The talent of Alia Thomaier, choreographer, is showcased in this YouTube video in which she sings a number from My Fair Lady.

Four performances between July 29 – 31. Tickets for Thoroughly Modern Millie are available at the Driftwood Players on-line box office or by calling 425.774.9600.

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Funny Phoenix Theatre known for its motto, "Comedy without all the drama" runs with a comedic trilogy.
Funny Phoenix Theatre known for its motto, “Comedy without all the drama” runs with a comedic trilogy.

Rising at The Phoenix: Comedy!
Friday, July 29
8 p.m.

I’m Herbert; Here We Are; Overtones
A comedic trilogy

This weekend, just for laughs, The Phoenix Theatre performs, I’m Herbert, a sketch about two very elderly people (Herbert and Muriel) sitting on a porch in rocking chairs and talking – just talking.

And, of course they don’t know how funny they are as they achingly (and tediously) discover that they have been married several times – even to each other – although they cannot remember the names of the guilty parties.

I’m Herbert was written by playwright Robert Anderson in 1967 and is catalogued with the four one-act plays of unrelated material, “You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running”.

The Phoenix also includes in its currently running comedic trilogy Here We Are, and Overtones.

Here We Are, written by Dorothy Parker, is set in the 1930s. The storyline centers around the post-nuptial sniping of young newlyweds heading out for New York on an evening train.

The third selection in the run is Overtones. The laughter meter will measure high on this one – it’s about the joys of middle-age dating.

– – – 

Coming soon to the boards of The Phoenix

Well established as a summer stock tradition, The Phoenix Theatre’s parody of Gilligan’s Island is an anticipated favorite of Phoenix fans.

Slated for an August production, patrons can also expect I love Lucy (a take-off on the popular Lucille Ball and Ricky Ricardo sitcom (in Phoenix style) to be added to the marquee of the Firdale neighborhood theatre.

Tickets for all Phoenix Theatre productions are available at this ticket link.

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This Saturday its an Open-to-the-Public "Birthday Bash" as Edmonds Center for the Arts celebrates its 10th Anniversary.
This Saturday its an Open-to-the-Public “Birthday Bash” as Edmonds Center for the Arts celebrates its 10th Anniversary.

Saturday, July 30
3-9 p.m.
Edmonds Center for the Arts (ECA)
410 4th Ave. N.

 Free!
10th Anniversary “Birthday Bash”

Representative of the season-after-season success of entertainment line-ups; the ECA team, led by ECA Executive Director Joseph McIalwain, is pulling out all the stops in lining up performances for its 10th anniversary celebration, to be held this Saturday.

The Birthday Bash is an all-ages, festival-style event, presented to the community as a thank you to the greater Puget Sound area for 10 years of patronage and partnership.

By Saturday afternoon, the ECA complex will be turned into a showcase for culturally rich performances and attractions planned for three venues: The ECA 700-seat main stage, an outdoor stage and the gymnasium; with a historical retrospective to be held in the ECA’s “center classroom,” which will be open between 3-5:30 p.m.

The official event welcome, plus the following acts, will take place on the ECA’s main. To keep count of the audience size, event coordinators are setting up a ticket line (30 minutes before each show) to be seated for these performances:

3:30 p.m.: Screening of The Red Balloon (1956) with opener Godfrey Daniels – All-ages film plus variety show

4:45 p.m.: Vaudeville Etiquette – Country-classic rock quintet

5:45 p.m.: Welcome remarks by Joe McIalwain, ECA Executive Director

7 p.m.: Alma y Azucar – Latin rhythmic styles

8:15 p.m.: Grace Love & The True Loves – 9-piece soul sensation

– – –

The ECA outdoor stage will feature these troupes:

3 p.m.: Seattle Women’s Steel Pan Project – Caribbean steel drum band

4:05 p.m.: Kuë – Traditional and non-traditional Hawaiian music

5:10 p.m.: Paris Williams – Vocal loop artist

6:25 p.m.: Dedication of Iole Alessandrini’s Luminous Forest

6:45 p.m.: The Onlies – Original and traditional fiddle-driven music

– – –

A Gymnasium Square Dance begins at 9 p.m.

To bring the day to an exciting close, The Rabbit Stew String Band will lead us through our do-si-does at the square dance after-party.

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Three young women head into the world of theatre with Hazel Miller Scholarships to their credit. (L to R) Mariah Lotts, Amanda Petrowski, and Isabelle Smith. (Photos from Facebook)
Three young women head into the world of theatre with Hazel Miller Scholarships to their credit.
(L to R) Mariah Lotts, Amanda Petrowski, and Isabelle Smith. (Photos from Facebook)

Hazel Miller Foundation makes its presentation to Driftwood Players’ young thespians

Mariah Lotts, Amanda Petrowski and Isabelle Smith are this year’s Driftwood Players recipients of Hazel and Morris Miller scholarships; which was covered by My Edmonds News in June.

Artfully Edmonds was on hand at opening night of Into the Woods, when representatives of the Hazel Miller Foundation board made the scholarship awards to the delight of the throng waiting to be seated for the highly successful Teen Troupe production.

Mariah Lotz, a Dean’s List student with a 4.0 GPA, Lotz will be entering her sophomore year at Westminster College of the Arts at Rider University in New Jersey. She is working toward a BFA in Musical Theatre and a BM in Music Direction. This is the second scholarship that Edmonds Driftwood Players has awarded Mariah.

Amanda Petrowski, a 2016 graduate of Mountlake Terrace High School, plans to attend Biola University in Southern California starting in fall 2016. Amanda has been very active in musical theatre both in school and in the community.

Isabelle Smith is a 2016 graduate of Edmonds Heights who also attended the Running Start Program at Edmonds Community College and Seattle Central Community College, where she earned 15 credits of American Sign Language. Smith will be attending the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, where she will be majoring in music and “participating in as many productions as possible!”

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Zinc Contemporary Edmonds features the work of California sculptor Angela Schwer.

Art Gallery Highlights

Designed Chaos, sculptures by California sculptor Angela Schwer will be exhibited through Aug. 15 at ZINC Contemporary Edmonds (102 3rd Ave. S.)

According to her selection to showcase Schwer’s work, gallery owner Laura Zeck says of the artist’s work, “Leaving color off the table, Schwer brings to light the immense complexity and often elegantly chaotic designs in nature with her pure white polymer clay sculptures of plant, sea, and fungi life that can be hung vertically or set tabletop.”

More information about this show and ZINC’s gallery hours can be found at www.ZincArtObject.com.

– – – 

Sunday, Aug. 7
1 to 4 p.m.

Artists Reception
2016 Beauty of the Northwest Exhibition

 

Gallery North (401 Main St.) presents the seventh annual Beauty of the Northwest Exhibit through Aug. 30.

This year’s show features 71 works of art by 45 Northwest artists. The Beauty of the Northwest exhibit is the perfect opportunity for those who collect and appreciate art — a fresh, creative look at our corner of the world by many gifted local artists.

Theresa Goesling, co-owner/instructor of “Make Every Day a Painting” International Workshops and president of the Northwest Watercolor Society, will select and present the awards for the Beauty of the Northwest exhibit.

Awards will be presented at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7.

Note: A second artist reception will be held during Art Walk Edmonds on Thursday, Aug. 18.

August Wine Walk

Gallery North will also participate in the Aug. 27 Wine Walk Edmonds, sponsored by Art Walk Edmonds. For Wine Walk Edmonds information and tickets, visit www.ArtWalkEdmonds.com.

– By Emily Hill

Emily

Emily Hill is the author of two novels and a short story collection. Emily is retired from a career in public information and news media relations. If you would like your event listed, or featured, in Artfully Edmonds, Emily invites you to contact her here.

 

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