Seattle Twist

This just in from Kurt of Cafe Racer:

Come on down to Cafe Racer!

The fun starts Thursday, of course, it’s always thee best show on the planet, Gods Favorite Beefcake, along with a couple of more artist, Whitney Flynn and Spillway….

Friday night, it’s Spoonshine!

Saturday is a packed full day!
Brunch, of course… always fabulous, and as a bonus, the jokes are FREE this weekend!
AFTER brunch, head to Comicon, highly endorsed by Cafe Racer…. But afterword, there is art and music galore to be had at Cafe Racer!
Art: Opening for Seattle Mural Arts artist John Osgood, Kevin “Sensei23″ Sullivan, and Zachary Bohnenkamp.

Music for Saturday night will be ADHD and Sidesaddle Cowboys…

Sunday, Brunch again, who can’t get enough corn beef hash? And ask about our newest tasty treats, Biscuits and Gravy… They are veggie, but if you really need the meat, they go great with bacon! damn it’s good. really.

Sunday night, it’s the excellent Jazz night! Listen to what’s going on at racersessions.com Yes, it’s so cool that it’s got it’s own page! Check it out!

That’s it for the weekend… and you know what’s coming NEXT week… St. Patricks day! OOOH boy. Come on down for some corn beef and cabbage… a tradition at Cafe Racer…. So better make your reservations now. And since it was so popular the last few years, we are going to do it Wednesday AND Thursday! RSVP if you can… We’ll save you some!

And one more thing… You MUST look good for all these events, so you better get on down to see Mallory at Cafe
Razor… oh man can she set you up in a Mullet! Damn she cuts hairs damn fine!

And don’t forget to visit the Official Bad Art Museum of Art too!

“Lush Life 2″ Group Invitational

New works by Joe Sorren, Chris Berens, Marion Peck, Kris Kuksi, Travis Louie, Brian Despain, John Brophy, Martin Wittfooth, Ryan Heshka, Michael Brown, Charlie Immer, Mandy Greer, Gail Potocki, Laurie Hogin, Boomer, Madeline Von Foerster, Ryan Heshka, Andrew Arconti, and more TBA.

Roq La Rue Gallery

Opening Night Friday, March 12
Show runs to May 07, 2010

Northwest fans of fine art and low brow culture alike are in for a treat this Saturday, March 13. Get your geek on at the Emerald City Comicon, and visit the Fantagraphics booth for a look at a carload of brand new books. Meet stellar cartoonists including legendary Love & Rockets co-creator Gilbert Hernandez.

Take a break from the convention madness to greet the lovely and talented Los Angeles artist Camille Rose Garcia at Roq la Rue Gallery in Belltown. She’ll be signing her timely new book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and ever-popular Magic Bottle from Fantagraphics Books this Saturday afternoon.

Then head down to Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Georgetown from 6:00 to 9:00 PM for an adult beverage at the opening of Gilbert’s HIGH SOFT LISP exhibition and book launch event that serves as the after-party for the Emerald City Comicon. Expect cameos from visiting pros, exquisite art, and DJ Russ Fallout spinning classic punk platters. See you this weekend.

The Northwest Puppet Center is an internationally renowned and presents performances by Carter Family Marionettes and esteemed guest artists. In addition, it features a museum, archive and library focused on the puppetry arts. Programs are also brought to communities near and far with touring performances and educational outreach.

March 3, 2010 – Seattle, WA. The colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack enters its third year resolved to draw attention to the historic industrial arts district in an effort to generate public sentiment towards preservation of this enchanting civic asset. As many of Seattle’s formerly artist-friendly neighborhoods fell victim to frenzied gentrification over the past decade, Georgetown remains the last bastion of a cohesive creative community in the city. We believe activities like the monthly Art Attack will advance our preservation efforts.

Among the highlights of the March 13 Art Attack: The grand opening of the Miller School of Art with a show of student work, painting demonstrations and more; “Circus Series” at Bella Vitale Studio featuring original paintings, prints, textile designs and punk pock dog clothing by Angielena Chamberlain; “Into the Briny Deep”, new paintings by Mary Louise Silva at Frida / Georgetown Tile Works; “High Soft Lisp” art exhibition and book signing by influential Los Angeles cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery; “Wackalope: The Paintings of Dan’l Linehan” at Helmet Head, where the lovely staff will be applying make-up and styling hair for Art Attack patrons; the Helle salon opens their spacious new facility and the Mix re-opens its recently remodeled nightclub; Mark Tedin, Kyle Abernethy and Julie Baroh at KrabJab Studios; Georgetown Atelier open studio tours with founder Mark Tedin; and the usual mayhem and merriment we’ve come to associate with this diverse and festive cultural event.

Sheila Klein and Ries Niemi met in 1972 in a class on screen-printing on fabric.

They had both been working in textiles for several years at that time.

They were married in 1978.

They are still both working in textiles, among many other mediums, today.

They each maintain their own careers and art trajectories.

Between the two of them, they have tied hundreds of thousands of knots.

Ries Niemi is a maximalist. Too much is never enough for him.Niemi has been sewing and embroidering since 8th grade, and still at it today, defying sexual stereotypes. Once, in a grocery store checkout line, a nice old lady told him “Honey, don’t you grow up and be one of THOSE kind of girls”.

He has heeded that advice.

Sheila Klein made her first artwork in Grade One. It was the beginning of performing with materials. The teacher was mean and wouldn’t allow erasers. Klein figured out that she could erase the paper with her rubber-soled gym shoes.

She got caught.

Sheila and Ries’s show at Punch Gallery opens Thursday, March 4th from 5 to 8pm.

On the Surface: Passions We Can’t Hide

Diane Marie Chaudiere, Gay Jensen, and Barbara Zander

February 3-26, 2010

Phinney Center Gallery

On the Surface: Passions We Can’t Hide, on view now at the Phinney Center Gallery through February 26th,  celebrates three artists’ passions.

Diane Marie Chaudiere is passionate about gardening and aquatic environments.

Gay Jensen is passionate about wildlife; especially birds, bears, and antlered animals.  As well as inescapably drawn to lunar, solar and stellar images.

Barbara Zander is passionate about movement, discovering the unexpected and has an insatiable thirst for color and texture.

On The Surface: Passions We Can't Hide on view through Feb 26th

These three artists, who all work in fiber, have come to realize that they do their best work when they let these passions motivate their artistic endeavors.   In the exhibit On the Surface: Passions We Can’t Hide they show work that celebrates passion as their muse.

All three artists are enthusiastic surface designers, using combinations of dyeing, painting, weaving, stitching, layering, printing, digital photography, quilting, beading and other embellishment techniques to express their ideas.    They hope that viewers of their show will gain an enhanced appreciation of the depth and breadth of fiber as a medium as well as an understanding of the passion that drives them to create art.

The Phinney Center Gallery is located at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, on the second floor of the Blue building, at 6532 Phinney Ave N in Seattle.  http://www.phinneycenter.org/arts.shtml

Gallery hours are Monday - Friday 9am-10pm, Saturdays 9am-3pm.

If you are interested in the arts and would like to know more about the Phinney Center arts committee, please email Pamela at arts@phinneycenter.org

Last week’s Grand Opening extravaganza at Nube was a roaring success, as apparent from seeing the hordes of supporters, well-wishers and shoppers crowding the corner mercantile in the Oddfellows Building.

Shoppers gazed lovingly at the myriad of earth-friendly merchandise and wondered aloud about this pillow, that piece of furniture, the stylish clothing lines and the beautiful displays of jewelry, housewares and accessories.

NuBe Green guarantees that every item available in the store meets established sustainability and sourcing criteria, and all of NuBe Green’s products are made in the US from materials that are grown and/or sourced in the US. In addition, all items at the store are made without toxic chemicals and materials in order to offer folks choices of green products that are healthier for humans and the planet.

NuBe Green is the brainchild of Ruth True (pictured here with her sister Molly), who also owns Western Bridge with her husband, Bill. Western Bridge is a cool nonprofit space dedicated to contemporary art, designed by Roy McMakin.

Roy also had a hand in designing and decorating the Nube Green space. There were some doors that were found in the basement of the Oddfellows building, where Nube is located, and he hauled them upstairs, where he constructed a series of tracks. He mounted the doors on the tracks, added some lights and, voila, transformed the corner store into an ever changing series of “rooms”. Just by moving the doors around on the tracks, the store staff is able to change the feeling, flow and layout of the shop.

(Roy McMakin and friend Julie Takashiki)

NuBe Green’s offerings include the work of Seattle artists and artisans as part of its mission to support the local community, and there are items in the store that are wonderful one-of-kind utilitarian yet beautiful objects d’art.

Location: 912 EAST PINE STREET, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, 98122
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-7pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm
Website: Nube Green

The Artist Trust Auction sells out every year and this is a year you don’t want to miss, with fabulous art and incredible performances by Lucia Neare and her Theatrical Wonders.

Support Artist Trust in providing opportunities for writers, musicians, visual and craft artists, choreographers, filmmakers and all kinds of artists to create and flourish in our community.

Seattle-based artist Michael Leavitt is involved an ongoing 8-year project sculpting figures for his fanciful “Art Army.” Inductees include Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Mark Ryden, Robert Williams, Ron English, Shag, Banksy, and countless others. His latest recruit is none other than underground comix legend R. Crumb.

This fully articulated wood-carved sculpture was commissioned by an out-of-state collector. Before it ships off to the private collection, the piece will be put on public display at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery for one night only during the reception for Gahan Wilson on Saturday, February 13. If you can’t make it then, you can view Leavitt’s recent work, including collaborations with Fantagraphics friend Charles Krafft, at Stolen Space Gallery in London May 13 through May 30.

February 1, 2010 – Seattle, WA. The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack celebrates is second anniversary on February 13, just in time for Valentine’s Day. What better place for art mavens of all ages to observe this romantic occasion than in the enchanting industrial arts quarter of Georgetown? In the short span of two years the Georgetown Art Attack has gained a reputation as one of the region’s most provocative and colorful cultural outings. The public is invited to experience the excitement on Saturday, February 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM as dozens of nightclubs, cafes and creative enterprises present a vast array of visual and performing arts.

Among the highlights: “Show Some Heart” by Georgetown artist and blacksmith Lisa Geertsen at FRIDA & Georgetown Tile Works; Pop art pet paintings by Shai Steiner at A Dog’s Dream; make your own shrinky art with Shrinkmaster Malice together with paintings by Kris Kirwan and Michelle Robles at ProletariArt in the old Rainier Bottling Plant; new works by M. C. Corley and wine charms by Erika Tedin, as well as a huge assortment of fine wines and boutique beers at Full Throttle Bottles; paintings and prints by Mark Tedin, Kyle Abernethy and Julie Baroh at KrabJab Studio; legendary macabre cartoonist Gahan Wilson celebrates 50 years of Playboy cartoons at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery with the debut of a monumental new sculpture by Michael Leavitt; Annalisa Cristine Barelli’s “Into the Dream” at the captivating Engine Room at Georgetown Studios; open house tours with Georgetown Atelier School of Drawing and Painting founder Tenaya Sims; informal music jam with guest musicians at Georgetown Music; diverse dining and drinking at Calamity Jane’s, Jules Maes Saloon, Georgetown Liquor Company, 9 Lb. Hammer, Smarty Pants; Stellars Pizza & Ale; All City Coffee; Squid & Ink; Via Tribunali and more.

For map see: www.georgetownartattack.com.

Opening Thursday February 11th -  6-10PM - at Vermillion

Friends of the Nib