Category Archives: Redmond Arts

Rebecca DeVere’s, Coming of Age: A Childhood Series

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Rebecca DeVere’s, Coming of Age: A Childhood Series at the VALA Gallery

Come join VALA in celebrating artist Rebecca DeVere’s installation, Coming of Age: A Childhood Series, at the VALA Gallery sponsored by Redmond Town Center. Thank you RTC for creating space for local art to be showcased!

Installation opens to the public Sunday, July 22 to September 15, 2012.

Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 11am to 5pm

Gallery location: 16471 74th Ave NE (Upper level next to Pinkabella Cupcakes!)

For more information visit: http://www.valaeastside.org

Redmond Poet Laureate

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Redmond’s New Poet Laureate is a writer on a mission – bring poetry to people who think poetry is not for them. “Geeks for Poetry / Poetry for Geeks” is Jeannine Hall Gailey’s mantra as she launches into her work as poet ambassador from one of the world’s most famous tech cities.

Gailey is working with local news outlets, arts organizations, comic cons, teen centers, libraries, and tech thought leaders to reach new and underserved audiences. Her “geek talks” will explore comic book superheroes, code and mathematical poetry, hybrid poetry forms including visual art and music, and more. She is also hoping to launch a “Redmond Reads Poetry” project with the library that will include book clubs, readings and more for a book each quarter that includes “geek-friendly” content such as astrophysics, engineering, and anime.

Jeannine Hall Gailey is the author of two books of poetry, She Returns to the Floating World, published by Kitsune Books in 2011, which was a finalist for the 2012 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal and a winner of a Florida Publishers Association Presidential Award for Poetry, and Becoming the Villainess, published by Steel Toe Books in 2006. Gailey has a B.S. in Biology, an M.A. in English from the University of Cincinnati, and M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Pacific University. Her poems have been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac and on Verse Daily; two were included in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. In 2007, she received a Washington State Artist Trust GAP Grant, and in 2007 and 2011 she won a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize. She volunteers as an editorial consultant for Crab Creek Review, writes book reviews, and teaches at National University’s MFA Program.

The Redmond Poet Laureate serves a two-year term and works to build a more literate community by creating activities that place poetry in the hands of everyday people.

Live and Loud at the BoneBat Film Fest!

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You know that guy in your office who is really into music, but never utters a band name that sounds even remotely familiar? No, not the obnoxious, hipster guy with the stupid glasses. The OTHER guy. Yeah. I’m that guy. I’m not just into bands that you haven’t heard of. I’m into entire musical genres that you haven’t heard of.  But the difference between me and that irritating jerk in Marketing is that truly I love music. It makes me happy. I want to share it and make YOU happy.  And that is why we are bringing TWO musical acts to perform at the 2012 BoneBat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival.

The first band is a nerdcore trio who go by the name Death*Star. If you don’t know what nerdcore is, let me help you out. Imagine hip hop artists who rap about Star Wars, computers, and the need for the metric system. Their rhymes are full of self-effacing humor and SAT words. These are the guys who paid attention in school. But instead of developing software, they are rapping about it.

Death*Star are local nerds with two microphones and a strong sense of rhythm.  MC-3PO & C0splay split time on the mics, while Bill Beats does the heavy lifting; spinning turntables and keeping the whole thing bouncing forward.   Death*Star is funny, crude, and irresistibly catchy. Here are a couple of tracks to show you what I mean. Sixteen Tons explores the habits of an overzealous fanboy and his ever-growing stash of collectibles.  Bounce bounces all over the place, from D&D to Anime while name-checking all the genre’s luminaries, – all of it up-tempo and mega-nerdy. Point your ear at them and take a listen. Better yet, see them LIVE at the BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors” Film Fest, April 21.

When our second band takes the stage, we won’t just be changing gears; we will change entire musical vehicles. Burning of I is a progressive metal band (or “Prog Metal” if you want to sound cool). This isn’t the heavy metal of the 1980′s, with three power chords and enough hairspray to burn a hole in the ozone.  No, this is MUSIC; with intricate melodies, counter melodies, time and key signature changes. But it ain’t pretty. It is harsh, loud, fast and if you listen closely, you just might fall in love with it. Listen to T1000 to see what I mean. Then listen to Machete Suppository… just try not to think about the song title.
Burning of I is fronted by Jacob Weatherspoon (guitars/vocals), with Tory McKeag on drums/samples, Jesse Brasch on Bass, and Matt Fisne on even more guitars. This is a true home-grown, prog-metal phenomenon, and you can see them live and loud in just a few short weeks.

The BoneBat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival is April 21 at the Big Picture in Redmond. It features comedy and horror films, short films, live music, prizes and more.

Gord Caulkins
Cartoonist, www.mightywombat.com
BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors’ Film Fest
Tickets are available now at www.bonehand.com/bonebatff.html.

BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors” Film Fest announces Official Selections!

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Good morning, Redmond !

Steve from the BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors” Film Fest here. As we are only a mere 4 weeks away from our second cinematic and sonic spectacular, I wanted to take a moment and share my thoughts on this year’s official selections, which we announced earlier this week on The BoneBat Show podcast.

The fun will begin with our first block of shorts, leading off with “Shadows”, from director Bryan Wolford. Bryan is a veteran podcaster in his own right, but when he isn’t helming Peoria Illinois ’ Drunken Zombie podcast, you can find him turning a discerning eye to the filming of horror shorts. We are proud to screen his debut at this year’s fest, but keep an eye peeled for his critically acclaimed sophomore effort “Whispers”, and the currently in-production “Myctophobia”.

Next up will be “Horror Movies Suck”, a short, sharp shot in the arm from LA Director JohnMark Triplett, followed by the first of 2 efforts from Jeffrey Williams, who warns us about our over-reliance on technology in the hilarious “Living the iDream”.

We then make with the bloodsuckers as sweet, sweet vampire love takes a sour twist in the winning “Blood Love”, a film written, shot and edited in only 48 hours for the Seattle 48 hour Film Project by actor/director Brian Sutherland. Next, even the undead fear the workaday grind in “Nightshift of the Vampire” from Australian director Justin Crooks. We close the block with Drew Daywalt and David Schneider’s super-creepy “The Easter Bunny is Eating My Candy”, and learn that the zombie apocalypse is all a matter of perspective in director Wesley Alley’s comicbook flavored “ReRe-Animated”.

Our second segment of shorts kicks off with the return of Kansas filmmaker Patrick Rea, who follows last years’ official selection “Get Off My Porch” with the clever and endearing “Copy”. This is followed by the most epic 17 minutes of film you are likely to see this year in director Geoffrey Cowper’s “Cargols!” (a.k.a Snails!) from Spain, leading up to our only repeat from our first fest, the classic crowd-pleaser “Spider” from Australian director Nash Edgerton.

We then throttle up the comedy with the first of two efforts from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Theater, and “BJ Bond” directed by Jason Axinn, before experiencing the dark, historical weight of Alex Lugones’ “The Devil’s Toy”. Then, it’s a fat slice of pure 70’s horror in “C-Stand” from Arizona director Carl Jensen IV, before we close Block Two with perhaps this year’s most over-the-top offering in director Dennis Widmyer’s ripsnorting shocker “Curtain”.

Then it’s down to business in our third and final block of shorts, as we bask in the glory of this year’s our lone animated selection in Denmark’s unforgettably chilling “Backwater Gospel”, from director Bo Mathorn and The Animation Workshop. You will then witness the perils of condiment misapplication in Jeffrey Williams’
uproariously disturbing “Hold The Mayo”.

The method to our madness is finally revealed, as we present Nash Edgerton’s awesome sequel to “Spider”, in the short “Bear”. SMBC Theater returns to systematically dismembers an entire genre in “Mad Scientist”, directed by Chason Chaffin, and Canadian director Christian Sparkes enthralls with his sublimely gorgeous childhood tale “A River In The Woods”. Finally, director Drew Daywalt destroys your sleeping habits with his brief yet brilliant “Bedfellows”, before we complete the delicious torment with director Bill Palmer’s pitch-perfect salute to the 80’s work of Stephen King and John Carpenter in “Vicki”.

Finally, if that isn’t enough to entice you to the box office, we are thrilled to announce our third and final feature for this year, Deadheads! Studded with charmingly memorable performances from actors Michael McKiddy, Ross Kidder, and Markus Taylor, you will not want to miss the Seattle big-screen premiere of this sweetly romantic yet satisfyingly gory buddy- road- zombie comedy from directors Brett and Drew T. Pierce.

Deadheads joins the features Monster Brawl and The Moleman of Belmont Avenue, also in their Seattle premieres, in completing our cinematic lineup for 2012.

Tickets are on sale now via Bonehand.com at an advance purchase discount until 4/13, or take advantage of our Enormous Package to receive your ticket, a Limited edition T-Shirt, (1) Flying Saucer Pizza, signed CDs from both Death*Star and Burning of I, and more. The Enormous Package offer expires on April 1st, so get yours while the getting is good!

Gord and I look forward to seeing you on April 21st! You bring the giggles, we’ll bring the gore!

Steve Holetz
Director, BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors’ Film Fest
steve@bonehand.com

Artificial Light Kick-off, March 8th, 5 to 7pm at The Flying Apron Redmond

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Many, many, many “tree-socks” later, and the kick-off for the Artificial Light installation by Suzanne Tidwell is upon us. It is hard not to notice Tidwell on her ladder sewing up the seams of her “tree-socks” or talking to passers-by that cannot help but stop, chat, and look, at the beams of light peeking through even to Redmond Way. Children’s classes have stopped by, photographers, Redmond residents, and even the Redmond Fire Department has come around enticed by the flashes of color emanating from historic Anderson Park.

I’ve heard people say, “…in my twenty years of living in Redmond, I’ve never stopped here before until now…”, or “it was always so dark, and now it just glows.” What an impressive impact Tidwell’s installation has had on Redmond so far– and the community “knit-ins” are just around the corner on March 10th at Anderson Park from 2pm to 6pm and March 17th from 2 to 6pm. Check out our “knit-in” guide at: http://www.valaeastside.org/artificial-light-is-presented-by-vala-eastside-and-includes-the-following-community-events — and get started on your “stripe”!

Come join VALA Eastside and the Redmond Chamber of Commerce at our host venue The Flying Apron Bakery in Redmond from 5 to 7pm on March 8th to celebrate this dynamic installation.

Rocky Horror Show at SecondStory Repertory

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Greetings, Redmond. Corey here, Artistic Director of SecondStory Rep in the Redmond Town Center. What a great idea created in the Experience Redmond Blog and happy to see all of the wonderful things going on in our area.

We have so many loyal patrons that support and enjoy our theater but it always surprises us at how many residents come by each and ask us how long we have been around because they “never knew” we were here. We are here and this season we are taking the game to a whole new level. We seek to be a catalyst for urban development and east side nightlife as we host our Mainstage Season, Theater for Young Audiences Series, our resident Improv Troupe (Split 2nd Improv) our conservatory training program for kids and young adults, and a never-ending list of late night special events. It’s easy to “keep it local” and stimulate the local economy here. Our home in the Redmond Town Center has free parking, restaurants, shops, cinemas, live theater, and tons of social diversity. Stop by anytime and introduce yourself, take a look at the theater, and get the skinny on what we have going on.

During the month of March we are taking part in the TAKE ROOT BRANCH OUT Redmond Arts Season and offering (for four nights only) The Rocky Horror Show!!! We’d love to see you there.

March 16, 17, 23 and 24 at 9pm

ALL Tickets: $15

To Purchase Tickets:
www.secondstoryrep.org
Call the box office at 425.881.6777 Tues-Sat 1-5pm

What happens when a clean cut couple runs into car trouble? Watch Brad Majors and Janet Weiss branch out of suburban social mores when they enter the home of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Part rock musical and part sci-fi spoof, this now classic story about seduction and discovery takes us on the journey from experimentation to self-realization. Join us for the theatrical production of the Rocky Horror Show and some exciting pre-show events!

PRE-SHOW PARTIES
March 17 Sing-a-long
March 24 Costume Contest
7:30 to 9pm, FREE (drinks available for purchase)
Sing-a-long to your favorite Rocky Horror Show tunes at a March 17 pre-show open-mic and come dressed to impress at a March 24 pre-show Rocky Horror Costume Contest.

Artificial Light: “Brilliant Light”

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Something wonderful is happening to the trees in Anderson Park! I drove by the park last week to see the progress, and did a double take because of the sudden “brilliant light” coming from the finished tree-socks. I can’t wait to see the finished installation, as it will transform the park into a vibrant, exciting visual space.

Suzanne has taken the functional craft of knitting, and transformed the concept into an art form. “Yarn bombing” is the term used to describe temporary installations using yarn to cover objects and create an unexpected visual display. Similar to graffiti, but not as destructive!

As Redmond celebrates its centennial, and the pioneers that started the city, Suzanne’s work also speaks to the pioneer spirit. For both pioneers and artists must use their imagination to visualize what could be possible and then have the courage to follow through until their ideas and dreams are realized.

Building the Best BoneBat Film Fest

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The submission deadline for 2012 BoneBat ”Comedy of Horrors” Film Fest is now behind us, but before my co-host Gord and I enter the cinematic octagon to “negotiate” our list of official selections, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge our sponsors for this year’s event. It takes the assistance of a great many organizations to create an unforgettable entertainment extravaganza, and we are beyond thankful to have the support of so many businesses that we respect and frequent.

First, we are absolutely thrilled to be returning to the luxurious Big Picture Theater for this year’s installment. It was truly a pleasure to hear the attendees of our first fest enter this establishment and say: “Wow, this place is REALLY NICE!” With comfortable seats, delicious white cheddar popcorn, and a full bar for your libational pleasure, Big Picture knows how to pamper moviegoers like no other. It is really no surprise to me why Entertainment Weekly magazine included Big Picture in last year’s article “Make Better Movie Theaters (Like These)”

Much like an army, attendees of a nine hour film and music fest watch on their stomach. So we are fortunate that Flying Saucer Pizza will once again be selling to our hungry moviegoers. In addition to their fantastic pies (Red Planet, thin crust, extra sauce for me, please!), it is Flying Saucer’s sense of sci-fi fun that is truly endearing, as anyone who has attended one of their awesome Saturday Trivia Nights can attest.

We are also proud to announce the return of Redmond ’s own Mac N Jacks Brewery, whose sponsorship largesse will again allow us to keep their deliciously refreshing African Amber on special throughout the event.

Additionally, thanks to their own respective generosities, we will have enough fortifying Whoopass Energy Drink from Jones Soda and delectable gourmet chocolate bars from Theo Chocolate on hand to keep you wired and watching for the duration.

One of the other great features of the BoneBat Film Fest (if I do say so myself) is the prize drawing and giveaway. In our 2010 event, a good ¾ of our audience walked away with a something awesome; and this year will be even better.  The world’s greatest video store, Scarecrow Video, is back with an awesome selection of horror DVD’s for us to give away, seconded by an offering of great B-movies from Alternative Cinema. For your reading pleasure, we’ve got amazing comics from Dark Horse and Oni Press to share with lucky viewers, as well as Dark Fantasy and Sci Fi samplers from UK pioneers Black Library! Hecka Good Café has ponied up some vintage horror movie posters, and Kirkland ’s Play N Trade has loaded us up with gift cards for many fortunate video game fans.

On the gaming front, our sponsors Games & Gizmos and Paizo are pulling double duty, providing both games to give away at the fest as well as sponsoring our upcoming BoneBattle Gaming Tournament! Join Gord and I at Games and Gizmos in Redmond on March 17th to play a great selection of games from Paizo and more, be part of a live BoneBat Show, and for a chance to win tickets to the Film Fest itself!

In addition to providing what you will see, hear, eat and win on April 21st, many of our sponsors sustain us in other ways. Gord and I would like to give a major thank you for the untiring and unwavering promotional support of Stalker Farms in Snohomish, (THE must-attend northwest haunted trail), as well as Seattle Film Institute and Redmond’s Digipen for spreading the word amongst their students.

Huge ups are due to the hard work of Steve Wands, whose art adorns our posters this year, and whose zombie novel “Stay Dead” should currently be terrorizing your Kindle. And finally, thank you to the City of Redmond , GT Printing Equipment, and our own BoneBat Show, whose support and logistical assistance have made this event a reality.

So please join us on April 21st, and experience for yourself what this amazing group of sponsors has created for you! Tickets are available now at www.bonehand.com/bonebatff.html. And with that, I am off for a little “extreme film criticism”.

Clink. Clink. Clink. OH, GOR-ORD! Come out to play-eee-ay!

Steve Holetz
Director, BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors’ Film Fest
steve@bonehand.com

The huge, short part of the “Comedy of Horrors” Film Fest

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Hey, Redmond. Gord here. I am one half of the team bringing you the BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors” Film Fest, a cinematic showcase of independent comedy and horror, primed and ready to blow on April 21st at the Big Picture Theater in Redmond Town Center.

In addition to feature length films and live music, the “Comedy of Horrors” Film Fest is going to have a veritable cornucopia of horror, comedy and horror/comedy shorts!

I’ve always liked short films, and not just because I have the attention span of a ground squirrel with a cheek full of espresso beans. It is the short format that I love. Nothing extra. Nothing wasted. BOOM! Right to the point, in your face and out the door.

The first “grown up book” I ever read was Night Shift: a collection of short horror tales by Stephen King. Each story was just long enough to thoroughly disturb me, but short enough that I could still log a few hours on the Atari before bedtime. The fact that I was ten years old at the time leads one to wonder about the wisdom of my folk’s parenting.  But it also explains why I love this stuff, and think that you will too.

I have been working non-stop, 24-hours-per day, living on nothing but Jones Soda  WhoopAss Energy Drink and Theo Chocolate, previewing these short films and selecting only the finest to show at our festival. I laughed until my throat bled. I screamed until I sprained my uvula. I can’t wait for you to do the same.

Animation? We’ve got it. Creepy short films? Definitely. Absolutely over the top images that will peel the protective enamel from your immortal soul and sear themselves into nightmares forever? Got those too. A touching movie about a sensitive child and an endangered sea mammal?

No. We definitely don’t have that.

If you are experiencing a vague sense of deja vu, it’s because this is the second time we’ve been here. We took root, now we’re branching out with more music, more movies and more fun. (You see what I did there? It’s City of Redmond’s “Take root, Branch out” theme. Clever, huh?)

Tickets are on sale now. Look for me April 21 at the Big Picture Theater in Redmond Town Center. I’ll be the hollow-eyed, twitchy guy in a black T-shirt…no the OTHER hollow-eyed twitchy guy in a black T-shirt… the one with the splint on his uvula.

Gord Caulkins
BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors’ Film Fest
Tickets are available now at www.bonehand.com/bonebatff.html.

Contemplating Suzanne Tidwell’s Artificial Light installation at Anderson Park

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My first interaction with Suzanne Tidwell was at the Sammamish Arts Fair in 2010—her work stood out. I remember her wall hangings made up of repurposed materials—Ikea napkins carefully sewn with remnants of paper hole-punch cut outs. She had a bench made of knitted yarn, then felted, into sinewy, tree-like branches and leaves that created space. It was the large wall-hanging made up of multi-colored napkins that caught my eye each time I walked through the fair. After talking to her that day, I realized she takes everything she comes in contact with as a potential art supply: napkins and thread become art supplies, vases become yarn containers, a valet-cart becomes her mobile work-station, and yarn takes on a life of its own…

Her work and evolution as a fiber artist has been organic, literally weaving in her talents with tools that have been readily available and her vast imagination which takes them anywhere she fancies. By definition, she thinks outside the box: she takes yarn and makes it her paint brush and the world her canvas.

While talking to Tidwell I can see that she has a twinkle in her eye about her art. She talks about “sculpturally knitting,” creating forms through her knitting, aware of both positive and negative space, and filling in with our imagination what is possible in that negative space. What is possible in that negative space, for instance? Color– carefully formed to create a “tree-sock” that is wrapped around a tree, created of hundreds, perhaps thousands of rows of knitting (depending on the diameter of the tree), knit on an old-fashioned, no longer produced and very hard to find as well as refurbish knitting machine, and then carefully hand-sewn together according to a very specific technique.

Tidwell’s “Artificial Light” installation which is coming to Redmond’s Anderson Park to be unveiled on March 8th  as part of Redmond’s Art Season: Take Root, Branch Out, will be an amazing feat to witness—Tidwell will be in the park starting mid-February working countless hours on the tree-socks and she says that this interaction with the park and its community takes her work to another level—it becomes performance art—she is part of making her art on the spot as we all witness its beauty and whimsy come to life.