Music and Art - Two Muses at the Art Walk

First Friday is usually just about art but this First Friday started with benefit concert at WOW hall.

The W.O.W. Hall (aka Community Center for the Performing Arts) is a performing arts venue in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was formerly a Woodmen of the World (W.O.W.) lodge. The W.O.W. Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The first group performing was "The Dead Ringers."


Their music was great Barry Flast is the man on the keyboards who was also the lead singer.


Barry and Paul Biondi (Wind and Brass, Vocals) were wonderful to watch with Paul playing two Saxophones at the same time at one point.


The guitarists was astounding and as good as any I've ever heard.


"The Quattro Four Quartet" was next performing "poetic music" that was different...


... but lively

They got a rousing cheer and participation...


... when they closed with a real washboard country medley .


Blues was at it's best when the Karen Lovely Band took the stage. The band is made up of Karen Lovely - vocals; Joe Diehl - guitar; Allen Crutcher - keys/harp; Bobby D - bass; Teri Cote - drums.

The music was as good as you will ever hear and Karen does thing with her voice that can only be described as turbo-charged velvet. The group came up for this Haiti benefit from Ashland.


It was a great start to a wonderful Art Walk evening.


We then drove over to the parking garage at 7th and Willamette. The first gallery we walked to was the Jacobs Gallery. There were four artists on display.


Shelley Albrect's "Faces" caught my eye immediately and was very reminiscent of something I'd seen before.

When I saw this Albrect painting everything clicked. I had met Shelley about two years ago at Lane Community College when I had visited a printmaking lab to photograph the printing making process. Renee Manford had invited me to document the process. Shelley was in the lab and this wonderful painting was one she had just finished.


The art at Jacobs was all very colorful and unique in style and beauty.



I met the proud father of this artist Rogene Manas whose creativity was ...


... intriguing and beautiful. What father wouldn't be proud of the beauty coming from a daughters mind and the skill of her hand


Just about as tender as an image can be.


I wondered if the point of her art is that the mind is a hidden garden revealed when we create.

From there we walked over to the Karin Clarke gallery. I liked the alcove area and the beautiful display there.


Sorry for the yellow tint in this brilliant pastel by Andrew Johnston titled "Willamette River"



Karin Clark's Gallery show is "A resale Exhibit" featuring work from collections of Oregon Art aficionados. The show includes such artists as Guy Anderson , Arthur Baggs, Russell Chatham, Mark Clarke, Margaret Coe, Martina Gangle Curl, Carl Hall (seen above), Lance Wood Hart, Charles Heaney, George Johanson, Andrew Johnston, Anne Kutka McCosh, David McCosh, Carl Morris, Nelson Sandgren, Margaret Via, Jack Wilinson, Una McCann Wilkinson, Beatrice Wood, Brett Weston, and others.


We walked across the street to White Lotus Gallery and I could tell Sharyn was getting tired part of being an "early to bed early to rise" person.


So we walked back to the parking garage where I tried taking a couple of pictures one of the White Lotus Gallery entrance and ...


... one of a flower arrangement above the gallery. Not much luck but interesting flubs.

No Scrabble

Quote of the Day ~

"There are only two kinds of freedom in the world; the freedom of the rich and powerful, and the freedom of the artist and the monk who renounces possessions"
~ Anais Nin

* Personal Note - One freedom takes and the other gives and freedom doesn't follow it leads.