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MANLEY ART CENTER
Christmas Bazaar and Open House
December 7 and 8
Holiday Refreshments will be served.
WRIGHT'S CUSTOM FRAMING AND ART SUPPLIES
Artisans Holiday Market and Food Drive
December 14 and 15
Please bring two non-perishable items for the Food Bank.
You are invited to an Art Show Reception of Susan and Steve Dimock's photograghy on
Black Friday, November, 29th, 5-7 PM,
upstairs in the conference room,
at the Historic Coast Guard Building on 1st St.,
in
Old Town Bandon
Please join us for art, goodies and punch!
The Grammy-nominated, Irish born singer Maura O'Connell hand picks the songs she wants to sing. "No one has ever told me what to sing," emphasized the chanteuse in a recent interview.
The musical panoply that is her 30-year body of work as a solo vocalist includes songs by a wide variety of songwriters, and encompasses multiple styles -- including but not limited to acoustic pop, contemporary folk and traditional Irish. She will cut a broad swath across this repertoire when she performs as DNACA's first artist of the season at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 19) in Crescent Elk Auditorium.
During her early years in County Clare, she heard and sang music all the time. There, "singing is the same as breathing," commented O'Connell. Her mother loved to listen to parlor tunes and light opera, and so those styles infused her early years, as did traditional Irish music, which had a rebirth in Ireland in the 1970s. "It was the pop music of the times," she said. "My reaction to all the traditional Irish music was I was turned off of it," she reflected, "it was too much." Her favored music was that of Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and The Band.
She sang in choirs throughout her school years, and when she was 18 or so, she started singing in folk clubs, and went out on the road sometimes to do sessions. "I had no intention of making music my business," she said, noting that she intended to go into her family's business, running a retail/wholesale fish market. "If I had gone to college, I would have studied accounting," she added.
Serendipity played a role in her solo musical career. She had a friend who went off to join a band to become a "professional" artist; "I'd never even seen one then," she said. Six months later, after singing at an "English wake" (basically a going-away party for someone moving to England), she was approached by two members of the Galway-based De Dannan. She toured in the U.S. and recorded with the band -- when "Star Spangled Molly" came out in 1981 it was a huge success --- "but I never really joined De Dannan. In the beginning of 1982, I told them I'd be gone at the end of the year."
O'Connell's musical interests and connections had turned towards Tennessee, having met many Nashville-based artists at festivals in the U.S. Among collaborators were banjo player Bela Fleck, then with NewGrass, and acclaimed dobro player Jerry Douglas, whom she worked with "in that tiny window of time when an alternative version" of country music developed. She spent much of the 1980s in Nashville -- where she still lives -- finally getting her green card in 1991.
Over a thirty-year solo career she has recorded 12 CDs, on the Third Floor Music, Philo, Warner Brothers and Sugar Hill labels, among others. "Helpless Heart, " produced in 1989 by Fleck, was nominated for a Grammy award; "Blue is the Colour of Hope" (1992) was O'Connell's first CD produced by Douglas, and "Walls and Windows" (2001) was produced by Ray Kennedy. Her most recent album, "Naked with Friends" (2009), is unique in that it is sung entirely a cappella -- with help from guest vocalists Dolly Parton, Allison Krauss, Kate Rusby, Mary Black, Douglas, Tim O'Brien and Aoife O'Donovan (of Crooked Still) among others -- and includes a good deal of traditional Irish music, with three songs sung in Irish.
Don’t miss seeing O’Connell now, before she retires from solo touring. When asked about her decision, she talked about how the music industry has changed. "I don't want to ask people I don't know for money to make an album," she said. She will still participate in collaborations, but, as it was early in her life, music will go back to being a hobby. O'Connell will have come full circle.
"Maura O'Connell brings great songs to passionate life with her voice: a sturdy, melodic, from-the-soul-instrument. Her interpretive powers are near-perfect, as is her ability to make someone else's personal lyrics universal," noted the Dallas Morning News.
Tickets cost $20 general, $15 for seniors 65 and older and $12 for full-time students, K-college, and are available at Del Norte Office Supply in Crescent City, Wright's Custom Framing in Brookings, and at the door at 6:45 p.m. the night of the show. Also at the door will be season tickets, which provide deep discounts, make great gifts and are transferable and replaceable.
For more information, contact DNACA at (707) 464-1336 or visit www.dnaca.net # =========================
Holly O. Austin
Executive Director Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness (DNACA)
A Local Arts Agency Serving Del Norte County
P.O. Box 1480 Crescent City, CA 95531
707.464.1336 (for faxing call first)
www.dnaca.net
dnaca@harborside.com ================
Sunset in Brookings, Oregon, on Saturday, November 9, 2013
Photo by Ann Ostrowski
The Watercolor Society of Oregon's Traveling Show includes 20 award-winning works from the WSO 48th Annual Transparent Watercolor Exhibition. This show will be on exhibit at Manley Art Center during the month of November. Below are several examples of what you will see at Manley this month. Come see the show Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 am to 4 pm.
"A Penny For Your Thoughts" by Chris Stubbs
People's Choice Award
"Fence Row Beauty" by Alice Tetamore
6th Place Award
"Amazon Package Sent by Robert" by Geoffrey McCormack
Best of Show
"Blue Moon Heron II" by Margaret Godfrey
2nd Place
"Mine, All Mine" by Phyllis Meyer
3rd Place
"River Stones" by Sarah Bouwsma
Award of Distinction
Buzz Stewart and Rob Decker at Wright's Custom Framing during the Art Walk. On Sat., Dec. 7 from 10 to 3 at Wright's, Rob is offering a DRAWING BOOT CAMP - An intensive, No nonsense, Roll up your sleeves and get to work, drawing workshop. The fee is $30 and you will complete 8 drawings.
The Jefferson State Ramblers entertained at Wright's during the Art Walk.
Barbara Strand's "Hawaiian Flowers I" took 5th Place in the 2013 Amerian Art Awards. You can see her work and the work of many other local artists at Wright's Custom Framing.
Art by Sharon Guinn in the Gallery at Wright's Custom Framing.
Barbara Caswell with her one-of-a-kind gemstone jewelry at A Wild Bird and Backyard General Store.
Vicki Theriault with her vibrant photos of birds, flowers, and landscapes at A Wild Bird and Backyard General Store.
Larry Ball entertained at A Wild Bird and Backyard General Store with folk tunes and Irish music.
Julie Scott is new to Brookings and is showing her whimsical art at Feather Your Nest.
At Gypsies, Scott Clapson demonstrated how to make bottle bricks that he intendes to use to create a peace bench.
Marshall Thompson at Gypsies during the November Art Walk.
Elio Camacho is Artist of the Month at Brian Scott Gallery.
Floral by Elio Camacho at Brian Scott Gallery. Elio is offering an oil painting workshop at Wright's on November 23. Call Wright's Custom Framing at 541-469-7900 to see if there are any openings left.
Stu Anthony presented "White Water Rafting the Grand Canyon" at Brian Scott Gallery - a fascinating talk with video and slides.
Giraffes on a Raft (Shirley Hyatt and John Boye) entertained at Brian Scott/Signatures Galleries during the November Art Walk.
Don't forget to visit Manley Art Center this month to see the Watercolor Society of Oregon's traveling show. All of the paintings are award winners. In addition, the work of local artists can be seen in the classroom.
Many thanks to Ann Ostrowski for photographing the November Brookings Second Saturday Art Walk!
Nola Range
