posts by Alec Clayton
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Prepare to laugh when Harlequin Productions stages the Noel Coward comedy Present Laughter — with “Present” pronounced as the adjective, not the verb. Written in 1939 and first staged in 1942, this classic farce is about the successful, self-obsessed actor Garry Essendine as he confronts a midlife crisis while …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Jean Nagai paints with acrylic and correction fluid on paper — that’s right, correction fluid, commonly known as whiteout, the stuff used to correct typing mistakes. Nagai first showed his work in Olympia at Salon Refu in December 2014. The paintings were intricate patterns made of thousands of white …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS South Puget Sound Community College professor of art Joe Batt creates comically surrealistic ceramic figures of men and women, children and animals. Rabbits that look for all the world like they just stepped away from a Mad Hatter tea party appear to be his favorite creature creation &mash; and …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Megan Bailey is an art student at The Evergreen State College. Allsorts is a private gallery operated out of the home of Lynette Charters Serembe and John Serembe. The painter and gallery match up for a short-run exhibition of Bailey’s most recent paintings. Lynette Serembe, an artist in her …
VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Lucy Gentry Meltzer’s Biophilia Collection at Salon Refu is a selection of small voodoo dolls and sculptural figures on dress mannequins, standing on the floor and floating from a natural wood frame just below the gallery ceiling. Figuratively, they’re wood sprites, fairies, medieval warriors and goddesses, …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Coming next to The Gallery at South Puget Sound Community College is an exhibition of digital prints, sculptural objects, paintings and installations with sound components by Joe Hedges, assistant professor of painting and intermedia at Washington State University. Gallery director Nathan Barnes says he doesn’t yet know which of …
VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS I have been following Sherry Buckner’s art, mostly in shows at Childhood’s End Gallery, for well over 20 years. Her latest serigraphs and pastels might be her best yet. There are two groups of these works in the current show. On the first group of panels …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS I watched a preview performance of The Trip to Bountiful at Olympia Little Theatre. This is a finely polished production. Written by Horton Foote and directed by James T. Patrick, Bountiful is a quiet, intimate, little play. There’s nothing bombastic or showy about the story or the …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Artist and costume designer Lucy Gentry Meltzer is the next artist whose works will grace the interior of Salon Refu Galley. Described as couture or as sculptural dresses, Meltzer’s art is unlike anything commonly seen in galleries. People who frequent Salon Refu will recognize her as one of the …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Come out of the rain to kick off spring with Olympia Family Theater’s production of Alice in Wonderland—a lot of fun for kids from 3 to 73. Adapted from the book by Lewis Carroll by the multitalented writer, actor and director Kate Ayers and directed by OFT …