Saturday, Feb. 11, 7-9 p.m.
Peace of Mind Brewing
18411 Highway 99, Lynnwood

The Sidekickers are a vocal trio performing a mix of pop and jazz music. The band is composed of Darla Kiste and Megan Jeffreys on vocals and Bill Derry on vocals and guitar. Peace of Mind Brewing is a new brewery with beer, cider and beverages and a very friendly atmosphere. You can hear more of Bill Derry’s music here and the Sidekickers original music here.

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“From a Paper Garden: Sculptures by Christina Hanson” exhibition at UW Center for Urban Horticulture

Feb. 1-25

UW Center for Urban Horticulture

3501 N.E. 41st St., Seattle

The Elisabeth C. Miller Library at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture will display the artwork of Edmonds College lab manager Christina Hanson from Feb. 1-25. The exhibition From a Paper Garden: Sculptures by Christina Hanson features 23 botanically accurate wire and paper sculptures.

Hanson painstakingly assembled the pieces by hand, using paper, glue, wire, watercolor paint, and soft pastels. She developed their designs by observing live plants, photographs, botanical illustrations, and herbarium specimens. Each sculpture took Hanson up to two months to complete.

Hanson is a relative newcomer to the art scene. She is a botanist by training and has worked at Edmonds College since 1996, where she is a lab manager in the biology and environmental sciences departments. She first undertook her art form in 2020, with the hope that her pieces could someday be used as three-dimensional botanical illustrations. While that goal remains, Hanson realizes her sculptures are mainly decorative.

“When I set out lab materials for students, we would often put out drawings and pressings of plants,” Hanson explained. “I thought it would be neat to someday get to the level where I could create artistic 3D renditions of plants, including all the life cycle stages of the plants from the seed head to the bud.”

Currently, Hanson’s life cycle model of the cabbage white butterfly on its host plant is on display in the college’s butterfly lab, where students conduct research on the species.

What started as a potential teaching tool quickly grew into much more. Hanson says the sculptures started becoming too numerous to display in her house, so she began thinking of ways to share them with others. She had little interest in selling them and decided to find a different way to share the art.

“I had put them on Instagram and shared them with my friends and different groups on Facebook,” Hanson said. “(The sculptures) don’t translate as well on social media as they do in person, so I felt the next step was to start the process of exhibiting them.”

She is scheduled to have two pieces on display at the Art Gallery at Lynnwood City Hall in the upcoming months. Her exhibition at Miller Library is her first show and big break, but it nearly didn’t happen. When Hanson originally applied to be a visiting artist at Miller Library in November, she was told the library was booked through 2023 and that she should apply again in the spring. Fifteen minutes after the conversation, the curator reached out to Hanson and said she could show her work in February if she could get her exhibition ready by then. Hanson didn’t hesitate.

“I said, ‘Yes, I can,’” she laughed. “It was a perfect place to start. To be at a horticultural library at an institution like UW is a dream and an honor.”

The exhibition is free to the public and is open Monday through Saturday during library hours.

More information: “From a Paper Garden: Sculptures by Christina Hanson”

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“The Ancient Art of Madhubani Painting” at Edmonds College

Saturday, Feb. 11, 10 a.m. – noon
Edmonds College Snohomish Hall Room 338
20226 68th Ave. W., Lynnwood

American Association of University Women (AAUW) Edmonds Sno-King is sponsoring a Washington Humanities program: The Ancient Art of Madhubani Painting by Deepti Agrawal. All are welcome to the talk and demonstration.

For generations, women of a small region in Northeast India have been using Madhubani painting to tell the stories of their lives. Depicting mythological and social scenes, every painting reflects the belief systems, cultural practices and social arrangements of a specific era in history. After centuries of being limited to its region of origin, the art form is now being discovered by the urban populace worldwide and is fast emerging as a commercial art form. Having practiced this style of art since childhood, artist Deepti Agrawal explores the changing forms, trends, and mediums of Madhubani painting over time, while also exploring the hidden tales behind some of its most popular artworks from the early 1900s. Agrawal provides a demo and a work-along session where participants practice the Madhubani style and learn more about its rich heritage.

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February Art Walk

Next Thursday, Feb. 16, be sure to head downtown for Art Walk Edmonds. For a full list of artists, see the website.

Thursday, Feb. 16, 5-8 p.m.
The Art of Figure Drawing at Art Spot With Angeline Phan & Tracy Felix

Art Spot
408 Main St., Edmonds

ArtSpot is featuring and demonstrating the art of figure drawing. Angeline Phan’s works in both oil and graphite are gorgeous examples of classical studies, whereas Tracy Felix’s charcoal and encaustic works are gestural and expressive. Both artists are represented in the Nud show at Graphite, and ArtSpot is thrilled to expand on their work. On the third Thursday, they’ll be demonstrating some of the classic artist materials used to create these works.

Maggie Ramirez Burns at MaJe Gallery

MaJe Gallery
409 Main St., Edmonds

Maggie Ramirez Burns is a self-taught, emerging artist. A first-generation American of Hispanic parents, she is a California native transplant in the Pacific Northwest, where she has lived for over 20 years. She finds peace and solace in her studio, creating beautiful, delicate pieces that compel the viewer to slow down, to breathe  and to honor one’s life in the appreciation of the smallest things in nature. Maggie has been practicing art since 2014. Her work is about reawakening the senses and the need to preserve natural beauty. This self-taught creator’s art is a study of what continues to compel us into a state of optimism in the face of hardship and adversity. The choosing of materials is deliberate in her paintings and collages. Paper that has been reused or recycled into new forms, through creating handmade versions or reusing art from her archive are intentional in her practice, a metaphor for rebirth and renewal. Botanicals and marine vegetation guide her selections in color and theme to create a sense of flow and movement.

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Call for submissions to Driftwood’s 12th Annual Festival of Shorts

Submission deadline: Thursday, March 30, 11:59 p.m.

Edmonds Driftwood Players has announced its theme and call for submissions for the 12th Annual Festival of Shorts. The festival this year will be presented in five performances June 29-July 2, 2023. The theme for 2023 is “Pay It Forward.” Driftwood is looking for scripts that highlight acts of kindness, however small, and how those acts make a big difference — through both comedic and dramatic stories. After the closing performance, Driftwood will announce the winners for 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-Place Judges’ Awards, as well as Overall Audience Favorite.

To enter your short play in the festival, follow the instructions on the website.

The Festival of Shorts performances will be Thursday-Saturday, June 29-July 1, at 8 p.m.and Saturday and Sunday, July 1-2, at 2 p.m. (five total performances).

Tickets: $20 General Adults (ages 19-59); $18 Junior/Senior/Military. Available online or by phone at 425-774-9600. Discounted tickets for groups of 10-plus people are also available.

— By Elizabeth Murray

Elizabeth Murray is a freelance writer thankful to call Edmonds home. When she’s not busy wrangling her two kids (and husband), you can find her playing ukulele and singing with The Band LeLe.