ArtsNFashion Winter 2013

your art. your story.

Fashion Week SD 2013 Antiquark

Catch the ElectroTechnoWave

the photography of

Edward Montgomery Lisa Sanders

my musical journey

Charlene Baldridge: Two Warriors, One Love vol 3 issue 1 winter 2013

staff Paola Hornbuckle,

Head Editor

Editor/Writers

Donnie Matsuda Kristen Fogle Sandra Van De Moere

Graphic Design Katie Sundberg,

Head Graphic Designer

sundbergcreative.com/artanddesign Elizabeth Sanchez

Advertising

Scott Hornbuckle

contents Shopping Guide

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Green Goddess - Sandra Van De Moere

Events

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Fashion Week San Diego 2013

Theatre

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Charlene Baldridge: Two Warriors, One Love Donnie Matsuda

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Music

18 28

Antiquark - by Paola Hornbuckle Lisa Sanders, My Musical Journey - Lisa Sanders

Photography

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Edward Montgomery - Edward Montgomery

Art of Giving

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Words Alive - David Weiner

letter from the editor It is great to be back after a hiatus to see the San Diego arts scene flourishing. This year’s Fashion Week was amazing, the venue by the pier a majestic site for all of the events. Several of the designers, including Andre Soriano, had reached new levels by also being a part of Rihanna’s Styled to Rock, a television show featuring up and coming designers from all over the United States. Established San Diego writer Charlene Baldridge delighted us with her play “The Warrior’s Duet” a touching piece co-written with her daughter. Lisa Sanders continues with her quality musical performances and you can find her about town. It is not a show to be missed.

Photographer Monty Montgomery shows us different visions of different places, in particular economically depressed areas of northern California.

Antiquark keeps on putting out their quality music and they have a new album for all to enjoy. All in all, everyone is still at work, producing, creating, and making the world a little bit brighter for everyone.

HELP BRIGHTEN THE LIFE OF A FOSTER YOUTH THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! My First Home for the Holidays Drive Who is Just In Time for Foster Youth?

Just In Time for Foster Youth (JIT) engages a caring community to help transitioning foster youth achieve self-sufficiency and well-being.

What is My First Home for the Holidays?

Remember moving into your first apartment? It was both exciting and overwhelming trying to figure out what you will need and how to get all the items. Now imagine doing all this without any support. That is where Just in Time steps in! My First Home for the Holidays helps transitioning foster youth ages 18-26, who lack family support and turn their empty apartments into comfortable homes. Your contribution will have a tremendous impact in the life of a former foster youth in San Diego County.

When is the campaign?

Kick off is Oct. 1, 2013 and goes through December 14th, 2013

How Can I Help? There are 3 Easy Ways: I. Donate Cash Online at https://jitfosteryouth.givezooks.com/ II. Drop a gift card or in-kind donations at Just in Time: 3878 Old Town Avenue, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92110 – drop off hours 9 am to 5 pm III. Host your own mini drive involving friends, family, work, church or with a club you may belong to. This is a fun way to host a party, activity or event and gather gift cards and donations for youth in need during the holidays!

Contact Jamie Inarda: (760) 505-2891 Jamie@jitfosteryouth.org *Check out our Wal-Mart, Target or Macy’s wish list search for JUSTIN TIME for our list of needed household items*

Thank you to our sponsors:

FASHION WEEK

SAN DIEGO

fashion

Watch out Comic Con, here comes Fashion Week San Diego® (FWSD). FWSD took place September 30th to October 6th with a week of events including three days of runway shows, a Trunk Show (market day), an art & beauty event and much more. The Broadway Pier in Downtown San Diego was the perfect backdrop for the fashion shows. With Interim Mayor Todd Gloria and County Supervisor Dave Roberts in attendance, Mayor Gloria presented FWSD Founder & Director Allison Andrews (pictured with dog from Rancho Coastal Humane Society (RCHS) ) an official proclamation declaring the first week of October to be the official fashion week in San Diego. The event was a major success with a smooth production generating growth in businesses and the industries of fashion and tourism as well as launching the FWSD Designer Spring/Summer 2014 Collections for 26 designers. This year FWSD hosted representatives from InStyle, Vanity Fair, national fashion retailers as well as world renowned designer, Zandra Rhodes.

San Diego designer, Andre Soriano , a veteran designer of Fashion Week San Diego and a participant in the new “Styled to Rock” television show from executive producer and fashion icon Robyn Rihanna Fenty didn’t disappoint with his latest collection with a punk inspiration. Andre is well known for his larger than life gowns and includes one amazing piece in punk.

fashion

Highlighting FWSD is the end of the week trunk show and an audience choice for best designer. The trunk show generated over $18,580 on Sunday where this year’s Winning Designer RHCREATION was announced along with first runner up Wishnow and second runner up Greenpacha. RHCREATION successfully met with buyers from ModCloth.com on Monday October 7th as part of the Winning Designer Business Package.

Safe to say that FWSD will be back in 2014. Mark your calendars and keep checking www.fashionweeksd.com for updated information. You’ll want to get your tickets early as the buzz continues to grow.

All Photos are courtesy of Chuck Fedalizo. Graphic design by Katie Sundberg.

Did you know? Politically-motivated torture is practiced in more than 100 countries around the world. It can be physical, psychological, or sexual in nature.

Survivors of Torture, International is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for survivors of politicallymotivated torture and their families living in San Diego County.

Survivors of Torture, International has served over 1,300 clients from over 70 different countries. We are the only accredited torture treatment center in San Diego (accredited by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims).

Many of our clients were leaders and professionals in their home countries. Almost all of our clients are refugees, asylees, or asylum seekers. The victims are not only those who have been directly subjected to physical torture, but also those who have witnessed torture, discovered tortured bodies, been forced to engage in torture, or who have lived in an environment where torture is an unrelenting danger.

SURIVOVRS helps people recover from trauma through a holistic program that includes medical, dental, psychiatric, psychological, and social services. All services are provided at no cost to the survivors.

SURVIVORS empower clients to reclaim the strength and vitality that dictators and governments stole from them. Healing can be more difficult when survivors are in exile from their homes— some without documentation, and many without friends, family, or other supporters.

SURVIVORS has the knowledge and skills to treat the health consequences of torture.

Come to a Journey to Healing Tour to see how Survivors of Torture, International is creating a safe haven for torture survivors, helping them to rebuild their lives, and building a welcoming community for all survivors.

You will not be asked to make a financial contribution at our tour, but we do welcome your feedback as we strive to expand our community presence. For more information, visit www.notorture.org.

Two Warriors

By Donnie Matsuda

One Love

Charlene Baldridge details the magical, exhilarating and cathartic journey she has been on since July 2011, keeping her daughter’s legacy alive.

This year has been a busy and bountiful one for poet and San Diego theatre critic, Charlene Baldridge. An emeriti member of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle and a writer for Performances Magazine, Gay San Diego, San Diego Uptown News, and Downtown News, Charlene has spent a good part of this year focused on keeping her late daughter’s works alive. Not only has she taken her daughter’s post-diagnosis poems and woven them into a published chapbook, but she has also developed this chapbook into a critically-acclaimed dance and theatre piece, which premiered at the San Diego Fringe Festival this Summer and underwent a remounting this Fall.

Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Charlene about this exhilarating, and incredibly fulfilling, journey she has been on since her daughter Laura’s death in 2011.

DONNIE: Tell me about how the idea of “The Warrior’s Stance” chapbook came about. How did you go about selecting the poems to include? Where does the chapbook get its namesake?

CHARLENE: Two weeks before she died, Laura extracted a promise from me: After her death I was to separate the post-diagnosis poems from her considerable body of work, select the ones I thought best, edit them, arrange them and publish a chapbook.

She thought these were her best work, and I agreed. Just hours after she died July 17, 2011, I drove home and began work. I already had in my computer her entire body of work, including the poetry. Or at least I thought I did.

As a surprise Dan, her husband, and Erik, their closest friend, intended to publish her collected works in time for her 50th birthday, October 8, 2010;; however, Erik’s mother became gravely ill, and the project was never completed. Laura had been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2008 and already had far outlived her prognosis.

I selected 20-some poems, arranged them in some sort of dramatic arc and then contemplated what next. I saw a contest in a literary magazine that was seeking chapbooks of women writing to a specific topic and got permission to submit .The Warrior’s Stance posthumously. It placed in the top dozen or so and received much encouragement from the publishing company that was to publish the first place winner. She urged me to send it out and even suggested where. Realizing getting someone else to publish it could take more years than I had left, and that there was no one else who had the time to follow through, I discussed it with Dan and he agreed to pay the costs of publication and make the proceeds benefit Colon Cancer Alliance in Washington DC. I titled the chapbook The Warrior’s Stance, because of a line in one of her poems.

Around this time, Laura came to me in a dream, dressed as Groucho Marx, cigar in the corner of her mouth. “Okay, Miss Mommy,” she said. “What next?” When I wakened and stopped laughing, I pondered the question and immediately began writing what I thought was a music stand reading for two women. I gave myself a voice, selected a few poems of hers and mine, and I was off and running, telling the story of her being a promised child, a bit of how she was, who I am, and what our relationship was like. And then I launched into the shock of her diagnosis, her battle, her hatred of the warrior image, but her eventual adopting of it, and her loss. My devastation, my search for her in dreams, my ongoing search and suddenly I found myself in the text, finding her and realizing I’d been a warrior too, and still was, hence the title.The Warriors’ Duet.

I took the piece to Claudio Raygoza and Glenn Paris, who said “Ohmigod!” and arranged a reading of the work, which sold out. Then, I went back to work on the chapbook, Dan having discovered more poems in Laura’s notebooks, which she had wanted him to throw away, but said he could read.

Patty Kevershan designed the book using Laura’s handwriting on the cover and on the top of each page. I could not be more pleased with the book.DONNIE: How did the material in the chapbook evolve into a piece of theatre? What challenges and triumphs did you experience in transforming the chapbook into a living, breathing piece of theatre? And how has the local San Diego theatre community responded to “The Warriors Duet”?

CHARLENE: The biggest challenge was what to include, what to have my character of Mother say. I’d already made a viable dramatic arc in the chapbook. I selected the initial poems to show who Laura was and then just wove the story around them. Without conscious design and because of her repeated imagery, there were intuitive setups, I guess because I knew her work so well and her faith was so strong. The denouement was an utter surprise to me -- an enormous personal catharsis. Ye gods, What did I have? I took it to Glenn and Claudio because I so trust their instincts. After the reading, several who attended wanted to change the work, make it into a longer piece, and I even remember someone saying, “And I know exactly how it should be done.” Oh, no. Don’t think so.

Mine. I consulted G & C, who said, “Do not change a word.” I said, “But shouldn’t I change thus and so to make it easier for the actor playing Mother?” No, said Glenn. “You wrote it and it’s up to her to find her way through it.”

DONNIE: I understand you are an established poet yourself.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

CHARLENE: My work is what I call experiential, dependent upon what moves me, what happens in my life, what juxtapositions occur. I use it to express my ah-ha moments, my bewilderment, my pain, my longing for something ineffable. I would say that with few exceptions most of MY post-diagnosis poetry is too painful to share with others. As Dan asked, “How shall we ever learn to live without her?” I’m still striving to find my way. So is Erik. So is Dan. All I know is that these projects that Laura assigned have saved me from the abyss.

Theater

DONNIE: What do you see as the differences in writing poetry vs. writing theatre reviews?

CHARLENE: I can perhaps better appreciate the poetry in the work of others. Perhaps I have an enriched vocabulary metaphorically. But still...Writing theatre reviews comes from an entirely different place in my psyche. It is much more organized and much less emotional.

DONNIE: Any hopes or plans for the future of the “Warriors” enterprise?

CHARLENE: Oh, yes. Practically speaking, I’ve got books to sell. And I want the world to know Laura and her luminous works. Katie Harroff may have plans. People are still clamoring to see “The Warriors’ Duet” and to perform it as well.

Composer Jake Heggie (Moby-Dick, Dead Man Walking), who has set my works and who is setting Laura’s “The Work at Hand,” wants me to make a video of the command performance I just did on the cruise. In it, I told how he came to set my works, and how he came to set Laura’s. Her poem will underpin a commission for the Pittsburgh Symphony -- a concerto for soprano, cello and symphony orchestra. Pretty good for a girl who never sent her work out!

About “The Warrior’s Duet” Remount:

The Warriors’ Duet Based on the work of Laura Jeanne Morefield Written by Charlene Baldridge Directed by Anne Gehman and Katherine Harroff, and choreographed by Anne Gehman. Presented at: The White Box Theater Located at: 2590 Truxtun Rd. Studio 205 San Diego, CA 92106 Show Times: September 5-7 @8:00pm, September 8th @2:00pm About Charlene Baldridge, Poet and Theatre Critic: Born in Evanston (Il.) in April 1934, Charlene Baldridge has been writing poetry all her life. Her publications include Mind Sprocket, The Christian Science Monitor, Poetry Conspiracy, Song, Time of Singing, Up Against the Wall, Mother, Broken Streets, Broomstick, Dark Horse, Prime Times, Poets On: and the anthologies Women’s Words on Peace, Salvaging Our Past and Against Infinity.

American opera composer Jake Heggie (Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick) incorporated two poems from Baldridge’s Winter Roses into a 20-minute orchestrated song cycle, premiered by Frederica von Stade and Camerata Pacifica in 2004. He tapped Winter Roses again when he set a conflation of “Motherwit” and “I’ve Gone Beyond Lamenting” in a new song cycle, Facing Forward/Looking Back, premiered at the 2007 Ravinia Festival in Chicago and performed in its West Coast premiere at the opening of Santa Monica’s Broad Stage By: Songs of Jake Heggie.

An outstanding alumna in humanities from San Diego Mesa College, where she studied with Virginia Dall, Baldridge has read at Museum of the Living Artist, San Diego Museum of Art, Kensington Concerts, D. G. Wills Bookstore, Centro Cultural de la Raza and San Diego Repertory Theatre (a benefit for Rachel’s Women’s Center). She is the author of two chapbooks, Wordsperson (published by M.A.F. Press in 1975) and Winter Roses, self-published in 1990. The latter was occasioned by an adaptation by Ralph McCoy of her work into a lyric theater piece, which he directed at Words and Music in San Diego, the Itchy Foot Cabaret in Los Angeles and numerous other locations.

Now 79, Baldridge is a prizewinning, fulltime arts writer, an emeritus member of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle and a BMI artist.

She is known for lively poetry readings in which she collaborates with artists and musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Scott Paulson who composed a boogie-woogie for toy piano to accompany Baldridge’s series of poems about jazz.

Charlene is editor of her late daughter, Laura Morefield’s newly released chapbook The Warrior’s Stance. Sales benefit Colon Cancer Alliance. She is also author of The Warrior’s Duet, a piece of lyric theater that was produced in the San Diego Fringe Festival in July.=

An

ntiquark

by Paola Hornbuckle

Ant Dakini founded AntiQuark in April of 2001. From its inception, the group was performing in both Europe and America. It was her go-forth, her seed of creation. Electronic was the way. There were other veins (Ant was the founder-guitarist of the all-girl punk band, HEX, before she moved to the U.S. from Italy) but this time her music stemmed strictly from an electro-embryo. Ant went far with AntiQuark and its first two vocalists. They recorded 4 albums, toured the two continents sharing the stage with Pigface, Orgy, Le Tigre, Bettina Koster (formerly of Malaria!) and Godhead. In the Fall of 2006 Ant returned with AntiQuark from the latest European tour where they had just performed in front of 2,000 people at Forte Prenestino, Rome. Another great tour…and another singer, the second one, simply not working out.

Ant found Sergio O early in 2007. He was in California singing for a progressive rock/metal band, Divine Right of Kings, and had recorded vocal-tracks in English and Spanish for every song on the album. Another cool album recorded….and another band simply not working out. Ant and Sergio met. Songs were re-written then rerecorded and impending tour commitments in Europe refulfilled with Sergio O now the new vocalist of AntiQuark.

Ant Dakini and Sergio O performed together for the first time at ‘Gießerstraße 16’ music festival in Leipzig, Germany, and after a dozen shows ended that tour in Naples and Salerno, Italy. Back in America, they performed along the West Coast of the U.S. including shows at San Diego Pride, San Diego MTV Tr3s, Art Around Adams festivals, Ladyfest Las Vegas, and concerts in Baja California (Mexico). In California, they’ve shared the stage with Red Flag, The Last Dance, Hanin Elias (formerly of Atari Teenage Riot) and Ejector.

Live performances are explosive utilizing “hypnotic video-elements, conceptual lighting

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and performance-art dancers.

AntiQuark music is a hi-energy combination; an electrotechnowave core twisted with avant-garde and classicrock elements. Live performances are explosive utilizing hypnotic video-elements, conceptual lighting and performance-art dancers. Bands they are compared to include: Depeche Mode, The Prodigy, Skinny Puppy, Daft Punk, Nine Inch Nails, Tears For Fears, VNV Nation, Fischerspooner, New Order, sometimes The Knife and even Dead Can Dance. Genre-labels are therefore familiar: Electro, Synth-Pop, Dance, Techno, Industrial, Experimental, Electronic-Rock, Synth-Rock, Goth, New Wave.

AntiQuark has since recorded 2 albums with vocalist Sergio O. The first was 2009’s, SkyDancer. The latest is 2013’s, Riches to Rags: a journey from splendor to hardship; a relative gradient to challenge the listener.

Taking the electronic-genre steps of this album, AntiQuark sonically sketches how one can truly gain from seemingly losing-it-all. Each step, each song beaten on this path sheds or transmutes. The Riches to Rags journey is further enhanced by the strong diversity of artists who contributed remixes including: Southern California electronic artists Red Flag, Electrovot, Phantom Power, hip-hop artist Don Bleezy and European producers Steve Morell, Giulio Maddaloni, and The Traumahead Society.

AntiQuark now bases itself out of San Diego. Audiences are growing in Southern California as they support the new album. In Europe things have gotten bigger for much longer. They head back there this Fall with the new material.

Visit www.antiquark.net for everything. Write to them at: antiquarka@yahoo.com or www.facebook.com/antiquarkmusic Your history mentions that Sergio O is AntiQuark’s 3rd singer. How did this latest/current line-up of AntiQuark come about?

Ant: I was a little distraught at the end of 2006. AntiQuark had just come back from a very successful tour in Europe but our second singer was not going to stay with the band. On New Year’s Day, 2007, I put an ad in the San Diego Reader advertising for a new vocalist for AntiQuark, but I wasn’t expecting much.

Sergio: I had just moved down to San Diego from L.A. and was looking for a live-music project. Pretty much open to anything that sounded good, I answered 2 ads looking for singers: one for a Deep Purple tribute band, the other for an ‘internationally established electronic band’ - that was an Ant’s AntiQuark.

What are your influences and inspirations?

Sergio: well…I come more from a rock & metal scene than electronic or goth. Sure I was into bands like Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails & A-ha, but before AntiQuark I had only sung for rock & metal bands. So those big classic bands like Rush, Soundgarden, Van Halen, Zeppelin are really what inspired me to be in a band.

Ant: my influences are so varied and wide going from classical – especially Baroque like Handel; rock & metal like Iron Maiden and Alice In Chains; 80s pop like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran; the industrial stuff like Einsturzende Neubauten; and all the music of the punk-movement – I founded and played guitar in an all-girl hardcore/punk band in Italy before moving to the US. Your new album, Riches to Rags…tells us about its genesis and why is it called Riches to Rags?

Sergio: The original idea came from Ant – she’s come up with all the titles of the albums, SkyDancer was her idea – so I just tried my best to twist lyrics around her latest idea: Riches to Rags. “A transformation through electronic steps” is how best to describe what she wanted to do.

Ant: You always want to expand from one song to the next – from one album to the next. See what new sounds, genres and styles you can try. That’s what we tried to do with this album – each song is a step on the electronic journey through the different genres and concepts - which is also why we employed even more outside producers and artists with their remixes than the previous album. Anyway, answering your original question, Riches to Rags is a journey down what seems to be a path of despair because you seem to be losing everything, but sometimes losing everything is how you transform into higher awareness – like what happened to all the buddhas we read about.

Future projects?

Ant: Of course the immediate ‘future project’ is touring and promoting Riches to Rags. This Fall a new Eurpoean tour and even more shows in southern California.

Sergio: Totally fresh ideas (even entirely new songs) pop up right in the middle of finishing a current project. So we already have an entire new group of songs to develop. I can see that it will be more about bringing back our old inspirations of rock, metal and punk – more heavy-distorted guitars and more analog.

AntiQuark’s VIDEO QUADRILOGY (http://antiquarknews.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/antiquark-videoquadrilogy-6/) was a very interesting concept. What inspired this?

Sergio: We were touring through Italy in 2011 and Davide Menegatti, a videographer from there, approached us after a show with this very cool idea to take four of our songs and tie them together into a four-part video story. It basically expanded on the concept of ‘The Man From Mars’ – the first song on our previous album, SkyDancer – and his touchdown and experience on Earth.

Ant: There’s a lot to explain with this, but you could say The Man from Mars comes to our planet and becomes ‘humanized.’ The four chapters of the story coincide with four videos using AntiQuark songs: 3 songs from SkyDancer, and one song from Riches to Rags, El Bus. It starts with The Man From Mars touching down on Earth. Video #2 is El Bus: he starts to experience human reality. Video #3 is the song, Drawer 4: he starts to recollect human memories & nostalgia.

Then Video #4 is the song, Shameless: his process of becoming human is now complete. Besides all the live footage from locations in Italy and southern California, we also used many images from other visualartists. Davide Menegatti did an amazing job editing everything together. All the videos and info. Can be found at our news-blog: http://antiquarknews.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/antiquark-video-quadrilogy-6/ What do you guys in your spare time? What are other things that you do besides the band?

Ant: Yoga, biking & skateboarding by the beach, working with an organization that rescues dogs, and playing video-games – I LOVE Candy Crush!

Sergio: hmm….dealing with me, dealing with Ant, building collections (mostly music), singing to stuff that’s hard to sing, movies & prose, living without an anti-depressant…

GRAPHIC DESIGN BY KATIE SUNDBERG

photography

EDWARD MONTGOMERY

EDWARD MONTGOMERY

I have always been drawn to art since I was a child.

My life has gone in directions where that desire has had to wait though.

After a 20 year career spent in the Army which included a couple of tours to the Middle East during both of the Gulf Wars, I changed my life’s course. I think that experience and becoming a father later in my life are major contributing factors to my perspective – which does not seem to always coincide with the point of view commonly held by society. Being an artist fit well into to my continuing personal growth. I did not see this initially but eventually I have come to understand what it is that I want to do now.

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MY ATTENTION IS OFTEN CAPTURED BY THOSE THINGS THAT OTHERWISE GO UNNOTICED

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I chose photography as my medium is because I really enjoy doing it. I have enjoyed taking photographs all of my life and have done so many times to the angst of all those around me. It seemed a simple thing to me to pursue it on a higher level and that is how I decided that my major would concentrate on photography. My perspective is also a bit uncommon when I look through the view finder. That too has been that way for a long time. I like to photograph everything but some of the subjects that I take pictures of are the kinds of things that many people would pass by. My attention is often captured by those things that otherwise go unnoticed. That is the foundation of my growing body of work – things that are sometimes over looked: old buildings, common people, small towns, curiosities of light, etc. And there are other subjects but at this time those are the things I am focused on.

You can see these photographs on my web

site but I have included some here for you. My Victor Valley Project is a study of the communities that make up the Victor Valley: Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley, Adelanto, etc. I am fascinated with the area’s ability to survive and grow in this harsh environment, both geographically and economically.

With the Faces Project I am drawn to what we seldom pay attention to, blank faces. It is uncomfortable for people to be confronted with a blank face because it conveys little to no information – I think that is why we tend to not “see” them. The Kinetic Ambiguity Project is my examination of light in a way that does not allow our eyes and brain to “correct” what we see. It is also a way that we can embrace colors and color combinations freely.

Hopefully your perspective will help you see some of the things I see and you too can find those interesting and subtle nuances in the photographs that I noticed or new ones that I did not.

photography

Edward “Eddie” Montgomery (www.edwardlancemontgomeryphotography.com) is a father, photographer, and retired soldier. He is also currently attending California State University, San Bernardino, majoring in studio art/ photography. On his blog, My Canon’s Requiem (eddiescanons.blogspot.com), his posts are mostly about his photography, and sometimes about other things. He can be reached at either website.

MUSIC

lisa sanders MY MUSICAL JOURNEY PHOTO CREDIT CHRIS WOOLEY

When I was seven,

I lived in a small apartment in the projects in Philadelphia in the 60s with my mother and older brother Ty. Life wasn’t any different than the lives of the other kids in our neighborhood, except for the fact that we were big music lovers. Looking back, there were so many influences in my early life, most of them memories with my mother and Ty. She loved to listen to music. Although I only heard her sing out loud once, it was wonderful. One day a stereo arrived at our apartment seemingly complete with the whole Motown collection of 45s. It was exciting! I remember watching The Ed Sullivan Show with his musical guests: Elvis, James Brown, and of course, who can forget the first time the Beatles were on television in the

MUSIC

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there was the music. It’s in my blood. It’s the air that I breathe.

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states? Ty loved to imitate James Brown, and when he performed I would laugh so hard and beg him to do it again! When Ty was ten, my mother bought him his first guitar. That guitar changed both of our journeys forever. We loved to sing popular radio songs on the street corners with our other little friends. I thought I was the best.

But, something changed. Although there were many great musical moments in my life, by the time I got to Mt Carmel High School if someone had asked me if I would have a career in music I would have said, “No”. I wanted to be an artist and a park ranger! Creating art of any kind allowed me to escape to places that felt really good, and I received good grades in it.

My peers judged me as a really good artist. But, there was the music. It’s in my blood. It’s the air that I breathe. Still, it would be years until I started a music career.

I loved making up songs much more than singing so I began to think about my secret passion: writing songs for big stars. After my marriage and divorce, I became a single parent of two little girls. More than anything, I wanted to offer them something of value in life: a home, money for any college they wanted to attend, and so on.

I began to practice my writing and record my songs with producers I knew. I even wrote a couple of commercials. One day, while I was playing open mic at the Metaphor Coffee House, I was told to go to Java Joes to play. That decision changed my life from being a single mom to being a single mom with an independent record deal. It was soon followed by a music publishing deal and major record distribution deal.

Since then, I have appeared with many stars including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks, Al Green, Sarah McLaughlan, Sade, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Sophie B. Hawkins, Stevie Nicks, Sting, Gillian Welch, Loudin Wainright, as well as, Joe Ely. I have received several music awards including the Reader Poll Best Acoustic Artist Award, the San Diego Music Award Winner and the National Women Living Legacy Association Award.

The last twenty years have been filled with many gigs.

I am always working toward a successful career. I’ve worked so hard at it that I’ve put myself into deep depression at

times.I’ve lost and made money and have gone out on financial limbs on a regular basis. Major relationships have been lost due to music. It has led me to read numerous self-help and business books dealing with such topics as ‘How to Manifest the Best You Ever’ and ‘How to Put Out Your Music on CDs.’ I’ve run the gambit. All of these experiences have led me here to yet another exciting chapter on how to do this business. I will try to sum up what I have learned, at the same time realizing there is so much more to learn and so much more success that I look forward to achieving.

Career Advice from Lisa Sanders Know yourself. If someone makes a suggestion only you can decide if it is right for you. Believe at all times that you are successful no matter what anyone says.

Be realistic about how good you are. If you need to brush up on some skills do it. Always be willing to improve.

Set a course to a goal that you can follow. If it changes along the way more than likely it is another path to get to get there, as long as it leads to your goal. And know that sometimes your goals will change.

Know your business and the people who shape it. You can attract the type of people in your business that will provide you with meaningful advice and direction.

Know what kind of people you want to do business with.

(Very important) Be careful of people wanting to charge you for things that are questionable, who do not know what they are doing, who do not have your best interest in mind. You and your art are the most important thing.

PHOTO CREDIT CHRIS WOOLEY

Always expect good opportunities to come your way. But know that sometimes they will not be easy. Know that you can do it. And do it only if it is right for you.

If you experience what you think is a setback get back to work as soon as possible! Don’t stay down long. More than likely what you thought you wanted was not the best for you. Don’t waste time dwelling on the past. Move on as quickly as possible.

Don’t let people’s negativity affect you. Sometimes people will say negative things that get stuck in your head. If it is a true criticism than you can learn from it and move on, if not dismiss it. Don’t get stuck with the ‘what ifs’- if it doesn’t make you grow stronger dismiss it immediately.

Always believe in your very core - no matter what - you will arrive at your goal, even when you think you are going to give up. If that inner voice still says get up and try again you will get up and succeed.

WE ARE ARTISTS !

Find more information and music links go to: http:// www.reverbnation.com/lisasanders.

GRAPHIC DESIGN BY KATIE SUNDBERG

ADVERTISE WITH ARTSNFASHION MAGAZINE marketing@artsnfashion.com or go to www.artsnfashion.com for details. celebrates all types of artists and the artistic process. We know that behind every work of art there is a human being working very hard to make it happen. We want to honor the artist by exploring the process and his/her journey. To us, the story of the artist is as relevant as the art itself. We seek to showcase the up-and-coming as well as the established artists. We encourage all genres of art – visual and performing.

ArtsNFashion Magazine

Magazine is published quarterly via ISSUU.com. It is also available in hard copy via a print on demand function located on our website: www.artsnfashion.com. The ezine phenomenon is exploding and offers an international audience for a reasonable cost. Thanks to the speed of the internet, the growth of smart phones, and tablet computing, our ezine is available instantly to readers all over the world. The print version of the magazine makes us appealing to clients who prefer hard copies and/or want to promote their art/business in a store front or at events (i.e. concerts, fashion shows, theatre productions, etc).

ArtsNFashion

ArtsNFashion Magazine is a fusion of the arts.

We combine high culture with pop culture. A passion for arts brings together the young and trendy with the mature and financially established.

These two groups don’t often meet, but are very curious about each other. Everyone wants to have their finger on the pulse of the latest trends. Additionally, young artists want to have exposure to patrons and fans of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. ArtsNFashion Magazine bridges the generational gap through art.

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art of giving

left to right: David Wiener, Theater Module Designer and Writer Patrick Stewart, Executive Director Chrissy, Califf Program Manager.

In an Era of Shrinking Arts Education, a New Theatre Program Gets Off the Ground David Wiener

When I jotted down the first version of an idea to bring a little more drama (as in Theatre Arts) to schools and classrooms in San Diego, I wasn’t sure if anyone would pick up on it. Fortunately, one of the first places I approached was a relatively new educational nonprofit called Words Alive. Founded in 1999, Words Alive helps underserved at-risk children, teens, and adults discover how books can add meaning to their lives with the goal of creating lifelong readers and learners.

I asked if they might be interested in adding a few play scripts to their literacy project and suggested some ways to do this. This simple proposal was enthusiastically supported by Chrissy Califf, who oversees the efforts of Words Alive volunteers (about 250 in all). As luck would have it, Chrissy had been thinking about adding a theatre component to Words Alive for some time.

We call it a Theatre Program, a Theatre Module, or a Theatre Project but the basic idea is straightforward: adding play readings and discussions to the organization’s established book-based literacy programs.

Chrissy decided that the perfect place for the Theatre Module would be within the Words Alive Adolescent Book Group, which serves teens who have experienced extraordinary life challenges. Facilitated book group discussions help these young people develop healthy self-esteem and put their own life experiences into larger context. The ABG currently works with students at nine schools throughout San Diego County.

Next, Chrissy had to find the most suitable school and teacher for the first Theatre Module. She quickly settled on Dawn Miller at Lindsay Community Day School (located in downtown San Diego).

After that, I had to get to work and plow through close to 100 plays for young people and teens. Some had to be pulled from storage and others were practically brand-new. When I had winnowed the stack down to about 20, I took them over to the Words Alive office. After an intense and fun afternoon talking about each one (advantages, disadvantages, appropriateness and usefulness to the class), Chrissy then placed a set of semifinalists in Dawn Miller’s hands and she made the final selections. The first play reading session took place in March and we’re working on the next one right now, fine-tuning it based on feedback.

In addition to play readings and discussions, I also wanted to see if we could bring a more immediate experience of theatre directly to the students. Chrissy was happy to consider anything I wanted to propose - guest lectures, field trips, etc. (The final approval always rests with Words Alive, since they know their teachers, schools, and students far better than I do.)

I asked Chrissy if she’d like me to try and set up a presentation about makeup, costumes, or theatre history; she thought this was definitely worth looking

into. I contacted all kinds of theatre people, drama departments, and local playhouses. One place I tried was the Mesa College Dramatic Arts Department - and Mesa Professor Kris Clark responded immediately. Kris brought Words Alive students a special presentation about Commedia dell’Arte (a 16th-century form of improv comedy).

Another suggestion Chrissy liked was requesting some complimentary tickets from local theatres so students could actually attend performances (something many of them haven’t had an opportunity to do). Both Chrissy and I thought that a ballet would be perfect for this aspect of the Theatre Module, especially one based on a story the kids could read and discuss beforehand. Jo Anne Emery, Managing Director of the City Ballet of San Diego, stepped right up - City Ballet hosted a group of Words Alive kids to a dress rehearsal of Giselle in March; we’ve also arranged a trip to the Mingei Museum in Balboa Park and are currently looking into Shakespeare experiences for the kids at The Old Globe.

Where the Theatre Module goes from here, we really don’t know; we do know it’s off to a very encouraging start and we’re going to do everything we can to help it flourish for a long time.

For more information about Words Alive programs, volunteer opportunities, annual Authors Luncheon, and giving opportunities, please contact Patrick Stewart at (858) 274-9673; patrick@wordsalive.org (or visit the website at www.wordsalive.org).

Jacket and Pants by LIST