This is possibly the BIGGEST, most abundant clothes swap you will ever attend!!! Sections for MEN, WOMEN, AND PLUS SIZE!

$5 and a small bag of clothes gets you a WHOLE NEW WARDROBE!
–this is an ALL AGES event–

Plus, grab a glass of wine while you’re grabbing up your new duds!

Invite ALL your friends! The more attending, the more awesome clothes to choose from!

Don’t be shy! Come on down!

http://thesecretsocietylounge.com/live-music/

Sunday April 15th noon-4pm at the Secret Society
–ALL AGES–

These clothes swaps directly contribute to the first annual Alley 33 Fashion Event; bringing local production to public space!

Check out the Facebook event for more info and to keep updated!

Siren Nation Presents
“Lady Sings the Blues” – A Tribute to Billie Holiday
Saturday, April 21st at The Secret Society
Doors at 8pm. Show at 8:30pm. Tickets $12 Advance. $15 at the Door.

Featuring: Megan Spear, Sara Jackson-Holman, Led To Sea, Wendy Pate, Felecia and the Dinosaur, Tin Silver, Mary Flower, Michele Van Kleef, Kelly Anne Masigat (of the Dimes), Naomi LaViolette, Oracle, Brownish Black, Huck Notari, Holly Cole, Reeb Willms, Ruth Oliver and Jack Ruby Presents.

Billie Holiday Tribute Night:
This event brings together musicians of many genres to pay tribute to one of the greatest jazz singers and songwriters of our time. Lady Day was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Above all, she was admired all over the world for her deeply personal and intimate approach to singing.

Siren Nation’s Mission
Siren Nation’s mission is to inspire and empower women of all ages to create their own art and to highlight the many achievements of women in the arts.
Siren Nation promotes and showcases the original work of women artists by creating year round performance, exhibition and educational opportunities.

Buy your tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/233579

www.sirennation.com
http://secretsociety.net/

For more information please contact: december@sirenmusiccompany.com
or visit the facebook event page- https://www.facebook.com/events/265701596837574/

I first saw Jenny Siegel‘s work at the Siren Nation Visual Arts Show at the Albina Press in 2010.  She had small encaustic work by the front window and I can remember looking closely at the wax and the collaged images and wondering about her process.  I was happy for the opportunity to interview her and ask her all of the questions I’ve been holding onto since I first saw her work almost 2 years ago:

Has art always been a part of your life?

Yes. I’ve always been drawn to the creative process, but was also scared of it. So the impulse to create was often hidden, like in the pages of a journal that only I would see. I studied art and design in school, but I struggled in that setting and didn’t have clarity about a direction .

Some years later I started doing collage and it satisfied something deep within me. As I tapped into that, I began exploring more mediums. And I am still exploring. About a year ago, I took a painting class with Portland painter, Lauren Mantecon. It was a revelatory experience. It informed me how I could express myself through the process of painting, in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. Since that time I am giving more attention to painting.

Can you briefly describe your process?  For example, do you choose first that you are going to do a painting or a collage or a monotype and then come up with the image?  Or do you have an image in mind first and then choose your medium?

The process begins in my imagination. Usually there is a mental image and a feeling, and the medium to work in becomes apparent in that beginning of the imagination of it. I have a collection of found objects and materials waiting to be realized. When I prepare to work, I start rummaging through my cabinets, collecting materials, images, colors, textures, that grab my attention and support my idea. And there is spontaneity in that process. I don’t have a fixed plan of what I’ll use.

 And sometimes there are found objects that insist on being made into something. For some years my husband, daughter, and I collected shells, beach glass, broken pottery, and stones. After a while, we had many baskets full of these treasures. It became this dusty responsibility. I began seeing a mosaic mural even though I had never made a mosaic mural. I talked about it for three years. Finally, I did make a six foot mosaic, but looking back, I can’t recommend doing a six foot mural as the first mosaic project.

I see a lot of leaf-type shapes, circles and organic structures in your work.  Are these shapes inspired by anything specific or are your brushstrokes/collage patterns more spontaneous than that?

I am definitely inspired by nature. And I am curious about human nature and how our minds operate. I wonder about the spirit that resonates in all things and how everything is connected. If we could view everything at the quantum level, it is all moving atoms and space between every particle. Nothing is “inanimate.” That is really interesting to me.

The imagery and shapes I work with are representative of these ideas. So I am intentional in my choice of color and imagery, but the outcome is absolutely unexpected. And I enjoy the journey in that. It is a practice of surrender, and allowing, and giving up what I think I know.

I know from your website that you also do yoga and spiritual work.   Would you say that your artwork has a spiritual component?

The process of making art is a meditative experience for me, and I would enjoy it if that is present for the viewer. I began to practice yoga 21 years ago and it has been valuable in my life. One of the basic premises of the yogic philosophy is that “reality” is seen through our lens of perception. The belief is that one can “clean” one’s lens and eventually perceive reality more clearly.

I am curious about that perception of reality. I am also curious about the collective journey that our world is on. I am fascinated by the world’s cultures, and at the same time I feel that beyond the unique qualities, we are all the same. So my artwork is speaking to all that. When I am making art, I enjoy the process of getting out of my head and into a more spacious realm. 

I often start with neutral tones. Now that I think about it, I make that choice because it feels safe. The neutral tone feels like a grounding, calming foundation. It’s a bit of a trick that I play on myself, but it helps me to enter the process. I lay down some neutral color and it feels like preparing a document, or a map, or something. I don’t have to take a risk yet. When I begin to bring in more dramatic color and imagery, that is when it gets uncomfortable. And the process is completely interesting to me.

My impulse is to express about our world, our physical experience in our bodies, and this divine thread that runs through it all. The neutral tones in my work are somewhat of a preliminary sketch, so to speak, and they create context for what is coming. And, I love RED.

You are the mom of a young child, is it challenging to be a mom and an artist?

There are challenges, mostly with time management.  I was an older mom, nearly 40 when I had my daughter. I had to adjust from what I was used to, to a whole new ball game. I struggled for the first few years with some of the usual things that new mothers go through. When I did begin to carve out some time for myself, which included time for making art, it was a celebration!

Now I have such appreciation for those time blocks that I am in the studio. That limitation has given me more courage to just get on with in and better ignore the inner critic. Being a mother has made me a stronger artist. So the limitations on my time are worth it. Watching my child grow up is the most precious experience of my life. My daughter is also very creative and my teacher. She has her own art space, and sometimes we create together.

What are your artistic goals for 2012?

Seltzer Works, a film by Jessica Edwards

Jessica Edwards, producer extraordinaire, new mom and friend to Siren Nation, has a short film in competition at the PBS POV Online Film Festival. Seltzer Works is a beautiful, poignant and funny story about the last seltzer bottling factory in Brooklyn.

You can vote by watching the film on YouTube then vote by pressing Thumbs Up/Like. Good luck, Jess!

I’m sure far more articulate and fitting tributes to Houston will appear over the next few days. But I wanted to leave you with the most indelible memory I have of Ms. Houston: the video she made for her cover of Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman”. Pregnant as hell, with appearances by Ms. Khan, Houston’s mom, TLC and a chorus of adorable tweens rocking out to the perfect pop update of a disco classic.

Whitney Houston – I’m Every Woman

Update: Okay, I couldn’t resist one more.. Whitney singing at Top of the Pops in 1987. The host’s amazement she actually sings live = priceless.

Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Live TOTP ’87)

More updates:

Daphne Brooks writes for The Nation: I’m Every Woman: Whitney Houston, the Voice of the Post–Civil Rights Era

Performance artist Diamanda Galas on Whitney Houston.

POWFest, our sister from another mister, is next month! Tara Johnson-Medinger and her team just announced the 2012 line-up and have once again put together a spectacular event. Highlights include:

+The Silent Truth (pictured) – An extremely powerful documentary about a family’s search for justice after their daughter, U. S. Army Private LaVena Johnson, is assaulted and murdered by fellow Army personnel.

+Five Shorts programs!

+A tribute to our national treasure: Barbara Kopple. Shut Up and Sing is a film she co-directed with Cecilia Peck about the blowback the Dixie Chicks received after an off-hand comment criticizing President Bush at the beginning of the war in Iraq.

+The debut of Jacqueline Gault’s long-gestating Dinner Party series

+Any my personal favorite: Panel discussions on film financing and new distribution models for filmmakers with an emphasis on local programmers, funders, artists which should provide an excellent state of our union.

So the heiress turned YouTube sensation turned SNL disaster turned internet meme, Lana Del Rey’s, record finally came out last week to much hand-wringing and whatever the music blogger dude-equivalent of pearl-clutching is. Jody Rosen and the Slate CultureFest team nailed it in their breakdown of the backlash, if pop music is about polished perfection — people will lose their ever-loving minds if they are confronted with what is essentially a work in progress.

Nevertheless, I love the song “Video Games” and I’m cheering for LDR.

The luminous Maura Johnston’s latest piece in the Village Voice, dovetails nicely into this discussion:  How Not To Write About Female Musicians: A Handy Guide.

If you missed anything or have photos you’d like to share, check out the Siren Nation Flickr Pool and Youtube videos on the media page!

]]> http://www.sirennation.org/2011/11/2011-sn-festival-a-total-success/feed/ 0 http://www.sirennation.org/2011/09/laura-gibson-performs-at-snf/ http://www.sirennation.org/2011/09/laura-gibson-performs-at-snf/#comments Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:22:15 +0000 Beth Olson http://sirennation.org/?p=1013 Be sure to check out this video for the song  “Milk-heavy, pollen-eyed” from Laura’s upcoming (january 2012) album La Grande. With her voice as hauntingly beautiful as ever, keep your eyes peeled for about the 1:18 mark where the video’s cinematography takes a subtle and cleverly planned turn. If you want to see Laura Gibson perform live be sure to check her out along with a fantastic line-up of other female performers at the Siren Nation Festivalcoming in November!

Laura Gibson – Milk-Heavy, Pollen-Eyed from Mason Jar Music on Vimeo.