Renwick's Michael Sherrill Retrospective ends Sunday

At the entrance to the Michael Sherrill Retrospective at the Renwick Gallery/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In his North Carolina studio close to Asheville at a place called "Bat Cave" (that is the real name), naturalist/artist Michael Sherrill brings it all home, his love for the outdoors, his creativity, and his desire to make the world understand the loss of Earth's gifts and those we take for granted.

Using glass, clay, and metal, Mr. Sherrill designs and sculpts nature's bounty and more for wall hangings and display. The Renwick Gallery has 73 of them up for this last weekend.

Michael Sherrill, Aqua Bottles, 1995/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Michael Sherrill, Queen of Hearts, c. 1990, Racine Art Museum, left, and Head and Shoulders, c. 1990, collection of the artist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Michael Sherrill Retrospective spans his artistic evolution over more than 40 years, beginning with his teapots and ending with colorful metal animals mixed inside and around real and fictional plants.

Michael Sherrill Retrospective, Smithsonian Renwick Gallery/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Michael Sherrill, Bumbleberry, 1999, Mint Museum. The wall label says this work was inspired by the non-native kiwi plant which grew outside the artist's studio and seemed to always  grasp for light and support.  I don't know about you, but this sure suggests a snake to me.  Perhaps I mixed up the proper plant credit? Update:  I did not mix them up!/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Mr. Sherrill's beginnings were not unlike those of many artists, but few have six children as this artist does. At his Washington opening, he said: “I had to balance doing my best work and surviving economically.”

The 2008 recession took its toll on some of his potter friends who were unable to continue their art, "growing bored" with struggles. To the persistent go the laurels, and Mr. Sherrill, who started as an abstract potter, kept up his craft which became harmonious sculptures of nature.

Michael Sherrill at the opening of his retrospective at the Renwick Gallery, June 27, 2019
/Photo by Patricia Leslie


He grew up listening to the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan who, he thinks, invited listeners to join in their music, and he wants viewers to do the same with his art:  participate.

Michael Sherrill at the opening of his retrospective at the Renwick Gallery, June 27, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Michael Sherrill, How Plants Travel, 2003, collection of Marsha Madorsky.  Mr. Sherrill created this about the time his works shifted from table tops to wall hangings.  Here, the flowers gradually diminish in size as the eye moves up the curvature/Photo by Patricia Leslie

For models (including snakes which are easily found around his mountain studio; he kept one in his high school locker, he said) he uses wires and sometimes sketches designs in advance but not always. His sculptures are colored metal, many with beautiful, small flowers, their shapes and sizes reminiscent of plants and nature's limbs which float on seabeds.

Michael Sherrill, What the Eye Sees, 2003, collection of Ann and Tom Cousins. The open areas, according to the label copy, are intended to invite viewer interpretation/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Michael Sherrill, Brightly Hidden, 2010, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA.  This was made by Mr. Sherrill when he served as an artist-in-residence at the Tacoma Museum of Glass.  It is designed to show the snake in the Garden of Eden, good v. bad, beauty v. danger/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the Michael Sherrill Retrospective, Smithsonian Renwick Gallery, June 27, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A photo of some of Michael Sherrill's "mudtools" on display and available for sale at his website/Photo by Patricia Leslie

To fashion his works, Mr. Sherrill, mostly self-taught, needs specialized tools which he makes himself and sells on his website. (They are pictured on a wall at the Renwick.)  

On a recent trip to Japan, he found reproductions of them for sale in two shops.

Organizer of the show was the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C., which has named Mr. Sherrill , "Artist of the Year."



What: Michael Sherrill Retrospective and see Reforestation of the Imagination by Ginny Ruffner in an adjacent gallery. 

When: Now through January 5, 2020. The Renwick is open from 10 a.m.– 5:30 p.m. every day.

Where: The Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006, at the White House 17th Street block, adjacent to Blair House.

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Farragut North or Farragut West

For more information: (202) 633-7970 (recorded) or (202) 633-2850

patricialesli@gmail.com 

Last days for Ginny Ruffner's art at Renwick Gallery

Ginny Ruffner talks to a reporter at the Renwick Gallery, June 27, 2019. On the wall are devices guests may use to see Ms. Ruffner's flowers, plants, and nature's elements change and blossom/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A few days remain to see the show of Ginny Ruffner's works which will end Sunday at the Renwick Gallery.

Titled Reforestation of the Imagination made in collaboration with media artist Grant Kirkpatrick, the art is
as intricate and delightful as Ms. Ruffner, incorporating nature and all its beauty with sinewy limbs and colors to refresh and inspire.

Ginny Ruffner's art at the Renwick Gallery. The artist said these works have fiber glass bases with resin and sand, built over plywood skeletons. Two apprentices help her/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sometimes known as a glass artist, Ms. Ruffner utilizes technology ("augmented reality") to make viewing experiences more rewarding. With a handheld device (available at the Renwick) or a smartphone held atop her sculptures, a viewer may see them blossom and grow, becoming elements of beauty and marvel. 

At the Renwick Gallery with Ginny Ruffner's display which reminds me of a spinning ballerina and her dancing shoes/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ginny Ruffner, Grape Flower/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ginny Ruffner, Blue Flower with Snakes. The white streaks at the bottom are reflections in the glass cover/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Ginny Ruffner at the Renwick Gallery, June 27, 2019. Her pink cane is an assist after she almost died from effects of a 1991 automobile crash/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ginny Ruffner at the Renwick Gallery, June 27, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 At the opening of the  exhibition at the Renwick, Ms. Ruffner was present to tell a little of her background: She was born in Atlanta (1952) but grew up near Rock Hill, S.C. and attended the University of Georgia, earning a B.F.A. and a M.F.A. in drawing and painting (cum laude and summa cum laude).

She's now based in Seattle, the home of a 30-foot tall kinetic water she sculptured.  Another of her works is found at Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park, one of 55 worldwide museums and galleries which boast Ms. Ruffner's works in their collections. 

The interactive Renwick show is another one to interest the whole family and watch colors and pieces change before you. (The Renwick cautions that children under age 12 must be accompanied by an adult.)

What: Reforestation of the Imagination by Ginny Ruffer with Grant Kirkpatrick. Michael Sherrill's Retrospective is in the adjacent galleries.
 
When: Now through January 5, 2020. The Renwick is open from 10 a.m.– 5:30 p.m. every day.

Where: The Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006, at the White House 17th Street block, adjacent to Blair House.

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Farragut North or Farragut West

For more information: (202) 633-7970 (recorded) or (202) 633-2850

patricialesli@gmail.com

Another 'Eureka!' show at Mosaic

It may be the D.C. debut, but it won't be the last of this show in D.C.


How does Ari Roth, Mosaic Theater's artistic director, land these riveting, modern tales before anyone else? 


Eureka Day is the progressives gone overboard.  A mirror from the left looking at (laughing at) themselves. (Conservatives will adore it!) 

It's hilarious. It's provoking, and it's another big hit at Mosaic.

Two men and three women make up the  "executive committee" of a liberal private high school in Berkeley, California (where else?). 

Never mind that public schools need all the attention and attendance they can get from wealthy liberal parents. (Think, the Clintons, the Obamas, and Sidwell Friends School; thank you very much, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter who sent their daughter, Amy, to public school when they occupied the White House.)

After all, these are our children for whom we should do the very best and who cares about anyone else? Ours simply must attend Eureka Day! Enough liberal thinking!

A new parent (Erica Chamblee) is the outlier at Eureka Day School who sits on the outside of the group watching the circus, waiting, an audience of one, representing us, the viewers.

Two others in the group, Eli (Elan Zafir) and Meiko (Regina Aquino) are having an affair, of course.  Where would any contemporary sensible production be without this de rigueur practice?

Dancing Don (Sam Lunay) moves with the best of them, trying to keep everything and everybody in line, to reach "consensus" and maybe, everything won't be so bad.

Suzanne (Lise Bruneau) is the antagonist with a correction for everything:  Please, they are not Egyptians; they are enslaved persons.  

Please! Here we use only gender-neutral or non-binary pronouns. Get with the program! 

Tsk! Tsk! You really do need an education, don't you, to use those for recycled plates? They are not the right kind.

The script includes discussion about vaccinations.  To vaccinate or not?  Close the school?

The funniest part comes at the end of Act 1 when the committee leads a virtual meeting that parents may attend on Facebook. And do they ever. (Dylan Uremovich and Theodore J. H. Hulsker are in charge of projections.) Sling to the right of us, to the left, take that, and on and on producing regales of audience laughter, so much that who cares what the stage taskmasters are saying?


Eureka has its serious moments, too, but, thankfully, not as many as the humorous ones. (I just came to laugh, after all.  Vaccinations?  What vaccinations?  This is billed as a comedy.)

The music between scenes is divine.  The first act ends too quickly and the second finishes much too fast for it all to be over, meaning I wanted it to go on and on. 

The acting is superb, and the mannerisms drawn by Director Serge Seiden with such swooping and bending and looks, like those loved by audiences the world over.

Mar Cox and Thomas Nagata, the assistant stage manager, are also in the cast.   

Creative team members include Andrew Cohen, set; Brittany Shemuga, lights;Brandee Mathies, costumes; David Lamont Wilson, sound; Deborah C. Thomas, properties; Shirley Serotsky, dramaturg; Claudia Rosales Waters, intimacy consultant; and Aril E. Carter, stage manager

What:  Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector

When: Now through January 5, 2020, Monday, Dec. 30, and Thursday- Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees, 3 p.m.

Where: Mosaic Theater Company, Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002

Getting there: Riding public transportation from Union Station on the streetcar is easy and free, if you can find the streetcar behind Union Station where signage to the streetcar is poor. Valet and parking options are available. 

Tickets start at $20. (Use discount code "2020" to get 20% off.)

Language: Adult

Duration: About two hours with one 15-minute intermission. 

Post-show discussions:  Dec. 30, Jan. 2, and Jan. 4.

Open-captioned performances: Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 (Call for time on Jan. 4.) 

For more information: Please call the box office (202-399-7993, ext. 2) or email boxoffice@atlasarts.org.

patricialesli@gmail.com

boxoffice@atlasarts.org

202-399-7993 e

boxoffice@atlasarts.org

A delightful 'Charlie Brown Christmas' lands in Manassas

 Nick MacFarlane, left, is Charlie Brown and Trevor Nordike is Linus in Prince William Little Theatre's A Charlie Brown Christmas/Photo by Melissa Jo York-Tilley

It doesn’t matter that you may have seen A Charlie Brown Christmas 100 times on television because the live show now on stage in Manassas is 100 times better than any old TV version.

And there's just one more weekend to see it.

 The cast from Prince William Little Theatre's Charlie Brown Christmas/Photo by Melissa Jo York-Tilley

Produced by the Prince William Little Theatre, this Christmas special at the Hylton Performing Arts Center is a joyful holiday treat for families to share together in the spirit of the season.

The message never gets tiresome, the scenics are always refreshing, and the Manassas players present a hilarious, sad, and charming musical, sure to leave theatergoers (yes, even the Scrooge in the bunch) happy, especially with a surprise ending.

Any director (Chrissy Mastrangelo here) would be hard put to find actors more fitting for these main roles than Nick MacFarlane as Charlie Brown and Trevor Nordike who is Linus.

Prince William's slumping, stooped-shouldered Charlie Brown shuffles his feet across the stage, accompanied by his able-bodied lieutenant, Linus (comforted, of course, by his blue blanket) in Charlie Brown's quest to find the real meaning of Christmas.

To capture Charlie Brown's essence, it would seem that Director Mastrangelo required Mr. MacFarlane to watch hours of the real Charlie Brown, so reminiscent is Mr. MacFarlane of the cartoon character.


Not to be outdone by any competitor is the effervescent Lucy ((Kacie Brady), the dynamo psychiatrist who is always game for whatever aids her.

"You've been dumb before," she says to Charlie Brown, "but this time you've really done it!"

He sighs:  "Nobody sent me a Christmas card today. I know nobody likes me."


To which mean Violet (Bevin Hester) shouts at our star: "I didn't send you a Christmas card!"


With friends like these, is it any wonder that poor Charlie Brown lacks pep in his step?

All is not lost, however, among Peanuts gang members.

The colorful set opens with a "skating rink" where actors ably glide their sock skates to dance in circles with later action shifting to Snoopy's huge, lighted dog house.

And what a dog to steal the show!

This Snoopy (Katherine Blondin) can even make animal sounds.

A big snowball fight adds merriment. (What were those snowballs made of?)

To make the show even better is the live music on stage, lead by Justin Streletz who plays the piano and reminds us of all the melodies lying at the back of our minds. Chris Anderson is the drummer and an unnamed bassist add immense enjoyment to the production.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is a great way to introduce youngsters to the joys of live theatre while basking in togetherness of the moment with loved ones (including yourself).

Throughout the presentation youthful laughter flows from the audience, an indication that not only does this Christmas have an important theme, but it's fun, too.

Other members of the Peanuts gang are Lisa Arnold, Timothy Burhouse, Cana Jordan Wade, Darcy Heisey, Laura Castillo, and Lindsey Capuno.

Crew members include Hayley Katarina, assistant director; Jennifer Rodriguez, producer; Katie Morris, stage manager; Suzy Moorstein, costume designer; Michelle Matthews, sound; Nick Mastrangelo, set; Peter Ponzini, lighting; Jeanie Ingram, program, and Ms. Mastrangelo choreographs.

What:  A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz, based on the television special by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson. Major sponsor: Mark Moorstein of Offit/Kurman

When:  Friday, Dec. 20, 8 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 21, 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21 and 22, 2 p.m.

Where:   Hylton Performing Arts Center, George Mason University,10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, VA 20110

Admission:  $13 for 12 and younger; $17 for seniors, students, and active military; $20, general admission

For more information: Click here or call 703-993-7759, Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

patricialesli@gmail.com