Slightly Legendary Space Teams with Talent
Aileen Parmenter, a wire sculptor uses wire to tell her stories. She has been collecting rocks for 40 years which reveal their stories to her scrupulous eye, she says.
“Some people laugh when I say the wire talks to me. But the wire has to be willing to bend to form the artwork to help me to tell its story. If it’s forced to work it loses its life.”
Along with copper wire, glass, mother-of-pearl, and a variety of shells Parmenter sculpts her “little bonsai” trees that never need water or trimming. She is one many artists invited to A Slightly Legendary Weekend celebrating the 19th anniversary of Information Press the final weekend of August.
Publisher Sandra Marshall recalled, the slight industrial space of Information Press offices has long doubled as the Central Coast Earth Day headquarters yet it seemed to not live up to its potential for the remainder of the year.
But because of the tradition of Information Press bonding community together in support of green and other progressive issues it was only a natural to open its quarters to embrace the Central Coast artistic community.
All of Parmenter’s wirework is done with pliers and cutters. She does not use solder. When an artist heats copper it releases a gas that’s toxic and must then wear a mask, she explained.
“I just hammer out my work cold. She also works in sterling silver and 14karat gold fill. Everything she makes is by hand. It is healthier that way, she said.
“That’s why I don’t’ use any metals with lead. Swarovski Crystals are very popular because they sparkle. But to get it shiny like that they put it into a bath that’s 52 percent lead and it’s toxic.”
Parmenter also makes bracelets, rings, and belts. She used landscape stone with annealed steel that she heats with electricity to give the steel links their burnished color. But since it is not a coating it is a clean process, she stressed.
“Another belt is Lepedolite copper all natural with no coating. I just clean it with lemon juice that’s all.”
Kristen Carley tried on one of Parmenter’s Amazonite bracelets in sterling. Her friend Jen Hix was equally intrigued by Parmenter’s red agate ring done in 14 karat gold fill.
“I thought it was enchantingly magical. Something you’d climb to the top of the mountain to get. It looked like something special.”
Carley said, she was captivated by Parmenter who uses a wheel chair and talking to her was inspirational because she uses her talent as an outlet for her pain.
“If everyone could have a creative outlet for themselves we could all make better choices.”
Painter Rick Walsh was concerned at the Friday night opening that some of his watercolor nudes might be a little shocking but viewers has nothing but kudos for the intricate detail he rendered his work that made the viewer feel he or she is invested in the portraits he poignantly depicts.
Another painter, Laura Lozano, had a stunning portrait of a young lady whose hair almost seems to grow from the tree branch it drapes across. Lazano pointed out she deliberately hid her subject’s eyes with her hair in order to add a sense of intrigue to her work and is working on a series of similar paintings.
Other artists exhibiting work included: Christine Finke, Peg Grady, Dennis Kish, John Shiavon, Deborah Hobbs, Marius Manea, Kris Blaze, Jacquiline Longstaff, Susan Owen, David Justice, David Norton, Josh Patching, Matt Foote, and Linda Brownson
Peter Evans, a longtime supporter of Information Press was alerted to the anniversary through an e-mail. Evans compared the Slightly Legendary Weekend to Linnaea’s Café- a one-of-a-kind that does not conform to accepted norms but whose beauty shines through nonetheless. Evans is a house restorer who”rescues” dilapidated houses from the bulldozer and returns them to life with art.
He noted, the community of creative people bonding under the roof of Information Press for the Slightly Legendary Weekend when it would otherwise be dormant is a “very cool” idea.
“I really like the birdhouses (outdoor display). I’m partial to 3-D stuff. It takes something dramatic in 2-dimensional to move me. But I appreciate all the talent that goes into the work It’s incredible planning and execution.”
Can you name five American women inventors? No? How about one? The truth is, the only woman inventor that I had ever heard of was Madame Marie Curie, and she was not an American. Unfortunately, my lack of knowledge falls in line with a large majority of the American population, regardless of the level of education. Follow me on my quest, which began, as they often do, with a simple question, “Why aren’t there any women on this list of inventors, Mom?”
Are you tired of traveling just for the sake of traveling? If so, ICARE International might be your answer. For the last three years, my wife Jay and I have traveled with I CARE to Mexico and Guatemala to help restore vision to thousands of some of the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere. Since 1989, ICARE has organized trips to Mexico, South and Central America, and U.S. Indian Reservations. Each I CARE mission includes volunteer optometrists and other professionals who give free eye exams, eyeglasses, cataract surgeries, prescription sun glasses and/or hearing aids to indigenous people who can’t afford them. For the past 20 years, I CARE has helped hundreds of thousands to not only see or hear better, but has restored their livelihood and given them a new start. Most of the people served have never seen a Doctor.
In January, a small group of residents answered the call by then President-Elect Obama to honor the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday through a national “Day of Service” first introduced by the Clinton Administration in 1994. The group, Central Coast United for Change (CCUC), decided to conduct a food drive from January 17 to 9, but it wasn’t just any food drive, it was a “community-organizing style” food drive. This is the type of grassroots activism and action that elected President Obama—regular folks making a difference.