When Vicki La Plant saw a collection of pink and beige pearls, she wanted to know how to make them into a necklace, something beautiful and one of a kind. She sought out Georgeann Hurt, a Chickasaw bead worker, and took four lessons in beading. Then, using the pink and beige cultured pearls, and a freeform freshwater keishi pearl for the center, she created her first piece of jewelry.
The creativity in Janet Karam’s paintings is undeniable. Her contemporary, colorful takes on saxophones, jazz musicians, buildings, blues singers and ballerinas vibrate with life. “I think I had a spark from a young age,” Karam said about her creative streak. “It was lying dormant, but my mother helped light it, and now in my older years she nurtures it.”
Jonathan Dryden’s hands create beautiful pieces of art from wood, but a childhood accident almost took away that gift. At thirteen-months old, he burned his hands so severely that he was not expected to have full use of them again. To everyone’s surprise, after three weeks in bandages, his hands slowly came back to life.
Even as a child,” said Jodi Castelli, “I saw the potential of discarded goods. I often rescued empty cereal boxes and other items doomed to the trashcan.” Today, the artist has graduated from the trashcan and instead combs antique shops to find vintage postcards, advertising, photographs, buttons, even game pieces, to serve as focal points in the visual stories she creates.
In another life, Reba Browning was an educator, working with children as a teacher and principal. Her husband, Glenn Spelis, was a U.S. Customs agent, a pilot who flew across North America and South America pursuing drug smugglers by air. Today, they have a new life, working together to create sculptures that enhance their environment.
Give Philip Blander a black pencil, a white pencil, a sheet of gray paper, and he will take your breath away. The 59-year-old artist has done photorealistic portraits so lifelike he has people insisting that his work was not drawn. “One woman looked at a portrait I did and argued with me, telling me that it was a photograph! I love when that happens,” he said.
The Rialto Theater on Main Street in Denison opened on August 4, 1920, and was hailed as “Theater Beautiful.” Talkies debuted at the theater in 1929, with Madge Bellamy and Louise Dresser in Mother Knows Best. In 1932, the Interstate Circuit took control and three years later spent $10,000 to renovate the house with a new box office, awnings, carpet, screen, seats and drapes.
The 29th Annual Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival produced by the Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s theater department begins June 20 and runs through July 19. Guys and Dolls, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and The Complete History of America (abridged) will run at the Visual and Performing Arts Center at 1614 North First Street and The Montgomery Auditorium at 1405 North Fourth Street in Durant.
Bring color into your spring! Join Texoma Living!, the Denison Arts Council and the Denison Chamber of Commerce for the 11th Annual Spring Art Tour on Historic Main Street. One of the largest art events in north Texas, the Denison tour takes place twice annually in the fall and the spring.
Like all good stories, musician Ruby Allmond’s career had three distinct parts. First was the struggle to gain recognition as a performer, then came three decades as a songwriter, with several Nashville hits, including one top-ten single. No less satisfying was the final phase of defining a legacy.