violethour

VIOLET HOUR DARK this Thursday

Candace and I have to go to Munich on Tuesday. It's a quick job. We'll be chasing down Micki, who is on tour with the Back Street Boys in Europe. We'll be back Thursday night around 10pm .... so no Andrew Marks or Jam Session this week. Andrea Calderwood's Friday show should not be affected unless we have difficulties getting back, so unless you hear from us, we're on this Friday.

Next week is Thanksgiving. So that means, both Andrew and the Jaz Jam will not return until Thursday Dec 3rd. Tell everyone to dress in their Holiday best. We'll be doing End of Year portraits Dec 3rd through the 6th ....

This past weekend's opening of the ANisa Effect was a great success.           
Pictured here is Terry Alexander, John West and in the shadows up front Tom Bremer. The image on the screen is by Anisa Nin.              

Why are we here? What are our expectations?

Andrew Marks this Thursday the 5th!! at the Violethour

Too much work. Sorry my friends. Andrew Marks is This Thursday the 5th. I'm glad people are on their toes out there.

Next Thursday the studio will be dark in preperation for the Anisa Nin Show.

Again, Andrew Marks is this Thursday November 5th.

Thank you Rich. Here's an offering for the confusing emails ... my first morning haiku in ages. I used to write them on my kids lunch bags every morning.

Kacie got so good at them, that she became the first in our family to actually get published. I'll find that haiku she wrote and present it here one day. It is still one of the all time great haikus.

Each step that we take

is a step closer to us

and the space between

but that wasn't the intended haiku.

Here's that one.

 Treasure these moments

Blankets to warm on cold nights

salt in concrete skies

it goes on though, as much of what I do does :)

remember blue skies

of times when you didn't try

to be anything





and so it is now

the ancient sea bed awaits

a soft silt pillow





See you all thursday. I'm off to Arizona. I'll pictures of my journey.

Be safe

Kiss those you love

including the one that hides in the back of the mirror.

-mike

ps- membership info for the violethour right here


and if you're interested in volunteering. We need two cocktail servers for Thursday night. Call Candace at the studio 714-441-1504

or her cell (714-944-3276), but as i'm on the road today, I'll have the cell. Details are with the Candy.

But we'd need you to start at 6:00 pm.

 

THURSDAY NOV 12 NOV 5

ANDREW MARKS

630-930/10

DOORS OPEN AT 6:00

SOUP- TOMATO BASIL

DOOR- FELIPE

BAR- CANDACE

DRESS CODE- DRESS WARM, BUT KEEP IT COOL. Andrew's swinging!

 Mike's got a Camera in his hand. And Candace is about ready to use that Microphone herself ...

Andrew Marks returns for his second show in our ever evolving studio. Wait 'til you see the set we've created for Andrew's show.

This will be the last weekend that memberships will not be required for entrance. Please print this email and bring it with you. It is your temporary membership card.

Fill in the info below and you are good to go.

As Always, no money accepted at the door. Appetizers and Drinks are complimentary.

Blanca's Soup is $5 a bowl. We'll be having Tomato Basil this Thursday. Felipe will be on the door. Dress to Impress.

It should be a glorious evening. There is no scheduled entertainment afterwards, so there'll be no rush to leave.

Andrew Marks this Thursday at the Violethour

THURSDAY NOV 12

ANDREW MARKS

630-930/10

DOORS OPEN AT 6:00

SOUP- TOMATO BASIL

DOOR- FELIPE

BAR- CANDACE

DRESS CODE- DRESS WARM, BUT KEEP IT COOL. Andrew's swinging!

 Mike's got a Camera in his hand. And Candace is about ready to use that Microphone herself ...

Andrew Marks returns for his second show in our ever evolving studio. Wait 'til you see the set we've created for Andrew's show.

This will be the last weekend that memberships will not be required for entrance. Please print this email and bring it with you. It is your temporary membership card.

Fill in the info below and you are good to go.

As Always, no money accepted at the door. Appetizers and Drinks are complimentary.

Blanca's Soup is $5 a bowl. We'll be having Tomato Basil this Thursday. Felipe will be on the door. Dress to Impress.

It should be a glorious evening. There is no scheduled entertainment afterwards, so there'll be no rush to leave.

YOUR TEMPORARY MEMBERSHIP CARD
or if you like, apply for a membership now.   CLICK HERE.  You can use this link to get yourself a temporary card for this weekend too if you like.
After this weekend, you'll not be able to get into the studio without a membership card.  This is a legal requirement.  We cannot even give alcohol away unless it is a private event.
There really is no better deal in town.  Andrew's shows will likely have a $7.50  event charge.  That means if you see Andrew 3 times a month at our studio, it will cost you $25 (the monthly membership fee) plus $22.50.  $47.50 for three shows, beverages and appetizers included. [1]  Most everyone spends  close to that on one night.   Your entitled to bring a guest with you, the fee for you and a guest for three shows with a 7.50 event charge would be $70.  Divide that by 6 and it's costing less than $15 for a night of Andrew Marks with appetizers and drinks.   And you're still entitled to bring in your own wine or liquor.  We'll pour it for you. 

[1] Blanca's soups are extra.

And I'll end this email with another plug for next weekend's Opening Reception for the ANISA NIN show.
The only art event that might eclipse this one in importance might be our very first show  .... at Steamers in 1996.  We were one of Terrance's first shows, perhaps the first.
But that was a long time ago.
This is the first major show that we are putting on featuring not just our own work.

 

Basement 1 by Anisa Nin

Just listen to what Anisa wrote .... it's mesmerizing ....

As many of you know, I am beginner down this road that you, as artists and photographers, have mastered. I have only been shooting and creating in this medium for a short period of time, and have been a blank canvas regarding everything from education, to influences.

I live in North Dakota, and have lived here throughout my adult life. My state is a vast, desolate, and quiet place. I have not met any artists, and [have] ventured down this road on my own, with nothing but an outdated point and shoot camera, some old, abandoned houses, and the winds of my prairies. I started out doing this during a musician's  and writer's block, in an attempt to express and release an emotional buildup that I had been experiencing. In doing this, I discovered a deep and lasting love of what I was creating, despite that it was a private thing, and a part of me [that] I rarely shared with other people. Unlike my music, but similar to my writing, I was capturing moments, shreds of my dreams, aspects of who I am, who I had been, and what I hoped to someday become. Everything from the broken chair of my Grandmother which symbolized the ending of my familial relationships, to my self portraits which was an expression of my vulnerability, and the strength I was hoping to attain, had become a tool in self-healing, I quickly discovered.

Then, this past april, I was pushed to take that serious step into showing my work to other people, which honestly, was somewhat frightening to me. I was afraid that this, my photography, my expression of myself of which I held nearly sacred,  might be destroyed in the sharing.

I was entirely wrong, and this step has become one of the very best choices in my life I have made. In doing this, I have made what I have come to consider mentors, teachers, and most importantly, friends on such an emotional level that I am often left speechless in being able to articulate what you have all become to mean to me.

Now, the reason why I am writing is this:  Michael Magoski who has become a mentor, a teacher, and a true hearted friend, has offered for me to have a show in his gallery, The Violet Hour, in California. Perhaps you can imagine the awe, the shock, the honor this has been for me. Never, ever, would I have believed something like this could, or would occur. Never. But it has, and its because of him, because of his belief in what I am doing, and because of all of you. You have influenced me, where there had been no influences  prior to joining this strange and wonderful site, Model Mayhem.

Now, in this show, my work will be displayed, but also, and more importantly, he has offered me to have those artists that have come to resonate within me to also show their work alongside my endeavors.

If you were ever to support us, come down and meet Anisa next weekend.  She's flying in on Thursday.  She'll be here both Friday and Saturday.
Friday is for members only.  This will be an evening none who attend will ever forget.  Saturday is for the public.  Sunday she goes home.

ANDREW MARKS THIS THURSDAY, ANISA NIN IN TWO WEEKS

RESERVATIONS HGHLY SUGGESTED

Only thing though is that

YOU MUST BE A MEMBER TO COME INSIDE.

WE'RE MAKING A MOVIE

IT'S A MUSICAL.  You'll probably end up in it somehow.

At least that's how HG Wells planned it out.

HG WELLS by Edward Steichen

Anisa Nin is coming to the Violethour.

My communication with Anisa was through either words or images we shared via the internet.   But our communication was intensely honest and became a vehicle of personal transformation.  Anisa Nin, without the help of expensive equipment and years of schooling,  was, and is,  creating images of great power and beauty. These are Compelling images that speak to the viewers soul, images born of America's Vast Prarries.  There is a reason American's call this part of the United States the Heartland.  We all, wether we care to admit it or not, take a certain nostalgic pride in our ember waves of grain and the majesty of our purple mountains.  And I think to a degree, we all collectively feel a saddness, a melancholy if you will, in the evolution (or perhaps the dissolution) of the American dream.  As our world changes and transforms around us, it is the memories, real and imagined, of that American Dream, that still connect us as a people.  And it's not ironic that Anisa is a Native American;  no, not at all; because; in fact, it makes perfect sense; because, you see,  for us, the people of America, for us to retain our sense of identity, we need to re-connect with the land.   We've lost that personal interaction with the Land.  We've covered our soil with concrete,  stained our skies with chemicals and mutated and altered our food, and we do this without thinking too much.    Without her realizing it, Anisa Nin is a Guide on that journey of re-connection.  Anisa has the makings of a Major American Artist.   And we, who are aware,  are fortunate to be sharing with her this birth.   Anisa  is often compared to Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer.  Such comparisons are justifiable in that these are all iconic artists reflecting and commenting on American Culture.  In this modern world of globalism, where culture and identity fuse so quickly, there are fewer and fewer artists in America who can legitimately claim themselves to be American Artists.  Anisa Nin is an American Artist. 

 I was (and continue to be) impacted in such a way that I felt a need to honor what we were sharing in such a way.  Candace and I have not ever shown anyone's work on a large scale  in our studio formally  (aside from collaborations with my friend Dirk).  This seemed the perfect timing for change.  And, at about this time, it had also occured to me that I was not the only artist that Anisa had connected with.  So, when I asked her if she would like to show her art in our gallery, I asked her to invite some other artists whom she had connected with that had affected her work, and through that connection, had been effected by that connection.  And because much of this communication was through words and images,  it made so much sense to me to call this show THE ANISA EFFECT.  And in turn the subtitle, "collaborations in non-verbal communication" became the perfect descriptor.

 

Anisa can make you really think about why you're in the place you're in.

WHY IS IT WINTER IN MAY?

THE ANISA EFFECT OPENS NEXT FRIDAY, FRIDAY THE 13th.

If you'd like to attend the Private Artist's Reception, you must be a member of the Violethour.

Saturday Night is the Public Reception.

FOR MEMBERSHIP DETAILS  CLICK HERE

Last night was a good show! But seriously, can we do something about the Dress Code ...

Hey Candace:

I know you didn't get any sleep, having just flown in from Sydney. I saw your pictures. Looks like you had a lot of fun.

 

Anyways I wanted to talk to you about the Grilled Cheese Sandwiches we served last night at the Jam Session.
People loved them!   All we need are Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Blanca's soup   That's all we need for food.  It doesn't get any better than that.
Well, maybe it can .... I don't know, Olive Tappaneade is really good.

See, the Grilled Cheese sandwiches was gold!   Everyone loves a Grilled Cheese sandwich. Even lactose intolerant people.  They love Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.  And you made them really good.  I know you think it's funny making some of them spicy, and some like really spicy, and then not marking them or anything, but some people can't eat spicy.  I mean they have a problem with spicy.   Chuck had already eaten a couple of them when he saw me with a fresh batch.  Warm, gooey Grille Cheese.  "Are those spicy?", he asked me.
At this point in the night, I didn't  know you were making some of them spicy.  "No", I said, "these aren't spicy."
"Oh good", said Chuck, "the last one was a little spicy.  It irritated my tongue a little."
"Oh", I said, shrugging my shoulders a bit, "yeah, these aren't spicy."
Chuck took two.   And they looked so good, that when I went outside to check on Felipe, I had one too.
Hello!  I love spicy.  You know that.  Candace, my dear, you are evil!   That was so spicy!

 

Hey, and my Sangria is pretty tasty too.



--

I have no pictures of Chuck.  But I do have a few to share ...  Andrew's piano never sounded better!   The PA combined the room acoustics was just amazing.  Earl Allen played guitar.  He's always so serious.  And Bob Wahler played clarinet.  Sam Green sang.  And yes, I know the green light isn't working out well.

 

And later, when the Jaz Jam got started, Nick, Dave and Rene were joined by Whitney on vocals.   Our Jaz Jam has gone through two major periods, each really indentifie by the main vocalist.  The first Jam at Table Ten, called the Ten Session, was created and hosted by Andrea Calderwood.   From Andrea it went to Nancy Sanchez, who, like Andrea, kept doing it until it was cancelled ... just prior to Table Ten's closing, it's Whitney that has become the Jam's  House Vocalist.  She's got her work cut out for her.  But a challenge is good.  And Whitney's got the benefit of being at the VIOLETHOUR, where creativity is encouraged and risks are applauded.  I should mention, that even though Jon Bradley was absent, we found a way to get him here.

WHAT DOES VIOLETHOUR MEAN?

Of course, I'm a little bit anxious about how well our studio will be received.  Or even more so, if people will come.  I have the advantage of knowing what everyone likes.  That's a plus, I know.  Andrew Marks is a plus, I know that as well.  Blanca's soups are a plus. Felipe's smile. 
Parking shouldn't be a problem. The space is certainly not like Table Ten.  The space reflects a bit more of  mine and Candace's  true nature, but then that might not work in our favor!   You might very well walk in, eyes popping out, and say, "Mike, what are you doing in here?  What is this place?"And I'd probably smile before saying,   "Have you seen that movie 'Being John Malcovich'?  [2]   Well, welcome to our movie.  'Being Mike and Candace'.  [3]  Even before you walk through the front doors, you'll sense a reality shift of sorts. 
The Violethour is stil lin downtown; in fact, it's in the SOCO district of downtown. 
It's literally a countable amount of footsteps from Heroes.
If you forgot that Table Ten was closed and you parked over there,
you could walk over here in less than 4 minutes.  I could have an egg ready for you.   If you liked eggs.

That's one thing I don't know about most of you.  If you all like eggs.  I now you like soup.  
This week there won't be any because Blanca went to El Salvador for a visit.
 Blanca needed some 'me' time. 
I'm telling you, those last few months at Table Ten were stressful ... to say the least.
But these countable steps from Heroes to the Violethour are like countable steps into another world.  The world inside our heads fused into one temporary reality that anyone walking through our doors could choose to visit and interact with.  Your own level of comfort determines your own level of participation.   It's like being the new kid on the block and you're at the playground for the first time and there's this hesitation ... you know, should not worry about anything and just have fun and play?   Or do you hesitate and maybe just watch for a while.  You can play next time.  All the kids seem friendly enough.  It's certainly not them holding you back.  It's just you.  You can participate in your life anyway you want.  Why not just be you?

  

WHAT IS THE VIOLETHOUR?What does that mean?  People always ask us that.   Well, you know that time when it's not really day, but then it's not really night?  Or when it's not dark yet, but the Sun has dipped down below the horizon.  The light that remains is soft and diffused.  If one attempted to measure this in length of time,  the Violethour would really only last about 20 minutes.  And 20 minutes isn't really a lot of time.  It usually takes about 10 minutes to get one's eyes adjusted to the quality of this light.  And then another 5 minutes to start appreciating it.  And then it's done.  either the Sun rises and it's beam's stretch out; or, those beams, like rainbows  [1] , disappear as if they never were even there.  The VIOLETHOUR is a lot like that.  It got to a point where candace and I would be chasing that 'fleeting moment'.  Like Tornado Chasers,  like Pot of Gold Chasers, when we saw the moment arriving, we'd stop the car and race to our positions.  Candace changing into costume and I readying cameras ... and we'd expose the film, as much as the 'fleeting moment' would allow and then it'd be gone.  It was in that aftermath that the idea of a Studio and a Gallery dedicated to this moment
we chased and treasured, this moment that stopped the progression of linear time,
this moment that opened the heavens to both of our minds ... we could create a physical space dedicated to these manifested moments.    We held this key in our hands.  And so we decided to build a door for it to open. [4]

SO WHY NOT COME INSIDE THe PLAYGROUND OF OUR MINDS

Doris can wear her gloves and dance with Frank and she can swirl and twirl while Earl's fingers dance with the steel strings of his Jazz Guitar.   That's what made Table Ten so special, so endearing, so very close to the hearts of those who called themselves regulars.  That little bar up front was our playground.  Our Pot of Gold.  Our VIOLETHOUR.  And, like all things on Earth,  a 'fleeting moment' with no apparent  beginning nor ending; for, it is only when the moment ends, that the awareness of time,  and of beginnings and  endings,  rises, like bubbles, to the surface of our consciousness.    This playground, the VIOLETHOUR, opens tomorrow.  A playground of music and conversation, of dancing and singing, social interaction and community.  

Here's to All of Us!  And to the Keys that unlock our Doors.

Michael and Candace Magoski

the VIOLETHOUR

225 West Santa Fe Ave, Fullerton, Ca., 92832

map/directions

714-441-1504

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Rainbows are a lot like the Violethour.  I think everyone can relate to Rainbows.  Rainbows are one of the few natural wonders that pretty much every being on this planet experiences at one time or another; and yet, the percentage of beings who DON'T turn their gaze towards the fleeting moment - SAWORI in Japanese - is very small.  And we turn our gaze, not because we don't believe in the MAGIC of Folklore, but because we universally connect with the Earth itself. In those brief moments of it's physicial existence, the rainbow is proof that there is more to our perception than what we can see or taste, touch, hear or smell.  That, this ... is our reason for creating this space, this place Candace and I call the Violethour.

[2] Directed by Spike Jonze. With John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Ned Bellamy. A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of the movie star, ... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/

[3] That movie hasn't been made yet.  It's an ongoing project.  

[4]  Not that we don't misplace that key from time to time.  http://www.vimeo.com/3261511

[5]  If you do bring your own beverage, we'll serve it to you.  

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PRINT THIS AND BRING IT WITH YOU.  THIS IS YOUR TEMPORARY MEMBERSHIP CARD.  

THE DOORS OPEN AT 6:00

Andrew will be setting up.  I promise I won't let him have a Spaaten until he gets that Piano set up.  He'll start playing when he's ready which I imagine would be very soon thereafter.  He's excited.  Candace and I are excited.   And let me say this right here and right now.   I love the fact that Andrew always treated his show like a SHOW.  Andrew engages the audience.  And he does this from the cockpit of his Piano.  Andrew is the Captain of this Flight.   And the best Captains of any Aircraft are not the Captains that love to hear their voices on the microphones, nor the Captains that love the Wings on their Finely starched  Epaulets -  No Andrew is the kind of Captain that lives for his Passengers and Crew.  Andrew's not in it for himself, Andrew's in it for the Joy of the Flight, for the sharing of the beautiful heavens and the possible sightings of Rainbows in Clear Skies.  

And sometime, between 930 and 10, the Future will arrive.   

630-930    Andrew Marks

10-1230    the JAZ JAM, hosted by Nick Medina and Dave Kurtz 

We'll have Beverages of all ilk .. alcoholic and non alcoholic.  Bring your own if you like [5].   And we'll have appetizers .  There'll be no charge for anything.  We don't have a liquor license.  And, as such, we can't accept money at the door.  In fact, without having a liquor license this cannot be a public event.  You must know about this prior to your arrival downtown.    We'll need a bit of information from you, which you can fill out now, if you like ... it's really rather simple:  And yes, if you've filled one of these out before, you'll have to do it again.  Soon, we'll have membership cards and you'll be able to call this playground yours.

Please fill out the below (just name and email) Felipe will check your ID and put a bracelet on your wrist. 

NAME:   _______________________________________________________________________

EMAIL:  _______________________________________________________________________

NO EMAIL?   We'll need a mailing address:

street/apt:   _____________________________________________________________________

city    __________________________________________________    zipcode  _______________

------ ••••• 

ID CHECK:     ____________      21+ _________    under 21  _______

if you're  coming with a guest, they'll need to supply us with this info as well

NAME:   _______________________________________________________________________

EMAIL:  _______________________________________________________________________

NO EMAIL?   We'll need a mailing address:

street/apt:   _____________________________________________________________________

city    __________________________________________________    zipcode  _______________

------ ••••• 

ID CHECK:     ____________      21+ _________    under 21  _______