“Against the Grain: Creation Through Destruction” premiers this month at Port Townsend Gallery and features woodworker Martha Collins and printmaker Phil Carrico.

“While most artists add layer upon layer to build their work, both Collins and Carrico go the other direction, turning timber, filleting flitches, and gouging grain, all in an effort to release artwork trapped in the medium,” Mitchel Osborne wrote to The Leader.

“Delicately layered hardwoods give Collins’ work a distinct hue and a defined grain. Her miniature bowls are reminiscent of hand-crafted woven baskets with as many as 13 different wood species combined to create intricate geometric patterns. Her wooden earrings have a Frank Lloyd Wright sensibility, with ebony, chatke viga, purpleheart, and dyed maple veneer standing in for his stained glass,” he continued.

In 2019 Collins won Best Artist New to the Show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. She has participated in the prestigious Smithsonian Craft Show, and her work is now part of the permanent Bresler collection.

“Like Collins, Carrico’s deconstruction of linoleum and Baltic birch allows for the creation of vibrant and evocative multi-impression woodcut prints,” wrote Osborne.

Every step of the printmaking process is final unto itself as, once the block is inked, all impressions of that layer must be made on all the prints in the series. Then, after cleaning the block, the next layer is revealed by Carrico, carefully carving out only that which should remain of the impressed color. This happens for as many as 16 color impressions.

For both Collins and Carrico, there is no undo. Because of their destructive processes, every attack on the medium is final, every cut, every slice, every gouge. Nothing is left to chance. Destruction as a means of creation requires discipline, a vision, and a plan.

Art enthusiasts are encouraged to stop in and meet Collins, Carrico and the other artists who call Port Townsend Gallery home at Gallery Walk, Saturday night October 7 from 5 to 8 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Ludlow Village Players present ‘In This House’ in October

Kirk Boxleitner

kboxleitner@ptleader.com

The Ludlow Village Players plan to perform the musical “In This House” for two weekends in October, in an attempt to broaden their horizons.

The dinner theater showings are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. on the Fridays of Oct. 20 and 27, with dinner served at 5:30 p.m., while matinee showings are slated to start at 2 p.m. on the Saturdays and Sundays of Oct. 21, 22, 28 and 29.

Theater tickets are $19, while dinner costs extra, and all showings will be at the Port Ludlow Bay Club, from which dinners may be reserved and purchased at 360-437-2208, while tickets may be purchased at brownpapertickets.com online.

Ludlow Village Players Artistic Director Randy Powell explained that the players are trying to expand their theater productions and offerings, and as their new artistic director, he felt an occasional drama, and a yearly musical as one of their two main stage productions, would also be appreciated.

“For years, they’ve done entertaining comedies, and had rave reviews from an appreciative community,” Powell said. “Our stage requires us to use smaller casts, and it has some set restrictions, due to its size and backstage limitations, so ‘In This House’ seemed the perfect choice for our facility and audience.”

Powell played the part of Henry years ago, in a production by the Jewel Box Theater in Poulsbo. “The show was well-received,” Powell said. “Frankly, I jumped at the chance to direct it as our first real musical, here in Ludlow.”

According to Powell, “In This House” — based on the book by Sarah Schlesinger, Mike Reid and Jonathan Bernstein, with music by Reid and lyrics by Schlesinger — uses songs to tell “wonderful stories that audiences, young and old, can relate to and empathize with.”

He added, “Laughter, tears, nostalgia, love, marital strife and loss all bring us to a satisfactory ending, that leaves the audience speculating on what did happen, what could have happened and what might happen. What more can you ask for in a tragic comedy?”

Powell acknowledged the challenges of presenting a musical on a smaller stage, since the set and staging restrictions affect the choreography, set design, lighting and sound, as well as the audience’s lines of sight.

“But we feel we have addressed all of these considerations adequately,” Powell said. “We appreciate the Bay Club in Port Ludlow for allowing us to perform there twice a year.”

Powell noted that the Ludlow Village Players also searched for singers who would make this “a quality production,” even as he conceded the practical difficulties of casting a relatively young man from the Port Ludlow area, who could credibly play someone in his twenties.

“Luckily, we were able to age up the part a bit, and Gerry Thom is our Johnnie,” Powell said. “We also found some quality singers, waiting for an opportunity like this, who live in and around the Port Ludlow area. In fact, we double-cast the ladies because of their great talent.”

Although fair-weather trips, bouts of illness and other scheduling conflicts complicated their summertime rehearsals, Powell credited the Ludlow Village Players with working together “as a team” to sort things out and present “a warm, seasonal show that will engage you, open your hearts and lift your spirits.”