St. Claude Studios

Rage

2011-07-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Rage like waves of the sea engulfs me then lets me be

Midlife

2011-05-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Been thinking about Janet Bradley. Been thinking about death and like a button Janet's death has marked my half life. My child taken to asking, can I have that when you die? I will die. I must be prepared. I love my husband. My daughter. Omg I love. I sing I dance I love I touch.
I want. I want to attain the perfect sphere.
I am defiant. I feel defensive. I want to be held, comforted. I reach out and find someone reaching back within seconds. It is a miracle.

2010-01-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

Calendar- Music, Entertainment, N.E. Portland OR, Neighborhood
Thursday April 1, 2010
K.C. Blue in “AprilsFool”
Featuring the musical talents of Jed Wilson* and other guest artists including Emily Beleele, Michelle Kopper and Johanna Courtleigh.
Vanport Square Studio - www.vanportsquarestudio.com
5229 NE Martin Luther King Blvd., Suite #102, Portland - (503) 816-7140
More information call Kris at 503-422-7866
*subject to change

Puppet Lab

2009-12-31T10:19:00.001-08:00

Voice behind the Puppet, KCBW2009

What is the truth? One persons’ trash is another man’s treasure. A puppet in the hands of a master may move well yet not use words to speak. A doll in the hands of a virtuoso voice proliferate puppeteer may live to evoke more emotion than its human counterpart.

In the world of puppetry there is an organization in the United States called the Puppeteers of America. Ronny Burkett’s new piece investigates one experience.

Timothy gave me some kind of voice. Tool of permission.

How does the audience experience change with each voice? Each style? The rhythms matter and the rhythms cross cultures.

The only crime at PuppetLove was lack of editing. When people understand the limitations of the showcase form and the risks involved…

A gong would have saved us 30 minutes.
I would have gonged the crane show a couple of minutes in to the hand puppets.
Vasily – maybe although he was edgy and out there
Then Katie – the experience of trying so hard just to see what’s going on only to be rewarded with the horror of the little mouse swinging by his neck on a piece of string – strangling to death. “Oh please let the next one be upbeat.”
*Then beautiful, moving, delicate shadow piece by Tony and Roland – their position in he line up hurt them. They could have been first?

*Sarah Frechette – classy – wish Lady Mai had been in the first half – maybe put Bill and Jason at the end of the first or second.

The transitions were very smooth. There was one super long one. I would place Mel and Tootsie with a podium stage right instead of having them rolling around.

How were we to know “PuppetLove” would fire the imagination the way it did. We are so used to not drawing an audience to our adult work, to playing only to puppeteers and their friends and family. Nancy Aldrich,
To Whom it May Concern,

As Publicity Coordinator/Director of Public Relations for Tears of Joy Theatre I wish to issue the following statement:

PuppetLove09-Portland in the Dolores Winningstad Theatre was a huge success but in a weird way. It sold out but the entire third tier left during the first part of the second act. Comments ranged from: “That was exquisite! I want to learn marionettes like that!” to “I’ve seen better things at my son’s grade school,” to “I loved the Frogs.”

Artistic Director of Tears of Joy Theatre believes in collaboration. For the last several years she has been putting together a showcase of puppetry for adults. In the past Tears of Joy Theatre has hosted “Drunk Puppet Night” first conceived in Seattle by Monkey Wrench Puppet Lab. It was fairly well attended but more important to Aldrich, it attracted the attention of puppeteers looking for work. Aaron Lathrop is one such puppeteer who presented his work Saturday night with a talking cell phone, laptop computer and giant projection of Jesus. It was very topical and hi-tech.

PuppetLove09-Portland started with Nancy Aldrich inviting puppeteers in Portland to showcase their work for adults. Most rarely perform this type of work or if they do it’s in a bar or nightclub. When she realized the performance date fell on Valentine’s Day she chose the name PuppetLove also inspired by a festival of the same name in San Francisco mc’d by Ruby.

Who knew that people would expect quality on the level of the symphony, ballet or opera just by virtue of being in the Winningstad or being presented by Tears of Joy Theatre? Tears of Joy Theatre presented these works because they were puppets and local. OK, Vasily didn’t have a puppet. He should have been gonged and gagged. It was only a $16 ticket. We can’t blame people for not liking what they saw, but I stand behind what we presented. Dan Luce’s Frogs were great. Bill and Jason’s piece is hysterical good work. Linda Blakely suggested it might hold the attention of Middle School kids.

Sometimes in puppetry it is important to look for the gems. Sarah Frechette’s last piece alone was worth the Kinsman Foundation’s investment. Perhaps we can smooth this with an edited video of some of the art that was generated from what was essentially seed money for something that could have happened no other way. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Ashland have seen better work at an elementary school. I suggest it is a simple misunderstanding. This was a low budget event for puppeteers to play in the Winningstad that caught the imaginations of enough people to sell out the house surprising everybody. I suggest they simply had the wrong expectation or idea about the nature of the event.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

Nico-14, Paul-12, and Samantha-5

Harvest 2009

2009-11-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

This is the harvest from the Vernon garden in September. The photograph was taken by Susan Rideout. At the first garden club meeting we picked tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and other fresh items and added lemon juice and a little bit of something else and chopped it all up into salsa and ate it with corn chips. We also planted Winter lettuce.

Hi'iaka and the Mo'o link to 15 minute edit of workshop performance

2009-10-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

Hi'iaka and the Mo'o workshop performance July 17, 2009. Funded in part by a seed grant from the Jim Henson foundation.

Puppet Lab

2009-10-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Well, Hi'iaka survived the frenzy of excitement at Puppet Lab this last Monday night. Thank you Deb Scott and Bruce Bowman and Bill Holznagel for holding her up for an extended period of time. In this photo, Hi'iaka tries on the Mo'os legs for arms. Interesting.

Also, It has been suggested we contact the PSU Dance department and see if we can round up some dancers to perform with these puppets.

I know Judy Patton from my PSU days. How exciting!

Hi'iaka and the Mo'o link to 15 minute edit of workshop performance

2009-09-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.vimeo.com/5951374

Untitled from Kyle Steinbach on Vimeo.

Funded in part by a seed grant from the Jim Henson Foundation

Day 1

2009-07-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

View all of the photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/StClaude08/HiIaka#

2009-07-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well, Samantha does not want to be a little Mo'o. She wants to be a bird. Fortunately, Jackie has closets full of costumes including this one!

Giggles in the garage

2009-07-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Amy, Lance and Deanna working away.

Hi'iaka in process

2009-07-02T07:12:00.001-07:00

Nice paint Rocky!

Construction and Performance intensive for invited artists.

Mon.-Fri. July 13 - 17, 2009 from 1:00 - 4:00pm

Video-taping Friday, July 17 at 2:00pm

PCPA Dolores Winningstad Theatre

1111 SW Broadway, Portland OR 97205

Process

2009-06-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hi'iaka is happening.

A Day of Blood and Death

2009-06-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

Lance ground his index finger and Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett died. This is a picture of drops of Lance's blood.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Samantha was the princess mermaid Ariel this year. She and I went to the Lloyd Center mall with Mariella and her mother Kelly. We then trick or treated the neighborhood. It was nice the 31st fell on a Friday this year. Saturday, Samantha slept in and took a two hour nap.

Travels with Pete and Judy

2008-05-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Monday 5-26-2008

Long day today. Still enjoying the berries and mixed fruit with the panoramic view coming at 60 mph..but after five days of fighting with Garmin over how to interpret directions…Judy’s patients is growing a bit thin. We got to see a lot more of a whole city today that has two or three names to it but I can’t tell you for sure what they were. I think that it is in Indiana , seems to me that we did not hit toll roads till we got out of Iowa..but I do know that it is the second time we have been lost in a city and Judy does not think that is fun!

Attatching a picture that tells the story of toranado chasing. Seems like that hummer past us within fify miles yesterday, wiped out a third of a small town and killed seven people. Of course if they want real excitement they should ride with Judy when she is lost a second time for no good reason. That even beats cyclones!

Happy Chinese New Year

2008-01-31T02:26:00.001-08:00

Will Flaming Mountains ever be performed again? My favorite line is when Ox says "OH now it's ok...Yer my princess..."

February brings Lance's birthday and my sister Val along with Valentine's Day and the Chinese New Year. Party!

A moment

2008-01-14T16:03:00.001-08:00

Two hours of time while Sami is at Grammy's to surf and read and catch up on email. Reminder...upload photos to the gallery, not the blog!

2008-01-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Kris took a workshop entitled "Secrets of Deep Tissue" learning treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome, lower back pain, Thoracic outlet syndrome, Frozen shoulder, golfers/tennis elbow, various types of Tendonitis and more! Bob is a very good teacher and well-informed. Check out his website at:
bodymechanics.net

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T14:06:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year from the Family Woolen.

Wishing you all the best the year has to offer.

Alex is off to Figi for 10 weeks and Ian has a girlfriend.
Lance is still working on "Coraline" for Laika and looking forward to seeing his name in movie credits. Also watch for his commercial for Dr. Sholes. He plays a wart. Kris will perform with Nancy in "Stellaluna" in March. Sami is loving Hummingbird preschool and all of her friends there.

Hi'iaka and the Mo'o

2007-12-31T20:33:00.000-08:00

Lance has received a Henson Seed grant to begin work on a Hawaiian legend.

December 31, 2007

2007-12-31T20:28:00.001-08:00

A good day.