Ben Wilson, Erin Ruiz and John Warfel in the Basement

I sketched this rendering of "Pink Lemonade" by Ben Wilson, which is currently hanging in the Basement Gallery, on the Friday before last. I got about a third of the way into it before I really thought about what I'd gotten myself into. Holy crap, hands are hard to draw. I think it came out okay, though. I like the spot color.


This is "Floating" by Erin Ruiz. As usual, I started a little too far down the page and didn't give myself quite enough room. As you might guess from the title, her right sock foot is not touching the ground.


This is just a partial from John Warfel's "PB & J 4 Life" (I think the rest of it had the sandwich flying off a lunch counter that also contained a wormy apple). If I ever get a tattoo, I want it to be of a flying sandwich.

For those who don't know, the Basement Gallery is under new ownership. The new owners plan to continue showcase a lot of Idaho artists, but will also show work from around the Northwest and from their other gallery in East Sussex, England. I think it's a win for local artists, though, because the owners will also be showing Idaho artists in their gallery in England.

I've already been drawing pictures on and off from exhibits at BAM, whether they've been created locally or not -- the idea being to show what you can see in Boise -- so I don't think the ownership change will affect my sketching practices.

Roundup

February

• Feb. 6: Ballet Idaho presents Cinderella at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Morrison Center on University Drive in Boise.
  
• Now through Feb. 6: Encore Theatre Company presents Bridge to Terabithia, the story of a boy and girl who imagine a magical kingdom. The show runs Jan. 29-30 and Feb. 5-6 at 7:30 and Jan. 30 and Feb. 6 at 2:00 in the old Northwest Nazarene University science lecture hall on 550 Holly St. in Nampa.
• Feb. 6: The Boise Art Museum opens Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon, an exhibit of robot iconography in fine art.
• Feb. 7: The Boise Baroque Orchestra performs a concert of music by Vivaldi, Locatelli and Bach at 2:00 at the First United Methodist Church/Cathedral of the Rockies on 717 11th St. in Boise.
• Feb. 12-20: Boise Little Theater and The Broken Illusion Project present This Is Our Youth, a story about three wealthy, disaffected teenagers who get into theft and drug-dealing during the 1980s. The show runs at 9:00 Feb. 12 and 19 and 8:00 Feb. 13 and 20 in the black box theater at Boise Little Theater on Fort Street.
  
• Feb. 12-14: Music Theatre of Idaho presents I Do! I Do!, a musical about a couple who weather a 50-year marriage together, at 6:30 at the Nampa Civic Center.
• Now through Feb. 13: Starlight Mountain Theatre presents Footloose, a musical based on the 1984 Kevin Bacon movie, at 7:30 Feb. 11-13 at the Nampa Civic Center.
• Feb. 13: The Trey McIntyre Project will perform a world premiere of one of their dance programs at 8:00 at the Morrison Center on University Drive.
  
• Feb. 13: As part of its Sounds Like Fun! Concerts for Families series, the brass section of the Boise Philharmonic will present a concert at 10:45 a.m. and noon at the Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy at Ninth and Myrtle.
  
• Now through Feb. 14: Prairie Dog Productions presents The Adventures of Sheerluck Holmes and Dr. Snotson at 7:30 Jan. 15-16, 22-23 and 29-30 and Feb. 5-6 and 12-13 and 2:00 Jan. 24, 31 and Feb. 14 at the theater on 3820 Cassia St. in Boise.
• Feb. 15: As part of its 5x5 Reading Series, Boise Contemporary Theater will present a staged reading of The Carpetbagger's Children, a play about three sisters and the struggles they faced trying to preserve the Southern plantation that their father, a Union soldier, bought. The show runs at 7:00 at the theater on Fulton and Ninth.
• Feb. 16: The Log Cabin Literary Center presents a reading by Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain and The Shipping News, at 7:30 at the Egyptian Theater at Capitol and Main.
• Feb. 19-20: The Boise Philharmonic will perform a concert of music by Antonin Dvorak and guest composer Jennifer Higdon, who will be at the event. The concert is at 8:00 Feb. 19 at Jewett Auditorium at the College of Idaho in Caldwell and 8:00 Feb. 20 at the Morrison Center on University Drive in Boise.
  
• Feb. 19-27: Music Theatre of Idaho presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, a musical about a would-be nun who becomes governess to seven children around the time of the Nazi invasion of Austria. The show runs Feb. 19-20 and 26-27 at 7:30 and Feb. 20 and 27 at 1:30 at the Nampa Civic Center.
  
• Now through Feb. 20: Knock 'Em Dead Dinner Theatre presents The Murder Room, a comedy about a gold-digger who attempts to bump off her rich husband. The show runs Jan. 22-23, 28-30, and Feb. 4-6, 11-13 and 18-20 at 7:00 Thursdays and 8:00 Fridays and Saturdays at the theater's new location on 415 E. Parkcenter Blvd. in Boise. Dinner is served at 7:00 Fridays and Saturdays.
  
• Now through Feb. 20: Boise Contemporary Theater presents At Home at the Zoo, a play by Edward Albee about three New Yorkers whose lives are changed forever by a confrontation one afternoon. The show runs at 8:00 Jan. 27-30, Feb. 3-6, 10-13 and 17-20, and 2:00 Feb. 6, 13 and 20 at the Fulton Street Theater on Fulton and Ninth.
• Feb. 20: Caldwell Fine Arts presents the Missoula Children's Theatre production of The Pied Piper at 3:00 and 7:30 in Jewett Auditorium at the College of Idaho in Caldwell.
• Feb. 24-March 14: Company of Fools presents Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, a drama about the tensions that arise in a family when a mother convinces her son to bring home a suitor for her introverted and insecure daughter. The show runs at 7:00 Feb. 24-25 and March 3-4 and 10-11, 8:00 Feb. 26-27 and March 5-6 and 12-13, and 3:00 March 7 at the Liberty Theater on Main Street in Hailey.
• Feb. 26-March 13: Boise Little Theater presents Almost, Maine, a comedy about the residents of a mythical town in Maine who find themselves falling into and out of love with each other one midwinter night. The show runs at 7:30 March 4 and 11, 8:00 Feb. 26-27, March 5-6 and 12-13, and 2:00 March 7 and 13 at the theater on Fort Street.
• Feb. 26 and 28: Opera Idaho presents Rossini's Cinderella -- which has a few twists on the classic fairy tale, including a fairy godfather -- at 7:30 Feb. 26 and 2:30 Feb. 28 at the Egyptian Theater at Capitol and Main.
• Feb. 27-March 13: As part of The Big Read, Stage Coach Theatre presents Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The show runs at 8:15 Feb. 27 at the theater in the Hillcrest Shopping Center at Orchard and Overland, at 1:00 March 6 at the Borah Post Office on Eighth Street in downtown Boise, and at 10 a.m. March 13 in Hayes Auditorium in the youth services department of the Boise Public Library main branch.
  
• Feb. 27: As part of its Sounds Like Fun! Concerts for Families series, the woodwinds section of the Boise Philharmonic will present a concert at 10:45 a.m. at the Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy at Ninth and Myrtle.
• Feb. 28: The Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra will perform their spring concert at 7:00 at Timberline High School on Boise Avenue in Boise.
  
• Now through March 14: Boise Art Museum presents Patchwork, a collection of quilts from the early 1800s through the mid-20th century.
• Now through April 18: Boise Art Museum presents Idea as Art: Contemporary Works on Paper, a selection of abstract drawings by such artists as Sol Lewitt and Mel Bochner.
• Now through April 25: The Boise Art Museum presents Vogel 50x50, a selection of 50 works from the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel collection, including minimal, post-minimal and conceptual drawings, paintings and sculptures.