Events Calendar

Angst Gallery honored for 360 Biz of the Month

Angst Gallery earned the designation 360 Biz of the Month ~ April 2010 by the website 360 Convos.

Full disclosure, it was one of our other clients who awarded the designation, but we think friends should celebrate friends and we're congratulating Angst Gallery and it's über achiever owner, Leah Jackson, all through April and beyon.

Angst Gallery was chosen for environmentalism, creativity, and on-street bike parking, major intiatives championed by Leah Jackson the creative genius behind the gallery. The award was made by the website  owner Carol Doane.

We do have one question: "Carol, what does the leopard face on your blog mean?"

Until we pin down what leopards have to do with conversations, we're sure you'll enjoy Carol Doane's blog and her acidic outlook on business and managaing a sales staff.

Congratulations, Angst Gallery!

Writers Mixer packed

Ron Gompertz, author of No Roads Lead to Rome spoke at the April Vancouver Writers Mixer. He's an entertaining guy who pokes a bit of dry humor into his presentation to make a point on the pitfalls of self-publishing. “It's hard to talk about money when we're artists, but money is not a bad way to analyze things,” he said, and walked us through slides of math and graphics to demonstrate how many books a self-published author needs to sell to break even with print-on-demand options.

Gompertz coordinated the March 5th First Friday Author Event in Camas, Washington. We got a kick out of looking up the news article and noting that the paper gave a shout-out to Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton, two of Active Qu3st's favorite authors.

Read the entire article here.
Read more about Ron Gompertz from Karen Gilb's article on Examiner.com

Writers mix it up every First Saturday

This post originally appeared February 10, 2010 on Pearl of Carol. It is edited slightly for here.

The Vancouver Writers’ Mixer was intended as a one time event hosted by Clark College Community Education teacher, Carolyn J. Rose. She sought to encourage students from her novel writing boot camps to connect with each other and form critique groups. The first mixer was a hit and Rose believed her job was done.

Apparently, she was mistaken.

Badgered by students who couldn’t break the tie to their favorite prof, she kowtowed to the pressure and planned more gatherings. She recruited Mel Sanders, owner of Cover to Cover Books, who agreed to keep her bookshop open 5-6:30 PM every first Saturday to support the blatant scheme to encourage local authors.

It should be disclosed that at each event a contingent of ringers fill the seats who merely desire to revere authors for the 30-40 minutes they speak, lob questions at them for 10-15 minutes, stampede to purchase their books, and publicly beg for autographs.

Presenters are expected to play along.

Both Rose and Sanders are task masters who have kept the guest slate booked with well spoken presenters. They are also experienced in the art of delegation and have passed the baton to a committee who seeks to continue the high caliber of education and entertainment the mixers have provided. These rabid volunteers insure events are entertaining, fast paced—beginning with a fantastic and very entertaining emcee (our very own Carol Doane)—and of course, the event offers snacks.

People in the Pacific Northwest will go anywhere if someone waves a cookie under their nose.

The monthly events consistently draw 20-30 locals who desire to improve their craft, gain insight into the publishing industry, and garner tips on securing publishing contracts. The tickets to the event are FREE and available NOW. Grab one here: http://vancouverwritersmixer.eventbrite.com/

And if you are published or work in the publishing industry and would like to speak at a future event, contact the Vancouver Writers Mixer's by emailing Will Glessner for more info. Please put 'Writers Mixer' in the subject line.

Get your ART on!

April's First Friday Artwalk
April 2, 2010 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Student Juried Show: Hot vs. Cold
Student jurors chose the art to be featured during the month of April in Angst Gallery. Meet the students and the artists this Friday during Vancouver's monthly Artwalk. The process of choosing the art was part of the intern program featured in The Columbian on March 14, 2010 (our post). The nicer the weather the bigger the turnout, but the galleries are so close together, rain should not be a deterrent for you getting your art on.

May's First Friday Artwalk
May 7, 2010 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Pepe Moscoco: Photography
Meet Pepe Moscoco, a talented photographer who also writes for the Hispanic newspaper in Portland, Oregon. We'll post more info and pictures as soon as available.

June's First Friday Artwalk
June 4, 2010 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Bike Love
June is Bike Month at Angst Gallery. The gallery is looking for people who create bicycle related art. Participants are featured during the First Friday Artwalk event this year on Friday, June 4, 2010 from 5:00pm - 8:00 pm. APPLY TODAY, contact Leah.AngstGallery (@) gmail (dot) com and get your BIKE on!

Get this widget at roytanck.com

Pictured above: photos from the June 2009 event at Angst Gallery taken by PortlandBike.org FLICKR

SOLD! Jason Wade Phelps art finds new homes

March was a great show for Jason Wade Phelps at Angst Gallery.

Melanie Sherman noted in the comments section of our previous post First Friday a HIT! that one of her favorite piecies was Mending. We're happy to report this whimsical piece sold. (Pictured right).

Congratulations to the astute buyer.

Local art enthusiasts believe this will be the last time Phelps work will be available at these prices. His ability to connect with his audience and technique will only expand and we wish him the best as his career develops.

Also sold through the show was the Phelps piece pictured at left, Metamorphose.

Find and enjoy more of Phelps work on his blog: Jason Wade Phelps Fine Art.







Coming Next:
First Friday Artwalk, April 2, 2010
5:00pm - 8:00pm
Student Juried Art Show
Downtown Vancouver, Washington

See you in The Couve!

Bookstores read future

"To Mel Sanders, a successful author’s event or open-mike poetry night at her downtown Vancouver bookstore is like the binding of a good book. It holds the pages of her business together."
Great story by Cami Joner in The Columbian on the local bookseller scene.

Article quotes, our friend Mel Sanders from Cover to Cover Books, 1817 Main St, Vancouver (with THREE pictures!); also quotes Kol Shaver, Zephyr Used and Rare Books, P.O. Box 55, Vancouver WA 98666; Steve Tommerup, owner of Literary Leftovers in Battle Ground at 830 W Main; and Becky Milner, founder of Vintage Books, 6613 E Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver, Washington

With the onset of the electronic book era everything is adjusting in the bookseller's world.

When the dust settles, will the reader still want to hold a real book in their hands?

What do you think?

Read the full story here: Bookstores try to read future.

Behind the scenes at Angst Gallery

Let us be the first to tell you that the dust is flying at Angst Gallery. Exciting disclosures await, but we'd thought we'd give you a little preview.

And what's behind the wall, you ask. We'll let you know very, very soon.

Carol previews how to party

"I've donated blood before. It doesn't take very long. The needle prick is just that, a teeny-tiny, little momentary sting. It won't even make you blink," reports Carol Doane. "Really, the worst part is sitting through all the questions they ask. Once you've heard them, it's pretty boring."

We wondered why Carol chose to celebrate her birthday by asking her friends to donate blood.

"My heart is truly vested in Be The Match, the National Bone Marrow Registry and especially to raise awareness of people of color registering—half my family is of Asian descent. I would be the un-Asian half," Carol noted, and rubbed the inside of her elbow likely in anticipation of the blood donation adventure. "But @SWBlood sent me a direct message on Twitter and asked if I would spearhead a drive. I am a big believer of accepting the pie on your plate, so I gave them an enthusiastic yes and starting pressing friends and strangers into service."

How many friends have signed up?

"I keep checking the online appointment scheduler and I'm still seeing some open spots, but I'm hoping to fill the day to keep the Puget Sound Blood Center busy. I want it to be successful for the time their staff invests. My other desire is that it will encourage my friends to pause and think a moment about what their gift does during everyday life or disaster.

"It's just incredible how a simple, simple thing changes the world. It costs you your gas, your time to get to the center, maybe a little anxiety, but what you give is unmeasurable."

Carol shared pictures she snapped during her last donation that occurred at her office. The Blood-Mobile drove up, parked in front of their building and opened for business treating donors with juice and cookies, rockin' music and friendly, encouraging smiles.

"I like to engage people in conversation and one of the personnel had worked with me previously, so we spent time catching up. I met another phlebotomists and learned she was married to a youth minister and had just returned from a church retreat. She and I had an interesting conversation in a different way. I talk to everybody who enters my circle."

You mentioned three social media circles where you are promoting this event. What others are you using?

"Oh, my gosh. I am leveraging everything! I posted on LinkedIN, Plancast, created a 'poster' and uploaded it to Twitpic. I'll be writing about it on Blogger, and I'm asking friends to blog about it. I've got a steady chirp of tweets happening, too.

"We made event pages on local social media spots like Guerrilla-Media, and national hubs like Meetup and Upcoming. We actually have two Facebook pages, one through my Facebook fan page and another Facebook event page that the Blood Center set up, which is a lot cleaner than mine. I tend to get too wordy. Oh, and check out my Schmap! What else..." Carol scanned her open laptop to aid her memory, but before she got distracted with gmail, we asked what happens after the event. Her head bobbed up and a big grin covered her face.

"I'm taking a few days off and enjoying spring break with my daughter. Hoping to get a little travel time in. I'm always up for adventure. I'll post pictures either on Twitpic or Flickr and you can watch us on the road via Foursquare. And, of course, if anything extraordinary happens we'll upload it to YouTube!"

We think Carol should pace her social media pursuits, but this project is too good not to throw your whole heart into.

Join Carol on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 for

Carol's Save a Life Birthday Party

Puget Sound Blood Center - Vancouver
9320 NE Vancouver Mall Blvd
Suite 100, Vancouver, WA 98662

Follow the Schmap to the Blood Center
Follow Google map to the Blood Center


Make your appointment online: http://bit.ly/9MBoxg


Want to, but can’t on the 31st?
Call 360-567-4800 for an alternate date.

EACH DAY Western Washington needs 900 people to donate blood.

1. Eligibility: http://www.psbc.org/programs/blood.htm

2. First Time Donors: http://www.psbc.org/programs/drives_first_time.pdf

3. Donation FAQs: http://www.psbc.org/programs/faq.htm

If you would like to see the lives that are touched by blood donation visit the Puget Sound Blood Center patient videos page.

Great Weekend for Angst Gallery

What a great weekend for Angst Gallery. It began with the Jason Wade Phelps show on First Friday, included a post and pictures on Bike Portland.org, and ended with a mention in the local newspaper, The Columbian:

"The internship program started in December as a way to give advanced art students real-world experience, said VSAA fine-arts teacher Crystal Zeller. Zeller approached North Bank and nearby Angst Gallery about collaborating to enhance classroom instruction. She has three students interning at Angst and five at North Bank."

Read the entire story here: Art is in the eye of the beholder