Artist shows vibrant painted creations for Nuit Blanche

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This article was published 02/10/2017 (3286 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SNEAK PEEK: Yours truly got a sneak peek at the eye-popping modern art show by singer Eve Rice that just opened at Gallery Lacosse (169 Lilac St.) for the Nuit Blanche celebration called Colourful Lights and Painted Sights.

The face behind Rice’s paintings is actually electro-pop singer Vav Jungle, a.k.a. DJ Beekeeni, a hair stylist at Angles Hair Salon.

The musician surprised everybody she knew with her painting ability, including herself. Gifted with $500 worth of paint in Christmas 2015, she sat down and created 160 paintings. The opening had live music with Eve in her DJ Beekeeni persona, playing for the people who came to view her art. Rice has supplied her music to The Chris Isaak Show as well as the Food Network. You can find her songs on iTunes under Vav Jungle.

Her paintings are priced between $150 and $3,500.

JENNIFER HANSON: Jennifer Hanson, who is known for singing the national anthems at NHL games during the first edition of the Winnipeg Jets franchise, pulled off a red-hot house concert at the Southdale home of former CJOB traffic reporter Brian Barkley and his wife Brendene. She received some help from musical wingmen Gilles Fournier and Murray Pulver.

Hanson has returned with her family to Winnipeg after 20 years in Marietta, Ga. “Every morning when I wake up I am so glad to be here,” she said. “It was just meant to be a five-year project there, but it turned into 20. I missed Canada so much.”

What started as a finger-snapping jazz concert ended up with lots of soul — including versions of I’d Rather Go Blind and Oh Darlin’ in the finale. The onstage chatter was hilarious. Pulver was the sweetie pie, Fournier the brat and Hanson the eye-rolling boss lady, creating a thoroughly entertaining night.

Hanson is relaunching her entertainment career in Winnipeg now that her kids are grown, so keep an eye out for some cool gigs in the future.

SPOTTED: CJOB show hosts Richard Cloutier, Geoff Currier and Tom Milroy. Milroy’s wife Maureen, is now a baker for Crampton’s Market. CJNU’s Roger Currie made the scene as did Vicki Burns, the director of the Lake Winnipeg Project. Eric Friesen, a consultant life coach for Lead Freely, was on hand as well as Bell Media sales rep Murray Hill, retired chiropractor Rod Thompson and secretary Elaine Thompson and Pat of Cardac Systems.

Bev Harbour of Carlson Wagonlit chatted with travel lovers at the break and plugged the Barkleys’ Panama Canal cruise that begins Jan. 18, 2018.

BARBERS OF LOVE: A long wall of “seafoam green” paint has whipped up speculation on Corydon Avenue. Windows at 891 B Corydon have been papered over with talk about the Loving Barbers taking over the location.

“In the ’50s, everybody was painting their barber shops seafoam, so that’s what we did,” barber Wes Capulong said. Capulong, along with his cousin, Audge, are amalgamating their two little Loving Barber shops into a large one on Corydon.

The new shop has two purposes, he said. The first is to make the men of Winnipeg, with their haircuts, moustaches and beards, look great — and forming a community of friends and acquaintances as barber shops did in the 1950s. Wes says he comes from a close-knit Filipino family and he sees a big need to reconnect people in friendship and community, as modern life, with all its electronic gadgets, has grown so cold.

They’ll be working on haircuts, beard trims and shaves and selling products, but also visiting with customers and those waiting for their turn in the barber chairs.

WINNIPEG SOCIAL IN KELOWNA: Julie Masi of Parachute Club (remember Rise Up?) is the main organizer for A Winnipeg Social on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m., at the East Kelowna Hall in Kelowna, B.C.

Joining Masi as performers at the social are Ken Hetherington and Graham Schofield, who play together in the Zamboni Brothers, plus singer Vicki Nish, bass player John Delaney and drummer Harvey Kostenchuk.

Tickets include “dancing your ass off,” a prize for the best Winnipeg story, door prizes, giveaways, Winnipeg social specialty foods and having fun with folks from Winnipeg who know how to throw a party.

Also, “you don’t have to be from Winnipeg to join in the fun,” Masi said.

This is the third annual Winnipeg Social in Kelowna, Masi said.

“Last year 172 people came out,” she said.

“A lot of Manitoba people live here. My husband Augustino Masi and I used to have a fine dining Italian restaurant downtown in Kelowna (and) kept running into Winnipeg people and we kept thinking we should do a Winnipeg social.”

Augustino died of prostate cancer before they did one, but since then the social has become an annual event in Kelowna, raising funds for prostate cancer awareness.

Winnipeggers Shaun Lamont and her husband Ken Walford drove out from Manitoba for the event in 2016. “Last year was so much fun,” Lamont said.

“The musicians were great and Julie had the whole social lunch with the rye bread and everything. We’re definitely trying to get out there this year.”

Tickets, $25 in advance or $30 at the door, are available at Kelowna’s Milkcrate Records (1551 Ellis Ave.) or by phone at 250-862-8965.

Got tips? Cool events happening in your world? Been rubbing shoulders with the stars? Write Maureen’s Tips at mscurf@shaw.ca.