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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2017)
JULY 27, 2017 // 3 SCRATCHPAD Artists who live two lives By ERICK BENGEL FOR COAST WEEKEND A feature story this week focuses on Arvi Ostrom, an Astoria man who owned and tended a bar in Uniontown while, unbeknown to his loved ones, he drew thousands of striking pictures before his death in 1995 (see Page 6). Ostrom’s grandson, a musician named Ken Carlson, said: “I don’t think a lot of people understand artists have to live two lives.” The notion of workaday coast folks cultivating an artistic alter ego stuck in my mind as I spent Sunday evening in a Cannon Beach park watching a man named Konrad Wert, a 40-year-old singer-songwriter from Beorne, Texas, shred the guitar, banjo and fi ddle during a Tolovana Arts Colony concert. His music was breathless and heartfelt, the lyrics punctuated by staccato “Heys!” and “Ho’s!” and passionate, pre linguistic cries. Half the fun was the specta- INSIDE THIS ISSUE weekend arts & entertainment 4 6 10 COASTAL LIFE Close to Home Aboard the Hawaiian Chieftain PHOTO SUBMITTED BY TOLOVANA ARTS COLONY Continued on Page 19 Konrad Wert — better known by his stage name, Possessed by Paul James — performs in Can- non Beach. COAST WEEKEND EDITOR ERICK BENGEL CALENDAR COORDINATOR REBECCA HERREN CONTRIBUTORS DAVID CAMPICHE RYAN HUME LYNETTE RAE McADAMS BARBARA LLOYD McMICHAEL KAELIA NEAL THE ARTS ‘Behind the Bar’ FEATURE To advertise in Coast Weekend, call 503-325-3211 or contact your local sales representative. © 2017 COAST WEEKEND 2017 Astoria Open Studios Tour New items for publication consideration must be submitted by 10 a.m. Tuesday, one week and two days before publication. Arvi Ostrom’s vast body of work revealed Artists off er peak inside their workspace 14 cle of Wert himself: his eyes shut, head wagging, body heaving in his chair, and left foot rhythmically pummeling something he calls a “clog-stomper.” At times, the one- man folk band felt like a full-blown en- semble. Wert’s manic virtuosity rivaled that of any live musician I’ve seen. Yet his music is, in fact, a side gig to his 20-year pro- fession as a special education COLI N MUR PHEY/ THE DAILY ASTO RIAN Peter Nevins checks out his latest print at his Astoria studio. DINING Mouth of the Columbia Shelburne Inn: historic setting, local bounty FURTHER ENJOYMENT MUSIC CALENDAR .....................5 SEE + DO ........................... 12, 13 CROSSWORD ........................... 17 CW MARKETPLACE ......... 18, 19 GRAB BAG ......................... 20, 22 Find it all online! CoastWeekend.com features full calendar listings, keyword search and easy sharing on social media. TO SUBMIT AN ITEM Phone: 503.325.3211 Ext. 217 or 800.781.3211 Fax: 503.325.6573 E-mail: editor@coastweekend.com Address: P.O.Box 210 • 949 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 97103 Coast Weekend is published every Thursday by the EO Media Group, all rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without consent of the publisher. Coast Weekend appears weekly in The Daily Astorian and the Chinook Observer.
