JULY 21, 2016 // 5
Sign up for Manzanita Tour Seaside’s downtown
pocket gardens Sunday
Beach Run & Walk
PHOTO BY DWIGHT CASWELL
“The Keeper,” a preliminary sketch for a painting, by Meghann
Sprague.
Continued from pg. 4
drawings are mostly large,
even full-scale, and portray
women, sometimes nude but
more often in lavish cloth-
ing that Sprague has de-
signed herself. One corner
of the room is full of pho-
tographs of paintings and
models, and another corner
has photographs of her
children “in their moment,”
as Sprague says, wearing
clothes she designed and
made for them.
Sprague sometimes
works from live models but
inds that scheduling can be
dificult; so she works more
often from photographs,
often ones she takes herself.
She discovered a love of
photography by taking
pictures of her children,
and it has become essential
to her work. She says, “I
love to design clothing and
I love photography. It’s a
good marriage. I can control
all the steps when I make a
painting.”
Virtually all of Sprague’s
work to date has been igura-
tive, but she has big plans
— literally big plans. “I’d
like to have a big studio, so
I can work on 15- or 20-foot
paintings.” Why the desire
for greater size? “What I
like is people, landscape
and light. I love to control
light. I want to tell a story,
the scenes, the lighting, the
people.” The light, line and
form in Sprague’s paintings
are, she says, “all shadows
of things that we encounter
in peoples’ stories and in the
way life looks.”
Sprague says there are
four large pieces she wants
to do now. All are paint-
ings that tell a story. “They
illustrate things I’ve gone
through in my life,” she
says. ”They are mapped out.
I’m just looking for a place
to do it.”
Sprague’s time spent in
her AVA studio space “has
been a great place to think
about my work.” She pon-
ders her future paintings,
thinking about, “fog, or
sunlit fields, symbolism.”
It is like writing a book
that she will illustrate.
Indeed, she writes as she
thinks. Poems, stories,
free writing as the images
and stories coalesce. She
is building paintings in
her mind: “I want to add
details, landscape, animals.
I want people feel like
they’re stepping into the
stories.”
Meghann Sprague hasn’t
yet achieved her dream.
“I’m not a full-time artist
living the dream,” she says,
“but a mother, wife and
waitress who pushes paint-
ing into any crevice I can
find in this fabric of time.”
Looking at her art, and
her dedication to that art,
it does seem only a matter
of time before that dream
becomes reality.
Follow Meghann Hanour
Sprague on Facebook.
MANZANITA — The North
County Recreation District
will host the 26th annual
Manzanita Beach Walk &
Run on Saturday, July 23.
The designated path for
the event covers a wide
expanse of hard-packed
sand that stretches from
the cliffs of Neah-Kah-Nie
Mountain to the Nehalem
River. Cape Lookout to the
south and Neah-Kah-Nie
to the north provide in-
spiring views going down
as well as coming back,
making this event one of
the most scenic runs in the
region.
There is a non-compet-
itive 5K walk, a 5K run,
a 10K run and a new one-
mile kid’s run. In addition
to the new kid’s run, there
will be changes to the
2016 race, which include
walker results, recycling
bins, a first aid station,
more water, a better
marked course, and a bag
check, so entrants won’t
have to go back to their
car, hotel or home.
Check-in starts at 8
a.m. The race begins at 9
a.m. on the sandy shores
of Manzanita Beach, at
the end of Laneda Avenue.
Mile markers and volun-
teers on course will pro-
vide direction for runners.
There will be music play-
ing to pump runners up as
well as snacks afterwards
for runners to refuel.
Awards for top finishers as
well a raffle for prizes will
be held after the event.
The cost to enter the
race is $36 for adults and
$18 for children. Online
registration at runsignup.
com closes at 11:59 p.m.
July 21.
SEASIDE — Come see
lowers in bloom during
Seaside’s Downtown Garden
Tour, which is set for Sunday,
July 24.
At 8 a.m., meet at Beach
Books bookstore, located at 612
Broadway, for breakfast and a
photo presentation with Seaside
city gardener Pam Flemming.
She will share the history and
background of the downtown
Seaside pocket gardens.
Fleming will then lead
a guided walking tour of
downtown Seaside’s themed
pocket gardens startig at 9
a.m., discussing the plants and
plantings in detail.
The tour is free, but res-
ervations are recommended.
Contact the Seaside Down-
town Development Associa-
tion by calling 503-717-1914,
or email director@seasid-
edowntown.com for your
reservation.
PHOTO BY DWIGHT CASWELL
Pam Fleming, of Nature’s
Helper Landscaping, de-
signed and has worked on
the downtown Seaside urban
gardens for the past 20 years.
She will lead the SDDA Sea-
side Downtown Garden Walk
on Sunday, July 24.
Puppet show to shine at Cannon Beach Library
CANNON BEACH — Travel
into an enchanted forest
with the mini-musical
puppet show “Dream,
Sparkle, Shine.” Cannon
Beach Library will host
this free, all-ages event at 1
p.m. Saturday, July 23. The
library is located at 131 N.
Hemlock St.
In “Dream, Sparkle,
Shine,” a puppet show by
Penny’s Puppet Produc-
tions, Faye the Fairy has
a dream to earn her wings
at the Wonderful Festi-
val with all the “perfect”
fairies, but she is having a
hard time getting her spells
to work right. Join her as
she makes new friends in
the enchanted forest who
help her learn about herself
and the importance of be-
ing true to yourself. Meet
an array of fun characters
like Little Bigfoot, Puss in
Boots, Baby Dinosaur and
many more.
Penny’s Puppet Pro-
ductions is a professional
one-woman puppet compa-
ny by Penny Walter that’s
dedicated to making the
world a better place, one
puppet show at a time.
Offering programs that
ignite the imagination and
ill the room with excitement
and laughter, Walter’s live
performances use puppets,
story and song to inspire and
entertain children of all ages.
Walter is the writer,
producer and director of
original mini-musicals that
she performs at schools,
festivals, libraries, camps,
museums, parks, theaters,
recreation centers, farmers
markets, and anywhere
kids and families gather.
Walter has performed thou-
sands of shows since 2002.
She has a master’s degree
in curriculum and instruc-
tion from Portland State
University.
U-Pic k
100% Natural
Blueberrie s
Open Daily
‘til 6 pm
$2.00 lb.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Penny Walter will bring her puppet show “Dream, Sparkle,
Shine” to the Cannon Beach Library on July 23.
113th & Sandridge
N. Long Beach, WA