♪♪
-Hi, and welcome to the show.
I'm Nancy Guppy coming to you
from a deeply thoughtful exhibit at A/NT Gallery,
which is located on the grounds
of the Seattle Center.
Titled "Palestinians and Jews Working for Peace,"
this show features artworks from three different sources --
primary-school students who live in Oasis of Peace,
a community near Tel Aviv, where Palestinian
and Jewish families live peacefully with each other;
there are paintings from young children who live in Gaza
and a few pieces from local artists.
The strength of this poignant show
is that it transcends politics.
It is a heartfelt human expression of sadness, yes.
But ultimately,
and more importantly, it's an expression of hope
and of a yearning and imagining of what's possible.
"Palestinians and Jews Working for Peace" runs
through the end of April, goes away for May
and shows again June 1st through the 21st.
Hours and location are at antgallery.org.
We've got a great lineup, including...
-You start with sugar.
-...chocolatier Margaret Savas...
-Slowly bit by bit.
I use a dry caramelization method.
It's easier to see exactly when the caramel is
at the color that I want.
-...the Seattle International Film Festival turns 50...
and music from Brent Amaker and the Rodeo.
-♪ Well, a wisdom from old age ♪
♪ Why you got to keep making these mistakes? ♪
♪ You're never gonna grow if you walk the same road every day ♪
-And we'll begin with the beautiful work
of representational urban landscape artist
Michael Stasinos.
[ Train rumbling, wheels screeching ]
[ Traffic noise ]
-There really is no place in Seattle
that isn't worth painting.
There's always something in the landscape
that's giving a narrative to the location.
[ Seagull squawking ]
♪♪
Not just the buildings, but the garbage, the graffiti.
The way the space is used gives it a wonderful narrative.
It's a bit like doing a portrait.
♪♪
You paint Seattle,
and you can make it about what the lighting is at sunset.
But if you really pay attention, it's a living organism.
It's constantly changing.
That idea of documenting in a way is not documenting,
it's meditating on the place.
[ Traffic noise ]
When I go to a location, I don't know why I chose it.
Something catches my eye.
I want to discover what it's saying,
and painting it is what helps me know why.
I like telling stories.
My actual degree is in theater.
I didn't think of it as becoming an artist at all in my life.
But when I went to college and I thought,
"You know, I'm gonna take an art class"
and I took the drawing class and I flunked.
And he was like, "Well, if you come back to class,
and make it up, I will change your grade."
And I did.
The result of that is they offered me a scholarship.
Something happened in graduate school
that I didn't realize at the time was a moment for me.
I was doing a portrait of a model,
and then the model had to leave.
What I ended up doing is painting the model out
of the painting and just painting the room
that the model was in.
And so people knew more about that person
with them not being in the painting
because they paid attention to all the extra stuff,
all of the details of the room.
And when I started painting landscapes, made a connection.
It became not about the atmosphere of capturing
the light of this moment,
but what is the personality of this moment?
My painting process is really quite layered,
at least, I'd say three layers of color as I go towards detail
and general to specific.
As I do the second layer, it's going to look more realistic.
I'm trying to put layers so that when someone looks at it,
if that person that's at the gallery and sees it
and they're a construction mogul creating the buildings downtown,
they go, "Oh, look, he's captured the things
that I've been creating."
But I also want the person that was on that street
and eating a bag of Doritos to go,
"Hey, those are the Doritos I threw in the gutter."
I want the person that did the graffiti to go, "Oh, yeah.
That's me. I'm in there as well."
I'm hoping that the end result of that layering
really is inclusive.
♪♪
-One of the most exciting aspects
of having a realist painter
who works at the level of Michael Stasinos
is the excitement that people feel when they see his work.
-I think it's awesome. It just looks so real.
Like, I don't know.
Like, the scenery jumped out into the canvas.
And he's just putting the finishing touches on it.
It just looks magnificent. Wow.
-You can be 50 feet away from this,
and it hails you from that far away.
And as they get closer to the painting,
they realize how minute the details are in this,
and they will stand in front of this painting
for 10 or 15 minutes, just to see the level of work,
which is absolutely incredible.
-I think that art is my drug.
I go through withdrawals
and I get kind of antsy and upset
if I am not doing it.
It is a way that I'm able to connect to the world
that, um...[laughs]
...I don't think I can connect in any other way.
♪♪
It's so meaningful for me.
I think that's what painting does for me.
It's a way of connecting.
♪♪
-See more of Michael's work at michaelstasinos.com
and at his Seattle gallery, Woodside/Braseth,
located near the Harbor Steps
on Western Avenue.
One of "Art Zone's" favorite local bands,
Brett Amaker and the Rodeo,
recently released "Philapobia,"
their first record in 10 years.
So to celebrate this fabulous news, here is the band from 2012
performing their catchy hit single
"I Put My Boots On."
[ "I Put My Boots On" playing ]
♪♪
-♪ Well, a wisdom from old age ♪
♪ Why you got to keep making these mistakes? ♪
♪ You're never gonna grow if you walk the same road every day ♪
-♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
-♪ I got a scar on my head ♪
♪ From beating my head against the wall ♪
♪ Hard to watch you slip, you don't learn from the ball ♪
-♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
-♪ I put my boots on one foot at a time like you ♪
♪ Well, that don't make me your friend ♪
♪ Ain't really no big thing ♪
♪ You're just washing your life down the drain ♪
♪♪
♪ Well, just like a fish, you're swimming upstream to die ♪
♪ You got to do this thing and you don't know why ♪
-♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
-♪ Why you got to be so smug and tell me how it is ♪
♪ I try to show you how and you do it like this ♪
-♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
♪ Some people never learn, never learn, never learn ♪
-♪ I put my boots on one foot at a time like you ♪
♪ Well, that don't make me your friend ♪
♪ It ain't really no big thing ♪
♪ You're just washing your life down the drain ♪
♪ Washing down the drain, Jacque ♪
♪♪
♪ I put my boots on one foot at a time like you ♪
♪ Well, that don't make me your friend ♪
♪ It ain't really no big thing, ha ♪
♪ I put my boots on one foot at a time like you ♪
♪ Well, that don't make me your friend ♪
♪ It ain't really no big thing ♪
♪ You're just washing your life down the drain ♪
♪♪
-Pick up "Philaphobia" from your favorite record store or online
and follow the band on Instagram.
-♪ I'm wanted ♪
♪ In 50 states for... ♪
-If chocolate is your thing, and it certainly is mine,
the artisanal creations of Margaret Savas
will dazzle your senses.
-I'm Margaret Savas and I am a chocolatier.
I grew up with my dad telling me stories
about working in the candy and ice cream store in Chicago.
My grandfather and his brother came over from Greece
and the uncle started the candy store in Chicago.
And my dad grew up working there.
His siblings all grew up working there.
Back in the days when Chicago
had a candy and ice cream store every other corner.
And many immigrant families found their way into confections
in order to make living in a new place.
And at the time of hearing all these stories
as a kid growing up, I did not necessarily have an impulse,
"Oh, that's what I'm going to do."
But I'm delighted that the universe took me down this path.
After college, not sure what I was going to do
with my very useful theater degree,
and I got a day job working
at the original Fran's Chocolate store
in the Madison Valley.
And Fran herself took me through how to taste chocolate,
how to talk about chocolate, and I learned from the best.
And at the time, I did not think I would ever do it on my own.
But looking back, that's how I'm able to do all the parts myself.
If you're not careful in your sourcing of chocolate,
there may be issues with farmers who aren't treated well.
They're not getting paid well,
there have been issues with child labor as well.
So knowing the person who connects with these farmers
means a lot to me.
The chocolate that I use right now
is Conexión chocolate from Ecuador.
And I was fortunate enough to travel to Ecuador last summer,
and I met the woman who owns the company.
It's a very sustainable business that she has built,
connecting with a lot of different family farms.
And the chocolate is amazing in flavor.
It has to taste good.
I love caramel and I found a recipe after much tinkering
that I love.
You start with sugar, caramelize it.
I do it slowly bit by bit.
I use a dry caramelization method.
It's easier to see exactly when the caramel is at the color
that I want, which means it's at the flavor that I want.
The cream is added to the caramel,
bubbles up, comes to a certain temperature,
is poured out, and then the next day is available
to be dipped in chocolate.
I make four varieties of caramels --
lemon rosemary, vanilla,
espresso, and a Honeycrisp apple cider.
And then I have a selection of truffles
that are a creamy, smooth center.
I make a bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate,
dulce, which is a caramelized white chocolate,
and then a caramel latte.
People ask me, "What's your favorite?"
But they're all my favorite because I only make what I want.
What do I want to make? Hmm.
What would my favorite candy bar --
What would my ultimate candy bar be?
My dream bar, my first bar, Meg's Mocha,
a layer of caramel but espresso caramel,
and a layer of nougat,
once I figured out what that actually was
and learned how to make it.
Bittersweet chocolate on the outside,
and everything's better with salt.
So a little bit of espresso salt on top.
Everything in moderation.
But, dark chocolate,
there have been studies that it does good things for you.
I believe them all,
but I also believe that allowing yourself a treat
is good for your -- your soul.
♪♪
I found boxing
when my sister was going through a very, very rough time.
And it was recommended to her
to help get through this rough time.
And like a dutiful little sister
who couldn't do anything else to help,
I came with. And it did help.
And I saw it help other people.
And it was kind of life changing, and I never left.
The community of Cappy's is -- it's hard to describe,
but that's why most of us are there.
And when there was an opportunity to train as a coach,
it just seemed very natural to do.
We welcome everybody into that space.
Everyone's a boxer when they walk through the door.
And I have boxing clients who range from 75-year-old Peggy,
who just started and just was just interested --
She just walked through the door one day --
to people in their 20s. Everything in between.
Keep your balance when you miss.
And with every goal in between,
from becoming more confident to down the line,
training to spar and to compete.
The connection that I see between the two
very different things that I do --
chocolates and boxing --
believe it or not, is joy.
The joy that I see in boxers
when they complete that combination
for the first time... There it is.
...when they master the speed bag,
when they just do something really hard and they do it,
there's nothing quite like that.
It's a smaller, delightful joy
to taste something that just leaves you speechless
and to be able to taste something
that maybe brings back a memory from your childhood,
except it's the best version of that that you've ever had,
that's joy.
This is a very tiny business,
and I want it to be just a part of what I do.
That's how I can have this balanced,
miraculously balanced life.
I make as much as I can make.
I make as much as I have time to make,
and when it's gone, it's gone.
I love that people buy it, and I'll make as much as I can.
-Meg Maggie Margaret Chocolates are available at megmaggie.com.
And that's a wrap.
Big thanks to A/NT Gallery for hosting us,
and for information on their current
and upcoming shows, go to...
And we're gonna leave you with a teaser
for the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival.
Now, this year marks its 50th anniversary.
And as you might imagine, the 10-day festival is packed
with great films and lots of special, cool events.
So enjoy and we'll see you soon.
-Surprise! -Surprise!
♪♪
-But they'll never take our freedom!
Freedom!
-[ Growls ]
♪♪
-Aw!
-Aaaah!
♪♪
[ Noisemaker blows ]
-Mmm.
Mmm.
That's good.
Oh, my God.
That's like a maple or something.
Really good.
This is pretty.
Mmm.
She does truffles really well.
Put that away.
I don't like white chocolate, though.
No. No.
Nah. Too much work.
Mmm! Caramel.
Oh, my God. It's so good.
[ Speaks indistinctly ]
Yeah. I'll try it.
Maybe I'll be surprised.
Mmm!
Oh, my God.
What's in here?
Oh, my God.
There's a whole bunch more. Mm.