-
ts &Entertainment
r
111.0 zb #404
Through her multimedia art, Edie Simons urges all
to discover and experience their own creativity.
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
I
t was a nothing more than a plain
brown velvet dress, and that was pre-
cisely the problem.
Edie Gallagher was only
8 years old, but already
her creativity was free
and bright and shining,
like ribbons of every color
dancing in the wind. So
really, there was no place
for "plain" here.
Edie Simons
She picked up her scis-
sors, got cutting and soon
the brown dress was covered with fringe.
Another time the issue was sleeves (unfortu-
nately the same color as the dress), so Edie
cut them off and sewed on sleeves from a
different outfit.
Edie Gallagher Simons doesn't cut up her
clothing these days, but just about anything
else is fair game.
Simons is an artist whose latest passion
is altered book art. The concept is simple:
Take an old book and make it into something
new. Use paint, markers, beads, sparkles,
stamps — whatever you like. Simons, of
Bloomfield Hills, is director of education for
the International Society of Altered Book
Artists; and her work has appeared in Cloth,
Paper, Scissors and Altered Arts magazines.
Simons, 50, also is a jewelry designer,
and she is a certified teacher in precious
metal clay, which uses particles of silver in
clay form that once fired in a kiln are trans-
formed into solid silver.
An administrative assistant at the Jimmy
Prentis Morris Jewish Community Center in
Oak Park, Simons was born in Pittsburgh,
where her father owned a restaurant and her
mother was an in-home nurse.
As a little girl, Edie loved attending the
Bashear Art Association's classes for gifted
students; but mostly, she wanted to visit resi-
dents of the apartment complex where she
lived. Virtually every one was a senior citi-
zen, and all considered Edie their adopted
granddaughter.
Simons eventually moved to New Orleans,
where she met and married her husband, Al,
a chemical engineer. The two lived in a series
of small towns and raised three children.
Edie worked many jobs, including as a den-
tal assistant, a silversmith and an art teacher.
Then the family moved to Michigan. Al
suggested Edie volunteer at the JCC. When
she arrived, the sports and recreation
department was in search of a new adminis-
trative assistant. "By the way, can you type?"
she was asked. She could. Simons was
asked to take the job.
Simons' passion for altered art began
during a
Google search
for interest-
ing graphics;
the look was
,_lemkos
•
something
Altered Book
completely
new.
"I love altered art because it gives free
creative reign and anyone can do it," she
says. "It's also 'green art' because you can
use anything to make it. You can find plen-
ty of great stuff in trash or recycling:'
Simons has created altered books for wed-
dings, for the JCC of Metropolitan Detroit's
Jewish Book Fair, as personal commissions
and for the JCC Maccabi Games.
Among her fans, and customers, is Teri
Weingarden, West Bloomfield Township's
treasurer.
"Edie Simons' whimsical multimedia
creations caught my eye when I was visit-
ing the Janice Charach Gallery," Weingarden
says. "I personally commissioned her to
create a unique piece for my new office at
Town Hall. The result of Edie's inspiration
is a playful, vibrant piece that puts a smile
on my face every day."
Much of Simons' work is done while she
isn't even awake. "I'll go to sleep and think
about a project," she says. "Then I'll wake
up and know exactly what I need to do:'
Orchid coated in precious metal clay
The next night she'll head to her topsy-
turvy ("I'm a bit of a pack rat:' she admits)
studio in her basement and work — usu-
ally on several projects at once — in the
quiet.
"If you ever visit me in my lovely, self-
painted office at the JCC, you will notice
that I am possibly the only person who
works in such a quiet office," Simons says.
"I love to be able to hear myself think."
In addition to her jewelry and altered art,
Simons creates beaded kippot and loves
viewing the paintings of Juan /vliro, reading
mysteries and helping feral cats. What she
does not love is keeping the secret of how
to do an art project or the notion that only
a select few are capable of making it.
"Everyone is creative:' she says. "People
just need a little encouragement, time and
training and anyone can make art?'
❑
Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing
specialist at the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit.
For information on altered art or
precious metal clay classes, contact
Edie Simons at esimons@jccdet.org .
Jews
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
Rivers Flow
Joan Rivers is one
busy 76-year-old.
Her new TV series,
How'd You Get So
Rich, is a six-episode
reality show in which
Rivers covers "nice"
Joan Rivers
rich people. New
episodes air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on
TVLand cable.
The Comedy Central Roast of Joan
Rivers airs 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9.
Kathy Griffin hosts, and roasters
include Carl Reiner, Gilbert Gottfried,
Jeffrey Ross, Brad Garrett, Mario
Cantone and Tom Arnold, who con-
verted to Judaism after he wed his
now ex-wife, Roseanne Barr.
Two Chefs
Nora Ephron, 69, whose parents
were top Hollywood screenwriters,
enjoyed great success as a witty
38
August- 6 2009
magazine journalist
until she switched
to screenwriting in
the early '80s. She
penned such hit films
as When Harry Met
Sally, Sleepless in
Seattle and You've
Got Mail. The dismal
failure of Bewitched in 2005 dimmed
Ephron's Hollywood star.
Her new film, Julie & Julia, which
opens Friday, Aug. 7, profiles two
interesting women. One part of the
movie covers a critical time in the life
of the late celebrity chef Julia Child
(Meryl Streep).
The other part of the film takes
place in 2002. Julie Powell (Amy
Adams) is a college grad with a
degree in creative writing and theater.
Stuck in a dead-end office temp job,
she decides to try and prepare, within
one year, all 524 recipes in Julia
Child's Mastering the Art of French
Cooking and report the results on her
Web blog. This proves to be a very
tough challenge, but Julie's blog does
get a lot of attention and ultimately
her life is transformed.
Be A Natalie
(Not A Tori)
It's no secret that
Natalie Portman,
28, provides a model
example of a life well
lived with a classy,
stellar
career. The
Natalie
honors
Harvard grad
Portman
has lived a life with-
out scandal, and she's given back to
the general and Jewish communities
in the form of charity work. In the
past month, she was cast in the co-
starring role in the action/adventure
Thor (opening in 2011) and accepted
a co-starring role in The Black Swan,
an upcoming film by director Darren
Aronofsky.
Now playing Jewish film festivals is
the short film Eden, starring Lauren
Bacall and Ben Gazzara. Portman
directed this sweet romantic tale,
which was made in 2008.
On the other side, as it were, there's
Tori Spelling, 36. Her late father,
Aaron Spelling, gave
her a plum TV role in
Beverly Hills 90210.
But nobody else want-
ed to hire her to act
in anything but low-
budget TV movies.
So, bleached-blonde
Tori
clawed her way
Tori Spelling
back into the public
eye with an adulterous affair, a cheesy
reality TV show (Tori and Dean: Home
Sweet Hollywood) on the Oxygen
channel and tawdry fights with her
mother, Candy Spelling.
Last month, Candy wrote a per-
sonal letter to the gossip site TMZ.
com in which she castigated Tori for
turning their relationship and the
lives of her grandchildren into fod-
der for reality TV. E
Contact Nate Bloom at
middleoftheroadl@aol.com.