42 | APRIL 22 • 2021 

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Pieced Together 2 presents an 
encaustic print with texture and 
pattern providing an abstract-
ed view of the human head. 
European Graffiti takes form as 
a painting using gouache and 
watercolor pencil to enhance an 
image originally captured in a 
photo. 
“Figurative and landscape sub-
jects remain my primary interest 
since moving into encaustic tech-
niques in 2009 after many years 
of working with watercolors,
” 
Zaks said. “I don’t sketch, per se, 
so I dive right in with color lay-
ering and layering with collage. I 
begin a piece by randomly apply-
ing paint to a surface.
”
Zaks, represented in private 
collections across the country 
and having participated in solo 
and group shows, has won many 
awards for her artistry, includ-
ing first prize in this year’s “3rd 
Online Encaustic Exhibition.
” 
Even during COVID, her work 

has been part of six shows.
Zip It Up! is the title of the 
work submitted by Bloom, a 
Birmingham resident who has 
been active with Temple Beth El 
and a Goodwill environmental 
subsidiary as well as civic inter-
ests as a founder of Birmingham 
Citizens for Responsible 
Government. 
“The mixed-media piece, 
which can be interactive, consists 
of two hearts zipped together on 
linen backed by suit and dress 
fabric,
” Bloom explained. “It is 
mounted on a second canvas 
symbolizing the vibrating uni-
verse and the color spectrum.
”
The piece can be viewed in 
different ways beyond as a sin-
gle image. It also can be seen 
with the zipper partially opened 
against the canvas folded back 
or with the zipper completely 
opened. 
“The painting represents two 
people choosing to unite,
” said 

Bloom, whose “Our Town” pres-
ence follows his selection into six 
other art shows, including two 
hosted by the Palos Verdes Art 
Center in California and another 
affiliated with the San Fernando 
Valley Arts and Cultural Center, 
also in California.
Now that Bloom has begun 

art projects, he is moving into 
a collaborative 175-foot mural 
for the Baldwin Public Library 
in Birmingham, The mural is 
planned to make a unity state-
ment for the community. Forty 
artists from across the country 
will be participating. 

Taking Shelter After the Rains by Steffanie Samuels

NEW SHOWS, INDEPENDENT 
SPIRIT AWARDS
Rebel, a new ABC drama, 
premiered on April 8 (10 
p.m.). Katey Sagal, 65, plays 
Annie “Rebel” Bello, a sort-of 
Erin Brockovich character (a 
blue-collar woman who fights 
for regular folks). The recurring 
cast includes Adam Arkin, 64, 
and Dan Bucatinsky, 55.
Sagal describes herself 
as “culturally Jewish,” even 
though she isn’t religious and 
her late mother wasn’t Jewish. 
Her late father, Boris Sagal, 
honed his chops in the Yiddish 
theater and went on to be a 
top TV director. Both her par-
ents died fairly young, but she 
still has famous sit-com creator 
Norman Lear, 98. He intro-
duced Katey’s parents to each 

other and he’s her unofficial 
godfather.
Rutherford Falls, a “tribal” 
sit-com not about Jewish folks, 
premieres on the Peacock 
network April 22. The series 
is about the relations between 
people living in an upstate 
New York town and the res-
idents of a nearby (fictional) 
Native American reservation. 
Ed Helms, who co-created 
the show, stars as a town 
resident who gets into pol-
itics when the city’s African 
American mayor proposes 
moving a statue of his colonial 

ancestor because its place-
ment has caused several traf-
fic accidents. A series co-cre-
ator, Sierra Teller Ornelas, 
is Native American and just 
about the most seasoned 
Native American comedy writ-
er around. Her credits include 
writing for Brooklyn-Nine-Nine, 
which was co-created by 
Michael Schur, 45, the third 
and most famous co-creator of 
Rutherford Falls.
Schur has a great track 
record, so Falls may be some-
thing special: He was a top 
SNL writer and producer, a 
producer and writer for The 
Office; he co-created Parks 
and Recreation and he creat-
ed The Good Place. 
The 2021 Independent Spirit 
Awards will be shown live on 
April 22 on IFC and AMC+ at 
10 p.m. Here are three Jewish 
Spirit Award nominees that 
didn’t get an Oscar nomina-
tion, but their “Spirit work” 

is now streaming and worth 
viewing: Julia Garner, 27, is 
nominated for “best female 
lead” for the title role in The 
Assistant. She plays a “lowly” 
office assistant who discovers 
a culture of sexual harassment 
in the film production compa-
ny she works for (streaming 
on Hulu); Mike Makowsky, 29, 
is nominated for best screen-
play. He is the writer of Bad 
Education, an HBO original 
dramedy inspired by a real 
public school superintendent 
who embezzled millions; and 
Eliza Hittman, 41, the writer 
and director of Never Rarely 
Sometimes Always, a best 
feature film nominee. It is a 
beautifully acted and written 
film about a 17-year-old who 
becomes pregnant and wants 
an abortion. It has a 99% rat-
ing on Rotten Tomatoes and 
won film festival awards (view 
on HBO). Hittman is also nomi-
nated for best screenplay. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ABC

ARTS&LIFE

Katey Sagal 
in Rebel

