} Doge Two-S THE SUMMER DAILY Thursday, July 19, 1973 PROFILE OF THE ARTIST Pickles to sweeten local bazaar DiOy -'noo by I EK 1 wirM/\K I-H Pickles and her work Art Fair Supplement Edited by Debra Thal Sculpted walls & ceilings will take you back to Old Bavaria. Those were the days when foaming steins of German draft were served by jolly Biermeisters and fun was had by all Come, visit a new place teeming with all those Bavarian traditions. Come visit the NEW HEIDELBERG RATHSKELLER Heidelberg Rathskeller 215 N. Main o 663-7758 Q Plenty of Parking in Rear By FRED LaBOUR there are many roads to the Ann Arbor Art Pair and one of thrm begins in Buffalo. Buff lo never makes anybody's list of 'favorite towns because it's so tough and dirty and cold and people who carry drugs always get arrested there, but a quarter century ago Buffalo pro- duced a baby girl named Natalie Silverstein and began redeeming itself. 1IS. SI'VERSTEIN grew up fast in Buffalo, tasting the s'btte ecstacies of a Lake Erie port metropolis, copping a diploma from a fancy private girls' school, and developing an intuitive sense of art as it relates to things you can hold in your hand. She was later to parlay this sense into a living wage, relying primarily on natural speed to insure that when in fact she became a woman and an artist she'd have something to sell. It was in Ann Arbor itself that Ms. Silverstein went to college, studying the art of great masters and doing some nice work her- self. Perhaps her most efective medium during this time was etching and she produced a series of prints dealing with the Old West which present a vision fairly embryonic yet unmistakable and precise. She dabbled in acting at the University, making her film debut in an historical piece called "Adrift in Illinois" with a perform- ance so unusual that one speech department film professor called it "some new kind of acting." Regular people also enjoyed her ap- pearance although some were unsure if it was all right to laugh. Natalie quit being known as Natalie at about this time by unwillingly assuming the name Pickles. She never really liked that name much but it fit so tightly that it still endures, although I don't think she ever signs her art "Pickles." I think she signs her art "Natalie Silverstein." AT ANY RATE, Ms. Silverstein graduated and decided that the thing to do was study copper on enamel which she did. In a surprisingly short time her grasp of the process was extensive and little plates and pendants and things to hang on the wall began coming out of her workshop. She did some graduate work in jewelry in Ypsilanti and started achieving the technical facility to clearly transfer her own profound and ironic humor to little blue doo-dads for the art lover's coffee table. No one will dispute that Ann Arbor is kind to the student butt Natalie finally had enough. She added up her points on the immi- gration form, loaded up the yellow Chevy, and headed for Toronto and a life on Oriole Gardens. She has a sunny workshop there with a lot of plants and seems to be hitting her stride. The Ann Arbor Art Fair is one of many for Ms. Silverstein as she travels in the warm weather hustling her art. She is becoming more successful each year, selling, eating, winning prizes. In Milwaukee just last month she picked up an award for $750 to go with the $250 from Flint and with orders building up she has her hands full. LUCKY FOR HER to find in Toronto a valuable technician and faithful companion in the person of Alan Offstein, respected jazz aficionado and critic for Coda Magazine. Alan, a very mellow ticket-taker at the 99c Roxy, performs the difficult feat of being his own man and Natalie's too. He cuts the copper and carries heavy junk around for her and is what you might call a constant inspiration. It seems to be a case of noninstitution- alized nic folks doing good work. People bitch about the Art Fair, calling it a suburban circus and a great. sweltering bazaar where rich boobs can drop a week's salary on somebody's over-priced version of a clipper ship constructed of tuna fish cans. It's too big and it's too hot and they're right, but I figure if it brings people like Natalie and Alan to town, it must be okay. PEEAK, GROG! ACTION is a groing movement of volunteers but to help people help themselves. It's the Peace Corps and VISTA, helping people overseas and right down the street. Please dor't crawl under a rock. Get intoACTION today 1800-424-8580 T I r. Pizza 342 E. LIBERTY & 769-8030 FREE DELIVERY D PIZZA (by the slice too!) GRINDERS DINE AT OUR SUBMARINES OUTDOOR CAFE HAM or SALAMI Sandwiches Bring This Ad In for One FREE Ice Cold Beverage 4