Artscene: Mystery writer speaks at Menlo Park library Artscene: Mystery writer speaks at Menlo Park library (October 19, 2005)

Rhys Bowen, a Bay Area mystery writer with a national following, will speak to the Menlo Park Library's mystery readers group at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, October 19, in the library's downstairs meeting room.

She will discuss both of her mystery series: the Constable Evans series, featuring a village constable in North Wales; and the Molly Murphy series, which features an Irish immigrant in turn-of-the-century New York.

Ms. Bowen has won numerous honors for her mysteries, including Agatha and Anthony awards.

The event is free, and the public is welcome. The library is at 800 Alma St.
Local filmmakers' work screened at Stanford festival

"Oil on Ice," a documentary by two local filmmakers, will be screened this weekend at the 8th Annual United Nations Association Film Festival at Stanford.

The film, by Dale Djerassi of Woodside and Bo Boudart of Atherton, looks at the environmental and political questions that have made the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska a hot-button issue in Washington and among environmentalists and oil-industry interests.

The current White House administration has pushed hard to allow oil drilling in the refuge, a move opponents say would destroy a sensitive wilderness habitat and jeopardize the cultural survival of indigenous populations.

The film will be screened at 9:10 p.m. Saturday, October 22, in the Annenberg Auditorium of the Cummings Art Building, on the Stanford campus. Tickets are $8, general; $5 for non-Stanford students; and free for Stanford students.

The film festival, sponsored by the Stanford Film Society and the United Nations Association Midpeninsula Chapter, runs from October 19 through 23. Thirty-two films from all over the world will be screened.

For more information, call 724-5544 or log on at unaff.org.
Art for adults in Portola Valley

Have you ever wanted to play around with art materials, but were afraid to because you told yourself "I'm not artistic"?

Here's an opportunity to prove yourself wrong, and close to home at the Portola Valley Town Center.

Jeanne Goldman, who teaches "Creative Art for Young Children," says that inside each person dwells a "natural artist." To help bring out the Picasso in you, she is presenting, "An Art Class for Adults."

The four classes on Monday mornings, beginning October 24, are for people with no previous experience and artists who want to play around. The classes will be held in Room 7 at Portola Valley Town Center from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The specifics: October 24, Japanese brush painting; November 7, "Caveman Art;" November 14, "Pastels and Dreams"; and November 28, "Self Portraits Picasso Style."

The fee is $35 per class or $30 a class for all four. For questions or to reserve space, call Jeanne Goldman at 851-1914. Checks should be sent to Jeanne Goldman, 741 Manzanita Road, Woodside, 94062.

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