Issue date: April 08, 1998
Landslides. Local geologist Earl Brabb of the U.S. Geological Survey will talk about "Bay Area Landslides" at a dinner meeting of the Peninsula Geological Society on Tuesday, April 14; he will be followed by geologist Bob McLaughlin, who will discuss the structure of the Bay.
The program starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Building at Stanford, to be followed by dinner at 6:15, and the lecture at 7:30 in Room 105 of the Geology Corner on the Quad. For dinner reservations at $23 each, $8 for students, call Willie Lee at 329-4781 by April 10.
Who's who. Menlo Park Councilwoman Bernie Niven recently reverted to using her maiden name of Valencia. Look for Ms. Valencia's comments as the city's leaf blower saga continues.
What a doll. Proud mother Mary Iverson of Woodside writes us that her son, Thom Iverson, and his wife, Renee, were featured in a recent issue of "Dolls, The Collector's Magazine." Now living in Kirkland, Wash., the couple creates collector dolls that sell for big bucks.
Both Renee and Thom grew up in Woodside and are graduates of Woodside High School.
Always interested in art, Thom began a project eight years ago with his young daughters, creating papier-mache figures inspired by Dan Reeder's book, "The Simple Screamer." He discovered he had a gift for sculpting art dolls. A mechanical engineer by profession, he now sculpts 18- to 20-inch figures of famous blues and jazz musicians, such as Charlie "Bird" Parker and Bessie Smith.
With a background in textile arts, Renee at one time dreamed of becoming a weaver. At first, her only interest in the art dolls was clothing them, but now she sculpts as well as dresses the figures for herself and her husband.
Mermaids, fairies, and ballerinas are among her subjects. A mermaid, complete with elaborately beaded tail and titian hair, sells for $1,250. The dolls are sold through such collectors' galleries as Genius Loci Gallery in Cape May, N.J.
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