Arts and Entertainment

To be a storyteller is to convey events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. This is a simplified definition. A true storyteller makes others experience emotion through her images or improvisation.

We all love a fractured fairy tale — perhaps even more than the original. There is something satisfying about turning the original story filled with morals and happily-ever-afters into a spoof with hilarious missteps. Such is the case in StageDoor Theatre’s high school production of “Once Upon a Mattress.” Running through Nov. 10, this show, based loosely upon Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, is sure to win your hearts.

Artists draw their inspiration from a variety of places. Some travel to exotic locations in search of inspiring images. Others choose to stay much closer to home, seeking inspiration in the trees and wildlife of our Colorado town. Brandy Llewellyn, an Evergreen resident and artist, straddles two worlds in her search for artistic inspiration. Brandy and her husband spend winters in Colorado and summers in Sanibel Island, Fla. Having spent many years in U.S. coastal areas as a child, Llewellyn turned her fascination with the sea into a full-fledged love of coastal and maritime art.

In observance of a tradition now 21 years old, on the morning of Sept. 21 a glad company of neighbors assembled at Evergreen Fine Art Gallery on Evergreen Parkway to brew a spot of tea, pour a little bubbly and formally welcome “Michelle” into the heavenly ranks of the Evergreen Angels.

“She’s beautiful,” said gallery owner and Angel Tea hostess Barb Hadley. “Such graceful wings. She’s very angelic.”