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Red Bluff Art Associa- tion's April Artist of the Month is Grace Gresser, a talented artist who works with alcohol inks and pre- fers using gourds and ce- ramic tiles, rather than canvas. "Grace has been with the RBAA for several years," said association President Kathy Brehm. "She came to us as a won- derful gourd artist and is now challenging herself by experimenting in other mediums. Her paintings on ceramic tiles and Yupo are amazing." Yupo is a synthetic, wa- terproof paper manufac- tured from polypropylene pellets. Grace, the youngest of seven children, grew up in Los Angeles. She doesn't recall ever spending much time drawing, coloring or painting, either at home, or in public school. But she says she had artistic desires from an early age. Almost 20 years ago she bought a book on gourds. From there she perfected her tech- niques. She uses a Dremel tool and a high speed dental drill to engrave patterns. Depending on the shape of the gourd, Grace fashions such things as bowls, banks, dolls, thunder drums, etc. "I have grown hundreds of gourds," said Grace, who lives on 10 acres. "It is fun to watch them grow. Some of the vines can grow up to 80 feet and can really climb trees. I have so many gourds now, I don't need to grow more." Ten years ago, Grace dis- covered alcohol inks, which add very vivid colors to the skins of the gourds, thereby creating unique and mar- bling effects. With 90 colors now available, Grace uses alcohol inks on tiles, glass, canvas, and other surfaces. "I'm having a great time using these inks on 100 percent silk scarves from China," Grace said. "The colors are very vibrant and the finished product is fab- ulous." Grace and her husband Don have been married 52 years. They have two children and a grandson. Grace is a member of the North Valley Art League and the American Gourd Society. She has won many ribbons and awards. Her gourds have been dis- played in the NVAL gift shop and at the recent Red Bluff Bull Sale. Pres- ently they are available at Enjoy The Store on Main Street in Red Bluff. Also, you can see examples on redbluffartassocation.com. The association meets at 10 a.m. Thursdays at the Te- hama District Fairground, 650 Antelope Blvd. in Red Bluff. For more information, call 529-1603, visit redbluf- fartassociation.com or find the association on Face- book. Grace Gresser named Artist of the Month JULIEZEEB-DAILYNEWS Chad Bushnell performs Sunday at the Tehama Oaks Vineyard and Winery release party for its Red Rock Red wine. The event was part of the 11Days of Round-Up. ROUND-UP COURTESY PHOTO Grace Gresser in her studio. ART ASSOCIATION Professional Christian ballet company Paradosi will be holding a dance workshop Saturday, April 16 at Selah Dance Academy, 446 Antelope Blvd. #30 in Red Bluff. Pre-registration is re- quested by calling 727-9154. DANCE Paradosi ballet workshop set REDDING The Shasta College Jazz Big Band will be performing in the annual Spring Jazz con- cert at 7:30 p.m. April 27, in the Shasta College Theatre. Tickets are available online and at the door for $3. The Jazz Band, under the direction of Dan Neece, will play a variety of jazz standards and dance tunes to include Latin, swing and pop favorites. Music arrangements by Count Basie, Arturo Sandoval and Steely Dan are just a few to be featured. Also featured in the con- cert will be the combina- tion of the Jazz Band and the Shasta College Jazz Choir. For more information, write to dneece@shasta- college.edu. SHASTA COLLEGE Jazz Big Band concert set for April 27 in Redding REDDING Rising country singer Summer Schap- pell is lending her voice to helping the animals at the annual Bella Vista Farms fundraiser, set for the evening of Friday, April 29 at the Events Center at Win River Ca- sino in Redding. Schappell's perfor- mances on the 2015 sea- son of NBC's "The Voice" prompted the show's ce- lebrity coaches to call her a "human firecracker." The Shasta County native has opened for such country music stars as Josh Turner, LeAnn Rimes, Eric Church and Little Big Town. Sage Will, another young Shasta County singer, will be the opening entertainer. For the Shasta High School freshman it will be her sec- ond time performing at the fundraiser. "Sage absolutely de- lighted the audience last year with her performance and many people asked if she'd be back again," said Chic Miller of Bella Vista Farms. The third annual din- ner and auction will raise funds to support the ani- mal sanctuary on Lower Gas Point Road in Cot- tonwood. Chic and Bob Millers' no-kill, forever- home sanctuary is totally self-funded and all pro- ceeds from the event will go to help the hundreds of animals housed there. The dinner and auction is the primary fundraising event for the local non- profit. Featuring a lasagna dinner, the event in- cludes raffles, door prizes and auctions of items do- nated by local businesses and friends of the sanc- tuary. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited. Tickets are $25 per per- son and available only in advance at all VCA Ani- mal Hospitals in the area and on bellavistafarm.org, or by calling Chic Miller at 347-0544. BELLA VISTA FARMS Rising star Summer Schappell to perform Tommy Castro & The Painkillers are sched- uled to perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14 at the State Theatre in Red Bluff. Over the course of his four-decade career, Cas- tro has played thousands of shows to hundreds of thousands of fans, pack- ing dance floors, always leaving them screaming for more. He has released 14 al- bums filled with original blues, soul and West Coast rock, each one standing alone. Hailing from the San Francisco area, Castro, along with his band, The Painkillers — fea- turing bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown — play music that is guaranteed to fire up fans and leave critics searching for new words of praise. Billboard says the band plays "irresistible con- temporary blues-rock" with "street-level grit and soul." Tommy Castro first picked up a guitar at age 10. He fell under the spell of Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield and other blues rock players. As he got older, Cas- tro discovered the blues guitar work of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Fred- die King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and the deep-rooted soul of sing- ers like Ray Charles, Wil- son Pickett and James Brown. By his 20s he was play- ing in a variety of San Francisco-area blues and soul bands. Castro joined War- ner Brothers' artists The Dynatones in the late 1980s before forming The Tommy Castro Band in 1991. He released his debut album in 1996 on Blind Pig and hit the road hard, picking up new fans every- where he went. In the mid-1990s The TommyCastro Band served as the house band for three seasons on NBC Televi- sion's Comedy Showcase — airing right after Satur- day Night Live — bringing him in front of millions of viewers every week. During the 1990s and into the 2000s, Castro re- leased a series of critically acclaimed CDs for Blind Pig, Telarc and 33rd Street Records, as well as one on his own Heart And Soul la- bel. Castro joined Alligator Records in 2009, releasing Hard Believer to massive acclaim. He won four of his six career Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Enter- tainer Of The Year Award — the very highest award a blues performer can re- ceive. His song Hard Be- liever took first place in the blues category of the International Songwrit- ing Competition. Castro formed The Pain- killers in 2012, creating a lean, mean four-piece lineup and leaving his tight horn section behind. Fueled by Tommy's voice and guitar plus bass, drums and key- boards, Castro stripped his music down to its raw essence with the band hammering their point home on the bandstand. Jambands declared, "Tommy Castro And The Painkillers are a crack- ling, stripped-down band with plenty of grit and a rocking soul." For more information about the band, visit http:// tommycastro.com/. Tickets are $35 open seating in three differ- ent sections available on- line at statetheatrered- bluff.com, at the Tehama Country Visitor Center, 250 Antelope Blvd. in Red Bluff and at the box office, which will open at 6:30 p.m. STATE THEATRE To mm y Ca st ro & T he P ai nk il ler sto p er fo rm CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Tommy Castro & The Painkillers. Thurs, April 14 RedBluff-TehamaCounty CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & CATTLEMEN'S ASSOC. ROUND-UP MIXER Big Cowboy fun, Music & More! 5:30pm @ Reynolds Ranch & Farm Supply 501 Madison St. Mustbe21oroldertoattend! Fri, April 15 COWBOY GOLF TOUERNAMENT 9AM start, Wilcox Oaks Golf Club TH 95 2016 Thurs,April14 th 100 Main Street, Red Bluff "Promotingthegrowthand prosperity of local business" www.redbluffchamberofcommerce.com Find us on Facebook! 734MainStreet 530-690-2477 11am-9pm Mon.-Thur. 11am - 10pm Fri. & Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 9 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP Pizza Restaurant THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |A+E | 5 A