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Shakespeare once said “God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.” Local creator of fantastical mayhem, Rick Perry fills paintings, drawings, books, and more with endlessly charming personalities, faces, creatures, robots, and coffee-swilling raccoons.

batdorf bronson logoOperating under the impish mantle of P. Calavara, invented twins Polly and Perry, his work reflects their unique spark. “Polly and Perry are very distinct from each other with different modalities, personalities, and modes of working. From a strictly-Rick point of view, I utilize the multiple personalities, so to speak, to harness different parts of myself, based on what’s needed. I actually work differently based on which of the twins I’m feeling like.”

In a nutshell, “I imagine collectives as multiple people trying to function as one artist, whereas I’m one artist trying to function as a collection of different people.”

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Rick Perry is the man behind the P. Calavara mask. His many works of pen, ink, paint, and mixed media can be found throughout Olympia and at his co-owned Gallery Boom in Tumwater. Photo credit: Living in Olympia.

A transplant from the Bay Area, Rick and his wife moved to Olympia so she could obtain her master’s in education from The Evergreen State College. An artist and author from the start, Rick is now the stay-at-home dad of three young sons who paints, draws, publishes, co-owns Tumwater’s Gallery Boom, and occasionally lectures on the Origins of Comics at Evergreen and the Capitol Theater.

Through January, Rick’s art is on display at Batdorf and Bronson in downtown Olympia, where you’ll find more than 35 paintings of animals and their coffee. As their motley colored faces sip, grin, ponder, and muse over Olympia’s vital elixir, a daily A, B, C coloring book page is added to the gallery wall.

The project, entitled ‘Winter’s Cruel Reign Flickers Beneath The Stern Gaze of Hot Drink,’ started simply. “I first did the five paintings of the raccoons drinking coffee and sent a quick picture of them to a friend of mine who works at Batdorf. They were interested, so I painted a bunch more, with different animals. I’ve done enough raccoons, though they remain my favorite. It’s actually part of my campaign to get raccoons designated as the official animal of the city of Olympia.”

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Through the month of January, visit the 30+ coffee-laden animals at the Batdorf and Bronson coffee shop in downtown Olympia. Photo credit: Rick Perry.

Yet another Perry-crafted universe can be found on Harmony Boom Island. Partnering with Christine Malek, a local stuffed animal and textile artist, it is “a mystic island that moved about the world, enticing heroes and explorers to its shores in search of treasure, adventure, or both.” Through its enticing online portal you’ll find comic strips, picture books, novels, and a “whole world, with complex stories, a rich history, and a large cast of characters.”

Locally, Perry has been active with Arts Walk and the Capitol Theater. One recent Arts Walk he filled The Washington Center for the Performing Arts with artwork as well as writing and illustrating a book on a table set up in The Washington Center’s mezzanine. “The book’s contents were created via a survey that we had opened up to the public for the month leading up to the event. That was sort of the start of these books-as-I-go projects, and probably the most ambitious to date,” admits Perry.

As well as displaying pieces in the Capitol Theater, he’s offered “a fair amount of volunteer art for the theater…I think that they still have my plywood monsters setup in the boxes near the stage.” In January, he also offered robot-themed work at the Carco Theater in Renton.

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Every day a new A, B, C coloring-book page is added to this dynamic show. Photo credit: Rick Perry.

Americans for the Arts sums it up well: “The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts help us express our values, build bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age.” Even something as simple as a pen and ink monster or a rooster pondering his steaming mug is good for the winter-laden soul.

View P. Calavara’s work online through a constantly updated flickr gallery or blogs posted to Calavara.com and NeverKnows.com. Need a valid reason to avoid your day? Drop by his Random Excuse Generator to justify hours of, well, whatever you want.

Interested in purchasing a unique, commissioned piece or one of the many already livening up our region? Gallery Boom is open Thursday through Sunday for browsing and located at 5304 Little Rock Road SW across the parking lot from the Tumwater Fred Meyer. They offer classes, art markets, and merchandise from a variety of Washington artists and crafters.

Just watch out for the wily Polly and Perry.

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