Starry Eyed

My husband once lived in L.A. and worked at the fabled and now-defunct Aron's Records, where he regularly bumped elbows with everyone from Belinda Carlisle to Ray Davies. He never tires of telling those stories, matter-of-factly, to the slack-jawed Denverites who've only dreamt of such encounters. What a kick.

Ceramic artist Thomas Müller also resides in L.A., where said celebrity run-ins are a dime a dozen in even the most mundane of locations, from the post office to the gas station. His friend, visual artist Samantha Scherer, lives in Seattle, where such encounters are far less commonplace — and maybe a bit more magical for it. And "whimsy" is perhaps the best word to describe what blossomed when Scherer personalized Müller's oft-told Hollywood tales in her own subtle, washy drawing style to create works on paper that eventually went full circle when Müller embossed them with rubbings from street grates and other urban surfaces.

L.A. Stories stays up through March 15; for details, visit www.vertigoartspace.com or call 303-573-VERT.
Feb. 1-March 15, 2008