Legends are funny things. How they get started, what they become, what it all means.
Take Alice in Wonderland. The fanciful tale by a rural cleric written for a young girl in the English countryside, full of puns and puzzles, a guileless heroine and a cast of strange characters. Like the Mad Hatter. Or the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar. And the White Rabbit.
The story has taken on a life of its own, diverging into movies both animated (Walt Disney did a bang-up job) and live-action (so too did Tim Burton), stage plays and rock songs.
Legendary people take on a live of their own, too. Who may be a rock star in one sphere becomes a painter on another track in life, as is the case with Ronnie Woods, Bob Dylan and Grace Slick.
In Healdsburg last Saturday, some of those divergent paths came together. Grace Slick, former lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane and writer of the surrealistic hit “White Rabbit,” came to the Just for You Gallery on Plaza street to introduce a show of her paintings and sign autographs.
There’s one of the Alice in Wonderland of course, the Mad Hatter literally tripping on a mushroom. There’s also one of the Jefferson Airplane on the Golden Gate Bridge, the full band – including a pot – with Grace portrayed in a Wonder Woman stance.
Just a block away, Teresa Lubarsky's Healdsburg Ballet was performing at the Raven Performing Arts Theater, with their production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Their performance started at 7 p.m., and Grace Slick – artist, singer, songwriter and guileless heroine – was at the Just for You gallery at 6.
“What a cool moment when a few dancers dressed in costume went by and said Hi,” wrote Karen Klick when she sent the photo.
Grace Slick’s show “California Wonderland” will continue at Just for You Gallery, 115 Plaza St., through May 29.
