Soap Lake artist supported in illness

SOAP LAKE - There's very little, if nothing at all, on Brent Blake's bucket list.

Europe? Check. Asia? Check. Central America? Again, check.

"I've ridden in rodeos and I've raced sports cars," Blake said. "I've curled and played baseball. I've just had enormous amounts of beautiful experiences."

But as the time winds down on the Soap Lake man's struggle with leukemia, the artist's friends and community have continued to rally around Blake, including an evening selling his artwork Saturday.

Well, sort of.

"These are his friends wanting to throw a party for him, but we're also sensitive to the fact to have a party for someone in the condition that he's in," friend and Soap Lake City Councilman John Glasco said. "It's a little difficult to know what to call it."

Be it labeled as a party, an art sale or something else entirely, most of the community is expected to show up Saturday evening to purchase Blake's art, give best wishes and support the man who has brought so much art to the Soap Lake community, including being an instrumental part of the Soap Lake lava lamp project.

Even the mayor agrees.

"Brent is a pillar of light that makes Soap Lake special," Soap Lake Mayor Raymond Gravelle said. "He gives back to the community unselfishly."

The Soap Lake community is expected to come together Saturday at Don's Restaurant, 14 Canna St., in the banquet room from 6-10 p.m., with live music and an open mike for friends who would like to share thoughts about Blake.

Afterward, the Soap Lake Arts Museum, 410 E. Main Ave., will display his artwork, though Blake said the time has yet to be determined.

"Soap Lake is based right at the bottom mouth of the Grand Coulee corridor," Glasco said. "People like Brent have shown up, and he put his marker here and recognized its values. I'm really glad to have known Brent and to have had him become part of the mix in Soap Lake."

Blake said his diagnosis is "basically one that nobody wants." Doctors estimate his prognosis at a couple of months. "I don't really feel terminal, but I have to feel optimistic," he said. "I may surprise everybody, and I'm not succumbing. At least not as rapidly as doctors were thinking."

Blake has known about the disease for more than four years. "But you've got to be positive, and you've always got to think big," he said.