Getting Ready…

Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday.  No gifts (hence no shopping), minimal decorating, three basic elements: food, family, friends.  Today I began to make the lists, think of the “sides” we’ll eat and enjoy, and polish the silver.  It wasn’t a pretty sight:

And as I stood at the sink, with my hands in the comforting hot water, touching each piece of silver, I reviewed a number of favorite stories, thought of a number of favorite people (some now gone from us).  Space and time don’t permit the telling of the tales, but I think the titles are okay.  Bon & Rog and the Wedding Candle- Sticks, Carolyn Hull Johnson and the Baroque Silver Trove, Daddy & the Art Deco Coffee Pot, Four Babies, Nana’s Cookies, 550 Custer Street, 2201, 234, 611, 930, and other addresses of the past.  Gabrielle’s Towels from Mexico,  Bru’s Cranberry sauce, Marie’s Mashed Potatoes, and on.  Stories similar to the stories every family has, but nicely specific on this November morning.  And so after cleaning the silver and thinking of my loved ones fondly…VOILA!

The Stormy weekend

Sheets of rain, sheets!  Wind, wind-tunnel wind.  Cold.  Ugh.  But dashing back to the car in the rain after a restaurant dinner there was this amazingly beautiful sidewalk thing happening.  I wonder what makes some cement…I think maybe newer cement…hold the image of leaves?  Beautiful though, however it happens.

Mary Lou Zeek Space Two

The new space opened up last night with a show of the work of painter John Vandreal who mentored Willamette Student Rachel Sabin in the art of oil painting.  Mary Lou and Alan (mostly Alan on the building front…) have built a new space for special exhibitions and the space was jammed last night and glowed in the dark, as did the gallery owner:

The crowd was interested and enthusiastic looking at both John and Rachel’s paintings (that’s Rachel with the red earring)

and this gentleman was especially pleased standing near the portrait of himself that John painted of him:

a fun new venue, and a fun evening!!

Stephan Soihl at Blackfish Gallery

We stopped at Blackfish Gallery Sunday to see Steve Soihl and to watch his newest kinetic sculpture dance through its paces.  A beautiful combination of clear tubing filled with various weights and colors of motor and machine oil, the parts twist and turn and move like a Malevich painting come to life.  It’s on view until November 28th–go take a look:

“The Mountain and the Metropolis”

Zoomed up to Tacoma Friday evening and checked in to the lovely Hotel Murano.

Because of the proximity to the Glass Museum and being in Chihuly-land, the museum is filled with glass work of varying kinds:

We were there for Roger to give a talk in conjunction with a current show at the Tacoma Art Museum, “A Concise History of Northwest Art.”

His talk was entitled “The Mountain and the Metropolis” and when we looked out the window Saturday morning it seemed appropriate:

(The museum is in the foreground with the word “ART” on it)

We headed to the museum

for the set-up:

The lecture was quite thought-provoking.  Roger spoke of the “inter-textuality” of art work and the ability for work made at different times, in different cultures and different places, to resonate even if the makers were unaware of each other.  The opening pair was Piero della Francesca (mid-15th century Italian) and Amanda Snyder (mid 20th century Oregonian):

I sat with the associate curator and we agreed that as she said “doors are opening in my head”.  The idea of regional art not as lesser and parochial was interesting.  I’m hoping Roger will give this lecture again locally, as it was very thought-provoking.

After a nice evening eating Japanese food with Margaret and Dan we returned to the Murano for a nightcap in the bar where perhaps the largest horse lamp in existence resides:

This morning after breakfast at “The Bite”

we headed to Portland arriving in time for lunch with Zach at Bread & Ink:

Home Again…

This is Salem today:

but last week it was like this in Arizona where Carol and I stayed with her sister Midge:

Went to the Phoenix Art Museum

Sedona:

Scottsdale art walk:

Desert Botanical Garden:

Monarchs:

Sonoran desert where these cacti are about 50 years old before the produce the “arm” and can live to be 300 years old:

These are glass:

Time to go home.  What a fun week!!!

Aventura…

I’m off to Phoenix tomorrow for a week of adventures.  Yesterday “harvested” all the hydrangeas in anticipation of late fall bouquets,

took a walk around Deepwood garden

and enjoyed the last of the summer bouquets from Sharon’s garden as I tidied for departure and made some lunch:

See you next week!!

 

Cynthia Herron and Sharon Rose: a collaboration

Ten years ago or so Sharon Rose wrote a book about Minto/Brown Island, our local riverside park of many many acres for bikes, runners, dogs.  The bike trails alone are more than nine miles of beautiful riding.  Last year she put out a revised edition of the book (with a Carl Hall painting on the cover):

Landscape painter Cynthia Herron is a denizen of Minto and a runner/biker/dog lover and found the book.  This summer Cynthia and Sharon met and then got together for coffee and talked about the park.  Cynthia is preparing a show of paintings (she’s hoping 25 or 30) and the titles are quotes from Sharon’s book.

Yesterday Sharon and I went out for a cup of tea to Cynthia’s studio (and home) to see the first few paintings and to look at her sketch book.  Her method is to take her dog Lucy and her backpack on her bike and ride the park with a quote or two from Sharon in mind.  She then stops, sketches, makes notes.  In the studio she works only from the sketches and memory–not from photos.  Sharon’s book is organized chronologically through the seasons, starting in September.  Cynthia had many questions for Sharon about plants and identifications.  Sharon is a biologist/botanist and had interesting answers.  I was the lucky bystander.

Cynthia lives out in the country on 13 acres in an old house.  Her studio and classroom are on the first floor and she and her partner Jay live upstairs:

After a tour of the property we settled in front of the studio fire with our tea and the two “collaborators” began to talk about the park, the plants, the light at certain seasons and times of day:

Here’s Cynthia’s drawing of a growth on a rose plant which Sharon explained was a “rose gall” and that inside each growth was a tiny wasp larvae

And here a plant which Sharon identified as Camas

and this one made Sharon laugh as she herself had been unable to identify the plant though had tried several sources:

And finally the pumpkin patch:

Here are a few of the paintings Cynthia has begun with from the summer:

and here’s my favorite–the one painted yesterday:

We’ve been invited back to check the progress of the series.  And here’s just a little post script, a picture of Cynthia’s strawberry patch–an effort to keep the berries away froom all the deer:

and here’s Sharon’s photo of the pumpkin field at Minto taken this morning:

Trick or Treat!!!

It’s always a aurprise when you go to the door on Halloween…

but in this case the giant scary chicken was Mike who came with his son Owen who was dressed as an egg (in this case we know which came first)

Trick or Treat!!

The Goodwill Bins

Yesterday three of us went to the Goodwill Bins, an astonishing experience.  In a large room there are many many blue bins, all on wheels in rows, all FILLED with junk.

Some bins have only books, some have only clothes, some have junk.  Mostly (except for books) you pay by the weight.  At 4:00 p.m. the 6 or 8 bins that have been there the longest are taken away, making room for more bins with “new” stuff:

The place is now packed–mostly men.  They line the yellow lines waiting for the new bins to arrive:

Then in come the new bins and a free-for-all begins:

Mostly, it’s stuff you wouldn’t want:

but there are hidden treasures and here’s what I got:

Three new heavy crystal wine glasses for the beach house (to replace the three we broke this summer), some forks and spoons for the beach, a few books and a terrific deck of botannical cards for Christmas gifts (you’re probably glad you aren’t on my gift list when you see this) some old pattern pieces for “works on paper” at the studio, and some old ornaments of my favorite type where the red has faded to pink.  Then to the studio went the following:

a few more books for inspirational/collage purposes, an old tool box to corral pens and clutter, and a little picture frame to put something in for somebody’s stocking stuffer.  All-in-all a fascinating 45 minutes.  It’s a treasure hunt–some people rip through throwing stuff everywhere and some people carefully pick to the bottom of the bin (us) to see what we can find:

Here’s Kay’s box: