The Snail Blog

My friend Ellen lives in Vermont but always comes to visit every year.  This year in February we got talking about my computer/blogging life and her singing/hiking/non-computer life.  She began to develop the idea of the “Snail Blog”.  She took all the loser left over postcards in the drawer, numbered them from 1 to 100, and started sending them to me, day by day.  It has become a fascinating and wonderful experience, a way of knowing her life in tiny (sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad, often telling) increments.  I’m very sad to report that number 100 arrived today.  But let’s look at number 1:

and here we are at 50…half way through:

There were rules.  If she added in a card or two between two numbers the new cards were given the “a” or “b” designation:

Some days there would be no cards at all and some days..hooray…maybe 3 would come!  And maybe one of them would turn out to be a picture so perfect you could hardly believe it:

Some were “art cards” with paintings:

Some were “scenics”

some were funny:

and today, alas, number 100:

First Friday opening, July 3

Even with the holiday, 1st Friday was fun up at 12×16 (though I have to admit 3 1/2 hours of being charming pushes the envelope a little…).

Eunice and I both wrote our names on the front window (at the gallery’s request of course) and I drew the calla lillies.

The crowd was friendly and interested.  Eunice’s work looked smashing:

and a favorite moment of mine was Eunice and Paul Missal comparing notes:

One more opening this Sunday, 2-4 and then, well, back to work I guess–next show coming August 4-22, works on paper.

What a Day!

We started pretty early with all the paintings packed in the living room

and packed the car

and went to 12×16.  Cary wasn’t there yet so we got a coffee

and then in we went:

First Friday opening July 3, 6-9.  Artist’s reception July 12, 2-4.  The show is open July 2 to August 2, 2009.  Hope you can go take a look.

PS 2 (Project Space)

Loyal readers will remember last year’s PS 1 posts about an experimental space downtown.  Sponsored by the Salem Art Association, a group of artists spent the summer trying to make something happen for serious mid-career artists in a donated space.  It was a little ragged, but fascinating in many ways.

This summer Project Space is born again in a new form.  The donated space is a cavernous former bank in an historic building.  The spaces are weird and unlikely but some 40 artists applied to participate.  The juror was Astoria painter Royal Nebeker.  There will be 3 rotations with 5 or 6 individual shows up at any one time.

Two artists applied for, and were given, summer studio space.  One group of four will be working on a collaborative piece through-out the summer.  One person (me) will be working on a site-specific drawing piece called “Drawing the Space.”

Through grant funding interns will keep the space open Tuesday- Saturday, 11-6.  The building is located at 338 State Street, corner of State and Liberty, next to The Wild Pear.  Come down and take a look.  I haven’t made the total photo survey yet, but here are a few shots of the space…next time I’ll show you the work underway:

www.bonniehull.com (???)

Yes, it’s true.  Bruce has built me a terrific website for my work, and we went “LIVE” on Wednesday night.  At risk of sounding like a relentless self-promoter, take a look and give me your feedback.

http://www.bonniehull.com/

Father’s Day

When I was sixteen we were up at Lake Superior where I spent some time searching for the flatest rocks I could find.  I wanted to make a table. My Dad cut a piece of board for me and I glued down the rocks (artfully I thought then).  I grouted the rock piece and my Dad made (or caused to be made?) a table out of (he always said…) angle irons.  It was always on the patio at 2201 Washington and late in my Dad’s life it was his “smoking table” in the garage where he sat and smoked.  When it came back to me it was full of ashes.  Now it sits on our deck and really, I don’t want to repaint it.  Some of the rocks are splitting but even so it kind of embodies my young life.  Happy Father’s day Daddy, wherever you might be.

Garden Thoughts…

We went up to White Salmon, Washington, this past weekend to see George, Jennifer and Fanny.

As usual, we were generously and lovingly cared for with three brilliant meals cooked by George.  On Saturday we piled into the car and went on the Hood River/White Salmon garden tour.  The gardens were lovely, the views were good:

but ONE garden knocked me out.  It was the home of Jurgen and Susan Hess, he a landscape architect, she a writer.  He has written and lectured extensively on native plants and sustainable gardens and he walks the walk.  They bought this house in the 90’s and have transformed an ugly situation into something amazing:

He jack-hammered up some of the concrete to make part of the driveway look like stepping stones:

Grass, gone:

He estimates that lawns consume 50% of home water uses and over 70 million tons of pesticides nationwide.  In 2000 lawnmowers used 580 million gallons of gas.

In the garden he has used only native plants because natives have already adapted to our weather patterns and “this adaptation means they tend to be disease and pest resistant, are hardy, and need no water after establishment.”

and the back garden is pretty nice too:

I was particularly fascinated by the “bioswales” which return rainwater to the plants.  In our town code requires you to route downspouts into the sewers.  Geeze.

In his excellent book “Landscaping with Natives” Hess urges us to seriously think about changing the things we can to help the planet, since there are so many things over which we have no control.  Maybe it all DOES start in your own back (front) yard.

D.E. MAY at PDX

Went to Portland yesterday to see Dan’s new show.  It is wonderful with Dan’s usual light touch and nuanced focus.  My pictures aren’t too good–please go look. PDX, corner of Flanders and 9th NW.

An anonymous donor had arranged to donate a Louis Bunce painting to the Hallie Ford Museum and Roger was to pick it up at PDX so Jane got a parting shot

The painting, from 1950 in a terrific Jack Lucas frame, is a gem

A quick coffee and off home:

PNCA at 100

Last night was the opening of a really beautiful new show at the Portland Art Museum.  Filling the big main floor galleries is a blockbuster collection of the work of the many talented teachers over the years from the Pacific NW College of Art–formerly the Museum School.  It gives these artists their due in a terrific way.  There are “conversations” between these paintings, and the hanging of the show encourages the “talk” to flow freely.  The event was so much fun because many of the painters were there as well as gallery owners and other Portland art world luminaries.  Of course they wouldn’t let me take a photo (I don’t know why guards always notice me trying to sneak one while Cary goes unnoticed…).  But, as you enter the show there is a terrific blown-up photo of the faculty in the 1950’s and the game of the evening was trying to identify the players.  As I stood there Eunice Parsons arrived and let me take her photo in front of the photo–in which the younger Eunice is right in the center:

If you are in Portland this summer, don’t miss this show.  It really makes a case for Portland painting being as good as it gets.

First Wednesday

First Wednesday downtown was “dog week” this month.  Since the newspaper carried numerous pictures of dogs and NO pictures of art, I’ll skip right to the art.

Artist Kay Worthington was the featured artist at The Arbor on State, showing her wonderful small, imaginative, and sculptural pieces as well as some pretty terrific tables she has been making this spring.  Sales were brisk:

and then down the street at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery was a show of works on paper by two women.  The work was displayed interestingly hung on little IKEA hanging things–very immediate and nice.  Laura Mack, painter and collage artist, monoprint maker, teacher, etc. displayed some collages, and monoprints and collage combined that are terrific.  (I’m looking forward to 2 months of collabortive work with Laura this summer in Project Space 2!)  Not great photos sorry–it was crowded–go see the show:

Showing with Laura is Katherine Dunn with slightly larger work, also unformatted which I liked as you could really see the pieces: