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Archive for the ‘Out and About in Portland’ Category

Mood Indigo

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

It was a gorgeous day today  — sunny and 70° — a perfect day to visit the Portland Japanese Garden. I met my friend Suzy there and we took in the beautiful indigo installation by a Japanese artist.

She uses a linen that is specially created for her. It is based on Japanese mosquito netting. Here is the back side of the Moonlit piece.

This is the most amazing installation:

Notice the subtle change in the design of each piece. Here is a straight on shot.

This piece is the width of the room and would have been used to screen off part of a garden for privacy when entertaining.

This is another subtle beauty.

There were smaller hangings, too.

This was the coolest, however, a little indigo tent.

Here are some photos of the gorgeous fall color in the garden and a view of Mt. Hood.

I hope to have all my photos on my Flickr site, soon.

Great Week-end & a Book Cover

Monday, September 6th, 2010

We had so much fun this week-end. Saturday afternoon, we parked our car at the cathedral and took a nice walk down to Art in the Pearl. The weather was perfect for walking through the city. I had my camera and got some nice photos.

We hadn’t been for the last couple of years. We really enjoyed it. The art seemed better than the last time we went. Here is a 3-D aspen piece – tree art always catches my eye.

I loved these sculptures.

In one area, they had work that was a collaboration of artists working in different media.

The little dangling things are fabric with printing. I guess the other part is ceramic. This piece was ceramic with basket weaving.

This guy didn’t get juried in, I guess, so he set up business out of his truck on the street, next to the venue.

We stopped by our favorite garden art store, Dig. I saw this galvanized table on sale, but Mr C was not in to buying me a cool table for messing around on my studio patio!!

We went to a wonderful restaurant for dinner, Genoa, which is small and the service was impeccable. You pay a fixed price for a 5 course Italian dinner with wine pairings.

Yesterday, we went to the movies and saw The American, the new George Clooney movie. It was intense and wonderful. I recommend it.

And now, here is a little tease – the cover of our book! The book is due for release in March 2011. I hope the time flies by. You can go to our Twelve by Twelve website and join our mailing list to receive updates about the book.

A Prairie Home Companion Evening

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Last night, we took Mia to see the Prairie Home Companion concert at the Oregon Zoo. After collecting Mia and lawn chairs and books to read, we drove down town Portland, parked the car at Trinity and walked to the MAX station for the final leg of our adventure.

Mia is a delightful companion and loves an adventure. She is inquisitive and full of knowledge about our city and the radio show. She kept us entertained. Here she is letting us know that the train was coming.

It was a sold out crowd, so we spent lots of time waiting in lines. We had books to read, but I really enjoy just observing people. It is one of my favorite activities.

We were able to get very good seats and unknowingly, we sat just behind a concrete riser that was kept clear of people so that Garrison could walk down it to mingle with the crowd. So we got up close and personal with the star and got to shake his hand. It was a very beautiful evening – warm and sunny.

I was warned that the sun shines right into your face as it sets in the west. I bought Mia some Foster Grant sunglasses, which she loved.

Mr C and I were introduced to The Prairie Home Companion back in the 70s, when we were introduced to it by friends from Minnesota and Wisconsin. We have listened to the show off and on since then. Mia and her family are avid NPR listeners and so she has grown up with the show and knows all the characters and the people who play them. When the sound effects guy came on, she exclaimed – It’s Fred Newman!!

It was lots of fun, but Mia thought there was too much singing. We were both hoping for more of Garrison’s skits and monologues. We left a bit early because we needed to get her home and to bed. Her Mom and Dad are taking her backpacking for the first time. They are going close to home and just a 2-3 mile hike to spend one night. She has her own pack. Miles is coming to stay with us so we will have to do something special with him – perhaps the Lego store!

We had to wait a bit for the train back to our car, but we enjoyed seeing the wall art on the station walls.

I bought Mia a t-shirt and I got this bag for my grocery shopping.

You can see all of my photos from the evening and more station wall art on my Flickr Set.

As an aside, I think I had a minor flu bug last week. I woke up yesterday feeling like a new person. I am looking forward to a week of renewed creativity and inspiration.

This and That

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

I have been dealing with the heat and struggling with this piece that is on my design wall. have you ever gotten an idea for something in your brain and then struggled to see it come to life? I had this idea for a simple abstracted aspen landscape, but was having trouble with the fabrics.

Last night, my art quilt group, High Fiber Diet, met here for a potluck and celebration of our great year and our new members. It was a lot of fun. Bonnie Bucknam, our fearless leader, dyes fabric and sells it under the moniker, Handwerks Textiles. She always brings her latest collection to entice us. I bought this bundle, titled Storm Watch.

I used a couple of these fabrics with some I already had in my stash. I think I am getting somewhere with this. I am calling this piece Stormy Aspens.

It was really hot yesterday, and they were doing noisy construction work on the road behind us. The house was vibrating from the machinery. I soldiered through with the help of Mr C and we got the house ready for guests. We put out fans and turned on the AC, which is not that efficient. By dinner time, it had cooled off quite a bit and some of us ate on the deck.

I received this postcard for the Blurred Boundaries Show. I shipped my two quilts on Monday. You can click on this to see it larger.

I just found out that 50 quilts were submitted, 2o were accepted from 12 artists. I am quite happy to be a part of this show with some great fiber artists.

Today was farmer’s market day. Here is by take home:

I finally got a new fiber sketch done.

I don’t usually stitch these. I think the stitching makes the aspens come alive so this seems a bit lifeless to me.

Social Butterfly

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

I have been flitting here and there — attending meetings and hanging out with friends.

And when I am home, I have been finishing up the studio spring cleaning. The cleaning is pretty much done except for my office.

I didn’t want to get to off track with the Sketchbook so I went down to the studio tonight to come up with an idea. I was brain dead!! I just started cutting up some black fabric and decided to do a wonky grid with a punch of red. Not very elegant or creative, but it was fun.

I had a guild meeting last night. Our guest speaker was Jiseon Lee Iabara who is Fibers department head at Oregon College of Arts and Craft. She does amazing pieces using Korean Pojagi.

Today was STASH at Reva’s house. She prepared a fabulous lunch. It was Gale’s birthday and another quilter/fiber artist joined us. It was delightful.

After lunch, Mr C and I drove down to Dundee in the Oregon wine country to pick up our wine club shipment. It was rainy, but still a pretty drive.

We had missed picking up our wine for the last 3 times so we had a lot of good wine to bring home.

Tomorrow, I am off to lunch and an art date with Reva and Anita Kaplan who is in town visiting her daughter. Reva used to live at Sea Ranch in Mendocino County where Anita lives. If you are not familiar with Anita’s work, click on her name and check out her fantastic art quilts.

By Saturday, we are supposed to have sunny days and temps in the 80s. This morning the weather man said we better enjoy the rain while it lasts. Ha!! What a sense of humor.