Mar's Studio Sale, Oh My

I had a great adventure on Friday afternoon. I got to attend Mar Goman's final studio sale. Her studio has been located in NW Portland at 14th and Everett for years, but she is closing it down and moving her studio to her home in Washington. The sale started at 4:00 pm, so my friend Steph picked me up at 3:30 -- we wanted to be there right on time. And boy were we on time: we were the first ones in the door.


After climbing the stairs to the studio, right there at the top were piles of free stuff. FREE STUFF, I tell ya! Steph and I were hyperventilating we were so excited. I was in such a fluttered state, that Steph grabbed my camera and helped me get some photos.


I ran into a few people I know, including Judy Vogland, an artist from Portland who teaches at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. I'm signed up to take Judy's Painting with Natural Forces: Sand, Sun and the Tides in August (for the second time, it is such fun), so it was great to see Judy and reconnect in advance. (That's Judy digging through the free table).


Here is a sampling of what Mar had for sale. I was so overwhelmed and excited, I didn't want to take too much time shooting photos!








I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the wonderful pieces of art I bought (or the fabulous free stuff I managed to snag), but I'll share a few photos after I return home next week.

Steph summed up our experience so perfectly, I'm going to include the message she sent to me over the weekend (and because this really was a joint blog post):

I still cant believe the good fortune of yesterday. I wish I had a blog , to post about all the wonderfulness of yesterday. Mars art is so primitive and raw, yet beautiful and fun. The imagery and craftsmanship make up for the dark subject matter. And then the free table....

Wow still reliving the score, fun stuff for us found object junkies:)

ciao
Steph

Kindred Spirits

I got to spend all of Thursday afternoon (and part of Thursday evening) with two kindred spirits: Steph and Tabor (a new friend). We started our adventure at Tabor and Greg's house, one of those homes that sucked the very breath from my lungs. It was such a reverent and bulging house of art, vintage, strange, unique, and wonderful, that I didn't even take a single photo. It just didn't seem right. I was given a grand tour, oooohing and ahhhhing (and drooling) my way through a lifetime of collecting and gunkholing. We finally pulled ourselves away to have a bit to eat at the Nighthawk Cafe and Lounge.


Next up, Kenton, an old Portland neighborhood. Our first stop was a local antique and collectibles store, but I'm not going to name it as 1) the prices were pretty darn high, and 2) things were out, but not necessarily for sale. What's up with that?? Steph and I were inquiring about some vintage, numbered, metal tags and the owner told us she had just got them in the mail and wasn't sure she was going to sell them. They were out in a bowl on the counter. Okay.

Our next destination was Salvage Works. It was worth the trip. Here's our little trio of misfits at Salvage Works.


Salvage Works offers: Vintage Building Materials, Custom Furniture, and Assorted What-Nots. The assorted what-nots were divine. Preston, the owner, has a great little business, even features monthly artists (this month it is Janet Julian). The shop is small, but filled with artful treasures, and they are priced very reasonably. Get thee there.







My bounty from Salvage Works:



Our next stop was at Eric's little store on N. Interstate, Find. Although it looks like this week he is calling the store Eric's Odditorium. I found a pile of large old wood yellow letters. I bought some, of course. Tabor bought an old wooden column for the backyard tea house he and Greg are building.







We finally all headed back to Rapture to rest and recuperate from our shopping extravaganza.

Later on, Howard showed off my new letters on the dock. No, the boat isn't for sale.

New Toys . . . and a little playtime

Tuesday was a full and complete day of artful play while on Rapture at the Portland Waterfront. I turned up the music, spread out throughout the cabin, and even used the sunny outside decks for drying pages.


I used part of my day to experiment with some new art supplies. First of all, I got some HUGE alphabet stamps (I got the lower case set, but they also come in upper case). Each letter is magnetized on the back, so you pick them up with a wood-mounted magnet. Easy peasy and very fun.





I've also gotten into using some of the new tapes that are out, Japanese masking tapes as well as some of the new gaffer tapes. The tape seems to work especially well when used between pages at the binding as it helps prevent my pages from sticking together. I like that.


I picked up some new paints last week, new colors and a couple of new brands to try out.


And finally, I thought I would try out some clear gesso. I've used white and black gesso, but never clear. Why not.


When is a page truly done? I'm not sure, but here are some of my current pages in process, some from my current visual journal and some from a journal of self-portraits.

Out and About on the Portland Waterfront

Week Two at the Portland Waterfront. Lots of opportunities for walks and Artist's Dates. Here's a glimpse into the past week.

A marriage at the Central Library.


Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland's Living Room.


A random bike ride where almost everyone, male and female, were wearing cute little tutus. (Unfortunately - or fortunately? - I didn't get any photos of the naked bike ride held last week.)



Dining with Al, Kristi, and Jeanette on the top deck.


Portland Farmers Market:






Portland Saturday Market.




The geese share the grass with some foosball players.



Two kinds of barges on the Willamette: commercial and party.



Grandsons Jackson and Emmett at one of the Waterfront fountains.



Josh and friends help Howard remove a behemoth of a boat ladder!