That Jolie Girl

Wondrous Art Wednesday - Brian Crane's Idle Hands

The art at the SE Area Art Walk was just superb this year.  My favorite artist of the day was Brian Crane.  His tactile kinetic art is the most amazing thing I've seen in ages.  The piece above will travel down this ramp at the slightest touch.  It is easily hours and hours of entertainment.  We were spellbound.

This ball of screws is pliable.  When you put your hand over the ball and lightly squeeze, the screws move in your hands.  It's a crazy sensation.  Brian happily chatted with us about how he came up with his ideas.  He was such a nice guy and you could see how joyous his art made him. 

Videos of these pieces in motion are posted on his web-site.  It's definitely a site to check out.  His ideas are limitless.

iHanna's Postcard Swap

My friends, Diana and Bettie, and I thought participating in iHanna's Postcard Swap looked like great fun.  The basic swap gist: You send out 10 postcards you made and you will receive 10 unique postcards in return.  We spent a fun evening crafting our postcards.  We didn't finish that night, but we all got a good handle on what we wanted to do.  It was also nice to socialize and brainstorm ideas with friends.

Here are my ten postcards.  I used pages from a Korean book I picked up for a quarter.  I had initially bought it for an art project for my cousin which I'm still hoping to get around to some day. :) The yellow paper is from straw wrapping paper from a present my cousin sent me. The purple paper is leftover from my wedding invitations (I've been married for almost 10 years).  The fortunes came from many take out Chinese dinners.  Yep, I'm a pack rat.  I wear that badge with pride.  But I also like knowing that a tiny bit of my life went into these postcards. 

The soft deadline for mailing our postcards was February 14th.  I just received my tenth postcard a few days ago.  You can see how varied each artist was.  It was exciting to check the mail each day to see if something new had arrived.  I received postcards from The Netherlands, Texas, Denmark, Australia, Pennsylvania, Idaho, England, Niagra Falls, Nebraska and Portland, Oregon. 

Yep! Portland, Oregon.  I received one of Diana's postcards!  I was estatic because during our craft night, I was secretly coveting her adorable cards.

SE Area Art Walk

The SE Area Art Walk is something I look forward to every  year.  It gets bigger each time and this year had 100 artists showing their work in houses and businesses.  Maps are at most stops and you can meander through the neighborhood viewing incredible art.  It's always inspiring to see an artist's workspace. 

I only bought 2 things this year.  The first was this bad ass bracelet by Adam 'Thadeus' Lutz.  Thadeus mainly does carpentry work and his business is called Black Rock Carpentry.  The other art he was showcasing were tools with musical handles.  I WISH I had taken a photo of these pieces.  They were so inventive and beautiful.  My favorite was a ball peen hammer with the body of a violin neck and scroll.  It was gorgeous!  My other favorite was an ax with the handle of a guitar neck and head.  

One house was filled with beautiful woodwork and these mind blowing acrylic puzzles.  Most puzzles were quite large with very intricate patterns.  I wish I could have afforded one of those.  I also wish I could've found images on-line of these puzzles.  I learned from talking to the elderly gentleman who makes them that they are hand cut using a blade the thickness of a horse hair. I can't imagine the patience that must take.  I took home this 2 inch puzzle.  It was a nice option for me because for an affordable price, I got to take home a little work of art.

I can't wait to see with the SE Art Walk does next year.  It's always the first weekend in March.  Mark your calendars.

Wondrous Art Wednesday

I learned about Lee Hazel last week at dinner with family friends.  When talking about family, they mentioned that their daughter-in-law is an amazing artist.  They talked on and on about how talented she is.  Well as you know, I love finding new art.  I couldn't wait to come home and google her.  Wow!  My friends weren't bias in their high praise.  She IS an amazing artist.  I'm so happy to showcase here work here.  Definitely check out her web-site.   She does lots of different styles of painting and is very versatile. 

A Party for Padre

My Father-in-law didn't want to have a formal funeral.  His wishes were for family and friends to gather together and to have a party in his honor.  We did just that this past weekend.  We wanted to get past the holidays and to have enough time pass that this could truly be a joyous occasion. My husband, sister-in-law and I hosted this event at Silver Falls.  We rented the same lodge my sister was married in the summer before.  This made planning easier because we knew the space well.  We settled on a spaghetti feed since we were feeding at least 100 people.  Lots of family brought additional dishes which really helped ease our load. 

Food was served at noon.  A few speeches were said and some tears were shed, but over all it was a happy affair.  Instead of a moment of silence, we had a duck call salute.  My father-in-law was an avid hunter and was most comfortable out in the woods.  We presented each of his siblings with a duck call as a memento.  We had other duck calls on hand for other people use.  A dear friend instructed us on how to use a duck call.  We didn't heed his advice too well, but had a blast blowing the calls.

I know that my father-in-law would have loved this down home celebration.  It would have fit him perfectly.  Here are some random shots from the shindig.

  

Wondrous Art Wednesday

Christopher Bibby is my WAW Artist for this week.  I was instantly drawn to his work because of all the geometric elements to his paintings.  All of the lines and squares are just so pleasing to me.  He is participating in the SE Art Walk which is coming up in a couple of weeks.  I hope I get the chance to see his work in person. I would love to have one of his pieces hanging in my house. 

Dharma Bums Reunion

This past Saturday was a very fun and packed day.  That night we saw the Dharma Bums at the Crystal Ballroom.  The Dharma Bums are my husband's favorite band.  They are from his same small town and were a big influence in Portland in the early 1990's.  It's been 18 years since they played.  The concert was a fun reunion and my husband saw lots of childhood friends.  The night was filled with lots of dancing and of course, good music.  

Saturday afternoon we saw Legally Blonde as part of our Broadway season tickets series.  I fully admit that I had very low expectations for this show.  I've seen the movie.  It's cute, but a whole musical?  Especially since our last show was Xanadu, I expected more of that sort of thing.  I was very pleasantly surprised with this musical.  It was good!  The songs are great and the stage sets were wonderful.  There was something for everyone.  How can you go wrong with adorable dogs on stage?  I would recommend this musical to others.

Wondrous Art Wednesday

I definitely have glass on the brain.  I'm just so happy to get back into working with it after such a long dry spell.   I'm completely mesmerized by Andy Paiko's work.  The level of creative talent in Portland never ceases to amaze me.  These bell jars are stunning.  I can't wrap my brain around how complex and hard these must be to create. 

This working seismograph is arty and geeky all in one.  He's also made a working spinning wheel and working scales.  I would be afraid to touch, let alone use, these delicate pieces.

Definitely spend some time on his web-site.  His creations are breathtaking.  I can't wait to see a show in person.

Bargain Hunting 101 - February 2010

I always get excited for the semi annual Bargain Hunting 101 show at the Crystal Ballroom.  The sales can not be beat.  It's also so novel to have a full bar at a craft fair.  It always amazes me that Portlanders will wait in line for a craft fair.  The line to get in last Saturday circled the block. 

I didn't buy anything at this show, but there are a few items that I'm coveting.

These one of a kind jackets from Bella Sisters were stunning.  For the work that goes into them their prices are extremely reasonable, but at this time a bit too high for me.  It was great to see these jackets in person.

Dana Herbert's bags are incredible.  I bought one at the last show for my sister.  She loves it and uses it all the time.  I almost broke down and bought one for myself.

 

These necklaces by MOSS Handmade are even prettier in person.  I just love this idea.  I think I probably kicked myself the hardest over not buying one of these necklaces.   I definitely see one in my future.