Portland Highlights

July 29, 2006

Within two hours of landing at the Portland airport we were at Bolt Fabric Boutique (probably a new record). It’s in the Alberta Arts District with lots of other funky shops and restuarants (check out Tin Shed for brunch - yummy scrambled egg dishes). Here’s some artists who were busy painting a great mural on the local bike shop.

By early evening, crafters and artists had taken over the street for blocks and blocks for the Final Thursday on Alberta. I got this groovy clock from a woman who calls herself Ruby the Resorceress who makes jewelry and other fun stuff using recyled cans and bottle caps. Recycled art and clothes seem very big here in Portland.

The next day we had Peruvian lunch in the Pearl District with fellow bloggers Geri, June, and Terry. Gerri has already posted the whole story of our lunch, so please read it on her blog, Crazy for Fiber. In spite of the fact I had a Mojito at lunch, we still had enough energy to visit several excellent galleries in the Pearl - especially amazing was an exhibit of glass sculptures by Anna Skibska at the Bullseye Gallery.

Today has been spent in the search of beauty of another kind. No, I don’t have mud on my face, it’s a wild seaweed facial. This was after I had a Coffee Bliss body scrub! We’re staying at spa hotel, I like to call it Cannibal Spa because they have all these kooky beauty regimes that involve food. After they put the vanilla flax bags on my eyes, I thought they were going to pop me in the oven — yumm!

Filed Under journeys | Leave a Comment 

Wild Weeds

July 26, 2006

Last weekend we visited our friends, Karen and Robert, who live in a fairy-tale kind of house, maybe like Jack went to visit after he climbed the Beanstalk. It’s surrounded by acres of interesting plants and sculptures, and I’ve blogged about their great art collection before. This visit I had a great time driving around on the paths in a funky little electric car called a Gem and sketching the art.

After I got home, I finished this drawing called “Wild Sculpture, Wild Weeds.” In case you think I’ve become paranoid about plants (maybe I have…) another influence on this drawing was seeing the new Pirates of the Caribean movie. Need I say more?

Seems like I’ve only been home for a moment, but tomorrow we leave again for a family reunion on the west coast. The wedding on Saturday should be very interesting. I’m trying to figure out what to wear for a hayride!

Filed Under drawings | Leave a Comment 

99 Bottles of Beer

July 21, 2006

Here’s what I’ve been doing since I promised to make art in the mornings. No, not hanging out in bars but making one. I still have to add the Club Brassy Toe sign as seen through the door, a fight scene on tv, and a few more details. But hey, aren’t all those bottles beautiful? It’s my favorite part of the quilt so far. I’d add more, but I’m a little hung over from cutting out so many.

At RuBert Studios, we’re pretty selective about the fabrics we use. In fact there was an intensive audition of fabrics before the final cut. (snicker). Here’s a behind the scenes look at how it went….on the road to Project Yankee Doodle (my short working title for this quilt, but not the real title).

“Stripey TwoTone, it seems you haven’t achieved your full potential as far as a personal style. You’re out.”

“Wavey Plaidster, stop there and don’t even open your portfolio. You’re out.”

“And Dimpley Polka McDot, we’re sending you to the next level!”

Filed Under process | 5 Comments 

Illustration Friday: Sacrifice

July 19, 2006

This week’s theme for Illustration Friday is “sacrifice.” I thought it would be a good time to practice drawing cannibals since we’re going on a trip next week, and I think there might be some at our hotel. When I googled “cannibals” to get some ideas, this photo came up first. It’s from some joke site and pretty corny, but that kid in the cook pot cracked me up.

Filed Under drawings, illustration friday | Leave a Comment 

Time to Make Art

July 17, 2006

A couple of years ago, I saw my friend Laura had a watch that said, “Time to go to your studio and Make some art” on the face (she’s a sculptor). She said her son gave it to her, and it really worked. So I spend a lot of time searching the internet for a watch like that but never found one.

In the meantime, I started collecting plastic cartoon watches that I thought looked funny or cool. One of my favorites is gray with red question marks all over it. Recently I just got this Swatch watch with cheese and toast. And like swiss cheese, it really has some holes in the band.

The idea behind my watch collection was that even if they don’t say “go to your studio” at least when I look at the time, they remind me to lighten up and do some art. Last year my goal was to spend at least three hours a day in the studio, trying to start by 3 p.m. at the latest. I did pretty good with that goal last year and finished something like six or seven big quilts.

This year my goal has been to make one quilt a month because I have a solo show coming up in December, and I really need to get some new work done. Now that it’s mid-year, it’s a good time to evaluate how I’m coming along on my goal. So here’s my evaluation: I stink.

It’s July and here’s what I’ve done — one really big quilt and one teeny-tiny one. D-minus. Reminds me of the time I got a progress report in Algebra II at mid-term, and I tore it up, burnt it up, and flushed it down the toilet before my dad got home. (I hope he’s not reading this). My reasoning being, it was only mid-term, and I could work hard and make it better so I didn’t really need to show it to anyone. (I think I did make it better, didn’t I?)

Anyway, being an optimist, the glass is half full, it is only July, and I can start working harder. So now I’m going to rearrange my schedule and start doing art first thing in the morning, which makes a lot of sense anyway because the warehouse is cooler in the morning and so is my studio. My new goal is to do accomplish some art everyday by NOON!

There. I’ve written it down, so now I have to do it. Only problem is I’m afraid to hit the “publish” button, because you see, if I publish it then I really will have to do it…. right Dad?

Filed Under drawings | Leave a Comment 

Art is a Lie

July 15, 2006

Jo was right, those steroids I was taking for the poison ivy last week made me peppy, no, something even more extreme - they turned me into a re-organization Tasmania devil (you know who I’m talking about, the little hairy guy who makes tornados everywhere he goes). Made a tornado and filed a room stacked full of old papers dating back to 2001. Then another tornado and re-organized my sewing room at home. Tornadoed in and out of few junk clothes closets. But the most serious tonado happened in my office at the studio.

Since we had an unused desk in another room, I had the bright idea to move it into my office for my art projects. With two desks, I could have a separation of business and art! The small flaw in this plan: I had to give up my sofa. Oh well, I shouldn’t be taking naps during the day anyway.

I hate office work, but love office supplies. Even more, I love art supplies. So the prospect of shopping for trendy new office stuff and art supplies is much more appealing than doing real work. I was looking for for skull-themed office products, but I guess that hasn’t hit yet. However, the selection of colors especially at Staples is so much better lately — hmmm, should I use purple or orange file folders? Why not both!

Now that my art desk is set up, I don’t want to spend any time at my business desk. My art desk is facing out, away from the wall — much better feng shui than the one facing the corner. However, nothing else in the drawing is like real life — in real life, my office has orange and red walls, the desks are brown and gray, I only wish I had purple carpet, the mail doesn’t come by carrier pigeon, and the dog sleeps in the doorway, not under the desk. But it’s like a quote I heard from an eight-year in Cincinnati….. “Art is a lie that tells the truth.”

Filed Under drawings | Leave a Comment 

It’s Only a Leaf

July 6, 2006

So here’s what I did on the Fourth of July…the fireworks were on my legs, so I sat around and watched them explode into lovely reds and purples. For all my jokes about urban camping, I guess I brushed up against some poisen ivy last week at Mac’s Sculpture Farm near Cincinnati and wasn’t smart enough to wash it off.

This is the worst I’ve ever had, actually got sick and finally went to the doctor. He was very nice and gave me whole sackful of remedies. Now that I’m doped up on steriods, inside and out, I’m waiting for some bulging muscles to appear. Unfortunately my tummy muscle is the only thing bulging so far, probably because when the doc said take the steriods with food, I assumed he meant Egg McMuffins and chocolate cake.

In case you’re wondering about the drawing, it was inspired by my graceful attempts to sleep without my legs touching, the thing looking the through the window is a “shrubbery,” Adam and Eve are unavoidable, the little hand back-scratcher, well just because they’re creepy, and celery - well, last night we watched Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and I decided that vegetables can be funny.

Filed Under drawings | Leave a Comment