Art in the Pearl Eye Candy

What a beautiful week in the North Park Blocks of Portland. Despite cool temperatures and rain we had a brilliant turn out for the eleventh year of Art in the Pearl.

Look what I bought from Amanda Blake. Two oil paintings of such tender beauty that I will feel nourished by them forever. So intelligent.

I get shivers looking into the expressions of the faces she paints. This is where I live. Didn't I pick out good ones?

And here is the fair woman herself; as lovely as her work and just as authentic. Deep and gentle.

Oh, there were so many outstanding artists this year that I couldn't stop clicking my camera. Above is the work of the excellent Ms. Chris Giffin. The link will take you to her page at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery.

Diane Culhane was there with a body of work that I liked very much. She's using more white in her paintings now which adds contrast and a whole new look.

Ann Fleming brought her gentle and technically difficult bronzes that just keep getting more amazing all the time.

Anthony Hansen was there with his big sculptures made from recycled parts. You can read about his extraordinary technique at his website.

There was outstanding entertainment all weekend long. My favorite were these stunning women from India who danced and thrilled us with their exotic presence.

Jana Grover came from San Francisco and brought her painting of a blue javelina. She explained to me that they are not pigs but rather peccaries which is a type of rodent. Cool!

She did the crow ten commandments, two of which are pictured above. Wish I had photos of all of them to show you. They were very clever and very funny.

Eileen Goldenberg is the President of International Encaustic Artists and I am her fan club. She is someone I look up to as a brilliant artist and an advanced human being. Her work is breath taking. She came to us too from the bay area and if you are lucky enough to travel there, she teaches from time to time. Highly recommended.

Jim C. Brown travelled to us from Canada and has always worked in plaster. He is experimental and likes to poke the envelope as I do. This year he is painting great troweled pigmented plaster paintings on board (beautifully!) that I adored. He sands and fiddles with them - bravo, well done!!

Lisa Burge came from Taos, NM and brought her oil paintings and monotypes. Oh, to take a class from her. I love her work; it makes me wonder at it's mystery. I want to get inside her paintings - they are so compelling.

Marilynn Host is a paper mache and gourd artist from San Martin, CA and she brought her little piggies, crows and other colorful creatures to make us happy. I love paper mache. These creations really made me want to play in the studio.

Mark Heimann is here because he dresses like a pirate and I think he's awfully cute. hee hee. Seriously, he is a fine ceramic artist and has been active on many art boards in Portland throughout the years. He also has a line of pirateware that is sure to bring a smile.

Wendy Dunder is the artist who has fabricated these amazing art lamps out of shaped wood and tissue paper. My photos cannot begin to show the beauty and craftsmanship involved.

She has better photos than this at her website.

Terry McIlrath is a friend and my own guru. Over our long friendship he has held up the lantern of truth many times for me (as has his partner Debra). They work together under the name of Joule Fine Art and their work is delightful and always changing. I love the variety in all his design elements - I could stare at one painting endlessly.

Sa Boothroyd is a painter and printmaker from Canada that I first met two decades ago at the Bellevue Art Fair. John and I both purchased her prints from her then and love the work she is doing now in painting. I love to see how we've all evolved over the years.

Vladimir Ovtcharov is an artist who was born in Bulgaria and whose work really defies description.

Part oil painting, part assemblage, these complex shadow boxes full of mystery and beauty just exist to delight and inspire. His work has been quite different in the years I have seen it here; always new and better with each change.

A fine Portland tradition. A horse tied up the the horse rings that were embedded in the concrete curbs so long ago.

At the end of the fair John and I repaired to our favorite Mexican food restaurant to enjoy a faustian repast. (I'll diet tomorrow.)

I couldn't resist showing John and his creations. He is an artist of the soil and a good one too.

Several announcements. You must sign up for Artfest 2009 today. I'm sorry not to have given more advance notice but that's the way this week has gone. If you know about Artfest you know it fills up on the first day and you must get your letter off on time.

Secondly: Kelly Rae's book, Taking Flight arrived on my doorstep last Friday and it is a wonderful book. My technique is the final chapter showing one of my encaustic collaged paintings and how I made it (Kelly Rae takes our instructions and does a work of her own following the general guidelines) ... a very nice book that includes artist interviews with a hand full of artists and loads of techniques for you to try in your own way. If you're like me and curious about how other artists approach their work, this one will surely have something new for you. Kelly is a very inspiring role model for anyone who wants to launch a new art career.

I have more but will post again; sending out love to everyone who visited me at my booth and in particular missy Allegra who told enchanting stories involving everything from Cordon Bleu cooking to Chinese Ambassadors and life in Venezuela, Spain and beyond. My imagination reeled at the pictures she painted.

All for today. More soon.