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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

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.

32 comments:

Ro Bruhn said...

What a fabulous fair. So much inspiration, I love it all, I'm glad to see there are other people out there who paint with so much colour too. Thanks for sharing Judy.

Unknown said...

Thanks for all the eye candy. I'm going to "cuddle up" with my laptop tonight and cruise the sites you mentioned.

Funny that you mention the coming of Fall in your last post. It's toasty in the 100's in lovely Phoenix, lol...

Marissa

A.Smith said...

Of course to us the best part of the whole thing was to spend some magical time with you, but that is because I am selfish and enjoy every second of your company. Your art isn't bad either ;-)

I love you, be safe and lets get together when you return.

Allegra

Carla Sonheim said...

I'm going to be busy following all those links, Judy. Wonderful artists... thank you for sharing them with us! And I LOVE the paintings you purchased... oh!

liz elayne lamoreux said...

oh what a feast to take in...thank you for sharing these incredible artists...

next year i want to come and help you in your booth (not kidding...think of the fun!)

this time next week i will be enjoying food and drink and the sound of your laughter...how that fills me up with joy!

much love,
liz

Heather Simpson-Bluhm said...

I always love hearing about your fair adventures. Imagine my surprise to see Marilyn Host amongst your features here. I know Marilyn from when I used to have an art gallery and worked with her in many shows. She lives not far from me. Can't wait to see you at ArtFest!!

Lynn Cohen said...

Thanks for taking us to the art show/festival in Portland.
I think your husband's onions are ART and the photos of them too!

I do like the art you bought, and I like that paper mache creature!

Kelly Kilmer said...

*thank you* for these fabulous links!!!!

femminismo said...

I loved Amanda Blake's things. I wish I had taken as many photos as you did. Now I have to wait a whole 'nother year. (We both took photos of the small ponies on the sidewalks for our blogs!) Diane Culhane's work is also exceptional. I want something of hers real soon. Good to talk to you and meet John. I didn't want to monopolize you. I could have, too! love & kisses - Jeanne

MB Shaw said...

Enjoyed seeing some of the other artists from the show. Lisa Burge was next to me at Plaza a couple years ago. Her work is fantastic. The others were all new to me though and I need to explore the links. Thxs!

Anonymous said...

there you go my love,
spinning in orbit around the movers and shakers
of the great northwest art scene.
tell me...
can i be your moon?

Judy said...

OMG what a brilliant bevvy of talent.

John Gascot said...

WOW!!!! Eye Candy indeed!!!
I'm gonna have to revisit this post to go through all of the artists' sites. I want one of everything!!!

And that Anthony Hansen...hubba hubba...I mean I love his work (I seriously do). LOL!

Stephanie Lee said...

OMGOMGOMG!! How I would have knocked miss MA off her mooning orbit around you just to get to be a mouse in your pocket. You've listed some of my favorite artists here (HUGE Amanda Blake fan, admittedly)!!

Vince and I were lucky enough to make a spontaneous journey to Park City when our flight out of Salt Lake was delayed a whole day. We didn't know it was right smack in the middle of the Park City Arts Festival and Oh MY GOODNESS...did we feast our eyes! I saw Anthony AND Jim there and felt like a goofy school girl...hanging out in their booths long enough to shake their hands and chat a bit. Kelly Rae gifted me with one of Anthony's pieces and I've been in love ever since....with his pieces, that is. :) And Jim's work...he had some tree transfers on plaster that had me swooning, I tell you....SWOONING!!! Poor Vince had to pick me up of the ground, gather up what admiration I hadn't spilled all over those guys, and tuck it in his pocket for himself. :)
THANK YOU for sharing this! Next year I plan on feasting in Portland! :)

Candace said...

Wonderful post, Judy. Thanks to you and One Day At A Time's feminissmo (sp?), too, for sharing! Those photos are as yummy as that dish of Mexican you had. That first face... simply remarkable.

And the Bulgarian artist... what is in the water over there? Incredible work!

Going to register for Artfest now.
Big Hug,
Candace

katie said...

thank you for all your sharing - you always have surprised up your sleeve for us to enjoy and this time all these amazing artist links.

LOVE your Amanda Blake pieces - i'm such a fan of hers as well.

Jodi Ohl said...

I love the tour you took us on, so many fabulously talented artists. I wish I could have been there!

Unknown said...

Hi Judy,

I'm passing on the "I *Heart* Your Blog" award because I love your blog!
Please check m-artologist dot blogspot dot com for more info. Thank you for all the inspiration!

Marissa

Chris said...

Wow. When you said 'candy', you weren't kidding. Thanks for sharing all these artists with us. I will be checking them all out one by one.

Be Well!

Lila Rostenberg said...

Hello Judy!
Thanks for the wonderful art fair tour!
I have left an award for you on my blog...you may "Pick it up" if you like!

ginny said...

Wonderful post, Judy. I have spent the morning (well maybe not the whole morning) clicking on each artist's link. Thank you!

Jazz said...

Thank you for introducing me to all these wonderful artists. I'll have to bookmark this post so I can go exploring their websites at leisure. Hours of beauty down the line..

Chris said...

Hi Judy!
Thank you, oh, thank you for posting all those fabulous artists! So many wonderful, beautiful artists. See you in Cedarburg next month, woohoo!

Candace said...

Oh Judy, please go pick up a little something for you on my blog.
Your work and your posts have helped me so much as so many others have -- but yours was the first. I had seen you in Cloth Paper Scissors and from then on, I was simply lost in Artland.
Candace

Heather, paperfollies.typepad.com said...

wow, thank you for introducing me to so many amazing artists...i will be wandering their sites for a long time! xo

Tricia said...

i love every second of this post judy!

Anonymous said...

OMG Judy- what eye candy you have given us!!! And tell John I am soooo jealous of his crop. My own crops were sad this year... my soil needs some lovin. Looking forward to seeing you soon!!

Chris said...

Thanks for sharing all these artists with us. Isn't it great what variety is out there and how it inspires? I have also been inspired by your answers to Seth's Pulse questions on The Altered Page. I just read the one from In the Groove 3, and it's fabulous!

Kel said...

Eye candy indeed! Keith and I loved Portland and the Pearl when we visited after Artfest this year, and I wish we could just transport there to see all the ART!

prism said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
prism said...

Thanks for sharing - I especially love the art lamps - wow! I think I need to start attending some art fairs.

Your artwork in your blog header reminds me of this painter:
http://www.adriepaint.naievekunst.nl/

Lovely.

Becky Mairi Farrell said...

What amazing art on show, wish I could have seen it all in person. Hope you're having a good time away.