The Glitch Mob at the Roseland Theater (06-04-10)

Anyway, the big name at the show at the Roseland Theater yesterday was the Glitch Mob, and the best way to describe this is badass Electronica. They were quite good. The walls and the floors were vibrating.
The most intriguing aspect of this concert was that the music was essentially sound-based and directed from computer touch pads. the guys were nice; they hugged fans, posed for photos, and in my case, signed my sketchbook.

Deru (?) at the Roseland Theater (06-04-10)

I was driving in my car last Sunday, listening to KBOO's Electronica show, when the DJ announced free a free promo for the 8th caller. Amazingly, I won tickets to a show at the Roseland Theater! So, the obvious guest was Julia (I couldn't imagine Gary ever wrapping his mind around Electronica...). We got there late, and I think that the performer playing when we got there may have been Deru. The other name on the bill was Free the Robots, so I am not entirely sure who was the DJ... Anyway, it was pretty loud and heavy Electronica.
(Speaking of Deru, if you click on the "Say Goodbye to Useless" album on his MySpace site, you can then click forward to "Fadeaway," a totally haunting remix of a -possibly Philip Glass?- clarinet piece.)

Pretty Young Woman at Flutter (06-03-10)

This young woman caught my attention because she reminded my of Julia, but an older, more sophisticated Julia. She was wearing a vintage sweater and skirt and a 1940s style flower ornament in her perfectly curled hair.

Urchin Dresses at Flutter (06-03-10)

Flutter carries the most amazing line of dresses. Urchin is a line of deconstructed formal dresses redone with elements from other dresses. They are exquisite, ethereal and extravagantly expensive.

Flutter Fourth Anniversary Party (06-03-10)

Flutter is my favorite shop in town to browse and marvel... So I couldn't miss their fourth anniversary party for anything. And for a rare glimpse into reality vs. sketches, here is also a photo of the scene I drew, but from a slightly different angle.

Kelsi W. (05-30-10)

This is a not-very-good sketch of Kelsi W., whose smile is a lot cuter than this.

Phi Theta Kappa Induction Ceremony (05-28-10)

Julia who started college last year at age 16, got inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. It is really a credit to all the work she's done, while looking totally unfazed. 
Each student's name was called one at a time and they had to go to a table to sign their name on an official document, light a candle from the candle set on the table, then walk across the floor to shake some guy's hand who gave each student a nice certificate with their name on it, then walk back to the table with the certificate and burning candle to pick up a white rose and then back to their space in the auditorium... It was totally weird, in a sort of nineteenth century pageant way.

I sketched a few of the people attending. The woman with the scarf was apparently a visiting officer from the national chapter of the honor society, but that didn't stop her from taking Julia's seat at the small dinner afterward (despite the presence of Julia's jacket and bag), and then from looking cross with us when Julia reclaimed her seat. That was a bit awkward.

Man in a Crowd (05-26-10)

I like this drawing; the man looks relaxed standing amidst a crowd at a meeting of the Oak Lodge Community Council.

The Mammogram (05-21-10)

I dread getting mammograms. I never used to worry about my breasts until my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and died.

Old Oak Tree (05-13-10)

Today, I directed the students in my adult Sketching class at the Walters Cultural Arts Center to work on sketches outdoors. While they were busy, I drew the old oak tree in front of the building.

Efficiency Expert at Church (05-11-10)

This is a sketch of an "Efficiency Expert"who came to give a presentation at my church.
She went in great details over the benefits of using the many (unmatched) mini lazy-susan spinning trays ("for toiletries!"), pink fabric drawer inserts ("so cute"), drawer organizers ("for toothbrushes and toothpaste!"), etc. she'd brought with her. It was a bit obsessive-compulsive, but to each his own...
Yet, the suggestion that these props were a necessary means to an organized house (and an implied condition for the ultimate goal of pleasing God) struck me as ridiculous and laughable. I don't think God cares about the state of my drawers.

At the Beauty School (05-08-10)

A nice sketch of a young woman at the Beauty School; she caught my attention because her haistyle reminded me of a young Parisian at the turn of the 20th century...

Quick Wall Study (05-06-10)

A quick sketch of a wall at the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro where I teach Art classes once a week.

New Sketchbook (05-01-10)

I started a new BomoArt sketchbook, and this one is areal beauty!

Elton John/Billy Joel Concert at the Rose Quarter (02-10-10)

We went to see the Face to Face Elton John and Billy Joel concert at the Rose Quarter stadium. After hearing Gary play their music for the last 29 years, I wasn't overly enthusiastic about going; but this concert was so fabulous, I was won over by the great music and the performers' showmanship. Great time.

 

This is a view of the stadium from where we were sitting. The music was so loud, I was glad we weren't sitting any closer...but it sure looked like the people at the front of the stage were having a blast.

Some sketches of Elton John, Billy Joel, a few band members and screen backdrops.

 The sketches above are of the audience near us. I drew Christopher (top right middle), Valérie (second at lower right) and Monica-Sophie (edge of page on lower right).

I found the souvenir paper sign on the way out of the stadium, near a table where T-shirts and Polo shirts were respectively being sold for $40 and...$60! What a rip!

Haunted-Looking House in the Old Neighborhood (ca. 03-09)

The Estate Sale over, it sat empty and forlorn, like a cursed, silent sentinel recalling terrible things passed.

The house came on the market two months after we bought our house in 1994. On a sunny afternoon, I went down the street to take a closer look at the house. I tried to peek in through the back windows, to see how it compared to our rambling fixer. Priced at $20,000 more, it was a clearly nicer house: cedar shake siding, boxed-beam ceilings, two staircases... A couple bought the house shortly thereafter.

Over the course of the following year or two, they embarked on a grand-scale remodeling project. Money was apparently no object. The roof was removed down to the attic floor, the siding was replaced after an earthquake-proof retro-fit of the outside walls, the attic walls were raised 3 ft., then the roof was rebuilt. Everyone in the neighborhood had an opinion about the project: they were either daring pioneers updating an old beat-up house in dire need of attention, or wild-eyed heretics bent on damaging a classic neighborhood landmark.

One day, when curiosity finally won over me, I knocked on the door and introduced myself. The wife, D., seemed pretty nice. She invited me in and offered to give me a tour of the house. I admired the curtains D. made out of brightly colored translucent silk to cover the small living room windows; but without a fireplace (removed to expand the back of the house), the space was now just like a large entryway. The dark stained furniture was Asian and Far Eastern; candles, statuettes and figurines were set on low tables and on shelves. D. told me of her plans to paint over the Pepto-Bismol Pink walls in the dining room, which clashed with the inviting cushions on a couch against the wall. I wished my house also came with glass chandeliers adorned with crystals. D. showed me the kitchen next. Even though it was spacious and one of the nicest new kitchens I'd ever seen at the time, it didn't fit with the Arts and Crafts details in the house. Her husband, J. had removed the service staircase; the back of the living room had been merged into an eating space and two columns were awkwardly merged into a wall. Still, I couldn't help comparing it to the orange Formica eyesore-of-a-kitchen in my own house. I felt envious. Right off the kitchen, French doors opened to a peaceful private yard fenced with tall bamboo. Back inside, D. led me to a wide, airy staircase going up to the upper floors. The rooms upstairs were spacious; the bathroom was old-fashioned and lovely, with a great clawfoot tub; there was ample storage space in a linen cabinet nearby. On the third floor, the attic had been transformed into a Master Suite/Palace with skylights, luxurious-feeling carpeting, a balcony at the back, and an amazing bathroom with expensive fittings; beautiful tiles covered the floor and walls. I wondered why I'd ended up with my ugly house, while these people had been fortunate to end up with a house I would have loved as it was before its unnecessary remodel, Craftsman detail et all.

I disliked D.'s husband J. as soon as as I met him: here was the driving force behind the dismantling of some of the things that had made this house great from the start. J., when asked, said they had moved from Northern California, and was vague about his occupation: he was, he said, and entrepreneur. Looking around at the messed-up living room, I thought that meant "Nouveau Riche." J. was clearly proud of his work on the house. To remove the chimney, he had instructed his stepson to go down to the basement and hammer away at the chimney's base with a mallet until the chimney came unraveling down the walls! J. then bragged that he would sell the house for over $300,000 in a few years' time (this, after buying it for a mere $160,000), and then he would buy himself five acres to raise sheep. What a jerk, I thought. He had messed up a perfectly great house.

As the years went by, and even though we lived down a block around the corner, I lost sight of D. and J. Although two of our children were the same age as theirs, we just ran in different circles. But I shook my head in disgust every time I drove up the street and saw the large 80s style round window looming at the top of the stairwell; it was like an open, unblinking eye. And like the rood over the side porch entrance, it was ostentatious...but, I had to admit, it somehow fit. Perched on top of a small earthen berm, the house, with its steep roof and tall trees nearby was grand.

Time went on. I rarely saw any activity near the house, only dim lights on the inside. The ubiquitous Tibetan prayer flags were frayed from flapping in the winter winds and faded from the hard summer sun. The concrete walls supporting the property were leaning a bit more each year; moss covered the slowly crumbling porch stairs.

Then, one day, I saw a sign advertising an Estate Sale on the sidewalk in front. I went down to the house, wondering if the owners were perhaps moving.

The house was full of people looking for a bargain. But what immediately caught my attention were the dirty, worn floors, and the grime all over. The kitchen in disarray; cabinet doors were torn off the hinges; granite counters were broken and chipped. The yard, - the once peaceful Asian bamboo-fenced refuge -, was overgrown with weeds, its small altar askew, the steps off the porch broken. The moldy smelling basement suggested long-term problems. As for the items for sale, they suggested misery, catastrophic events, or a hasty departure: a few pieces of prohibitively priced import furniture, a collection of old Grateful Dead CDs, half-burnt incense sticks, worn, faded cushions, rusty paint cans, unidentifiable tools, a few cans of food, half empty bags of cereals, mismatched cups and plates, and scraggly potted plants sitting here and there...

What had happened? Where was D.? Was this a moving sale, I asked the weary-looking man minding the cash box set on a card table. Looking away, he reluctantly gave me the shocking news: the owner, J., had recently passed away, and D. had herself had passed away from cancer several years before...

A sketch of Marty Feldman (02-03-10)

Recently, it seems that everyone on Facebook has been posting celebrity look-alike photos as profile pictures. I wanted to do something different, so rather than putting up a photo found on the web, I decided to draw my own profile image... This drawing was inspired by a shot of Marty Feldman in his role as Igor ("eye-gore") in "Young Frankenstein" (1974).

TV: "Lost": Last Season Premiere (02-02-10)

We've been without a television since the beginning of November, so we watched the much-anticipated Lost season opener at the house of some friends of ours (delicious brownies).

Like every time I've watched Lost, I didn't understand anything to what was happening. (In a nutshell: Locke isn't really himself, 'cause he's dead; Jacob is God-like but gets killed nevertheless; Sayid dies but -just kiddin'- he wasn't really dead after-all; various alternate reality situations run parallel to each other, etc.)

I did these drawings in my sketchbooks during the show.

We found a house...I think (01-19-10)

This is the house we may be buying. We just had a home inspection yesterday. The thing that really freaks me out, though (aside from the many repairs necessary), is that there are hobo spiders...

Faces at Church (01-17-10)

You might wonder why there are so many entries about Church... I simply find people at Church to be an unending source of material for quick sketches.

Some familiar faces

Portrait: Moso (01-16-10)

A quick sketch of Moso, that doesn't totally look like her...

Moso?