Portrait: Julia (02-05-12)

A nice little portrait of Julia which, I think, captures self-confidence, charm, and fragility...

Miss Jules...

In Memoriam (01-18-12)

I did this drawing in memory of Nyle S. whose wife is a dear friend...

Portrait (12-11-11)

A quick portrait of Kim E. who has a lovely smile.

I was a vendor at the DaVinci Arts Fair (12-04-11)

Here is what my table looked like at the Da Vinci Arts Fair. I was selling blank cards of my pen and ink drawings and some knitted scarves (too bad I don't make jewelry, because I'd have made a killing...Sigh...)

Model Call for Portland Bridal Show (12-04-11)

My oldest daughter Moso wanted to audition for the Portland Bridal Show, and asked me to take her to the model call at Benson High School. Since I was there, I figured, I might as well try out for "mother of the bride." Alas, neither of us got selected :(

While I was waiting, I did this quick sketch of the judges' table; I like that just a few lines give an idea of the bored poses.

Belgians in Portland (12-01-11)

After living for years in the Portland area, it was quite a nice surprise to find out that there is a group of Belgians who meet once a month to have a drink and chat!
The meeting place is Bazi, a small brasserie off of Hawthorne Blvd. which, despite less-than-stellar service, has the distinct advantage of offering a large selection of Belgian beers and Belgian-inspired Happy Hour menu items.
Everyone is pretty nice, and it's always a pleasure to meet, and to know that despite the language barrier (most attendees are from Flanders, while Yours Truly is from Wallonia and speaks French) we all have this small country we cherish in common.

RACC Open House (12-01-11)

What a party! The Regional Arts and Culture Council had an Open House to celebrate their move to their beautiful new headquarters in the Park Blocks. Large windows; lots of exposed bricks and natural wood.

Artist Leslie E. at left

Despite the cold, the place was packed. I walked around and observed people.

"Performance art is so powerful. How did you attach the harness?"

 It was the usual art scene, people talking and networking, drink in hand.

Signature removed to protect the Mayor's privacy.

 I was very pleased to run into Sam Adams, the Mayor of Portland. I got him to sign my sketchbook!

MAP Meeting at Rex Putnam High School (11-30-11)

Since I live within the area concerned, and curious to see what has been finalized for the McLoughlin Area Plan, I decided to attend the meeting that had been scheduled at Rex Putnam High School.

McLoughlin Blvd.

McLoughlin Blvd/Hwy. 99 is an eyesore. The necessary-evil-throughway from Portland to Oregon City, it is littered with car dealerships, parking lots, and strip clubs. There are practically no sidewalks, the traffic is intense, and is quasi-impossible to cross on foot. The focus of this meeting was to present the improvement ideas and concerns that had been brought up during several planning meetings over the course of the last several months.

Oak Lodge Citizenry

There was a large crowd present, and people were given the opportunity to "vote" on some points of the presentation given by the planning committee by clicking on audience response cards that had been provided.

Now, most of the people present seemed to be in their 50s, and a majority of them were men. Not your Portland hipster crowds, but more like the type that go hunting or fishing on the weekend. I was sitting in front of a group of reactionary Neanderthal types, who seemed to take pride in voting down anything that was presented on the screen, and were snickering like middle-school kids at terms such as "job incubator area."

One of the proposals that was met with strong opposition was the idea of Section 8 housing being built at the site of the Elks Lodge, suggestive that these people think that such housing would bring undesirables to the area. I briefly wondered whether this reflected more than just an economic class concern...

From what was said during the Question/Comments part of the meeting, one gathers that these people don't care that any improvements be done to McLoughlin Blvd. They like it as it is. I can't understand the mindset, given the trashy looks of the highway, the abundance of outdated mobile home parks that border it, and all the side streets with potholes! Clearly, we are not in Beaverton. No. Leave everything as it is. Just don't anyone touch their homes, and bring on Walmart!

As for me, I would love to see a Trader Joe's, and if there is one now on SE 82nd Ave., -McLoughlin's twin with used car dealerships and unsavory characters-, there is no good reason to not have one here also. I am sure that (at least many of) the residents in this area, such as people who live in homes in the vicinity of River Rd., would support it.

Self-Portrait (11-27-11)

...Although a common thread runs throughout, self-portraits looks different because the end result is affected by one's self-perception at the moment.

Traveler with a Heavy Heart

Alliance Française Get-together (11-21-11)

I went to the Brasserie Montmartre for a get-together organized by the French Alliance. French folk singer Tété was present (in town for a concert). I took the opportunity to do a quick sketch of him and asked him to sign my sketchbook.

French chanteur Tété

Dark-haired beauty

I did this sketch of a striking young woman who sat across from met; her hair was black, and with the eyes the darkest shade of dark, she looked like an Iranian princess who had stepped out of the One Thousand and One Nights into Modern Times...

My friend Sian A. likes to participate in French Alliance activities. I enjoyed the relaxed, informal ambiance of this particular meeting.

Plucky Maidens Junk Fest (11-19-11)

I was a vendor at the Plucky Maidens Junk Fest at the McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. During a lull in the afternoon, I did this sketch of the area near my booth.

Cool things to buy

Art Spark November Event (11-17-11)

The November Art Spark event was at Vie de Bohême, a wine bar in Southeast. I was a bit annoyed that they would charge $ 3 for a Coke with Grenadine, and their Happy Hour dishes were of the crusty piece of bread with puréed olive variety, but for 4 Bucks! 

Schmoozing for the Arts

So I hung out some and watched the crowds. It was as usual, more arts administrators than artists -everybody loves the Arts, everybody supports the Arts-. There was a tedious-looking recycling-themed Bingo game, undoubtedly to get people to talk with each other, that I didn't event want to bother with, since the room was totally dark and the cards were illegible. After a presentation by RACC staff ("I don't know what I'm doing, but I sure love it!"), some other organization with a purported recycling-cum-arts-focus called Create Plenty presented their program, with a very pregnant young woman gushing over and over about an ongoing fundraiser of some sort. Then, there was a drawing, and I won a weird bag made out of an old Joe Camel t-shirt turned inside out, with some homemade cleaning products in used glass jars (one of them with a Tostitos label still on).

Concert for Veterans (11-12-11)

A great concert by the Oregon Symphonic Band last night! As always, they were fantastic, and we are so glad our son Christopher found this excellent group to play with (he plays the contra-alto clarinet and the soprano clarinet).

Veterans' Day was just a couple of days ago, so there were a few older veterans in the audience at Milwaukie High School, who seemed to appreciate being asked to stand up at the end of the concert.

I am not necessarily into military-themed music, but I particularly enjoyed the Commando March by Samuel Barber, and the very engaging and danceable parts of the Medley from Miss Saigon by Claude-Michel Schoenberg (arr. Warren Barker).

From our standpoint, the most enjoyable moment was to see the high school band students sitting a couple of rows ahead of us, who, when the closing number (Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa) was announced, all became very attentive (clearly a piece they were familiar with); they clearly were very impressed by the piccolo part (brilliantly played by Jesus Cruz)!

The Marriage of Figaro (11-10-11)

My friend Sian A. invited me to go to the Keller Auditorium to see The Marriage of Figaro with her. Although I like Mozart, I am not a fan of opera, but the costumes and set were fabulous! And it was nice to see this production after reading a review of it in the paper.

"He deserves not forgiveness, who does not forgive"

Washington Politician (11-04-11)

I'm constantly amazed by the crookedness of politicians. After seeing the gleeful look of this guy in the story in the paper, I decided to do a caricature of him that would expand on the expression on his face...

Bwahahaaah!

Hat and Scarf (10-30-11)

While at church, I tried to draw my green hat and yellow scarf which were placed on the top edge of the bench in front of me.

Sushiland!!! (10-27-11)

This is one of my favorite sketches: the revolving food display display at Marinepolis Sushiland.
I carefully chose my food, took my time with the sketch, and had a generally very relaxing experience.

I love sushi!

Portrait: Lawrence H. (10-23-11)

I hesitate to put a name to this sketch because it looks so little like the person... Not all sketches are successful, and this definitely is not a good one from that standpoint, and yet, I still like the finished results.

Not a good resemblance

Get-together at the Watts' (10-22-11)

Just Married! (10-21-11)

Our daughter Valérie got married, and despite our limited resources, it was a beautiful wedding.

For the reception, I bought some dark brown tablecloths on Craigslist. Then, I bought some vintage china from varied places, such as auctions or the Goodwill outlet, and these plates were set mixed up on the tables, so that it looked classic yet informal. The flower bouquet centerpieces, in yellows, reds and browns came from the Costco in Hillsboro which has a large floral department. Simple decorations in the church's Cultural Hall: brown and gold ribbons attached to the wall sconces. To finish it off, we had potted trees and shrubs in various places around the room and on the stage, all wrapped in metallic gold gift wrap with red ribbons and bows. But best of all, Valérie's dress came from my personal collection of vintage wedding dresses, a $3.00 purchase.

The food served was cold cuts and sandwich makings, and delicious hot food from Café Yumm. The cake came from Beaverton Bakery, an old-fashioned 2-tiered beauty, which despite arriving damaged was delicious nevertheless; as the damage was discovered when the box was opened, a replacement cake with simpler decorating was dispatched immediately... but that one also arrived damaged... Well, this with the bride's bouquet accidentally scheduled for a day later, -quick recovery on the part of New Seasons in Lake Oswego-, were the unpredictable moments of the day. With the extra cake, and everyone at the reception fed to satiety, there was an entire sheet cake from Costco left... which I took downtown and gave away in the Homeless section of the Occupy Portland camp.


But what mattered was how much in love with each other Valérie and Patrick looked...

Patrick (with bandage!) and Valérie

Movie: Dracula (10-14-11)

We watched the Francis Ford Coppola 1992 version of Dracula. Aside from a being pretty bloody, with Keanu Reeves in one of the leading roles, it was altogether creepy.