Judy – Page 64 – Dear Liza

Multnomah Village Part 2

Once we found our way into town and parked, we got to know Multnomah Village better.

It was founded way back in the 1910s as a town south of Portland as a stop on the Oregon Electric Railroad. The city had a school, post office, grocery store, hardware stores, all the things a town needs. But in 1950, it was annexed (that means swallowed up) by the rapidly growing city of Portland.

Many of the old buildings are still there, and the whole place (now called Multnomah Village) has been designated as a Historic Landmark, which means the buildings must be kept in their historic condition.

We accidentally had arrived on their special Earth Day celebration! There were activities at the Neighborhood House with people making birdhouses, music at the small town plaza, and lots of folks out visiting and strolling.

But before anything, we needed lunch. We stopped at Fat City, an old fashioned diner that has been in this same location and run by the Johnson family since 1976. The decor is a hypnotizing collage of license plates, street signs, and, well, just about everything.

It was busy and pleasant, with most of the folks knowing each other. The menu was standard diner fare, and tasty enough. We mostly enjoyed looking at everything while keeping starvation at bay.

We continued down the street to Annie’s Books, a store called ComeUnity, which supports local artists and donates to food banks, and more people watching. The plant shop was giving away seedlings, and Auntie Bridgett snagged me a replacement cucumber for my slug-eaten ones. They will go into the garden Monday.

And then we hit the jackpot! The Multnomah Arts Center has been developed from the elementary school of the old town of Multnomah. The school was started 1913 but soon became too small for the growing population. The expanded building was taken over by the city in 1979 and has been run as the Arts Center ever since. The Center has dozens of art, craft, drama, and music teachers. They teach hundreds of classes a year!

The beautifully decorated school is the perfect location for this sort of community focused art center. Each type of art has space for its special equipment, like 19 throwing wheels and 7 kilns for the ceramics classes and two entire rooms full of looms for the textile classes.

The murals which cover the walls above the doors speak of the community involvement. The murals were designed by Aimee Erikson and drawn and painted on canvas by over 700 volunteers, then hung like wallpaper. The cohesive, charming style put me at ease right away. I want to come take classes here!

Once we had walked all over the Arts Center, we were pooped and it was time to had home. But I will be back.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Multnomah Village Part 1

Dear Liza,

This past weekend, Auntie Bridgett, Grandpa Nelson and I went to a new place! Well, actually, it is an old place, but new to us. It is called Willamette Village, and we didn’t know anything about it. On the way, we actually got a bit lost.

We stopped outside of town to ask directions, at a building that just happened to contain artist studios! We spent the next hour visiting with the artists we met there. Diane Erickson does fascinating impressionist encaustic portraits. Her “Women with Attitude” series is amazingly fun, and many seem like someone we might know.

Brenda Boylan does beautifully realistic oil paintings. Many of her landscapes look like lots of other landscapes, but her painting of a sunny coffee shop captures so much of what we love about coffee shops that we couldn’t stop looking at it.

Finally we came upon Chas Martin. He does a type of sculpture I have never seen before, and we spent a lot of time talking, looking and just being amazed at his process and his product.

Chas uses wire to create a shape, standing it up on a wooden base while he shapes it with pliers.

Once he gets it the shape he wants, he covers it with rice paper and a polymer. This creates a three dimensional shape with a surface he can paint. He mounts the finished piece on a marble base to give it stability.

Some of his shapes stand, but some seem to float or fly. Some seem solid, but others have a transparency that is magical.

We chatted and ogled until it became clear that LUNCH needed to be in our near future. I am sure we will be back to this wonderful home of art!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A More Complicated Art Journal

Dear Liza,

I love learning how to make new things! Auntie Bridget gave me a great book called ”Making Books by Hand” by Mary McCarthy and Phillip Manna which had lots of new ways to make books. At first they all seemed really hard, but the more I looked at them, I thought, “I bet I can do that.”

I have been collecting thin, stiff cardboard to use for the covers, and this week I started. First, I cut two pieces each for the front and back covers. Yes, two pieces each.

This type of book is called a “fixed spine”. Not fixed as in ‘repaired’, but as in ’not moving’. After cutting fabric for the spine and paper for the cover, I spread glue on the front cover pieces.

I used a nice nubbly blue fabric and a Portland map for the covers of the book. The gap between the two pieces, when covered with fabric, makes a hinge that allows the spine to be fixed and the cover to open.

As with most book covers, you cut the fabric or paper about half an inch bigger, so it can fold under so no rough edges show.

As I look at the pictures, I see that I am about one-sixteenth of an inch off with lining up my cover pieces. I will go ahead and see what happens.

I glued the cover, flipped it over, and glued down the edges on the inside of the cover. Here is how the hinge works:

Once the outside was covered and tucked, I carefully cut more pieces of the map, to be the inside of the front and back covers.

And, with some pressing, the covers will be ready for the next step!

So, the covers are now dry and ready to use, and I need to fill them up. Auntie Bridgett took me to a wonderful art shop called “I’ve Been Framed” down off Powell Boulevard. What makes it special is that it sells both new and used supplies. You can buy someone’s used art canvas for a few dollars, sand it down, and have some art practice for almost nothing.

Anyway, we found heavy paper for the pages of my book and a few packets of watercolor paper for the art I will be putting on the pages. We also found some thin leather twine, and a hole punching awl, for putting the whole thing together.

I will tell you about the rest if the book when I get it done.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Garden Journal in April

Dear Liza,

It has been a weird spring of snow, sun, wind, hail, and rain. I have tried to reflect this in my garden journal.

This is my favorite two-page spread, with April 10 showing the garden as it was that day, and the dramatic change wrought by the overnight snowfall. As my accuracy improves, I am capturing the details better.

Illustrating transparent containers is hard, but they have been an important part of this spring’s garden, sheltering my sprouts from two inches of historic April snow. The bits of sunshine during the day allowed the soil to capture some heat.

And now that the freezing temperatures seem to be gone, we have rain and more rain. I am hoping for resilient sprouts and just a few peeks of sun for the next week.

Fingers crossed!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Creative Culture!

Dear Liza,

This past weekend, Auntie Bridgett and I walked up to another new business in town. It is a delightful, bright place called Creative Culture. This is a unique place, a Do It Yourself Craft studio. It is owned and run by Dellan, a delightful young lady who comes to Portland from Oklahoma by way of Kansas City.

They have available, for a variety of reasonable fees, ceramics to paint, wreaths to make, flower pots to paint and plant, macrame to tie, wood plaques to burn and decorate, and all sorts of wooden shapes to paint.

And there are lots of choices! Shelves and shelves of ceramic vases, banks, and figures to paint. Once you get it painted, the staff will glaze and fire it, and you pick it up when it is done.

Dellan showed us the food menu, which consisted of eight magnificent, gigantic milk shakes. We wandered the shop, watching other folks crafting, sipping their milkshakes, and chatting. Dellan’s assistant, Olivia, helped us choose our wooden shapes and paints for our projects. We decided to exercise self-control and not order a milk shake.

Auntie Bridgett chose a hexagonal wall hanging, which looks like a cell in a beehive. I chose a small round box with a hinged lid.

Olivia pumped our paint choices into little cups, we chose a few brushes, and settled in for the fun.

I had the idea of a forest-y sort of picture as a gift for Cousin Kestrel, and I took a long time getting it right. I enjoyed creating the picture and listening to the soft, happy hubbub of people making things.

Auntie Bridgett worked on her project, making it pretty and yellow with her beloved bees buzzing around.

By the time we got our projects the way we wanted, we had been in Creative Culture TWO HOURS! The time had flown by and had been so much fun, I am sure I will be taking you and the Cousins there for some fun afternoons.

Once we were finished, we were very hungry (maybe we should have had that milk shake), tucked our projects carefully into our sack and walked down to the City State Diner for a delicious lunch. A Cuban sandwich for me and a Monte Cristo for Bridgett, and we were well fed and heading home.

Love,

Grandma Judy

The Microforest

Dear Liza,

While you were visiting, you found an old wall covered with wonderfully thick moss. Before I could say anything, you had pulled a chunk off the wall.

“What are you going to do with that?” I asked. You thought fast.

“We could plant it and keep it and you could write a blog about it,” you answered. So here it is.

As soon as we got home, we put the moss into a plastic box with damp soil. While I went online to find out what else we could do for it, you added some bits of the forest to keep it company…. pebbles, sticks, a fir cone. Somehow, the tiny pagoda from my bonsai forest found its way in.

Since the moss had been growing in the north side of a tall house, I knew it would need complete shade to be healthy. We have a spot in the master bathroom that is perfect, but small. The moss would also need slightly acidic soil (all moss does, according to a website) and constant, gentle moisture.

My first instinct was to use a container we already have rather than buying something. I have a big terrarium jar that would be fine, but is too big to fit.

Auntie Bridgett found this wonderful glass container in her studio, about five inches high and round like a ball. The project was on!

We laid some pebbles in the bottom, then firmly packed some soil from my veggie plot. We put in the pagoda, then the moss, then the pebbles and a tiny stick to be a fallen log.

I am very happy with our new tiny forest. It sits right by my sink and I can have that wondrous feeling of walking in the woods every time I brush my teeth!

Thanks, Liza, for adding this tiny, peaceful place to my life.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Champagne Poetry for Passover

Dear Liza,

New businesses are popping up all over the neighborhood! We visited a very pretty new one on Friday, which was the day before the Jewish holiday of Passover (which started at sunset) and also the Christian holy day of Good Friday.

This wonderfully PINK patisserie (that means a fancy bakery) was decorated with soft pink silk flowers covering the walls and delightful neon angel wings that you could pose in front of. Doesn’t Auntie Bridgett look cute?

Inside the glass case, lovely pastries were lined up. Croissants, cookies, macarons, slices of cheesecake, and even colorful donuts that looked liked shiny jewels. We chose a chocolate chip cookie to share at the shop and a slice of Tonka bean cheesecake for dessert later. Tonka bean tastes like vanilla! Who knew?

The staff was busy making and displaying the new goodies, because there were a lot of folks coming by and business was brisk.

The cookie was delicious, and sitting in the sun watching the world go by is a Portland treat I have really missed. I am happy to see new businesses growing like our spring flowers.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Bowling, Pancakes, Dead People, and Family

Dear Liza,

We managed to find a lot of fun things to do while you were here, like walking to Slappycakes for breakfast.

We love this place! You get to make your own pancakes right at the table. There is a gluten-free batter, a chocolate and delicious lemon-vanilla, as well as regular buttermilk. We had fun designing, flipping, and eating our creations.

The next day, we took a long walk through the Lone Fir Cemetery. I love this old cemetery that has been in use since the 1840s. You liked it, too, and wanted to help keep it in good repair.

You got very good at rubbing the headstones to gently remove the moss and dirt. You even helped clean out the letters with a soft stick.

We also went to the Central Bowl down on Morrison. This combination restaurant, bar, bowling alley and arcade is amazing! There are TV screens and crazy lights everywhere. Auntie Bridgett coached you, we bowled a few games and had sushi and tacos for dinner.

I lost at Air Hockey AND bowling, and had such a good time! When the grownups were pooped, we headed home.

One evening, Auntie Katie and Marion came by to visit. It was loud and funny and went way late.

There were a lot of snuggles and giggles.

What a full week!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Refurbishing Elephante Part 2

Dear Liza,

After I had made Elephante’s new tummy, I had to figure out how to get it back in. Some of the seams didn’t seem to match, and there were weird bulges in unexpected places. It took several hours to get it right.

Meanwhile, there was the old stuffing to deal with. Looking on youtube, I discovered that the best way to wash stuffing is to sew it up inside a pillow case and toss it in the washer! So I did, then put it in the dryer on a low setting.

Once it felt dry, we started going through the clumps of clean fluff and pulling them into smaller, fluffier bits of fluff. This took hours (oh my aching Grandma Back!) and filled FIVE grocery sacks! Since some of the fluff was still damp, we put them near the fireplace to finish drying. Mouse kept guard.

Auntie Bridgett suggested putting a heart on Elephante, because you love him. But instead of on his chest, you wanted the heart on his foot. So that is where it is.

Finally, it was time to put the newly built Elephante and his newly washed insides back together. You did a good job making sure all the parts got stuffed just right. It was fun to see our old friend come back to life!

AND, somewhere in the middle of all this, we made a bow tie for our elephantine friend! Since his new tummy looks like a vest, it only seemed fitting.

At last, he was done. He is smoother, way cleaner, and ready for your next big adventure.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Refurbishing Elephante Part 1

Dear Liza,

We sure were busy while you were in Portland! Our biggest job was refurbishing your big stuffed animal, Elephante. This is what he looked like before we started.

There wasn’t anything wrong with him, but his tummy fur was getting thin and we knew he was dirty from four years of being your favorite sleep buddy.

First, I used my seam ripper to open a hole big enough to pull out all of his old stuffing. Then we filled the bathtub with warm soapy water and let him soak for a while. We gave him several good rinses.

To get most of the water out, we rolled him up in a big towel, just like a sushi roll. Then he spent some time in the dryer. He was so fluffy when he came out!

I used the seam ripper again to remove the fur that made his tummy, and used that fabric to make a pattern for his NEW tummy. The nice flat grey we got at Cool Cottons will make a fine replacement.

I will tell you the rest of Elephante’s story tomorrow.

Love,

Grandma Judy