Dear Liza

Dear Liza,

On Saturday we got to go see what Auntie Katie has been distracted by:

The Arts Festival at Lake Oswego. Because of the crowds, we took the shuttle from Marylhurst University. This beautiful campus, built in the 1890s, is now closed due to lack of enrollment. It is sad to see the wonderfully detailed brick and stone buildings and know they are not being used.

The Festival is a huge deal! Set in the affluent (that means pretty rich) suburb of Lake Oswego, the Festival spreads out over a city park, several large buildings, and a tent the size of University Park School’s field.

The Art in the Park booths were set up at George Rogers Park, and more than one hundred local artists and craftspeople were showing their wares. I met Q Wollack, who makes art by folding the pages of old books, and Georgia Williams, a quilter, like me. Georgia encouraged me to practice and be brave. “If you don’t like it, rip out the seam and go again!” She said.

Lucy Davenport creates bonsai from elms and oak trees, but also hydrangeas and lilies. We had a lovely chat and she offered me advice and encouragement on my Hundred Acre Wood project.

We got hungry and headed to the food carts, finding Le Bon Temps Crepes, which, in spite of their bad French grammar, were tasty and just what was needed. They don’t skimp on butter or fillings!

Crossing State Street to the Arts building, I got to enjoy the show Auntie Katie had been working on, called “Origin Stories: Comics and Identities”.

It had an educational part, where different aspects of comics (panels, shading, and dialogue) were explained and illustrated. Then there were sections that showed how a single panel went from rough to final draft, and then how an entire story was told, page by page.

Along with the art were panel discussions on the importance of having a comics community to help and encourage creativity and sales, and on the importance of activism in comics. I was pleased to see comics getting their due appreciation, and proud of Auntie Katie for having a hand in it.

Heading upstairs, we saw more! But that will wait for tomorrow.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

This past week has been so busy! I have been helping Auntie Katie move her bookshop, Books with Pictures, into her new building. There was a lot of noisy work with impact hammers, power sanders and shop vacs, by a crew that ranged in age from 8 to 64 at any given time. I met some wonderful, helpful people with incredible skills and backgrounds.

Every now and then Auntie Katie would need to dress up in her Comic Maven clothes and drive south to Lake Oswego, a very high class suburb of Portland, because besides opening her shop this week, she is one of the curators of the art show at the Lake Oswego Arts Festival. That means she worked with others to choose the art works, set up the show, present the show to donors, and run discussion panels.

And while she was gone, the work continued. Orchestrated by artist and bookshop minion Nick Orr, we lifted and secured shelving, repaired and painted bookcases, and swept up pounds of dust and debris. It was exhausting and amazing.

As of Friday evening, there were still no books on the shelves, but the shop was ready for them! It looks like a proper place to shop and meet new real and fictional friends.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

When we first moved to Portland, we noticed murals…. lots and lots of murals. Most were in different styles, by different artists. But some looked more similar.

We particularly liked these little guys, with their positive messages and simple, cartoony lines. Auntie Bridgett, in her learning about Portland artists, learned that they are painted by a man named Gary Hirsch.

Yesterday, I got to meet him!

It turns out that Gary, who lives here in Portland, enjoys painting his happy characters, called Botjoys, so much that he doesn’t charge for his art! He charges for paint, asks for a little help adjusting the equipment, and then makes the wall better.

Amazing.

When Gary started showing his tiny Bots in the gallery, he offered to paint an inside wall of the gallery. Auntie Bridgett suggested an outside wall, and he liked that idea. The building that houses SideStreet Arts Gallery is owned by local artists Pratt and Larsen, who okayed the project. Papers were filed, permits were granted, and yesterday, it all began.

I look forward to seeing the little guys every time I walk Auntie Bridgett to work!

Life is just so darn sweet.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

Auntie Katie is almost ready to open her bookstore in its new building! Well, the building was built in 1927, so it’s not NEW. But it is the new home of her three-year-old bookstore, Books with Pictures.

Lots of work has gotten done. Old, nasty wooden walls have been covered with drywall and painted a soft grey. Some old doors have been opened to make the space work better as a live/work area, and some are being covered up to make more wall space.

The 100 year old piano will be painted candy pink soon, with the small wall behind it being a deep purple.

The central counter has been built by Foley, a detail oriented carpenter, and other shelves are being built by Blue. The number of really talented, fun people that Katie has working at the place is amazing. Such happy energy!

I took over Oatmeal Everything cookies and rolls to feed the folks who were sanding, vacuuming, and masking. Tomorrow, we begin packing up the old store and moving everything two blocks down Division to the new store, box by box, shelf by shelf. Lots of labeling and lifting.

Downstairs, My Vinyl Underground records is getting set up. Chris McFarlane is bringing his record store down from Seattle to be a brand new Portlander!

I am filled with admiration for Katie, who took on this ‘impossible’ project six months ago and has worked day and night to make it happen, corralling funding, lawyers, designers, webpage managers, Mommas and eight year olds to breathe new joy life into an old building.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

After the cold, wet winter and spring, and then a fiercely hot week, the weather finally settled down to pleasant, sunny goodness.

One of our resolutions for the summer was to go on more picnics. This was the first of the season.

So often, we go to Laurelhurst Park on a walk, a way of getting our exercise, of staying fit. Picnics are intentional, sit down, eat and watch the world go by events. They are one of the best things to do in Laurelhurst Park.

We gathered dried salami, goat’s milk cheddar cheese, rosemary sourdough bread, and blueberries, plus peanuts and grapes for Grandpa Nelson, and headed off. We carried chairs and a blanket, and even the badminton game.

There was a wedding near the top of the park, and we didn’t want to be noisy where folks were getting married. We walked to the valley, as I call it, the lowest part of the park, and found a nice flat space no one was using. We enjoyed our dinner while watching dogs and their people on leashes, kids and their parents on bicycles, joggers and frisbee throwers wander by.

Then for the action part of the evening. We set up the badminton (Auntie Bridgett’s birthday gift from year before last) and had our second game of 2019. Remember when you were here in March and we were so awful? We are better now! As a matter of fact, we were having such a good time, I forgot to take any pictures during the game!

We played until we were sweaty and exhausted, then put things away and staggered home to watch the Giants beat the Brewers. What a wonderful way to end a day!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

Last week I got to spend a day with cousins Kestrel and Jasper. They are almost 8 and 10, and so much fun to be with!

I walked through Ladds’ Addition, past the rose gardens, and we took the number 2 bus downtown. It has been hot, so we took a water bottle. I also had a secret stash of taffy in my bag.

The “Paris 1900” exhibit gave us lots to talk about… why women wore corsets, why men wore top hats, why it was revolutionary for girls to ride bicycles (in pants!). One piece of taffy dolled out for energy.

We also talked about symbolism. For instance, a golden calf isn’t just a glorified farm animal, but a symbol; in the case of the stunningly complex stained glass window from The Chat Noir, a symbol of the worship of money.

The kids met some new friends! Kestrel had brought her tiny tiger, named “Tigey”, and introduced him to the tiny lions that were models for the statues on Paris’s Alexander III Bridge.

We also got to visit some old friends. These huge, blobby, colorful statues in the museum courtyard are covered with paint that runs down like waterfalls, and are always fascinating.

Second piece of taffy.

When we were full of art, we walked to a sandwich shop and ate while we watched the Women’s Soccer World Cup. China beat the Republic of South Africa, and then we moved on, north a few blocks to The Teacher Fountain at Director’s Park. This fountain is designed to be played in and was very busy on this hot day! It made me so happy to watch dozens of kids play while listening to streetcars clang by, in the midst of old and new buildings, from 1907 and 2010.

But too much sun isn’t good, so we went to the shady part of the park to drip dry. Jasper had found a friend at the fountain, and they played chess on the ‘big board’. Kestrel relaxed, reading “Bailey the Babysitting Fairy”. Third piece of taffy.

By 2:00, we were all starting to run out of gas. We walked down the hill and caught the bus home, just in time to hang out with Auntie Katie before I headed home to make dinner.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

My mother always said that you should keep learning and growing, even when you get old, like me. I have tried to do just that by practicing French and reading about history. But sometimes I learn without even trying!

Seeing beautiful art, at PAM and around town, lets me see art in other things, too. The ironic way tiny leaves grow in giant mill stones, or the precision of paving stones joining together, or how tidal puddles create a mosaic out of Haystack Rock… these are accidentally, perfectly beautiful.

Light plays tricks, too. I saw a reflection of myself in a glass display case at PAM and put myself into the picture. The shadow of Le Chat Noir was as beautiful as the sign.

All this seeing has lead me to make some art. I started this pillow as embroidery practice almost two years ago, with just some circles traced from bowls in the kitchen.

I have finally started my piece of art inspired by the colors and places of Portland, with fabric I bought last fall. It will be an impression of a map, a feeling, rather than one you could use to get around, but you can see the west hills, downtown, the river, and the Eastside. This is just the first layer. I will show you more as I make it happen.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

As we left Cannon Beach, we drove south along the coast. The beach rose to become cliffs with dramatic, windy views of the ocean. We got to see Haystack Rock from a distance, which put it in perspective. One mighty rock among many lesser rocks.

As I was helping navigate, I noticed that not far up ahead was Tillamook, where we spent a chilly weekend last March. There has been a cheese factory there since 1894, and last summer they opened a newly improved and expanded facility. We decided to check it out.

This place is BIG. As you walk in from the giant (slightly muddy) parking lot, a 20 foot by 20 foot selfie of a cow greets you. This whole building is a love letter to cows and the creamy goodness they give us.

We walked up a flight of stairs to a self-guided tour of the cheese factory. It is all very stainless steel and sanitary, behind glass and under covers, which is good. Everything was labeled, explained and illustrated. But there wasn’t much to SEE, actually.

Then we headed downstairs to the retail portion of the tour (always exit through the gift shop!) Their market, selling every dairy product I could think of, was almost as big as the neighborhood market on the corner.

Across the way was the cafe. One side for ice cream, one for more savory items. Since it was almost dinnertime and we had a long drive ahead of us, Auntie Bridgett and I had tasty, gooey grilled cheese sandwiches and a big salad with peppered white cheddar on top. Grandpa Nelson had a scrumptious chocolate mint shake. There were these cute cookies, but we restrained ourselves.

Our drive home was through thick forests, and we got home in time to rest…and go to the Nerd Out for our friend Jack’s record release party! Oy, were we pooped when we got home!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Love, Grandma Judy

Dear Liza,

On Saturday, we all drove to the ocean again. It is further from us than it was in Salinas, but I love it so much, it is worth the trip. Although I don’t really need a ‘reason’ to go see the ocean, our excuse this time was the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest.

Cannon Beach is a tiny coastal town of about 1,800 people. During summer, this number can triple, and during a big event like the contest, it can just explode. We got there early and still parked blocks from downtown. Hundreds more cars even parked on the beach! It’s allowed, but carefully watched so cars don’t get flooded or stuck.

The castles were mostly being built by large groups, using the compaction technique you have seen at Carmel’s contest. Large wooden or plastic forms are filled with wet sand, then the forms are taken down and the damp sand carved with trowels. It leads to so beautifully detailed, large sculptures.

While folks were carving, I wandered down the beach to Haystack Rock, a tall rock just a hundred feet off the beach. It has steep sides and has been declared a bird sanctuary to protect the hundreds of birds that next there. At the base, since it was a record low tide, were tide pools filled with anemones and edged with mussels and goose neck barnacles.

I wandered and chatted with folks while Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson sat on the beach. After a while, damp and cold, Auntie Bridgett headed for Insomnia Coffee and Grandpa Nelson and I toured the still unfinished castles.

But we were wearing out, too…the wind, chill and loose sand made for a hard slog back. We rested and then visited some shops. Art, of course, and salt water taffy, were on the list. Very nice, tasty, and fun.

I’ll tell you about our trip home tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy