Tag: art

SOAK Day 3

Dear Liza,

Friday morning at SOAK 2024 dawned warmer and I went for a walkabout with some of my campmates at Limbo Lounge. Following the Principle of Consent, I won’t include their photos here because I forgot to ask permission.

As I walked around, I was surprised by how few cameras I saw. With all this incredible eye candy about, why was no one taking pictures?

I asked a lady who was setting up her camp about this. She explained The Principle of Immediacy, of being in the moment. When you are chatting or cooking or enjoying, putting a camera between you and your subject can spoil that special moment. This made sense to me, and I stopped taking so many pictures, just enough to help my slippery memory be able to relive these days and the magic of stretching out in a sunny hammock.

On one of my walkabouts, I met a fellow named CJ. He asked me if I was sleeping well in all this lovely mountain air, and I confessed that I hadn’t been able to get warm enough to sleep very comfortably. He smiled, walked to his tent, and came back with a fluffy leopard print onesie, like giant baby pajamas with a hood. He put it into my hands.

“How can I thank you?” I smiled, overwhelmed at this gift. “You just did,” he said. “I brought it to give it away, and now it’s yours.” The Principle of Gifting had come home to roost. Part of the charm of this place is intentionally bringing or making things to give away. Not to sell or trade, but simply to gift for the joy of giving.


I regret, just a little, that I didn’t take CJ’s picture. But it would have gotten in the way.

Embracing my new pajamas as well as a new understanding, I walked back to camp and made a few circuits of neighborhood, handing out the four dozen chocolate chip cookies I had made, to bring, to give away.

Katie, Douglas, and I walked out to the Gate with Kestrel for her Gayte shift (everyone has a job to contribute to the festival, according to the Principle of Civic Responsibility).

After some confusion, we had snacks with some lovely people at camp Misbehavin’ and headed back to our camp. We met a dear friend of Katie’s, who knows Kestrel is a textile artist and had brought a new weaving craft to teach her. The two of them hunkered down and had a craft festival of their own, right there by the Cosmic Messenger’s feet.

We got back to camp worn out and happy, and I spent quite a long time just laying in my borrowed tent, listening to the sounds of the camp and appreciating where I was.

Later that evening, Kestrel and I got to make the long walk around the camp in our fancy jellyfish hats! The dark, and the uneven ground, made walking a challenge. But so much fun! Folks would holler “I love your hat!” from their camp chairs, and we even ran into a swarm of about 20 others people in umbrella -type jellyfish costumes, and danced along with them for a while.

I felt like we were really part of the festival, not just visitors. After midnight, we made our way back to the tents. I fell asleep, Kestrel took off to find her Troupe.

Love,

Grandma Judy

SOAK Day 2

Dear Liza,

My first morning at SOAK, I woke up at 5 a.m. The campground was still mostly empty and totally silent. I pulled on my shoes (I had slept in most of my clothes) and went out to see what I could see.

The Tyge Valley is nestled below these incredible basalt buttes, remnants of a volcanic past. The buttes above and the river below, with all the rocky cliffs in between, caught the early light in a magical way. I took deep breaths and let the beauty and peace fill me up.

Walking back toward camp, I got my first look at some of the art and humor of SOAK, and figured we were going to get along just fine. Some of the signs included topics I don’t want to include here, but be assured that the Principle of Radical Self-Expression was on full display.


Kestrel and I had both made jellyfish hats to wear as our contribution to the festival. Kestrel wore hers during the day, but mine was mostly for night wear.

One of the Ten Principles is Radical Inclusion and Participation. We are both allowed and expected to not just SEE the festival, but to BE the festival. Living by the same principle, Auntie Katie and Douglas wandered the grounds some time every day, serenading folks who could sing along with their ukuleles. It is fun to be in all the games.

During the day I walked around with Kestrel and met some jellyfish friends and enjoyed some fresh-made pasta. Only ice is for sale at SOAK, because of the machinery needed to maintain it. Everything else, food, clothes, trinkets, anything on offer, is freely given. This reflects the Principles of Decommodofication and Gifting.

We found some out-of this-world installations that mirrored the clouds.

The main structure, which will be burned Saturday night, was getting its finishing touches. Following the Principle of Communal Effort, it takes many skilled hands to create this wonderful thing. It will be sturdy enough to climb on once it’s done.

By sundown, I had walked miles and miles around the camp, talked to dozens of nice folks, and my eyes and heart were full. It was time to tuck in.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Garden Journal Challenges

Dear Liza,

I like keeping garden journals. They let me keep track of what happens in the garden and when it happens, so I can learn from each year and get better year by year.

But I also like to make them creative, so I’ve used a different format every year. This year I am re-using a movie list book. It has nice roomy format which I really like.

However, re-using a book means I need to do something in each page to cover, obscure, or otherwise change the illustration that is there, unless I find a page with movies about plants.

This page came close. It was a watercolor from the movie “Amelie”, where the garden gnome goes on some adventures. I wanted to keep the gnome.

I cut some junkmail paper to cover the non-gnome parts, gave it a blurry garden-y paint job, and glued it down. The inside of a security envelope got some darker paint, and I had the basis for a decent page. I gave the gnome himself a little more yellow, since his blue didn’t go with my yellow-ish green.

I found a few nice greens in a handout from our Portland Art Museum, and cut leaves and stems. Not bad, but flat and boring. Auntie Bridgett brought some darker greens from her collage box. Better.

And finally, I cut flowers from some pink and blue paper from the same museum handout. Now the gnome looks right at home in his garden, and in my garden journal.

Creating and solving these artistic challenges everyday makes my brain so happy!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Gearing up for SOAK

Dear Liza,

It is just a few days until I head off to SOAK, the regional Burning Man event, with Auntie Katie and the Cousins. There is a lot to get ready!

First, I have volunteered to buy juices and mixers for the Limbo Lounge Tiki Bar that will be near our camp. I will get reimbursed, I just needed to pick them up and get them to Auntie Katie’s house for storage. I drafted Auntie Bridgett to drive.

The Chef’s Store had everything we needed at pretty good prices. It is huge and full of all sorts of goodies. We will be back for Halloween candy!

Still, seven and a half gallons of pineapple juice is a lot to deal with!

Another chore that needed doing was mending the camp chairs. Since Katie uses them at Burning Man and SOAK, they get a lot of hard use. Fortunately,
she has lots of cool patches that are perfect for, well, patching. I used the heaviest thread I own, doubled up.

The patches all have a sense of humor, as well.

Along with shopping and mending, I am finding all my own gear. My old recess whistle will come in handy, as well as the pocket knife Great Grandpa Lowell gave me years ago. I am sure having fun getting into camping mode!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Eris, Our New Friend in the Neighborhood

Dear Liza,

We will soon have a new place to eat and drink here in Sunnyside!

Tony Pepe is opening a cocktail bar called Eris (named after the goddess of chaos, and also the dwarf planet) right where our Rendez Vous used to be, just a block down on 34th.

Tony is a very friendly fellow who showed me his progress and told me his plans. He will have some wine and some food, but is mostly a creative cocktail maker. He also, much to my appreciation, loves cats. His own cats are called Victor Babitch and Dante.

Tony was painting today, hoping to get the ceiling done before his furniture gets delivered.

Since he is the sole owner and designer, the place will be a direct reflection of him…. Which means it should be delightful, intelligent, quirky and fun.

I’ll tell you all about when we get to visit Tony and Eris next month!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Building a Page

Dear Liza,

I am still playing in the journal Ruthie Inman got me started on a month ago. The cover is made of tissue paper built- up on fabric with thinned white glue, and has these pinks and greens.

I got quite a few of the pages done,

and then it was time to sew it all together. Using the awl and thread Ruthie sent me last year, I followed her directions and pierced and sewed the pages into the cover.

But I still had the center pages, the double page spread, completely blank. I wanted it to reflect the soft pinks and greens that are in the rest of the book, but couldn’t find collage materials I liked.

Finally, I painted them myself, using watered down acrylic paint. A sea green and a phthalo green gave me the look I wanted.

I kept building up layers of tissue paper, tissue leaves from napkins and such, trying for a sort of dreamy landscape look.

Then I made a mistake. I thought these pink worm-like bits of magazine paper would fit in, so I glued them down. The next morning, I realized that they were a bad choice. It took a few days for me to figure out how to fix it.

I got brave and used an exact-o knife to trim to awful pink bits away and repair the scratches with bits of deeper pink tissue. I like that every layer shows the layers underneath.

Now I have the dreamy landscape I wanted. I might find something else to add to it, someday. But for now, I love it.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Few Chores

Dear Liza,

We have had so many fun, busy days lately, there has to be some days to just do the stuff that needs doing.

I made an appointment for my annual “Wellness” check-up. That’s when the doctor makes sure my old brain and old heart are still up to snuff. It’s going to be a busy summer, so it’s good to get a tune up.

We are also predicted to have a solid week of sunny, over 70 degree days, so I spent some time in the garden, pulling out the invasive mint that climbs through the fence and (TAA DAA!!) putting zucchini seeds in the ground! Their packet says they should “emerge” in 5 to 8 days. I will hold them to it!

After I had washed up, I pulled your Daddy David’s oldest stufftie out of the cupboard. VIP TLC, as your daddy called him way back in 1981, was one of the Shirt Tales cartoon characters. I sewed this one from a printed fabric panel back in the days when money was tight. He was very cuddly!

It’s been 40 years or so since VIP TLC has been washed, and I want to bring him with us this summer. So he got unstuffed and put into the wash. While he was getting clean, I fluffed up the old stuffing. When he was dry, I put them back together. Now he is ready for a flight to Denmark!

My last ‘chore’ of the day was to bring my garden journal up to date. The last time I made a picture for it, the day was grey and wet.

But bright, sunny days inspire bright, sunny colors!

Pages for The New Journal

Dear Liza,

Once we had the journal cover made, it was time for pages. Since this isn’t a journal for writing, but for doing art in, we were free to experiment.

I started gluing images down to scrap paper, which is always fun. Making THIS piece of junk mail look spiffy by sticking on THAT piece of old napkin is very satisfying.

When the pages were dry, I lined them up with the butterfly cover. I love the way the greens and soft pinks go together.

But wait a second! That cartoon dude is SO out of place! He looks like he got into the book through an unlocked window. He’s adorable, but he’ll have to wait for another project.

I kept looking, and more images kept showing up. This little girl and part of a watch face came together nicely. It needs something else, but it will come.

The Zoom Art group got together again this morning and I added this landscape over the splattered page. Not bad, but as it is here, it felt unfinished.

I put it aside and went on with the day. When Cousin Kestrel came over this afternoon, I asked her for advice. She suggested a setting sun with some rays, and I gave it a try.


I love it! Thanks, Kes!

This page of text strips goes with the color scheme and looks suitably cryptic. The splatters add a little character. As I told Ruthie, “Splattery will get you anywhere!”

And that’s the newest art journal so far.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Easter Day

Dear Liza,

We had fun on Easter, but not much of it shows in pictures. I’ll show what I have and tell the rest.

Easter Day was sunny and warm (almost too warm, for some), and we got everything packed into the wagon and headed for Laurelhurst Park.

We found a table in the sun just above Firwood Lake. Someone had recently drawn a cute cartoon of a bunny jumping over an egg, with the words “In the name of the moon”. Very nice.

We enjoyed the sunshine and people watching until everyone else showed up.

Then the food came out, and we all had good bread Katie brought from Grand Central Bakery, turkey, cheeses, fruits, veggies and cookies.

We met some nice folks who name the ducks at the park, just like we name the trees! We may all get together and make a map of the park with all our silly information….wouldn’t that be fun?

As we were walking home, Jasper and Kestrel taught all the adults about a new kind of music, called “Vocaloid”. It is made with synthetically generated voices and sounds, mostly, like a video game. But I am always happy to learn something new, so we listened and chatted while I worked on the CrazyQuilt.

Having clever grandkids is like having clever kids! Always keeping me on my toes.

Love,

Grandma Judy

New Story, New Pictures

Dear Liza,

A few years ago, I wrote a story about our cat, Mouse. In the story, Mouse steps out of her comfortable routine of napping and lap-sitting to help solve a mystery.

I found it the other day and liked it enough that I want to share it with folks. For me, that means printing it out, putting on a cover, and of course, illustrations.

I started sketching, and once again realized I was way over my head. But I kept at it. Turns out, if you do something long enough, you get better. I drew one piece of the drawing at a time, cut it out, and then traced it where I wanted it to go.

The dog in the picture is our neighbor, Trevor, who is a main character in the story. But of course, once I had the characters cut out, they wandered elsewhere, as well.

For a while they were part of a bizarre pet-juggling story…

Then they all seemed to be on a hamster wheel.

Eventually, it got drawn, colored, and some text got added.

I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Love,

Grandma Judy