Tag: Bridgett Spicer

Some Cut and Paste Fun

August 24, 2025

Dear Liza,

I continue to recover from shingles, and as with all recoveries, I have good days and bad days. On bad days I just sleep and watch architectural history videos.

But when I feel better, I do like to make a bit of something, and I use what is laying around. The other day, Auntie Bridgett brought home a great pile of old baseball cards from the 1990s. After I made sure they weren’t going to make me a millionaire, they became collage fodder.

First, I glued the cards together with four edge pieces so they’d be easier to work with. I use UHU because it dries fast and doesn’t make the paper curl. Then I collaged the four as though they were one piece, sticking bits down in whatever way seemed best.

I’d seen something like this done by Zoe Walker in our ZOOM group, and I thought I’d give it a try. I laid four of the cards face down, chose some leftover papers from other projects, and went to it.

There are so many things I love about collage. There’s really no wrong way to do it, just whatever looks right to you. I try a few bits together to see which colors play well together, and wait to put the most detailed bits on near the end.

Once I got to this point, I decided to cut the cards apart and see how they looked.

I liked them! But I was wearing out and they still needed… something.

So I hunted up bits from old magazines to freshen the color, put in dots, and I was done.

I’m not sure what to call them, or where they will go, but I managed to get some rest, stay happy, and use up some scrap paper. And sometimes, that’s enough.

Love,

Grandma Judy

More Tiny Art

Dear Liza,

Every time I get together with the ZOOM Art group with Ruthie Inman, I get so full of ideas I could pop.

This past week she showed up these: tiny, accordion folded books that fit in a little tiny box. The samples she showed were people’s’ interpretations of their high school years, with black and white photos and bits and pieces from the fifties for illustrations.



I had a good time in high school. I met Grandpa Nelson there, and Ruthie. I learned a lot about who I am and what I believe in, on the way to becoming who I am. But it was just four years out of 69, and I didn’t want to make a whole art project about it.

First, we cut some heavy paper so it fit into the little Altoid tin. Then we made little hinges from paper and joined the cards together like an accordion.

I decided to start my “Time Capsule” in the 1950s, when I was born. Some old ads and papers worked nicely. Then came the 1960s with the Beatles. I had to rework my High School years because the colors weren’t cohesive with the others. In the re-do, the horse stands for our Mustang mascot .

Since I got married right out of school, the kids came next. Sticking with the vintage ads, I showed our girl and boy….

And started in on the adventures! Traveling to France, learning French, and getting out in the world. I like how it folds up!

I am trying to choose colors that are cohesive so it looks like they belong together. Bridgett tells me this is color theory, which I have always rebelled against. Oh well.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Another Way to Share ATCs

Dear Liza,

You know how creative people are… once they get an idea, they follow it to the next, and the next. That’s sort of what is happening with my ATCs, or Artist Trading Cards.

Once I got the right size figured out, I laid down some floral bits of art from a donated calendar. To make them a softer background, I brushed on some white acrylic. I cut them to the proper 2.5 by 3.5 inches.

Then, to contrast with that lovely pastel, I searched the calendar again and found black and white photos or darker images to add. I really liked the way each one told a story.

But I’m a word person, snd I wanted words. I found them in Auntie Bridgett’s ‘French Phrase a Day’ calendar. Taking our current national situation into consideration, I added phrases. (I will let you look them up…) These were really coming along!

Then, to top it all off, Ruthie Inman suggested punching a hole in each one and keeping them on a ring! A portable, share-able art gallery! I am having fun imagining when I might share these on a train traveling through France, or sitting in a park. Of course, they have my information card on the back so folks will be able to find me on the ‘net.

Ain’t art grand?

Love,

Grandma Judy

Sister Corita and Me

Dear Liza,

Back in March, I got some books about Sister Corita Kent for my birthday. As you might suspect, Corita was a Catholic nun. She was also an artist and teacher at the progressive (as far as Catholic institutions go) Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles back in the 1960s.

I will not attempt a detailed biography here. There are dozens in print and online, by folks who have done their research.

What I want to talk about is how some of Corita’s “Ten Rules’ have affected me and my art.

Number 4. Consider everything an experiment.

I know Crazy Quilts are an OLD thing, but mine is a NEW thing, at least to me. Combining piecing, embroidery, beading and quilting in one totally original creation big enough for two people to snuggle under was a seven month expeiment. It worked out pretty well.

Number 6. There are no mistakes. There is no win and no fail.

This is comforting to me, after years in the classroom where I dreaded making mistakes in front of my students. Knowing I can learn from everything makes me braver.

Number 7. The only rule is the work. It is people who do all the work all the time that figure things out.

For the past few years, with help from Auntie Bridgett and Ruthie Inman, I have been reading, thinking and experimenting with art. The stitches in my Crazy Quilt were an experiment. Laying down layers of collage, then tissue, then ink. Three dimensional constructions covered in paper mosaics… all experiments. I like some better than others, but I learned from them all.

And, as Sister Corita promised, I am figuring things out.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Happy Birthday Bridgett!

Dear Liza,

We got to spent Sunday celebrating Auntie Bridgett’s birthday! It was a lovely sunny day, just for her.

To celebrate, we went to some of her favorite places. First, we stopped at The Bake Shop up on Sandy to get some sweets. They carry a figgy buckwheat spiral that she just loves, and I got their croissant au chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie for Grandpa Nelson.

We tucked the sweets in the car for later and went for coffee at Case Study, just next door. They have good coffee and a delightful vibe. High ceilings, huge plants, and lots of people without a lot of noise. And as a surprise, our table was right by a print by Gail Owen, a talented friend from SideStreet Arts.

And just because life is sweet, right next door to Case Study is Cosmic Monkey Comics. We wandered around and found their up-in-the-loft vintage comics section where Bridgett found Le Pain, a compilation of comics in French! She absolutely giggled with delight!

We took our treasures home and enjoyed a brunch of sweets and eggs, then read and rested for a while. Grandpa Nelson enjoyed the Doonesbury collection I had brought for him.

Bridgett and I walked around the park and got a FaceTime call from Cousins Owen and Charlotte, who told us all about their baseball games and upcoming Halloween costumes.

Dinner time came and Grandpa Nelson joined us for yummy pizza at Dov Vivi. Their cornmeal-based crust makes their pizza extra special and crunchy, and the weather was perfect for eating outside. We people watched and giggled with the young family at the next table.

When we were full and exhausted, we headed home for home, where the Birthday Girl had a nice long phone call with her Mom in Ohio. Even when we are quite grown up, it’s nice to hear from our Moms!

Happy Birthday, Auntie Bridgett!

Love,

Grandma Judy

National Cartoonist’s Day

Dear Liza,

Friday was National Cartoonist’s Day, and I celebrated it by reading my two favorite cartoonists. The first, Gary Trudeau, has written Doonesbury since 1968. I started reading it in our local newspaper when I was in high school, collecting the paperback collections as they came out.

The characters and stories in the strips were funny, intelligent takes on people very much like people I knew. Crazy Zonker Harris reminded me of one of my brothers, and Americanism zealot B.D. reminded me of the other one. The strips spoofed college sports, the anti-war movement, women’s liberation … all the hot-button topics of my teenage years.

The series of strips about Phred, the Vietcong terrorist, and his struggles during the war was enlightened and delightful.

Bridgett Spicer is my other favorite cartoonist, and your own Auntie Bridgett. She started writing her first comic strip, Squid Row, in 2002. It ran for in the Monterey Herald newspaper from 2009 to 2014.

It told stories about people I knew, too. Starving artists and their search for art supplies and folks with irrational fears of garden gnomes… people everyone could relate to. Like Gary Trudeau, Bridgett shows her characters’ flaws as well as their strengths.

Squid Row wasn’t nearly as political as Doonesbury, but every now and then Bridgett felt the need to make a comment on world affairs. When there was a controversy about cartoonists drawing the prophet Mohammed, she made this strip about a cab driver.

In 2015, she closed out Squid Row and started Randie and Ryan, showing her two main characters’ adventures as newlyweds. And when we moved to Portland, so did Randie and Ryan! That strip ran for four years.

After a few months , she started other projects and let the cartooning slide for a while. Then, in 2021, her friend Jack Kent, who does the comic Sketchy People and was working for our local Willamette Weekly, offered her a spot on their comics page. Who could turn that down?

Auntie Beeswax is a slightly eccentric lady who lives in Portland. She is always upbeat as she cares for bees, cats, chickens, and her melancholy niece, Mallory.

I love seeing our everyday life in the comic strip. A well-done comic takes real life and lets you see it differently.

PS. You can find all Bridgett’s works, including paintings, collages, and lots of comics, at bridgettspicerart.com

Love,

Grandma Judy

Belated Travel Journaling

Dear Liza,

Your Auntie Bridgett Spicer is an amazing artist. Not only can she create delightful comics like her “Auntie Beeswax” and wonderful paintings and collages, but she can draw and vacation at the same time. Here is a page from her sketchbook of our trip.

Her brain works like that.

Mine does not. I made a really cool cover for my travel journal for our last trip to Europe,

but am only now (three weeks after we got home) finishing up my account of our journey. Here is a page showing our train ride from Amsterdam to Utrecht.

I started with good intentions, but then it just got away from me.

I happily sacrificed journaling time for time spent with family in wondrous operas, delightful museums, and fabulous gardens.

So now I’m catching up, and I’m glad I waited. Not only is my Journal a more interesting synthesis of the journey, with my own sketches and all the sorts of paper you collect on a trip, but I am getting to re-live the whole experience!

It’s like watching my favorite movie all over again.

Love,

Grandma Judy

The Day After BwiP Con

Dear Liza,

On Saturday, Books with Pictures was FULL of people for their first annual comic con. Hundreds of people came, shopped, drew, and had a great time. The day after, however, was another matter.

The bookshop was open, but the scene was quiet and peaceful. Auntie Bridgett was by to help clean some new graffiti off the mural.


Some kids made chalk art while their Momma shopped.

I filled up the watering cans and gave all the little live things a drink.

Amarette Gregor opened up her shop, Pup Tent Flowers and Gifts, and made lovely things.

And Auntie Katie finally got to read in the peace and quiet of her own garden.

I love Books with Pictures, whatever is happening!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Artsy Cards

Dear Liza,

Everyone likes to get cards for Valentine’s Day or their birthday, and I am no different. I am luckier than many folks, however, because I have so many artists in my life.

My friend Ruthie Inman makes cards every month for her patreon supporters, and she made me a special card for my birthday this year. It is just like her: lovely, unexpected, and sparkly.

Auntie Bridgett made me a Valentine card, showing her beloved bees and hearts. For my birthday, she bought one of Dawn Panttaja ’s cards. Dawn does wonderful collages for her line called Lost Dolls. This one looks like something from historic Portland.

I have been getting wonderful artsy cards from Auntie Bridgett for so many years, I have a whole file full of them!

Here are a few of my favorites.


And here’s the last one for today!

Love,

Grandma Judy

GiftyKitty

Dear Liza,

There is a new store here in Portland, and Auntie Bridgett took me to see it!

Clody Cates and her business partner Larry host this visually delightful shop at 3719 North Mississippi Avenue in North Portland. GiftyKitty is a labor of love that was conceptualized and designed by Clody, and their tagline, “Changing the world one cat at a time” cracks me up.

I was impressed, first, by the largest features of the decor. The giant Alice in Wonderland-style house along the back wall gives the whole place a fabulous air of silliness.

The wonderful manzanita shelving, built by Oakland based designer Cameron Kephart, is wonky and perfect. Cameron also worked closely with Clody on the design and creation of the whole space, as well as the up-cycled glass and wood displays that hold more treasures.

Then, I got to focus on the delights of the treasures themselves and was stunned by the variety and quality of them. There were large glass mosaics, aprons, paintings, carvings, and books, mostly made by local artists.

We saw old friends from the SideStreet Arts Gallery. Painted plaques by Amelia Opie…..

…cute stuffed critters by Alicia Justus….

….. and book art by Melody Bush.

New (to me) artists included Nicola Turville and

Jenny Rideout, who upcycles fabric and makes everything more interesting!

Needless to say, we will be going back to GiftyKitty, especially now that they are carrying Auntie Bridgett’s buttons, cards and art!

I will take you when you come to visit!

Love,

Grandma Judy