Tag: Drawing

Allie Yacina at Happy Anyway

Dear Liza,

Auntie Bridgett and I walked out in the rain the other day to see the new show at Happy Anyway. This small, delightful shop is just a few blocks down on SE Belmont here in Portland, and is one of our new favorite places.

Besides the usual quirky antiquities and tchatchkies, there is a show this month and next of Allie Yacina’s sketchbooks and art.

I quickly fell in love with Allie’s color palette and blend of observation and style, almost like Matisse… but not quite. I stared at the opened sketchbooks posted on the wall, and flipped through the one on the counter. Each one seemed to show me a new way of seeing.

Because these are Allie’s sketchbooks, we see the lines and corrections, the process of how she makes the image happen. This makes all this beauty feel very “do-able”… very possible, even for me. Allie is holding a small workshop and “sketch time” on January 19th, so folks can all hang out with this talented lady and do art together!


Since Allie lives in our neighborhood, and paints what she sees, many of these sights are familiar to me. Lone Fir Cemetery. Shop fronts on Burnside. Laurelhurst Park.

Steph Sheldon, the owner, is always fun to talk with, about art or any other subject. She has a positive attitude that is not starry-eyed, but strong and almost defiant. “Happy anyway” is her response to “The world is a mess”.

We spent a delightful hour at the shop and walked back home through our dear, soggy neighborhood. As so often happens after looking at art, every curb and branch became an object of wonder and appreciation.

And that’s why we love art!

Love,

Grandma Judy

So Much Art!

Dear Liza,

My friend Jennifer is such a sweetie! A few weeks ago, she was up visiting from California and asked if I would be interested in ‘an art calendar’ to use in my collages.

“If you feel like mailing it, sure!” I smiled. I have learned never to turn down art supplies.

And just the other day, what come in the mail?? Three years of this art calendar!! A whole 1,095 pages, printed on BOTH sides. A whopping 2,190 pieces of art.

These are on good quality paper, and about 4 inches by 5 inches. That’s a lot of art!!

I am already feeling both inspired and overwhelmed. With just the two evenings I have spent flipping through and sorting, I have pulled a couple that seem destined to go together. These two, a fabric print and a piece of jewelry, look like a poster for The Lion King.

And this fellow, cut from an unrelated postcard, could use this millefeuille glass paperweight as a lovely mandala. He needs work, though…I’ll let you know.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Sketching with the Dead People

Dear Liza,

You know how much I love visiting the dead folks at Lone Fir Cemetery!

Well, yesterday Auntie Bridgett and I joined a sketching group there. It was led by a lady named Jen whose full time job is elementary school teacher (just what I used to do!)

Jen is also a fan of Lone Fir, and wanted to find a way to earn some money to help maintain this fragile old space. She put a notice on The Friends of Lone Fir website, and people pay $10 a head to join the group. The money goes to Friends of Lone Fir, the same non-profit organization that runs the Twilight Tombstone tours I will be helping with later this month.

Being a ‘real’ teacher, Jen has a ‘real’ curriculum, this book by John Laws. It lays out a lot of steps and philosophy about nature jour along, and I’m sure it is a fine book.

But I was interested in a quick guide to start with. Once our group of thirty (!) people were gathered, Jen gave us just that.

She suggested quick info about day and weather and then prompts of “I notice” “I wonder” and “It reminds me of”, and really close looking at whatever you choose to draw. It could be a tree or a leaf, a patch of ground, or anything in the area.

“If you think it’s boring,” she said, “keep looking and you’ll be amazed how much you see.” We all went off to our own areas and had one hour to draw.

I chose this wonderful old chestnut tree by the rose garden. If I got far enough away to see the whole tree I’d miss the detail, so I could only draw part way up the trunk. I was fascinated by the dappled light and how the patches kept shifting as the sun went down behind me.

When our hour was up, we assembled back at the Soldier’s Memorial and did a “gallery walk” of everyone’s journals. I was impressed by the variety of drawings and the close observations.

We shared our experiences and said what we liked about other folks’ sketches. I liked that we were complimenting the sketch, not the artist… it was less personal, less embarrassing, and more meaningful.

We all enjoyed our time at the cemetery, and being able to share it with other folks made it even better. And next month, Auntie Bridgett and I get to join Jen and the sketchers again!

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