Dear Liza,
The summer activities continue! Sunday was the Mt. Tabor Art walk. We covered a lot of ground, met some lovely people, and saw a lot of art!
We decided to take the bus to get around, and mapped it out ahead of time with Trimet’s online maps. Auntie Bridgett also marked up a paper map so we knew where we were going.
We took snacks and water to avoid hungry-grumpiness and caught the number 14 to get to our first artsy neighborhood.
First on our tour was Georgina Ottavarino, who does collage and hand-made books. Her work is so precise and colorful, and she was so good at explaining things, I got inspired to do some more of both!
Georgina’s little studio is set in her backyard garden. Everything about her yard was peaceful and inspirational. I never wanted to leave.
Our next stop was a house where three artists were sharing space, and I visited with Tami Katz, who does beautiful fused glass. We talked about doing art with friends over Zoom and Skype during the pandemic shutdown, like I do with Ruthie Inman. I guess we all found ways to stay happy.
Bridgett and I ate our peanut butter and jam sandwiches sitting on a curb in the sun, enjoying the tree-lined neighborhood and the conversation of folks going by.
Our next group of artist studios were about a mile north, so we walked a block and caught the number 71 and then the 15 up the hill, to save our leg muscles. We found jeweler and artist Jo Brody’s art displayed in the front porch, and her husband Mark’s mosaics around back.
Jo does wonderful work, but I was there for the mosaics!
Mark’s work was inspirational. Large and small, quirky or not, comic or poignant, he does it all.
Mark told me about his work in progress, a giant cement toy jack, currently in his basement. When it is finished, it will be moved (not an easy task) to Lake Oswego for their Gallery Without Walls this summer.
We walked up the street and found Pat Stevens, who makes prints. I love her work, and how she uses bits she doesn’t like as quilty pieces! We talked about getting together with grand daughters who live far away. Her Elena is in Montana, much closer than you are in Denmark!
When our eyes were full, it was nearly 3:00 and time for the second part of our day. I’ll tell you about that tomorrow!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 