Sketchy People – Dear Liza

The Films of Tomorrow

Dear Liza,

This past Sunday, I took a break from wrestling with the French map quilt to go to the movies with Grandpa Nelson and Auntie Bridgett. We walked a mile down to the Tomorrow Theater on Division Street.

The Tomorrow is an old movie theater that has been resurrected by PAM, our Portland Art Museum, as a community place to show movies and feature local artists, attracting families and artists to enjoy all sorts of art together.

To make sure everyone had fun, our old friend Selfie Bot was there, drawing pictures of folks and making everyone smile.

On the “previews” screen, we saw that our friend Jack Kent had been here just days before, drawing Sketchy sketches during the showing of “Wayne’s World”. Clearly, this is a place we need to get to more often.

We got popcorn and sodas, and “The Iron Giant” began. Grandpa and I had seen it years ago, but it was new to Auntie Bridgett. We all enjoyed it very much, and I realized at the closing credits that it was an early creation of Brad Bird, who later created “The Incredibles” and a dozen other wonderful animated films since then.

We were still talking about the movie as we walked home, and we passed this poster for a completely different event. Funny how some images just get into the cultural mind and stay there….

Love,

Grandma Judy

Hitting the Street in the Mississippi

Dear Liza,

On Saturday, Auntie Bridgett got to have a table at the Mississippi Street Fair. This is the largest neighborhood street fair in the city, being half a mile long and stuffed edge to edge with booths, tables, and food trucks.

Rather than worry about traffic and parking, we took the bus. The Magic 15 got us downtown, then we transferred to the 4 to get us north. It took about 40 minutes, but we would have spent that much time driving around looking for parking. And we got to sit back and relax!

We got to the fair just before noon, and it was crowded! Looking down the length of it was like looking down a river of humanity.

Along the banks of this river were booths selling all sorts of things. Besides Auntie Bridgett doing commissioned cat cartoons, there were other artists selling puzzles, ceramics, and paintings.

In overwhelmingly White Portland, Mississippi is a neighborhood with a higher-than-usual African American population, and this was happily reflected in the fair.

This lady was selling her sparkly puzzles, and Author Joyce McNair was selling her book The Amazing Sweetie Pie, which I bought. It is a creative, inclusive story that shows the commonality of children.

Down the road, our dear friend Jack Kent was selling his newest book, Sketchy People 6.

And there was plenty of food for when all those people got hungry. The most popular was the barbecue, with at least five booths and trucks pumping out delicious smells and luring long lines of folks.

But there was also caramel corn, burritos, and delightful ableskivvers (with lingonberry jam and lemon curd) from Broder Nord. Yum!

As the day warmed up, staying cool became a priority for everyone.

By 4:00, we were done in. Tired feet and too much sun got the best of us and we caught the bus home. Lots of water and a long nap got us in shape for that evenings’ Shakespeare in the Park.

But that’s another story.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Books and Art

Dear Liza,

After the Rose Parade yesterday, we were all pretty tired. We had walked about four miles all over town. We came home and rested before our NEXT outing!

Our friend Jack Kent had a book release and signing party at Auntie Katie’s book shop, Books with Pictures, down on Division Street. Jack does two different comics; a strip called Gulls, and single panel comics called Sketchy People. His wife Verity were there too, so we had a nice visit.

At the shop we ran into Tom Goevelinger, an Oregon native who I know from my years teaching in Salinas. It was fun to catch up with him, his family and mutual friends. Cousins Jasper and Kestrel weren’t there, but there was a baby we all got to share. His name is Mirren and he’s a very good sport.

This morning Auntie Bridgett and I walked over to The Sidestreet Gallery, where she is showing some of her collages and her painted cups. There were snacks and lots of fun conversations, and some incredible art.

Artist Alicia Justus does so many beautiful things it is hard to tell about them all. On the walls were gouache paintings that look like illustrations from the old Russian storybooks I read with you.

**An Image without Words, by Alicia Justus**

She also does wonderfully detailed dolls! They are made of felt and other materials, embroidered and dressed, and delightfully full of personality. No sooner do you look at one than you start making up a story about it in your head.

It was fun to talk to Alicia about her inspiration (“way too many vintage children’s books”, she says) and see how this is reflected in her dress as well as her art.

A ceramicist and painter paired up in a show called “Wild Art”.

Denise Krueger was showing her whimsical ceramics, which all look like weird, dreamy sea creatures. and these were set alongside Shari Carlson’s paintings of animals. Most of her work showed sea creatures as well, but my favorite was a goofy looking emu.

While enjoying all the art, I noticed some beautiful ceramic “Flying Mermaids”, and noticed the name of the artist, Dawn Panttaja. Auntie Katie has friends named Jofish Kaye and Erin Panttaja. Could there be a connection? I texted Jofish right away, and he confirmed it! Dawn Panttaja, Portland artist, is the aunt of Erin Panttaja, playwright, mommy, and really nice person! The world just keeps getting more interesting.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Walking and Helping

Dear Liza,

split show poster.jpg

By lunch time on the 21st, it was almost up to 35 degrees…so Auntie Bridgett and I went for a walk.

brig and poster.jpg — **Auntie Bridgett and poster**

She wanted to put some posters up for an art show she is putting on at Motivasi Coffee Shop in Northeast Portland, with her friend Jack Kent, and I was happy to help.

We also looked at things in the neighborhood, like a statue we have started calling The Soft Serve Fairy, because the big sea shell she is holding up looks like an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen.

soft serve fairy.jpg — **Soft Serve Fairy**

flamingo nativity.jpg — **Flamingo Nativity**

And on our way back from Laurelhurst Park, we saw the new, improved flamingo Nativity! It is cuter, bigger, and just in time for the solstice.

Also, this evening we are all going downtown to see A Twisted Dickens, a Christmas show at the Armory, and going out for dinner at Henry Weinhard’s Restaurant. This is to celebrate Grandpa Nelson and I getting married 43 years ago today!!!

More winter fun!

Love, Grandma Judy