City Days

We’ve gotten in the Christmas spirit by spending a few days in the city, a trip that began as R attending a meeting, and turned into a three day festival of varied activities that surprised us with how much you can really cram into three days. I could draw it out over several posts but instead will compress the three days into one long (probably too long…apologies readers…) narrative.

We took off Thursday morning in the beautiful fog for an early appointment

followed by tea at Norma Heyser’s where she had an art agenda for R,

then a gallery opening (camera failure) and dinner, finally arriving at the nice Paramount Hotel with our view of Director Park (named for Arlene Schnitzer’s parents Simon and Helen Director).  It wasn’t until the next morning we noticed the chess board…

and saw for the next two days that it was in continuous use…

Friday was the meeting day for R, so I went shopping and discovered in the window of “Anthropologie” that there is one thing to do with old slides I hadn’t thought of…

…grabbed lunch from whole foods…

The next morning breakfast with old friends Steve and Linda at the Bijou (here they are in 1979 with Emily whose 32nd birthday was Friday night…Happy Birthday Emily!)

Steve’s been doing some pro bono work for the Occupy movement here in Portland and there was much talk of Occupy, and also of the new, well managed, and SAFE homeless “park” (“camp”?) on Burnside. (The needs of the growing legions of homeless has really been highlighted as a result of Occupy.)  We did a drive-by after breakfast and found the encampment next to the Chinatown gate and a giant foo dog…”right 2 dream…”

We proceeded to some galleries, and then to Contemporary Crafts checking for three clay sculptures Manuel Izquierdo did in the 1960’s…and they are beauties…

plus this photo of a clay show jury with Manuel on the far right

…a quick stop at the Portland Art Museum to see the sensational Japanese Print Show, (from their own collection) where there were terrific images and tons of fabric combination ideas spanning 3-4 centuries…this show is a must see…

plus a quick stop in the gift store for the members sale (chaos, but good bargains!)

At 3:00 up the hill to Phyllis’s fund raiser for the animal shelter, which had us touring neighbor artist Ken Shores’ AMAZING home full of a lifetime of collecting…and all ready for Christmas…

which included this very nice James Hansen sculpture (in the middle of early Christian relics)

…and there’s even some statuary out by the grill!!!

By now we need a break…

and a moment of serenity…

before heading out to the Blackfish Christmas party…BUT, it turned out, Occupy had “taken” the park blocks, cops everywhere, bikes with demonstrators careening around, chanting, slides on the side of the building…wow…exciting….

and on to a Christmas party?  Yup…and after some supper, some schmoozing with artists and friends…catching up with painters Paul Missal and Harry Widman…

we head back exhausted.  Sunday brings a quick look at the Pioneer Square tree (which can hardly be seen behind the beer tents!),

breakfast with Z&A and we head home.  Just enough time left in the day to bring a bit of the festive mood home…