In cleaning one closet out this weekend and throwing away lots, taking a box to Goodwill, some things to file…I found a stack of cards that a local funeral parlor (now the site of a Starbuck’s) made up in the 1950’s and handed out. They are all photos of Salem from the early 1900’s and […]
Category: Salem
Checking in with Jon Colburn
I’ve written a lot about Jon Colburn and visited his studio many times, since his partner is my long-time friend and garden mentor Irene Longaker. The other day R and I were in the PNAA (Pacific Northwest Artist Archive) and archivist Mary McRobinson had a nice painting of Jon’s over her desk, on loan from […]
Our New Neighbors
For over 35 years of our 38 years on Court Street, our neighbors over the back fence were Legal Aid and Legal Services. Unbeknownst to us, they moved out a year or so ago and we found out Saturday that what we had begun to suspect was true WAS true…in the small space between our […]
Life After Flu
I’ve been hit hard this flu season…three weeks at Christmas and three more weeks in Jan/Feb. Thank goodness for quilts (this one made by my friend Sharon) and books… …and if you haven’t read Colin Meloy’s YA adventure “Wildwood,” consider it…the main locale is Portland and it is a VERY fun read…here are the maps […]
Cleaning the Sewing Cottage and Thinking About the World
December, the month for cleaning studios to get ready for the new year. Right after New Year’s I swear I can feel the light increasing every single day…until it’s a little bit light at 5:00 and on we go. New Year, new work, new energy. So today I started by tidying up the sewing cottage…what […]
The Dying Cedar
We’re mourning a dying cedar tree when there are many more things to grieve about just now…but this tree has provided us shade and shelter for many years…a buffer from a busy traffic corner (our garden is the definition of rus in urbe). It has that familiar dying cedar look to it (over the years […]
The Eclipse…
The media is filled this morning…eclipse photos of great telescopic/cellphone beauty…ecstatic exclamations…large groups all experiencing together this moment of science and imagination…great fun. I didn’t think I’d write about it since my pictures are blurry and unremarkable in every way…but…why not. Maybe many of us though decided to experience this phenomenon in our own backyards…to […]
Roger Hull and Where He Works
A loyal reader recently wrote and said she would enjoy seeing where Roger Hull writes his many monographs about regional art and artists. As he is currently using both offices (the winter office and the summer office) I thought I might visit. (Also, I have noted that when I write about Roger or quilts, my […]
So What About Blogs?
My blog posts have fallen off (and so have my statistics!)…maybe blogs are going the way of all things in this fast world of ours? My need to provide a narrative thread for this blog is slipping as I do more and more on Instagram…quick image, one line…done. The trouble with it is you have […]
Salem Sketchers
For a couple of years an intrepid group of local artists has been participating one Saturday a month in what is an international movement of urban sketchers…very casual, very fun. Each month they draw at a different location…I’ve dropped in and out, but decided to join today, even though the weather was iffy…(58 degrees on […]