Art in Portlandia: October

21 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists, Drawings, Modern Life, Uncategorized

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Abelardo Morell, Art, Blackfish Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery, Carol Benson, Charles Heaney, George Johanson, Henk Pander, James Lee Hansen, Joan Mitchell, Katherine Ace, Louis Bunce, Michael Knutson, Morris Graves, painting, PDX Gallery, Pearl Bakery, Portland Art Museum, Ralph Pugay, Rick Bartow, Squeak Carnwath, Storm Tharp, Upfor Gallery, Winston O. Link

We “scampered up” (as Harriet J. Connor used to say) to Portland Monday to see SRH and continue our training for a street Band…

and for me to get to play with his toys…

but we worked in a nice visit with George and Phyllis where we saw the big version of Johanson’s painting…recently back from Seattle…”Mirrored Porch”, 1984,

and this is of particular interest to us as we have a small version of this painting that George made for R…2007…

we talked about Louis Bunce (this was a “research call”) and they shared some photos of Louis including this one with Doll Gardner, Louis, George and Milton Wilson…

Louis painting to jazz…Jim Smith’s group “The Way out”

and, well, fun…

Tuesday we headed into a full art day running some books by Blackfish Gallery where Carol Benson and husband Michael Knutson are showing together…nice vibrant show…

across the street to Upfor where I kinda loved these oddly nice paintings by Ralph Pugay…

and then to PDX to see the VERY nice Storm Tharp show…here was R’s Favorite…

and mine…

Jane Beebee said ROSE COTTAGE refers to Tharp’s favorite Joan Mitchell painting called “Rose Cottage”, 1953…here it is, for just an art historical moment…

by now though, we needed a break and a tuna sandwich before going on to the museum…

The big show at the museum now is selections from the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Collection…

and though various of our correspondents were under-whelmed by the show, we liked it. First highlight a painting George had shown us in the show catalog the night before and the photo just seemed sooo dark…and the painting isn’t…(Geoge on the left in the eyeshade, Louis Bunce in the dark jacket, then Mike Russo, Jack McLarty, Sally Haley, Don Normark, and Phyllis on the right in profile…)

the docent was telling his group “and he’s still painting”… true enough…

and then other work by “friends”…Henk Pander’s portrait of Arlene…

a nice James Lee Hansen sculpture…

LOTS of Louis Bunce pieces…

Other things of interest included this nice big Katherine Ace…

Rick Bartow

…and I was delighted to see the Bay Area artist Squeak Carnwath’s painting…

“Will or Won’t”

since I’ve been sending these cards out for years…

I was also particularly taken with these two Morris Graves paintings…the first is the catalog cover for the show and is way more vibrant in life than in my not too good photo…

Next Stop the really beautiful Blue Sky photo show. Blue Sky Gallery opened 40 years ago and we were members right away. Membership cards in the early years were spatulas, collapsible cups, and so on. We have ALWAYS been big fans and members and were delighted with the show. Go see it…lots of nice photos from “away”…but LOTS of nice photos made right here by Oregon photographers.

or my iPhone panorama version (I’ve been “playing” with panorama)

FAVES:…Winston Link, there’s just SOOOO much going on in this photo, transportation wise…

and then this Abelardo Morell photo from his giant pinhole series that still knocks me out…

By now our energy was waning but we managed to get upstairs to see the newly hung and augmented room of Charles Heaney paintings (the museum owns 376, I noted on the label)…

but wait…what about this early Johanson?

and what about these gorgeous beaded bags from 1900-1920???

Enough. Off home. Try to go look this month.

On the Move

19 Monday May 2014

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists, Coffee art, Modern Life, Roger Hull, Sculpture, Uncategorized

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Boda's Kitchen, James Lee Hansen, Maryhill Museum, pretty coffee, Roger Hull, Sculpture, SUSA, Ukulele, vineyards

I’m thinking I should change the name of the blog to “On the Move” after this week. We headed up the Gorge passing Multnomah Falls,

and stopping at Boda’s Kitchen (thank you George) in Hood River for a quick and delicious lunch before crossing the bridge at The Dalles and heading east on beautiful highway 14 to Maryhill Museum.

Roger was moderating a panel discussion of the work of sculptor James Lee Hansen, which has been on view at Maryhill Museum for a few months. Panel members included historian Libby Dawson Farr, sculptor (and former student) Bruce Litteral and sculptor and former student M.J. Anderson. There was a good crowd and the conversation was lively, and–in turns emotional, funny and informative. Studio practice, World War II, guardians, teaching, friendship, mentor-ship, work ethic, inspiration…all topics of a fascinating 90 minutes.

After the event and a root-beer float, I took a view off the lovely terrace to the vineyards below…

the Italian MOOD is beginning to grip me! Then on to White Salmon and a night in the MT Hood room.

In 2011 we met up with the adorable Fanny in Florence…

and this year her parents are coming too. What fun lies ahead! Then we blasted home across the world’s scariest bridge

up the beautiful gorge

home in the rain

to find a little message…

play a little ukulele…(these two, Kathy and Pam, have been running a uke jam, SUSA, for 10 years, but are now retiring…)

and begin to think about Italy…

while still living in the Salem moment…

Another Party Day….

03 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Celebrations, City, Roger Hull

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Art work, birthday, David Savinar, James Lee Hansen, Portland, rain, Rain Agency, Roger Hull, Sculpture, Steve Grafe

My last birthday celebration was today, for this year anyway…a delicious lunch, a beautiful pavlova, and a present that matched my outfit…

and after laughing a lot and giving my heartfelt thanks, we whisked away to Portland.

David Savinar of the Rain Agency and President of the Maryhill Museum board, along with trustees Anne Avery and Matthew Johnston, was hosting a reception for sculptor James Lee Hansen, whose show is currently at Maryhill until July 27th, 2014.

The event was lots of fun with many well-wishers there to see the Hansens…

but at a certain point my eye fell on the window sill…

Here’s art historian Roger Hull with Steve Grafe, curator of the Maryhill Museum.

On May 17, 2014, from 2-4:00 pm, Mr. Hull will moderate a panel discussion of the show, and Hansen’s work, at the Maryhill Museum. The panel will include sculptor MJ Anderson, Bruce Literal, and art historian Libby Dawson Farr. Outside was evidence of the rain itself…ahhhh Oregon.

Manuel Izquierdo: Farewell

22 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists, Roger Hull, Sculpture, Uncategorized

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"Manuel Izquierdo: Myth, BILL BLIX, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, James Lee Hansen, LEE IMONEN, Robert Hess, Salem sculpture, Sculpture

Only three more days to get down to the Hallie Ford Museum of Art to see the Manuel Izquierdo Show. To celebrate the end of the show curator Roger Hull will moderate a panel of four regional sculptors at the museum on Sunday March 24th at 2:00 p.m., talking about Manuel and his work. As luck would have it, Salem has a nice work by each of the four…

James Lee Hansen was in art school with Manuel so has an interesting long-time perspective on his body of work and sculpture in the region, and has himself a beautiful body of his own work represented in Salem by the civic center fountain…

Bill Blix, a Eugene sculptor, has many public works of art throughout the region including the fountain in front of the State Capitol Building on the Mall…

Robert Hess, Salem resident and Willamette University faculty member, has several pieces in Salem but this one is the most accessible right at street level (reminding us that it would be really nice to have more sculpture as part of our street-scape!)…

Lee Imonen is a Willamette Alum, now teaching in Eugene and building a beautiful body of creative work including this piece which stands in an inner court yard on the North Mall of the State of Oregon campus…

Better come take a last look at the stellar group of works by Manuel Izquierdo…gathered from around the region, standing beautifully together for one last time…

Shifting Gears…

21 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists

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Frederic Littman, Jack Hammack, James Lee Hansen, Manuel Izquierdo, Rick Norwood

The flood waters have receded and, for the moment, the rain has stopped. Roger has been researching and writing, looking for photos, really doing the work for the book and show of the work of sculptor Manuel Izquierdo (1925-2009), still a year away. This week a few photos came to the surface…thought you might like to see this one since George Johanson (a classmate and colleague of Manuel’s at the Museum School) was able to identify all of the “students”.

Kneeling is well-known sculptor James Lee Hansen, then Rick Norwood, Jack Hammack, and Manuel Izquierdo at far right. The photo was taken at the Museum School about 1949.

We don’t know what Norwood and Hammack went on to do, but I’m interested in how much bigger the sculptures of Hansen and Izquierdo are, both going on to rich careers as sculptors in the Pacific Northwest. Hansen and Izquierdo were both students of Portland sculptor Frederic Littman, which causes a bit of reflection on the artistic results (even here in Oregon) of the horrific turmoil of Europe in the war years. Littman, a Hungarian, was escaping war in Paris…arriving in Portland in 1941 and teaching first at Reed College, then on to the Museum school. Izquierdo himself escaped Spain as a youngster (with his two siblings), arriving in New York in 1942, and in Portland in 1943.

Living the Creative Life: James Lee Hansen

29 Thursday Oct 2009

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Living the Creative Life

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James Lee Hansen, Living the Creative Life, Sculpture

We went up to Battleground, WA, last week to visit sculptor Jim Hansen and his wife Jane, who had invited us to tour their “compound” and have lunch. They have 13 acres just north of Vancouver and it was a rainy but beautiful fall day. The “front yard” is the perfect place for sculpture, but then the sculpture is so terrific it looks good anyplace–like the deck for instance:

and while most is cast bronze, there are other choices, including cement.

After touring the house we went out to the studio, where a just few sculptures are sitting around:

(These things are so beautiful and just ASK to be touched…and this might be the only venue where you actually CAN touch them!)

The studio has the delights of most studios–the evidence of work being made.

Jim talked to Roger about work in progress:

and showed us where the molds are stored

Jim has been amazingly prolific as an artist, and Jane is in the process of compiling a catalog raisonne of all the sculpture. They are photographing everything still in their possession :

and Jane explains that a white string means the photographing is complete

We then took a walk down to the gallery–a separate building at the front of the property where prospective clients can visit and see some of the beautiful, muscular pieces on hand:

By now our tummies were all growling for lunch so we walked back up to the house passing the studio

wherein there is a nice wall with the marks of all the grand children as they grew:

Back in the friendly and warm house we settled down for a terrific lunch, and a toast to the artist and the cook:

YUM!!!!

On the way home I noted that everything had begun to look like a James Lee Hansen sculpture:

	nicholsloystudio on The Life I Lead
	Deb on Salem Sketchers
	bonniehull on Salem Sketchers
	jkvigeland on Salem Sketchers
	Deb on Creative Thinking When Zoning…

On The Way

Tag Archives: James Lee Hansen

Art in Portlandia: October

On the Move

Another Party Day….

Manuel Izquierdo: Farewell

Shifting Gears…

Living the Creative Life: James Lee Hansen