Gallery morning

Our SAQA Portland group met at the Waterstone Gallery in Portland's Pearl District yesterday morning to see Trisha Hassler's show. Now if you have never seen Trisha's work and I start out telling you how she has been combining rusted steel, that she cuts with a torch, and stitched fabric you just aren't going to understand that it is not a gimmick and it is for real and she is serious about this stuff. So, if you haven't seen her work, you probably ought to go on over to her web site right now and take a look before you go any further...

There. Did you look at it? Just wonderful, wonderful stuff.

Trisha talked about her work and the show. She talked about transitioning out of using the steel because she now has Parkinson's disease and does not always have the strength to work with the metal. She talked about her family and how the work relates to her history and what she wants her children to know about their history. It was a lovely talk. She is a lovely person.

While she was talking she passed around a piece of fabric that she has been inviting people to stitch on. We each added a few stitches. It will be used in a piece of art.

We wandered through the small gallery and examined each perfect piece carefully. It was a collaborative show with a painter named Kathy Haydon and their work complemented each other beautifully. It was the kind of show that filled me with the pleasure of sharing work that felt very personal and intimate. Each piece was a contemplation and a satisfyingly delicious little bit of texture, meaning and stunning detail.

If you live in or near Portland, I really hope you don't miss seeing this. Details here.

When we left the gallery I met several of the others at a Lebanese restaurant and we had a good lunch and a lively discussion about the art and about the upcoming exhibits for our High Fiber Diet group. I forget how much good energy there is in downtown Portland. I walked about 10 blocks from the gallery to the restaurant and arrived ahead of the group who drove and had to look for parking. Walking was a good choice. It was a beautiful morning and I enjoyed the shop windows and the street scene and smells of roasting coffee and garlic cooking and banks of flowers along the street. I love Portland, and marvel that we ended up living here, almost by accident. My morning in the city seemed to energize me and I came home to my little studio in the woods and put in a productive afternoon.