Futility Now

So before the whole Christmas thing got underway, my dad came up to visit. We went to Oak’s Park, which C and I hadn’t been to in ages. By coincidence, they had the organ going. It was totally fantastic.

Here is the locker we kept our stuff in whilst being overcome by insouciance.

(Man, that is so insouciant!)

Here are the beskated feet of me and C.

(Man, those are so beskated!)

We also went to the Portland Art Museum to check out the rather remarkable The Artist’s Touch and the Craftsman’s Hand exhibit. Unfortunately, everything in that exhibit was (understandably) behind glass, so my photos from it are crap. Instead, check out these pictures of “special” babies from the Renaissance.

Now we’re at Ocean Haven again, and I’m sure I’ll have something to say about that soon.

In this compelling work, the hydrant represents the edifice of inhumanity upon which man (represented here by a shoe) teeters precariously.

Here are a couple of shots of Yoshi watching his favorite film.

Here is the latest in a series that I like to call “What the Hell is Going On with My Head?”

I love The Rasmussen.

I lived here two times, so did my sister.

Steve, the kindly & cranky manager, has a two times rule.  You can’t come back after that.  I understand it on principle, but it’s hard for me to imagine never living in The Rasmussen again.

This weekend J & I went for several walks, this was in Laurelhurst, at the teeny Oregon Park, another place that is full of memories.

We’ve been talking a lot about where we might live in the future; it’s so strange to imagine not being surrounded by remnants of earlier epochs (of my history as opposed to the world’s).  Discovery, instead of rediscovery.

So we went to a charmingly goofy opening at Monograph. While we were there, availed ourselves of an old typewriter by the door. True to form, Hazel wrote something sweet, and I wrote something standoffish.

(standoff fish?)

Pictures from that cool little park at the end of Skidmore.

Here is Yoshi stepping on my face.

J & I went down to the Portland Art Museum on Sunday to spend some quality time in the contemporary art wing.  We had the place pretty much to ourselves.  There are two Agnes Martins and a Louise Nevelson that I am extra-fond of.

Agnes Martin, Homage to Greece

I am teaching painting in a much more focused way than I used to, and certainly doing a lot more of it than I used to, so it makes sense that I’ve been more excited about painting in general of late, especially mixed-media painting.   But I think what’s prompting my enthusiasm is actually a new understanding of movement, rhythm, balance, and tension that’s coming out of the ballet classes I’ve been taking. Basically, I am moving my body in a new way, and that is resulting in a different experience of the world, which is resulting in a new understanding of art.  That I did not predict, and it’s pretty exciting.

I don’t have a more recent photo, but this one of me with pretzel moustache in France does a good job, I think, of capturing my enthusiasm.