Across the city, creativity was practiced, observed and enjoyed
By Michael Houston
For the past two weekends, yellow and black arrow signs pointed the way to 98 different studios in the Portland area. Inside, people browsed through artwork, watched artists work on projects and chatted with others.
The number of artists (and their different mediums) is overwhelming, and there's only four days to take it all in.
Local artists opened their workspace and homes to art lovers as part of the ninth year of "Portland Open Studios."
Each space had a unique feel, from Mary Wells' large, open, two-story sunlit studio to Blake Van Roekel's cozy single-room shop.
The different textures, stories and mediums holds more variety.
Wells has been painting since she was a child (a collage and painting from her teen years hang near the entrance to her newly remodeled home and studio). But lately she has found new mediums: her old paintings and magazines.
Old acrylic paintings on thick paper are cut into chad-sized pieces and are carefully placed to form a new picture (think tile mosaics).
For smaller works, she uses magazine pages that are cut into tiny pieces and glued in a new pattern.
Van Roekel, an enthusiastic, talkative young woman who displays her jewelry in a small-glass fronted studio, started her own business melting and molding glass into jewelry and markets under the name Magma (see magmajewels.com).
She decided to pursue her art soon after finishing college and passing on graduate school.
"I can get into debt either one of two ways," Van Roekel said, referring to choosing art over school.
Her bet paid off, and she now sells jewelry in various parts of the U.S. and abroad.
"You can create something absolutely beautiful with glass," she said.
Van Roekel enjoys working with the medium for its simplicity and the ability to create something with the same material bottles are made from.
While both Wells and Van Roekel form art in rather urban settings, Elisabeth Sullivan does her work at home with windows facing treetops. In this ideal location at the foot of the West Hills, Sullivan molds her ceramics.
During the show, her living room and dining rooms were filled with two-foot political dolls, a giant giraffe and friends laughing at George W. Bush. One work depicts Bush growing thick hair, similar to an ape.
Sullivan says she uses humor in her art to purge some of her inner feelings. In this instance, Bush's piece helps her deal with the current political climate.
"I've done art since I was old enough to hold a pencil," Sullivan said.
Although not always her primary career (for several years Sullivan worked and taught in the field of computer science), she loved the joy and fun found in art.
Her final advice: "Follow your heart; do what you love."
Would be possible to catch all 98 artists in two weekends? Probably not, and trying to do so might cut short some of the connections with the individual artists, each with a unique story to share.
Some artists prefer to work the entire time, displaying their technique and thought process. Others, such as Sullivan, simply enjoyed the company and chatted with friends and new acquaintances.
