Portland Open Studios

 Nancy Prior lets Jasper help create an etching.

Portland Open Studios is an amazing opportunity to visit working artists and watch them create art.   It's happening this weekend and next, with 100 artists on their roster opening their doors from 10AM- 5PM. We took on the challenge of visiting some of the ones that intrigued us the most.  I chose diverse mediums and looked for artists that produce artwork that I thought would thoroughly engage Jasper.   These are grownups that have not forgotten how to play!  Every artist we visited, without exception, was extraordinarily kind and generous, showing Jasper exactly how they create art, and sharing their enthusiasm.  He had a blast, and I was so grateful that my son and I were the recipients of so much good will.  

A mosaic and painting by Christine Zachary.

Christine Zachary makes spectacular mosaic pieces that are often layered over her oil paintings.  Photographs really cannot do justice to her works because there is so much to look at in terms of depth, shades of transparency and opacity, texture and reflectivity.  When she creates a glass mosaic over an oil painting, often the oil painting can be glimpsed beneath the more transparent tiles, creating a marvelous effect.  She also creates reverse paintings on glass, which she suggested would be a fun thing for a child to experiment with.  I agree.  She took the time to show us many of her creations, tell us the stories behind them, and explain how they were made. 

The finished etching.

We have been experimenting a little with block printing, and I knew Jasper would love to see a professional printmaking studio.  Nancy Prior actually let Jasper help her make an etching, showing him the entire process and letting him pick out the printing plate and add a collage element.  He was thrilled!  She even gave him an exquisite drawing of a car to take home. 

Jill Torberson makes sculptures out of metal salvage, cutting and welding playful shapes together.  She showed Jasper the tools she uses and explained how she creates her designs.  Many of them were the perfect size for Jasper to see at his own eye level, and he was delighted with them.  

Gregory Hanson is a glass artist who uses lampworking to make exquisite jewel-like creations.  In lampworking, borosilicate glass is used, which is very strong.  It requires very high temperatures to soften to a working consistency, a single torch or "lamp" is used, and the work is often small and highly detailed.  Jasper has a fondness for the very small, and was instantly smitten.  Mr. Hanson could not have been kinder, showing Jasper his process and his materials, and even giving him a small treasure, a small and devastatingly lovely button.  Jasper, not surprisingly, is now insisting on taking it with him wherever he goes.

Gregory Hanson at his work table.

Heather Fields with a first gather of glass on her pipe.

Heather and John Fields own a glassblowing studio in North Portland.  Glassblowing is very difficult to master, but glassblowers know there is nothing like it.   These artists have reached a level of skill where they can not only make jaw-dropping work, but have been making a living doing so for many years.  When we arrived, Heather began a complete demonstration of how to take a gooey glob of molten glass and turn it into a lovely vessel.  Her finesse is marvelous to behold.  Jasper was thoroughly riveted.

They take pieces that don't turn out to their satisfaction, break them into pieces, and make lovely pendants with them.  Jasper just wouldn't leave without a souvenir, so he picked out his favorite, and asked me to photograph some of the others he also loved.  

The highlight of the day, undoubtably, was our visit to the studio of Martin Waugh.  Mr. Waugh is a physicist who began taking pictures of water droplets, and ultimately constructed one of the most amazing contraptions you can ever imagine, which takes high speed pictures of liquids dripping and splashing.  He can minutely control nearly every aspect of the setup, including the water pressure, lighting, reflections, and number of drops that fall in sequence. Photographs appear instantly on his computer screen as they are taken.  He experiments with different temperatures and liquids to create different levels of surface tension.  The result is breathtaking.  Mr. Waugh actually let Jasper push the button to take pictures, printed one of the results, and let Jasper take it home.   Jasper was completely overjoyed, and spent the rest of the day looking at water droplets with his magnifying lens every time we got out of the car.