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| Reza Antoszewska with two of her works. |
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| One of Reza Antoszewska's spectacular pieces. |
One of the best "field trips" we took last year was to
Portland Open Studios, a city-wide event held each fall. When I heard about the
Southeast Area Art Walk, I knew we shouldn't miss it. Our first stop was to visit the studio of
Reza Antroszewska, who creates her art with Ebru, a form of marbling perfected in Turkey at least 500 years ago. Reza enthusiastically shared details of her techniques and materials. It's quite surprising to imagine these complex and gorgeous patterns being created with colors floating on water.
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| Denise Bergman and friend. |
Next we met
Denise Bergman and her wonderful creatures fabricated from all sorts of crazy scraps. They were all rather joyful sculptures, not unlike the paper mache puppets
Mudeye Puppet Co. makes from recyling trash. Creativity can transform just about anything!
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| Jeanne Henry at the wheel. |
We found potter
Jeanne Henry hard at work in her clay studio, shaping the feet of some lovely bowls. She patiently showed Jasper exactly what she was doing and gave him some clay scraps to play with. She was happy to answer all sorts of questions about clay and how she shapes it into stunning pieces. Then we took a peek at her giant kiln!
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| Nik Mills letting Jasper control one of his fountains. |
We found the totally unexpected when we visited artist
Nik Mills, who creates some incredible fountains. What proved to be most intriguing about them is something that can't be shared in a photograph- the way they sound. The sound of water really inspires the artist. He generously allowed Jasper to control the water pressure on one sculpture, and showed us how this really changed the way the sculpture sounds. It's designed so that the individual elements can be turned separately, which also changes the sounds of the water in fascinating ways. He showed us the moulds he uses and explained how the piece was cast. The next time we visit one of the area's lovely waterfalls, I'm going to remember to close my eyes and just listen to the sound of the water!
We found the totally unexpected when we visited artist Nik Mills, who creates some incredible fountains. What proved to be most intriguing about them is something that can't be shared in a photograph- the way they sound. The sound of water really inspires the artist. He generously allowed Jasper to control the water pressure on one sculpture, and showed us how this really changed the way the sculpture sounds. It's designed so that the individual elements can be turned separately, which also changes the sounds of the water in fascinating ways. He showed us the moulds he uses and explained how the piece was cast. The next time we visit one of the area's lovely waterfalls, I'm going to remember to close my eyes and just listen to the sound of the water!
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