(317) Making Marbles

My last evening off before returning to work...meh.

I did not get to enjoy making marbles. Instead I cancled the class to enroll Greg for his Birthday.

(318) Central Coast Photos

This weekend was our annual trip to the coast with Cara & Marcus. This year we were joined by Brandon, Jen & Joe, and Cami & Matt. Friday night was packed with fun including BBQ & drinks, Wii action, and a walk on the beach in the perfectly still night. The moon was clear, it was perhaps the best evening I have ever seen on the Oregon coast. Incredible.


Saturday morning Cara cooked a delicious brunch with overnight French toast, bacon, sausage, and fruit salad. After the splendid breakfast it was time to head out. I decided we should go into Newport!


Where better to start the day than a creepy pirate village? After roaming the strange buildings and statues. Only those who attended will understand the humor behind Greg's oh so innocent expression below:


Most of the stores were lame and strange, but we found a few studios that were neat. One glass studio (Pyromania) caught our fascination for a bit here is a snapshot of one of the pieces:


The group then split off and half went to the Hatfield Science Center while Cara, Marcus, and I went to take photos. See how cute is that! They are both learning how to use their new Nikon cameras...like two peas in a pod:



Our first stop was to take shots of the bridge with a stop at the Yaquina lighthouse as destination two (the oldest house in Newport):


On the way we were distracted by some flowers and I think perhaps my most interesting shots of the day:


At lunch we met up with Greg and ate at the Rogue Brewery.


Then headed up to the other Yaquina Lighthouse and check out the tide pools at low tide for sea creatures.


The night was stormy so it ended our photo taking, but all-in-all it was a blast and we agreed that the next beautiful sunset in Portland the three of us were on for another photo session!


More photos are on my Facebook - Amber Dawn

Coastal Rejuvenation

Gorgeous! It is absolutely gorgeous outside and I have the day off! We are supposed to be headed to the beach right about now, but I don't have the heart to wake sleeping beauty. I think he over did it a little bit at the Blazer's game last night.

So instead I called a few venue to setup appointments for next week. Hopefully we can find one quick as we want to get married this fall and that is not so far away!

Now I need to motivate myself to finish packing.

This weekend will hopefully be jam packed with photo taking!

(319) Glass Blowing over Torch

Torch glass blowing was the topic of this evenings creative adventure. Again I visited Aquila School of Glass.

I attempted to blow some bulbs (ornaments), made a mini container, and a small vase. Mostly the idea was to get used to the feel of working with the tube borocilicate glass. A big part of the class was practicing pinching the tube glass to make points and stretching the tube to make straws. Hopefully I will remember for the next time.

(320) A Walk In the Park

Though this week has been fairly void of creativity, it has been packed with excitement. Originally I had planned to work at the glass studio this evening, but instead I decided to enjoy the absolutely beautiful weather. The early spring treat brought sunshine and cast a halo around the city. People walking down the street could barely contain their smiles.

Our evening began much like any other as we stumbled listlessly through the options for dinner. Inevitably with the kitchen remodel still underway we headed out to dinner. Simple sounded delicious and so we chose a Mexican restaurant in downtown Milwaukie. We savored the morsels of dinner over normal daily chat.

Walking out into the early evening Greg recommended heading down to the waterfront for a walk. This was a little out of the norm so it set a happy flag off in my head. Unfortunately the park was not quite as we anticipated. When we arrived it was overwhelmed with loud geese (not to mention the mess that accompanies geese and ducks) and people consuming the only spots to sit and enjoy the sunset. With nowhere to sit plus a scenic sewage treatment plant in the background I looked up at Greg with a questioning look. He decided perhaps we should go to a different park and enjoy the last moments of sunlight.

We decided upon a nearby park in Sellwood (near Oaks Park). Cutting across the park grass I tried to ignore the squishy sounds the lawn made as we sunk into the mud. Luckily we hit the trail pretty quickly and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Greg fiddling with something…

I tried to contain my smile, but I was pretty sure I knew what was coming as we walked along the water. We found a picnic table and sat down to enjoy the sunset. Greg offered me some mints (several times) and I was half paying attention as I watched the water drift by when he handed me the tic-tac box. Shaking it up and down nothing came out it took a moment to realize the candy sounded a little different. When I looked down there in the tic-tacs was a ring.

I smiled (and am a little ashamed) the first words I said were “thank you, I love it!” I put on the shiny ring and kissed him as he smiled back and said, “well I guess I should do this right and ask you the question." He got down on both knees and held my hands and asked, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes of course, I love you!" After a slight pause in normal Amber fasion I inserted a hint of sarcasim "though perhaps I should try it on for size and make you wait for an answer since you made me wait for so long." We laughed, I cried, and together we hugged one another until the sun went down.

As night crept in a lurking dog with strange red eyes and drool that looked somewhat frothy dripping from his mouth began to circle us. I made a joke that we should make a smooth exit before we needed rabies shots (as this would be just my luck). We made our escape, practically skipping from the park, and set out to start the rounds and share our good news with friends and family.

And so it was...Amber and Greg are engaged.

(321) Last Winter OSA Class

My OSA drawing class "So You Think you Can't Draw" has come to an end. For the last session we had free reign to choose our medium and had a table of vegetables to choose from to draw. I decided to work with ink (and a few mixed media highlights) and try to do some more abstract forms.

The results were interesting and here are a couple quick pieces that results from the evening:

(322) Not So Beyond Bizzarre

For Jason's Birthday we decided to do a Portland Walking tour and started the evening in style at top the Bank Tower.



We chose the adult topic late night - Beyond Bizarre tour with wishes of murder, suicide, and gory stories around Portland.

The evening started over dinner @ Old Town Pizza.


We enjoyed delicious pizza and beer to get warmed up before facing the elements. Here Daphne, Chris and Jason enjoy a spinich, pesto, and feta pizza with pine nuts (not picture Mike, Karly, Greg and I):


Our tour began with a walk through Chinatown (aka Japantown) to catch the max as she explained different types of paranormal activity. I believe the guide said there were seven different types. A few I can remember of the top of my head are....

1. Haunting - a spirit stays in a certain place (where they resided or died as a living person).
   
2. Object Possession - personal belonging still connected death.
   
3. Demonic possession - i.e. the exercist.
4. Poltergeist - not a typical house haunting, rather a psychokinetic energy.

On the MAX trip Greg decided to test our our heavy duty EMF detectors:


Our first destination for ghost hunting was the White Eagle Cafe, haunted by the supposed lovers Rose and Sam (a murder suicide). Despite our best attempts, the only ghostly hauntings we encountered were man-made...we can thank Greg for that.


The final destination was Old Town Pizza (where we had begun). Said to be lurking in the basement is a converted street walker named Nina who died under suspicious circumstances. Check out Old Town's site for more information on her story.

All-in-all the good company made the night worth it, but the tour left much to be desired.

More pictures are on my Facebook: Amber Dawn

(323) Story - The Lady in a Bonnet

Today I am home with swollen tonsils and an ear ache and trying to fill the time with low stress activities so I can at last get over the culture that has consumed my sinuses and been lingering for what seems like an eternity. I have paranormal on my mind as last night before going to sleep I was reading about Old Town Pizza and the apparition that is seen walking the old Merchant Hotel. Below is a picture of the Merchant Hotel once part of Portland's Japantown (today referred to as Chinatown - on a side bar while searching for this image of Japantown I came across a wonderful blog on Portland History Cafe Unknown ):

Paranormal activity, despite being a term now compromised by Hollywood, describes experiences that are not with the realm what can be explained by science. Though evidence, facts, and observations have been gathered over the years, it is unclear to humans how to comprehended and translate these bits of data.

I am a rather skeptical scientific minded person when it comes to empirical data, but it seems to me there are still many things about the mysterious uncategorical experiences that have truly fascinated me through my life. Perhaps it just takes that one experience to make you a believer, especially when the experience is such an outlier from the normal spectrum of daily life. Here is my experience...take it or leave it, but it has made me a believer for life. And be it coincidence, fact, or some other blended line of truth therein, it defiantly shaped my beliefs on the paranormal world.

When I was young my family lived in Hollywood, California. My parents bought the Cobb house, inherited by my grandmother and her siblings (Priscilla and David). The white house on Harvard Boulevard.

Cobb is my grandmother's maiden name. She and her family lived in this house after they moved out west from Boston where my great grandfather, Oscar Cobb, had made a name for himself in architecture.

The house had been built by my great uncle Billy, though it is unclear which side of the family he was from...probably the Cobb side. And though I do not believe I ever personally met my uncle Billy, my father was named after him. The has was join by a shop that my grandfather (Oscar) had used to run a fencing company from. And my grandmother was a French teacher.

To date I still have some of the books from the library, including some of the French readers. Though I was young and only lived there the first years of my life up until I was just about 5 years old I have extremely vivid memories of the house.

There is a night that still stands out in my dreams. It is one of those strange events that I cannot tell if it is a memory or dream, but it has been something constant since my childhood.

I open my eyes and wake in the middle of the night to the sounds of footsteps on the creaky floorboards. The steps stop outside my bedroom and I lose track for a moment as I look at the aquarium. Cast in a gentle glow from the low of the aquarium I try to get my balance. I think for a moment it is my Mom so I search the room and for her figure, but only see a reflection of myself (in the aquarium). I am young and in a crib, but it is definitely my face.

I hear the noises start again, but they become deep and more intense as they start to get closer. The sounds are predominant a very low guttural sound like chanting in an unfamiliar language (like monks chanting).

I start to get scarred as the noises near my door and it sounds like an animal is pacing in the hall (thinking back this was probably my dog Bear). I feel a sudden chill as my body responds to a change in pressure in the room. I realize I am not alone and hear the rhythmic rocking chair near me.

I am paralyzed in the crib as I look in the chair and see a whitish green apparition. I can tell she is female with a bonnet. I can't see her face and keep trying to look. I start to cry and hear a "shhhhhhhhh" sound as she raises her hand to her mouth. The sounds in the hall stop and she points to the wall. Hung above are pictures of trains in gold and black. The pictures come to life. It is like the trains are a silent film. I am watching them so intently that I barely realize I am now laying back down. My eyes grow heavy and I am almost hypnotized by the trains. I hear the steady rocking and that is the last thing I remember.

In my mind she was a silent Shaker or Quaker and I could feel her presence by me often. I think the lady in the bonnet followed me through my childhood. There are a series of nights I have amassed together in my memories that have become one very long night. Perhaps some may call it an imaginary friend or over imagination, but it seemed very real to me (not to mention I am really not sure why a child wold make up that kind of imaginary friend, I mean a lady in a bonnet screams a hoot-in-hollerin' time). I really think I tapped into something outside of the norm that really could not have been explained scientifically.

Though over the years I have begun to ignore the premonitions I am an even more skeptical adult. Sometimes I wonder if she is still here today at times, but I ignore and write off strange things as coincidences.

I wonder who she is and why she latched on to me and has protected me. Maybe I do have a guardian angel after all. And through I am not a spiritual person this makes my mind wonder what more is out there.

Beyond Bizarre

Some close! This week is almost at an end at last.

I am totally looking forward to going on a walking tour through Portland Walking company. The tour is called "Beyond Bizarre" and is an adventure into the supernatural.

It starts at Old Town Pizza (apparently one of the most haunted places...hmm who would have known?). I anticipate wielding the EMP meters around Chinatown will most certainly be an experience all right.

Perhaps I can catch some of the action on my camera! We shall see what paranormal experiences the universe has in store for us...

Inspiring Jewelry Artist

Today after work I had a little time to browse and came across some interesting jewelry pieces by Dana Kellin.

I was really drawn in by the wire work which has inspired me to want to pursue creating some more complex pieces. Here is a good example of some of her work:

I treated myself to a necklace...and really wanted a bracelet similar to the above, but thought I might explore a similar design concept and challenging myself.

I think I will be exploring some wire work soon.

(324) Working with Ink

This term passed too quickly! One more OSA class left.

Tonight subject was table legs. The milled edges made a challenging subject when working in ink. Very symmetric and detailed I did several abstract interpretations. It is difficult for my mind to get in an abstract mode. My results were interesting, but good to practice using a different style of creativity.

Here are a few samples of my table leg ink drawings:

(325) Fantasy Seascape Oil #2

Tonight's topic was seascape fantasy.

Here is the set of tools we set out with: a knife, fan, line, filbert, a pair of 1 inch brushes and a duster. There was also a neat little tool used to remove paint (which I can't remember the name of on the far right).


We started by separating the horizon by marking equal sides of the canvas and putting tape across. Then we dampened the canvas with liquid white all over and added the blue sky. The fluffy clouds were a blend of the Prussian blue and crimson red. Using the filbert brush you pluck the sky with the formation of clouds. Then you go back over the top in a swirl motion with the fan or filbert and lastly blend with the 1 inch corner by tapping the canvas.

It was good practice, but I needed to spend some more time to get my clouds more depth (they look a little sad). I think it was the combination of the lack of paint and layering. So clouds might be a good subject for my next painting (my clouds did not look as happy as I would have liked).


After the sky peel back the tap and follow the straight line on the horizon with the blue water line then move down the canvas to a greener tone and then a sandy toned beach. Again the 1 inch larger brushes work great for blending any transforming colors. Then add the waves with the fine line...remember waves come in at an angle. Use the fan and stoked the waves upward at an angle to get the misty effect. Try to get a fairly similar angle to keep the waves looking realistic. A couple blended smudges of brown with highlights and you have a simple ocean scene. For effect I threw three birds in the image.


Though maybe the sign of being super critical of myself. The painting did not turn out quiet how I wanted, but none-the-less it was good practice. Maybe someday I will have a seascape that I like and that would be a seascape fantasy.

It is interesting to see how different artists approach the same subject. So it will be neat to see as my mother and I take the classes how each of our paintings evolve on the same subject. Watching the class evolve together is an experience all unto itself.

(326) Agate Bracelet for B-Day Gift

Today I helped my friends work at the Antique Expo. I fell in love with tiered leaded glass bookcases and a beautiful country butcher block. There is something about the design and craftsmanship of early 1900 furniture that appeases the eye.

But for now new items found a home with me, at least until the remodel is done and I have an opportunity to go through what remains in the basement. At least the basement is now shy 3 large boxes of airplane models. Now if I can get through the 30+ boxes of books this spring I will be on a roll!

After the long day of standing my feet not happy, but I came home just in time for a quick nap, shower and time to bead a simple bracelet for Karely's Birthday before we met for dinner at Fratelli.

The smooth agate stones made a simple, but elegant material in mutated tones of pink, blue, green, and gray:


Unfortunately after dinner I had to call it a night as my cold is still had my head under attack! So it was an early night, to follow a Saturday full of fascinating imagery.