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Besides visiting gardens my last three days in Portland, I also visited some of the nicest artists I know. I had a lovely time seeing their studios and going out to lunch. Monday I visited Judy Wise's house and studio.
Walking into an artist's studio is like walking into a room-sized embodiment of their creativity, energy and personality. It is where they pour out their soul and collect their treasures. It is a space that is truly their own. Walking into Judy's studio I could feel her creative energy in the space. It was wonderful and made me so happy.
Judy's Studio
Lunch with Judy...really good Thai.
I also got a tour of Judy's husband's gardens. They were wonderful as well. So many things that grow in Oregon and do not grow (well) in the Northeast. John was working away and it was nice to finally meet him after seeing his gardens for so long on Judy's blog.
Judy and John's Gardens
Tuesday I visited Bill and Linda Womack and their two dogs Sadie and Jack. Linda's studio is in a converted garage behind their house. It was perfect. Linda has it set up with room for students so she can teach right in her studio. She has her work displayed along with work-in-progress and sample boards. She showed me how to crack shellac on wax, which I think is one of the last techniques in encaustics I've been wanting to try. Now I need to buy some shellac when I get home.
Linda's Studio
I had lunch that day with Bill, Linda, Kimberly Kent, and Judy Wise. We had a nice time catching up since our time together at the International Encaustic Conference in Massachusetts in June. We went to American Dream Pizza, which was fantastic and very cool inside. Kimberly's grandson, Hugh, went with us.
Lunch at American Dream Pizza
So in 10 days I went roughly 600 miles, took over 1000 photographs, and doubled the weight of my baggage. I really loved my time in Oregon.
The baggage is a funny story. I spent all morning squishing all my stuff into my one suitcase and somehow I was successful. But when I got to Linda's house I was telling her about my bags and she suggested I weigh it just to be on the safe side. Deep down I already knew I was in trouble, but how much trouble? I could barely pick up my bag to hold it on the scale. It was over 80 pounds! Oops! So Linda, being the wonderfully nice person she is, lent me a bag from their attic and I spent the next 20 minutes putting over 30 pounds into that bag. It was ridiculous, but it worked. The big bag was 50.0 pounds when I checked it! I had to laugh. Thanks, Linda!