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Aug 10another weekend in Portland
Summer weekends here in Portland have been activity-filled and full of independent arts showcases.
On Saturday, we tried to attend the New Belgium Tour de Fat bike/beer/music festival and ended up accidentally at the Portland Saturday market. One of the traditions I’ve picked up from street fairs here is snacking on the kettle corn sold by different vendors. The kettle corn guy at the Saturday market had six or seven different flavors, from crazy fruit flavored and rainbow-colored concoctions to more traditional style popcorn.
Other vendors at the Portland Saturday Market: We were entertained by the work of Mike Kelly, “the Spoon Man“, who does these cool wind chimes and jewelry pieces from old spoons and forks. Apparently, he’s a favorite at the market every week. I fell in love a little bit with the glass work of Berton and Christy Atherton Schrack of Howling Wolf Art Glass. So heart-punchingly gorgeous, I would have gladly paid more than their asking price for their multi-colored glass vases. (I’m not usually into glass work at all so that came as a surprise.) Finally, I really dig the work of Julienne Alexander and Christopher Catanese’s Wardrobe Ink block-print t-shirts. They were all simple designs, kind of trendy, and look like they employ an old-school technique. The t-shirt colors were perfect, kind of a faded watercolor-y jewel tone assortment, and the printing was a simple white block design. Their company is called Wardrobe Ink, and amongst the hundreds of t-shirt lines at indie markets throughout the country, theirs is a standout. [below: their picture not mine]
We spent Saturday afternoon with our new friends Todd and Suzanne Hesse (a facebook connection via my high school band network!!), chillin with their kids, checking out their new chickens and home garden bounty, and catching up on life since high school. Suzanne even graciously let me slide after I made a wry comment about overqualified arts majors getting stuck in community college teaching jobs (oops). Todd and his wife seem to be a perfect match for Portland: intelligent beyond educational institutions, creative and industrial, and interested in alternative ways to make life a better place to be.
After gazpacho with the Hesses, we hit up the free day at OMSI science museum. It was my second visit in two days, as I spent some time there on Friday afternoon when my husband was in California for an interview. This time we spent most of our time in the Turbine Hall, which Ali loved for its hands-on learning centers (I enjoyed the Einstein room on my personal visit Friday). Like the Tech in San Jose, OMSI is a museum designed for kids, but also sneakily teaching the adults. We had lots of fun and I finally put a name to Ali’s tendency to bounce around from spot to spot in random patterns while not really paying full attention to anything. He does this when he’s overly excited about a place, while occasionally checking in at home base (me). Now I call him my little roomba, and let me tell you: my roomba was in hyper speed mode at the science museum! He also roombas at Frye’s Electronics and sometimes on the way into music shows.
Sunday was probably our most active since arrival in Portland. It started with church at a pub and ended with a Robot beauty contest at a club.
The Oregon Community is a small, super organic community of believers we know about only through an acquaintance. We have attended two weeks now and really enjoy the time of learning about Jesus and getting to know people over a pint. It meets in one of the McMenamin’s locations, a converted elementary school turned brewhouse and wedding venue. “Detention” room is now a cigar bar! There are chalkboards in all the rooms! The pool has been converted into a mineral soaking pool where you can bring drinks! Crazy.
After church we headed out into the stifling heat and just about melted at the Hawthorne Street Fair. Different from other street fairs we’ve seen here in Portland, they don’t close down the street at all, but rather most of the stores bring out a sidewalk sale kind of display, and some artists set up shop in small tents. Live music, of course. I was really happy that the woman who tends Recycled Clothing was handing out free popsicles. That made my day!
We really liked the reversible, trendy, hand-built hats from Flipside Hats. They also sell at the local Whole Foods Market. At $40, it’s not an accessory you would just buy without thinking, but the woman at the booth took her time helping us find hats that would fit Ali’s gigantic head (let’s just say “one size fits all” works for neither Ali nor me when it comes to headgear) and every design is unique, as they use recycled materials from curtains, jackets, and clothing to build each piece.
The vendor at the Hawthorne Street Fair that I loved the most is Fiona Bruce and Miles Stegall’s IDIOT OR GENIUS brand. Gah!! I want to marry their work. It’s irreverent and fun, but extremely intelligent. Here’s their etsy shop. I hope they make a t-shirt with their logo soon because I am going to be the first in line. HINT HINT.
Sunday continued to fill up with stuff. I have made a point to add everything free and interesting into my ical to help us explore Portland and expose us to the maker community.
Next up was Bargain Hunting 101, which I find to be a brilliant idea. It is a huge clearance sale for all of the local boutique owners to have a chance to sell off the season’s odds and ends before bringing in fall inventory. I like the collaboration and the smart use of resources. Unfortunately, the Crystal Ballroom was too dark and creaky. I think they would have done better in a naturally lit venue with more room to move around. It was kinda cool to be able to buy a pint of beer while your lady friend does her shopping though.
Here I saw the delightful watercolors of Adrienne Vita of Arcane Arts (who was actually at the Renegade Craft Fair I attended in Austin) and we also met Jared Mees with Tender Loving Empire, a record label and so much more.
Ali’s event of the day was an MIT alumni BBQ networking gathering in Beaverton. I’m just going to say it was awkward, and leave it at that.
Next we headed to southeast Portland to attend church again at the invitation of our Boston friends Tricia and Judah. And what we experienced was like no other church we have ever seen. Door of Hope is this amazing community that draws in throngs of people, mostly young and cool, with a leader who writes his own music and speaks straight from the heart. I was wowed.
After church 2.0 and dinner at Ken’s Artisan Pizza with our new friends Laura the marketing woman from Nike and Dustin the filmmaker from Canada, Ali and I headed out to the Fez for the Robot Beauty Pageant. This event, hosted by Robot Tattoo in Portland, was easily one of the most endearing, laughter-filled, memorable and WTF combination events I have ever attended. I was afraid it would be a bit too fetish-ized when I heard that nudity was permitted in the contest (and saw the gals prancing around in skintight metallic bodysuits plus cleavage), but the winners of the “beauty contest” were exactly what you would expect from a traditional robot costume. Here’s a cameraphone picture of the two finalists doing a dance-off.
I can’t believe we did all that in one weekend! I’m exhausted.
August 16th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
roomba? <3
August 16th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
haha. this is such a long and wordy post I was afraid I wrote it all out in vain. maria, you made my night by commenting and by virtue of the fact that I know you read every word.
August 17th, 2010 at 5:22 am
um, duh.
[one week!]
August 17th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Dude. It is officially a small world. I suspect Laura is my old roommate’s twin sister. I met her and Dustin this summer when they were in town for the wedding.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Maggie. No way. That’s crazy!!