I walked myself through a few of the exhibits at the Portland Art Museum on a partly sunny, partly rainy day.

Mary Henry Exhibit

The quilt maker in me was drawn to the geometric patterns and bright colors of the paintings in this gallery. I admired her precise application of paint that glows with hue and shape.

A few more of the bright paintings…

Early career info about Mary Henry, and an earlier painting:

Mixed Media…

The hallways that connect the galleries are open to the sky on both sides with slightly veiled windows. I saw clouds in the sky, and buildings reflected in the wet pavement. I spent some time appreciating how the newly remodeled space frames the surrounding city as yet another form of art.

There are openings in walls and balconies that allow viewing of artwork below on lower levels.

Later, I sat for a while in the Whitsell Gallery, looking through the TALL windows at the golden spiked hoop outside, at blue sky and puffy white clouds, all the rain dried up now. A breeze moving the leaves. People walking on sidewalks and cars driving by on the street; mail boxes, cross walks, and street lights. Behind me is a red, twisted, tentacled, free standing Chihuly glass piece; hanging above is a Calder mobile; behind those, an indigenous carved totem; and neon words on the wall. In other galleries are art pieces from all the epochs of human existence.

More pieces I noticed as I wandered through various galleries today…

As I wandered through galleries, looking at these and many other pieces, I contemplated the time it takes an artist to master their creative skills. I have a scientific brain and training, and yet I also express myself in various fiber crafts that I am still learning. So the science side of my brain was asking “How do they do it?”, while the artist side of my brain was asking, “How does it make me feel?” I marveled at the collective skill level required to create these pieces I connected to today.

And finally, a bit more David Hockney…

I visited the Hockney exhibit again, which we had seen in February, shortly after it opened. There are more than 200 pieces here, and it was impossible to take them all in, so I was glad to have another chance to look.

Last time we missed a large gallery that displayed two very large, wall-sized paintings. The room also had a table of iPads so the viewer could create their own art.

I decided to try my hand at drawing on the (comparatively) very small iPad window. I was like a baby, patting and tapping the screen, and rereading the instructions, until I was finally able to draw a simple chair in a few different colors, with a few different line widths. It was fun, and I might like to try it again. There is an erase tool that helps. I drew a chair, inspired by the many chair images in this exhibit – many drawn to represent people David Hockney lost to AIDS or other causes. I am feeling my personal losses deeply in this season, and it was the first idea that came to mind.

Coda: David Hockney died a few days after this visit to his exhibit. My internet feed was full of tributes and interviews with him, and after reading them, I am even more appreciative of his goal to follow his inspiration to make art; to keep working, to keep trying new things. This image came up, and seems suitable to share here.