We went to the new Australian Exhibit at the Portland Art Museum; we took our annual walk on Labor Day through the Art in the Pearl show, and we also went to Leach Botanical Garden to see the once a century blooming black bamboo.

9-4 Art Museum

I really enjoyed walking through The Stars We Do Not See, an exhibit of Australian Indigineous Art, that opened at the Portland Art Museum this month. The art is nothng like traditional Western European Art. Many of the large scale images represent maps, history, traditional ceremonies, and many are collaborative, made by people that passed their stories orally and visually, without written language. The impact of colonization and cultural destruction of aboriginal traditions is a major theme of these works.

A wall-sized “map”:

Another wall-sized map:

A slightly smaller, more colorful map:

In another room, a large display of free standing eucalyptus “posts”, and bark paintings:

A star map…

Another large colorful map:

A different type of map…

A set of colorful map-like images of the Kunawarritji area, by two different artists:

The next two images filled an entire room, and were displayed to reflect each other. The horizontal piece was displayed that way, because aboriginal artists traditionally painted on the ground.

By the time I walked into this next gallery, I was a bit overwhelmed, but still wanted to take it all in!

I was completely fascinated by the colors and the patterns in this exhibit, and this is only a sampling of the art on display. I plan to visit again!

9-6 Leach Botanical Garden

We saw a notice that Black Bamboo, which blooms all at the same time globally, in a 120 year cycle, was in bloom at the Leach Garden. We went to satisfied our curiosity – it is not spectacular to look at, but an interesting phenomenon.

A few other images from this slightly rainy day:

9-7 Art in the Pearl

I always gain inspiration by walking through this outdoor art fair. A few of my favorite images from this year:

Reading

I finished reading eight books in September. My Jane Austen book for the month was The Jane Austen Remedy, by Ruth Wilson. The author is an Australian scholar who wrote this while rereading the Austen books in her later life, and evaluating her life goals through this lens. I have also reread Austen’s books throughout my life, and find myself interpreting them more deeply each time, so I could relate to many of the author’s thoughts. Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schyler is a novel that includes short explanations of art masterpieces. The Mary Cain book, This Is Not About Running, is an upsetting documentation of how difficult it is for young women entering the competitive world to avoid exploitation. I hope her account increases awareness.

Neighborhood walks…

The beginnings of fall in Portland this month, and full colors in my flower garden.

Health update…A major update for my acromegaly treatment…instead of getting an expensive and painful monthly injection, I have switched to a daily, equally expensive oral pill, that so far, I am tolerating well. I won’t know until December if the IGF-1 level is well controlled, but so far, so good. (Fortunately, my Medicare + Medigap Health Insurance covers most of the cost.)

Poetry Post of the month:

Several hikes, and a few days spent at the Oregon Coast, will be described in later posts.