look up, look down
Lately, every week or so when I look at my running list of things I’ve saved to potentially share here, I succumb to nihilism. What’s the point, I ask myself. And then when I revisit the list a week later, everything seems dated and even more pointless. But I whole-heartedly believe in the power of art and sharing and nurturing inspiration, so I’ve gathered a few things to share here this week and I’m just going to jot them down before I overthink it.
If you’ve ever flown to or through the Portland, Oregon airport (aka PDX), you’ve probably taken a picture of your shoes on the famous PDX carpet. I know I have.
Well, now you have a reason to look up next time you’re there because Carson Ellis was commissioned to create “a series of maps and markers to highlight the origins” of the wood used in the new terminal. I didn’t know until reading about this project that, because “Oregon has a Percent for Art program, the Port of Portland has a mandate to spend 1% of its massive budget on art.” It’s such a refreshing thing to learn about and celebrate right now.
Speaking of Carson Ellis, I recently learned she made a podcast called Old Bright with Alix Jo Ryan about the history of the farm where she lives outside Portland. There are only 7 episodes so you can easily binge it.
Speaking of podcasts, work has officially begun, at long last, on Artists in Offices season 2! I have an amazing lineup so far (still waiting to hear back from a few folks) of parent/caregiver-artists who are at various stages of career and parenthood but all juggling the reality of making ends meet financially while maintaining a creative practice and raising kids. I’m lining up interviews for the summer months, when kids’ school and bike activities will take up a little less of my “free” time, and hope to drop the first batch of episodes by about late September. Follow along here for updates. I’m hoping to revive the podcast newsletter for more updates soon, too, so subscribe there if you don’t already and you’re interested in the Venn diagram of work, life, and art.
Speaking of bike stuff, I’ve leveled up! I’m now a level 2 (of 3) coach after taking a couple of additional courses and first aid/CPR, which I was surprisingly super into. Like, driving home from the class wondering if I should consider becoming an EMT. Probably getting a little ahead of myself but it’s a nice set of skills to have under one’s belt.
I recently watched Wild again and while I still prefer the book (by Cheryl Strayed) to the movie, both are so good at capturing that most raw stage of grief. Since the first time I watched it after it came out, I’ve been to the Bridge of the Gods so that scene in particular was really moving this time around.
More recently, we traveled to the Grand Canyon for the kids’ spring break and it was indeed grand (and somewhat related to the first aid stuff, I’m now reading Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon, about the 500+ people who’ve died in the canyon up to 2016…it’s really sad, of course, but also quite educational). I’d like to write about both that trip and last year’s spring break trip to Santa Fe to visit, among other things, the home and studio of Georgia O’Keeffe. For now, I’ll leave you with this sunset view of the South Rim.
