Birthday notes

Happy Birthday to Dr. Jan Dabrowski, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Marylhurst University. I believe he is 39 again. He likes broccoli.

And if my mother was alive she’d be 104 years old today.

Tuesday stuff…

On a walk from the studio to the Weeks House I noticed this convenient nature study. Look at this cute little plant that some bird planted in this nook in a palm tree:

Well it grows into a monster, a strangler fig. According to Wikipedia, “Strangler fig is the common name for a number of tropical and subtropical plant species” — so I don’t know exactly what this plant is, but nearby are a couple of its relatives:

And elsewhere on the property are huge strangler fig trees with the original host buried within. Maybe I’ll post a pic of one of those later.

Here’s a view of the dance studio, taken during our orientation tour back on day one:

On the left, not in the reflection, is Carrell Courtright (studio technician for the Residency). In the mirror, left to right, are Matt Hall (facilities manager for the Residency), Ann Brady (Residency Director), Carrell (again), Maria Elena Gonzalez (sculptor), Stephen Vitiello (visual and sound artist), and Monica Marin (Residency Coordinator). Oddly enough, the artist who is now working in the studio, Linda K. Johnson, from Portland, arrived later and wasn’t on the tour. This space was Bob’s original studio on the property. Beautiful room.

I got some work done in the studio. Rehung the small square works to give room for the larger color works. Worked on the squares a little bit, but the five in the middle horizontal row still need tinkering. I like the way the color pieces are evolving so far, but the three I’ve started have a long way to develop.