Portland Fish Market

Actually, that title is a misnomer. I'm in Portland, Oregon for Quilt Market and I'm posting about fish (and I'm still on east coast time, so it's after 2 in the morning and it all makes sense to me).

I incorporate a lot of gyotaku printing in my work. I use rubber replica fish instead of real ones, as traditional fish printers do. Recently I discovered small and teeny, tiny rubber replica fish and of course, had to order some. Below you can see an assortment of the fish. The one at the top of the picture is the typically sized fish, over a foot long. The one below it is about 6" long and the weensy guys at the bottom are just over 3" long. Aren't they adorable?


I played with the itty bitty fish first and made a few ATCs. How fun!



Tonight I had dinner with Rayna Gillman. After dinner we walked toward the Max (Portland's incredibly awesome public transportation system) and came across this wicked tree sculpture. We tried taking a picture of ourselves in front of it but the results weren't flattering. I think it takes a special skill to be able to snap a self-portrait with a camera and have it come out looking half-way decent. Alas, most of the people with that special skill are under 25. For proof, check out a typical under-25 Facebook or MySpace profile photo. The sculpture had a beautiful name which completely eludes me at the moment.


Portland is a gorgeous city with a lot of public art. It's very laid back and the pace feels so much slower here. And everywhere you look there are people reading. Sitting on the sidewalks, curled up on benches, on the Max, everywhere. Of course, the best bookstore in the known universe is here, Powell's. They were out of my book when we stopped in yesterday, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's because they sell them so fast.