Tag Archives: portland

All Saints Holiday Bazaar November 12th in Portland Oregon

Panda With Cookie is happy to announce that we will be selling at the 61st annual All Saints Holiday Bazaar again this year! The event takes place from 9-4 on Saturday, November 12th. All Saints is located at 3847 NE Glisan Street in Portland, Oregon.

In addition to over 40 handmade crafters, they have a kid’s shopping area, cafe, and bakery booth. They will also be selling $1 raffle tickets all day with the chance to win some great prizes, including an ipad air 2!

This is a great community event, so stop by and say hello! I’ll be debuting a new card and ornament set I did in collaboration with Carrot Condo this year.

Mississippi Street Fair 2016

The 15th annual Mississippi Street Fair is this Saturday, July 9, from 10 am to 9 pm. I’m thrilled to have a booth this year! You can find me on Mississippi between Mason and Shaver. Stop by and say hello!

Alyson Provax at Wolff Gallery

Wolff Gallery is featuring the print work of Alyson Provax through the month of June. This is a show you need to see in person because photographs of the prints don’t do them justice.

The show is “a meditation upon the expansiveness of the universe and eerie encounters with the unknown.” There are a number of marbled prints that have a planetary vibe interspersed with some text prints with found phrases such as “I felt the sound more than heard it”. Sounds a bit odd, but when you’re in the gallery it all just works together.

The two highlights were Diagram 50 and Diagram 51, both hanging in the front room. Both are silkscreen monotypes, one on Khadi, the other on St. Armand. Instead of being framed or mounted on birch, these free hang slightly away from the wall with the use of magnets. The papers have a wonderful texture and with the cut outs and layering of the marbled print underneath it creates a floating effect.

The show is wonderfully cohesive without ever seeming too saturated. The variety in the papers and mounting techniques holds your interest as you move through the space and there are just enough of the small text works to shake it up.

Wolff Gallery is located at 618 NW Glisan Street in Portland, Oregon. They are open Friday and Saturday from 1-5 pm. The ALyson Provax show runs through July 3.

Portland Vegan Beer and Food Festival June 11

The Vegan Beer and Food Festival returns to Portland again this year on June 11th at Zidell Yards. Panda With Cookie is happy to announce that we will once again be in attendance as part of their marketplace. Gates open for general admission at 1 pm and close at 7 pm. For VIP tickets the gates open at 11 am.

Tickets are still available and with each entry you get a 4 ounce tasting glass to enjoy pours from over 50 breweries. They’ve expanded the drink selections this year and there will also be unlimited pours for kombucha, craft sodas and cold brew coffee.

Over 40 restaurants will be set up and Panda With Cookie will be part of the 20+ vendors in the pop up marketplace. I’ll have the new cat beds for sale this year along with new plush.

Don’t miss out! Get your tickets for this year’s Vegan Beer and Food Festival and check out the full line up of vendors.

Ellen Goldschmidt at Blackfish Gallery

Bad Seed, 2016, charcoal and ink pastel on paper

Surrounded by Feeling is the current show by Ellen Goldschmidt at Blackfish Gallery. At first glance I wasn’t too interested in a show of portraits but as I moved through the space to the back of the gallery I was drawn in more and more.

I’m not always a fan of artist statements because they can be overworked to the point of making the art stand in the background. Goldschmidt’s statement, however, completely made this show for me.

While working on “privileging emotion” in a series of portraits she was working on Goldschmidt was reminded of the 2015 show Gods and Heroes at the Portland Art Museum. It featured a section of works from the Expressive Head Competition from the Paris Academy in the 18th century, works that are attempting to depict emotion rather than Goldschmidt’s attempts to inhabit emotion.

I love connections like this. I would never had viewed this show and thought back to the Gods and Heroes exhibit but once she mentioned it my brain was ready to make all sorts of new comparisons and connections. What a difference 250 years can make.

Toward the bottom of her statement, almost as an afterthought, Goldschmidt mentions that many of the drawings are “concerned with my relationship to my older sister and the sibling rivalry that consumed our childhood”. Well then. There’s a story there, but we don’t know it, and now the drawings have a heightened tension as titles like Bad Seed and Sister’s Arm take on a whole new meaning.

Surrounded by Feeling stayed stuck in my head for days and writing about it now I already have Bad Seed back in mind and those questions and connections that make life interesting.

Blackfish Gallery is located at 420 NW 9th Ave in Portland, Oregon and is open from 11-5 Tuesday through Saturday. Surrounded by Feeling by Ellen Goldschmidt runs from May 3-28.

Ellen George at PDX Contemporary Art

Untitled (Elemental 14) by Ellen George

Ellen George has a subtle and wonderful show at PDX Contemporary Art during the month of May. The gallery is full of wall pieces that bear a close inspection. Each work consists of a single vertical rod with translucent bits of what turns out to be polymer clay running the length.

Each piece is made of tiny individual bits so that you can spend a good bit of time just focusing on the nuances of one individual work. The polymer is worked in such a way to leave parts translucent, which creates a fabulous glowing effect when paired with the chunkier, more solid bits toward the center.

After working for artists for years who focused on small elements making up a much larger work of art it would be impossible for me to not love these. The works are very evocative of natural forms but even without that they are simply visually stunning which doesn’t always get enough credit in the art world.

My only complaint is that the gallery has so many pieces displayed it’s impossible to get to spend time with each work to enjoy all the nuance. Give yourself time to really enjoy the show when you visit.

Don’t miss the 3 pieces in the window off the main gallery from Nancy Lorenz. She has three small canvases worked with burlap, gesso, and gold or silver leaf which really caught my eye. The pours made me think of a Lynda Benglis, with that fabulous fat and flowing movement.

Check out the show until May 28th.

Visit PDX Contemporary Art Tuesday through Saturday, from 11-6. They are located at 925 NW Flanders Street in Portland, Oregon.

2016 St. Johns Bizarre in Portland, Oregon on May 14

The 2016 St. Johns Bizarre is almost here and Panda With Cookie is happy to be a vendor! This is their 10th year and promises to be a fabulous show. The Bizarre takes place in St. John’s at North Lombard Street and North Philadelphia Avenue on Saturday, May 14th, from 10-7 pm. Craft booths close at 6 pm.

There will be over 100 handmade vendors and a main stage with new bands each hour including Chanti Darling and Quasi. The parade goes through from noon-1 and there’s plenty of food, fun, and games for the whole family.

I will be set up with many new products including my watermelon cat bed, plush kangaroos, and plush sharks. I’ll also have new catnip toys and the popular Sasquatch baby onesie. Stop by and say hello!

Now I Am Myself Inaugural Show at Wolff Gallery

There’s a new gallery in town with a sweet grand opening show. Now I Am Myself opened at Wolff Gallery on April 7th and features the work of Audra Osborne, Briana Cerezo, Calethia DeConto, Jamila Clarke, and Lauren Crow.

The show as a whole is strong and it’s a treat to see an entire show dedicated to diverse female photographers. How great is it to have a gallery state on their website that their “goal is to broaden the Portland art scene by prioritizing the exhibition of work by traditionally underrepresented artists”? Photos varied in price but there were a number of small works at very reasonable prices for people who want to support artists but can’t drop hundreds on a photo yet.

Lauren Crow’s photos are reminiscent of Nan Goldin’s early works with a hint of Catherine Opie. The lighting used in the small selection of grouped photos has stuck in my head and though not directly related, I keep coming back to the colors of The Gossip’s Standing in the Way of Control (CD version with hotpink case). I dig all those things so I dug these photos too.

Jamila Clark’s photos were a stand out to me. The scenarios are quite composed but manage to stay simple. Something To Cling To and The Shovel kept drawing me back to look at them. Audra Osborne’s Nope had the same effect. Maybe it’s the use of a bright dress in a more muted background? Women presenting themselves with their faces deliberately obscured? A dramatic moment captured with no explanation?

Briana Cerezo has a fabulous series called p l a y i n g h o u s e on her website that is worth checking out in its entirety. Very Robert Gober but flesh instead of wax. They are obviously highly composed but seem effortless in execution, similar to Calethia DeConto‘s photographs in the back room.

In fact, the show for the most part is a breeze. With few exceptions the photos manage to be complex without being overworked in the setup. Here’s a moment. Here’s a moment. I don’t need to marvel at the expense and womanpower it took to set up the scene and lighting and can instead marvel at that moment captured and wonder at the story.

I eagerly await their follow up in early June.

Wolff Gallery is located at 618 NW Glisan Street. Hours are Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 pm with additional hours on first Thursdays from 6-10 pm. Now I Am Myself runs through May 13.

Vegan Handmade Pop Up Shop in Portland

I’ll be at the vegan Handmade Holiday Show this Thursday from 4-9 at the Bye and Bye in Portland, Oregon. There will be some great handmade vendors along with cheese and snacks from Vtopian and Pixie Retreat. Stop by and say hello!

2015 Madeleine Marketplace and Tree Lighting

Panda With Cookie will be at the 2015 Madeleine Marketplace and tree lighting on Thursday, December 5th, from 2-8 pm. There will be over 40 handmade vendors along with the school wreath and poinsettia sale. The Christmas tree lighting starts at 6 pm.

I will have a great selection of handmade plush toys for all ages, as well as baby onesies and my 2015 ornament collection. The brand new pizza and pie cat beds will also be available. Come find me and say hello!