November: Sarah's art all over Southeast Portland! Come to one or all!

By pure coincidence various opportunities opened up for exhibit opportunities this summer, and they are all opening during the first week of November (coming very soon!).

Thursday, November 4 (One day only, only three hours!), 7-10 p.m.
Sometimes a Great Notion
Siren Nation Women's Arts and Music Festival
at Albina Press on Hawthorne
5012 SE Hawthorne Blvd. 97215
(Event info: http://www.sirennation.com/festival-art/)



Friday, November 5 (the show runs through December 31)
Opening party 7 p.m.-9 p.m.ish
The Portland Tarot Show
at Splendorporium
3421 SE 21st Avenue 97202
(Event info: http://portlandtarot2010.blogspot.com/)



Friday, November 5 (the show runs through the end of the month)
Opening party 6 p.m.-midnight
Facing Fear
at Launchpad Gallery
534 SE Oak Street 97214
(Event info: http://launchpadgallery.org/category/exhibits/

 

More updates follow on Twitter (@SarahMorrigan) or Facebook (search for IrisCat Designs).

Southeast Grind traveller cup is now out!

Only at Southeast Grind, 1223 SE Powell Blvd. Only $14!

Be green, support local business, get a reusable cup.

For those who remember, I have designed this for Southeast Grind back in April 2009. Now you can own this piece of elegance and be green!

It is only $10 a piece and you will get a 25 cents off each time you use it at Southeast Grind (with your first coffee free). It is available only at Southeast Grind, 1223 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, Oregon, just east of Milwaukie Avenue/12th Avenue near the Gideon Street fire station (TriMet lines 9, 17, 19 and 70). It is open 24 hours!

What a busy month!

As many of you already know, I started my post-graduate studies this past spring (majoring in feminist theology -- with a plan to add fine arts major in the near future) and I have fifteen credit hours this fall semester.  Fortunately three of the classes either end early or start in November, so I need to handle only three classes at a given time.

So far I have completed 6 credits

• 02.02.001 - History of Goddess Worship


• 04.01.001 - Ecology and Spirit

and have 15 credits by the end of this term

• 01.01.002 - Anthropology of Shamanism


• 01.01.006 - The Shaman


• 02.02.004 - Introduction to Thealogy


• 03.08.001 - Contextualizing Women in Religion


• 03.08.005 - Feminist Theology 1

(Why are the shamanism courses given 01.01.x prefix?  The college originally was founded as a training centre for shamans, now it is one of very few truly interfaith seminaries that is not tied to any specific religious institution and encompasses many non-mainstream faiths.)

In addition to this, I have two art shows opening in November (coincidence) and potentially one more that I might enter as well:

• Siren Nation group art show: Sometimes a Great Notion (confirmed) Open Thursday, Nov. 4


• Portland Tarot Project group show (confirmed) at Splendorporium Open Friday, Nov. 5


• Facing Fear group show (maybe) at Launch Pad Gallery Open Friday, Nov. 5

And also I have just joined the new curatorial team at the 100th Monkey Studio in Southeast Portland -- this involves the organizing and promotion of the monthly art shows, and gives me a valuable practical experience from the side of those who run a gallery.  (In addition, it gives me a studio membership, which is great, as it is always nice to have a dedicated space to work on art.)

How do I get time for all this?  The fact is I operate almost round-the-clock, except when I am sleeping for about 6 hours.  My biggest challenge is to stay focused on the task at hand and have a determination to get it done.

And yes, I still volunteer as a GED tutor at the Julia West House (4 hours/week).

Fall and rise of empires?

This past week news outlets have reported that now the economy of Japan has been eclipsed by that of the People's Republic of China (not certain if the figure includes Hong Kong and Macau).  It is interesting to see the history make a full circle, with the reemergence of both China and India as the potential next superpowers.  China and India (the other two being Egypt and Mesopotamia/Iraq) were known as the four major ancient civilizations.

On the other hand, Japan as a true empire lasted only from the late 19th century with its defeat of the Russian navy and ended in the 1990s as Japan's economic dominance began to wane.

It appears today that Japan has no future, except through some kind of union with China.  Only a decade ago I could have proposed a union of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan as a kind of "Oriental Union."  Today it seems that Taiwan's clout is soon about to evaporate, and no such union can possibly counter China's increasing dominance in economy and geopolitics.

As I was thinking over this interesting historical development, I have conceived this proposed design for the new flag and emblem of Japan, if it were to become annexed into China.

By iridiacreative at 2010-08-31

By iridiacreative at 2010-08-31

This was a quick project just to show my conception of the design.  The purple, the colour of Japanese aubergine, is one of the traditional colours of Japanese fabrics.  The design of the emblem reflects common Japanese themes of the ocean waves, Mt. Fuji and a cherry blossom, while also conforming to the design standard of such emblems that include five stars of five points, evoking the national flag of China that features five stars, to symbolize the region's ties to the People's Republic of China.  Overall design of the emblem is also a cross between classical Japanese heraldic design (the mon) and a composition of a typical socialist national emblem.

This is intended to be a parody.  No further political statement is implied.

Re-introducing Art Windows from IrisCat.

Art Windows.  Why get a "window splash" if you can get a real art from a real working artist?  IrisCat is proud to relaunch this after a period of re-evaluation.

This summer, after a period of re-evaluation and hiatus, IrisCat is redefining and relaunching the popular window painting service to do what IrisCat does the best.  It has come to Sarah that even calling it a "window painting" does not do justice.  After three years in business, some people have mistakenly called it a "window treatment", and even more people have mistaken this for a "window splash."  The problem is that they all serve different purposes from different technical approaches. What IrisCat Designs does is a commissioned temporary or semi-permanent works of art reflecting the artist's distinct style informed by various disciplines such as illustration, hand-drawn letterings, and acrylic and watercolor paintings.  Generally, this suits much better for a smaller-sized project.  Unlike other businesses in the area providing window painting or "window splash" services, your project will be done by a real working artist with experiences that include solo and juried shows.

IrisCat Designs is here to provide an elegant, perhaps smaller, and light-hearted (but not grotesque) alternative for businesses that are conscious of the images they project to the community.  With all this, the prices are remarkably affordable (varies by various factors), and whenever feasible environmentally sustainable methods and materials are used.

http://iriscat.info/artwindows-windowpaintingalternatives.html

New original paintings auctioned to benefit Operation Nightwatch Portland

This is a great way to make these sets of new, original paintings (all done this month) while supporting a worthy cause.

The paintings are mixed media, acrylic, paper and ink, and were produced in June 2010 here in the Portland area. Portions (15% of the winning price) of this auction will be donated to the same, to support future art programs and events to make creative arts accessible to those who are low-income, mentally/physically/developmentally challenged, and/or homeless. Operation Nightwatch (ON) is an ecumenical night ministry of friendship and community that has been serving the street population of downtown Portland since 1981. Now with the newly purchased RV unit, ON is soon expanding to the Johnson Creek/Clackamas/Lents area and other locations throughout the metropolitan region.

The Set 1: The Elemental Cats -- Fire, Wind, Water, Earth
Acrylic, ink and paper on four canvas panels, each sized 3" x 5"

The Set 2: A set of two watercolors -- "A Summer Day in a Park" (a scene at Couch Park, Northwest Portland last week), and "Moon Cat"
Watercolor on two canvas panels, each sized 3" x 5"

For links to the eBay listings use: http://donations.ebay.com/charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=30327 (shows both sets) with the ending number 30327 as part of the address. If it does not work, you can access the page through http://www.operationnightwatch.org/missionfish.html