Back from Portland

Just back from Portland BeadFest, where I taught four classes, met lots of great new people, and got to hang out with old friends. I knew I was in the right place when I checked into my hotel. The pattern on the carpet in my room was a diagram for peyote stitch!


On Thursday night I had dinner with BeadCats Carol Perrenoud and Virginia Blakelock.


Aren't they just beautiful? These women have both done so much to mold and shape the bead community as we know it. I hope you send them good juju everyday as you, say, work herringbone stitch or handle tiny beads, both of which I feel they single-handedly popularized in the last decade or so. I was teasing Carol about having a deal with the devil...I've known her for a dozen years now and I swear she hasn't aged. Same with Virginia, who I think is actually doing a Benjamin Button on us.

I had lunch with Alice Scherer on Friday. Hadn't seen her in about 8 years, so it was good to catch up. We ate at Burgerville, which looks like a hamburger dive on the outside, but is something altogether different on the inside--I ate a smoked salmon salad with local produce wrapped in sustainable packaging for one thing.

In class on Saturday I met a new friend, Jan Calligan. She came all the way from Aberdeen, Scotland not only to take classes, but also to help out her friend, David Horste. They were so sweet to share a meal with me on Sunday.


David's a lapidary artist who made this fantastic bowlerite heart bead I couldn't pass up:


What's "bowlerite", you might ask? Well, it's mined from bowling ball, of course! I just had to add it to my collection (you know I used to have my very own emerald green ball with "Jean" engraved on the side, right? Dang, if I still had it I'd have David cut it up for me!).

I had the afternoon free on Saturday and wandered over to Mark Teresa's house. It was so nice to be outside in the sunshine, stretching my legs. That doesn't happen often when you go to a show, so I was really appreciative. Here's a sculpture I ran into on Broadway while I was on my way. Don't the faces just make you feel calm and happy?


Anyway, I finally got to Mark's house, where he and his daughter were waiting for me in their garden. Mark's a working artist who was associated with SMCDAA, but I'd never spent any time with him before. What a wonderful guy!


He gave me the full-on Portland tour by truck, showing me all the cool little neighborhoods and hotspots. Then we headed downtown and wandered all over, including this fabulous store called Cargo. This place is filled from floor to ceiling with the same kind of stuff that's tucked into every corner of my house...things I've searched high and low for...you know, Dios de los Muertos figurines, Balinese puppets, coasters from Shanghai bars, potato guns...the important stuff. Anyway, it's all jammed into one store and it gave me heart palpitations. I could have spent all day in there.


Even though this was a work trip, it ended up being incredibly rejuvenating. Getting away from my daily grind allowed me to gain some perspective on what's important and what I can (or can't/shouldn't attempt to) accomplish. It was also nice to have some contemplative time to consider the labels I've put on myself--writer, editor, artist, teacher, mother, spouse, friend, woman--and how these labels have affected me for the better or worse. Having that kind of thoughtful time was so precious and important, and I've decided I can't just save it for solo trips across the country; I need to do it everyday.

The trick, of course, is how to fit thoughtfulness into our daily lives. How do you do it?