It was a whirlwind weekend. Saturday was the opening of the Maryhill Museum's Comics at the Crossroads exhibit, in which I have a page from Ivy hanging amongst the standout work of about 40 other Pacific Northwest cartoonists. The drive out was bleak and beautiful - the Maryhill is an hour and a half east of Portland and situated right on the Washington side of the Gorge. It's a staggeringly stately mansion up on the hillside, with an exhaustive exhibit of artifacts and handmade items from a variety of Native American tribes, a collection from the Queen of Romania's turn-of-the-century hand-carved furniture, couture-clad mannekins from post-war French fashion designers in a display called the Théâtre de la Mode... all very impressive. I had a wonderful time just exploring the building; its history is laid out in one of its ground-floor rooms.
Then, back to Portland for a lazy birthday Sunday, wherein Geoff and I walked around Alberta and took things slowly with cocktails at Branch and a sushi dinner at Yakuza. I still can't believe I'm 33.
Monday was another big event - twenty or so comics artists were invited to see a dress rehearsal of Pagliacci and Carmina Burana, put on by the Portland Opera. In exchange for food, drinks, a backstage tour and the show, we merely had to draw during the performance in a symbiotic art exchange. Count me in! It was lavish and incredible - over seventy chorus members on stage at a time, plus the grand setting of the Keller Auditorium with its high ceilings and cement pillars. I'd never been to an opera before and I was completely floored. If you get a chance to see this production, I can't recommend it highly enough.
Also amazing was the art produced by the cartoonists in attendance. I got a sneak peek at some peoples' work via Twitter, and I'll post a link once I know where they will be collected online. Here are some of my better brush-pen visual notes from the show. It was difficult to capture the motion of the dancers, flying around and leaping, but I did my best. The costumes were intricate and really fun to sketch, plus there was a vintage pickup truck on stage for most of Pagliacci. They really pulled out all the stops for this one and I was honored to be there to see it.
Tonio during his introduction
Canio
Tonio rebuffed
Pagliaccio, the saddest clown
Dancers in Carmina Burana
2 comments:
Happy belated Birthday Sarah! Hope you had an awesome day!
I read about cyclists getting hit by cars in NE in today's WW and I thought of you.
Coming late to the party, but this sounds like so much fun. That checked scarf is almost enough to make me want to go to the opera.
In other news: I had my birthday in your fair city on the 26th!
In other other news: We have the same haircut.
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