Last night I braved the mayhem, commonly known as Last Thursday. For those that don't know Portland, it's a street fair held once a month on Alberta. They block off the streets to cars, and open them to anyone and everyone....be it your grandma selling her knitted caps for new borns, your neighbor who bakes fresh cookies, that guy on stilts and his tall-bike juggler friends....or a lonely illustrator.
The whole idea of setting up a little stand to sell some prints came about rather quickly, and I had completely neglected the need for some sort of display. Seems obvious enough, but when you're too close in, you forget the big picture. I was zoomed in with my nose up to the paper, checking every last detail of the print, but the print needs to be hung on something, and that something doesn't exist until you make it. This is not a gallery. This is a curb.
Luckily, I frequent places like The Rebuilding Center and my ultimate favorite, Salvage Works, so I have a pile of scrap wood that's always waiting to be scooped up and saddled down. I figured the simplest approach was to make an easel. One surface, three legs. It was all smooth until I got to the staple gun. Those buggers are dangerous. I can wield a hammer, a circular saw, a blow torch, you name it....but I got bit by a staple gun. You are never safe, and don't think for a minute it won't happen to you. Okay, I'll step down now...
So I set up my fancy new easel outside the lovely Townshend's. They make my favorite kombucha, or 'booch' for those that are down, and I figured it was a safe enough space to hunker down for the evening. While I know I missed things like the flame throwers, and hula hoopers, and the guy who makes wire paintings, and the girl who sells those super awesome wacky things, I had the pleasure of watching all the people pass by...and there's not much that can compete with that. A veritable feast for the eyes. And on top of that, watching someone stop in their tracks, amid all the chaos, and smile...pointing at Stella, trying her best to stay on that ball.