Tag: write around PAM

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Write Around PAM: Pierre Bonnard

Image description: Family Scene. Pierre Bonnard. 1892. Color lithograph on paper. Image: 21.7 x 26. 7cm; Sheet: 27.9 x 39.6 cm. This lithograph features a tightly cropped view of three members of the artist’s family: his father, his sister, and between the two, the infant grandson. Against a flat tan background, the older man on the left appears in partial profile with just one ear and part of one eyeglass lens visible. His curling white and beige hair, which grows at the side of his bald head, trails out of the frame. His thick white beard adds texture to the print, in contrast to the flat black and tan clothing that is barely visible in the lower left-hand corner. The baby is the main focus of the piece. His round, hairless head has upward slanting almond-shaped eyes, a pug nose, and a mouth opened in a small “O.” Both chubby hands are curled in fists and his white swaddling gown encircles his head from the level of the eyes and continues flowing downward and off to the right side. The baby’s mother grips him with her left hand. Only her outstretched arm and part of her head are shown along the right side of the piece with the rest of her body disappearing out of the frame. Her head, filling the upper right corner of the print, shows both eyes, her nose, and a lock of hair rendered in heavy black paint.
Pierre Bonnard, Family Scene, 1892. Color lithograph on paper. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest (by exchange), 570.1951. Digital image c The Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource. NY. 2021 Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

As the current Private Lives exhibition makes clear, the Nabis artists loved depicting children. Not only were they part of the artists’ intimate family circles, but children also offered an example of how to view the world with a fresh perspective. Drawing inspiration from Pierre Bonnard’s Family Scene, we invite you to write from the…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Marie Watt

Image description: Companion Species: Ferocious Mother and Canis Familiaris. Marie Watt. 2017. Reclaimed wool blankets, embroidery floss, and thread. 108 in x 217 in. A long rectangular work composed of numerous other horizontally oriented rectangles. Each rectangle contains a word embroidered in red thread on various shades of cream to pale tan cloth in assorted stitches and styles. Some of the largest words are Ancestor, Myth, Love, Voice, Fighter, Custodian, Gratitude. Smaller words include Seeker, Care, Watcher, Legacy, Healer, Advocate, Interpreter, Wild, and Catalyst. Interspersed among the words are rectangles made of striped blankets in red, green, yellow, and black.
Marie Watt (American and Seneca, born 1967), Companion Species: Ferocious Mother and Canis Familiaris, 2017, reclaimed wool blankets, embroidery floss, and thread, 108 in x 217 in, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by The Ford Family Foundation and Dr. Loren Lipson. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2017.106.1

Seneca artist Marie Watt created Companion Species: Ferocious Mother and Canis Familiaris with the help of over 200 people who participated in two sewing circles. These collective efforts generated a powerful piece filled with energy and hope. The holiday season can be a time of collective joy and togetherness; it can also be a painful…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Gail Tremblay

Gail Tremblay (American, Onondaga, and Mi'kmaq), In Great Expectations, There is no Red Leader, 2011, 35mm film, leader, and metallic braid, Museum Purchase: Native American Acquisitions Fund, © artist or other rights holder, 2013.74.1, Photo Credit: Rebekah Johnson.

In this piece by Onondaga and Mi’kmaq artist Gail Tremblay, 35 mm film finds new life, transformed into a woven basket. Tremblay adapts Indigenous weaving practices, traditionally used to make ash splint and sweetgrass baskets, to this new medium. She “enjoys the notion of recycling film and gaining control over a medium that had historically…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Nan MacDonald

Image Description: Honor the Harvest (Corn Washing Basket). Nan MacDonald. 2014. White ash, sweetgrass, and oak basket. 18 in x 12 in diameter. This tall basket is square on the bottom with pointed bases on the four sides and has a rounded top with a smooth wooden handle that runs over the top diagonally and down both sides, connecting on the bottom of the basket. The intricate woven pattern has larger strips of light wood evenly spaced vertically with two thin horizontal bands connecting them. The smooth wooden lip at the top has a darker grain and then thin strips which are angled diagonally and evenly spaced. They cross the handle against the lip in an x shape.
Nan MacDonald (American, Abenaki, and Mohaw, born 1956), Honor the Harvest (Corn Washing Basket), 2014, white ash, sweetgrass, and oak, 18 in x 12 in diam., Museum Purchase: Funds provided by bequest of Elizabeth Cole Butler by exchange. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2014.17.1

As we shift our clocks back to standard time this weekend and our bodies adjust to the change, it feels like just the right time to pause and reflect on all this recent season has offered. Cooler and wetter weather, colorful leaves, harvests, celebrations, even a busyness of newfound routines. Whatever fall has offered you,…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Silas Aittauq

Image Description: Spirits. Silas Aittauq. 1986. Serpentine carving 9 in x 4 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in. Sleek gray carving of a spirit with multiple faces. From the angle of the photograph - the body is facing to the right, but the head is turned to face the camera. The face is round with almond shaped eyes and a thin nose carved into it. A slightly opened mouth lies behind a raised strip under the nose. It has bangs that are parted in the middle and angle to each side of the head. The body is leaning forward, right arm bent at the elbow with the hand holding the chin of the turned face. The legs are bent at the knees and there are rounded feet below. The back and space behind the legs has the profile of two additional faces. Long thin noses and plump lips are visible. There are blemishes in the material and scratches across the sculpture. A prominent light colored scratch runs from the right eye, over the lips and chin, over the finger, and down to the armpit.
Silas Aittauq (Canadian, Inuit, and Baker Lake, 1933-2013), Spirits, 1986, serpentine, 9 in x 4 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in, Gift of Meredith and Robert Amon. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2012.127.35

Spirits, by Inuit sculptor Silas Aittauq, carries an energy that seems fitting for this season of Halloween, of harvest, of Dia de Muertos, and of remembering those who have passed. We invite you to take some time today to reflect on, and then write about, your own spirit in this moment. What parts of your…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Shreve & Company

One of the joys of cooler days and longer nights is more chances to drink warm beverages, likely from a favorite mug. While your in-home setup might not be quite as beautiful as this sterling silver set by San Francisco–based Shreve & Company, it likely has many stories connected to it. There is a ritual…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: David Park

David Park (American, 1911-1960), The Cellist, 1959, oil on canvas, 56 in x 56 in, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by Ronna and Eric Hoffman. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 86.77

All forms of creative expression invite us deeper into ourselves, with opportunities to reflect, to be changed, to feel inspired. Today we invite you to bring some energy from David Park’s The Cellist into your creative writing, and see how centering music can open up new spaces or connections in your writing. First, think of…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Wally Dion

Green Star Quilt, Wally Dion, 75 5/8 x 70, circuit boards, brass wire, copper tube. A large square work composed of circuit boards in various shades of green pieced together like a quilt and connected with brass wire. At center, the circuit boards have been cut into diamond shapes and pieced to form an eight-pointed star. Further diamond shapes surround this star and radiate outward until they create a large star that almost fills the entire work. A thin gold line encompasses the large star forming a square. A border of more circuit boards completes the work. Many shades of green make up the different boards and they are heavily textured with silver and brass colored workings. Small silver balls in rows or patterns dominate the boards along with other metallic geometric shapes. Etched lines in patterns feature in most of the green boards.

Wally Dion created Green Star Quilt out of computer circuit boards, brass wire, and copper tubing, rather than the fabric squares of a traditional quilt. As Native American Art Curator Kathleen Ash-Milby writes, “Dion has cleverly transformed ordinary materials that most people rely upon every day, but do not notice, into a bold work of…  Read more

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Community Connect Discover

Write Around PAM: Kuna artist

Image Description: Fish Mola. Kuna artist. Cotton. 13 ¾ in x 17 ½ in. Bright red fabric with a fish embroidered on it. The fish is outlined in a thick black line with a bright blue line against it on the inside and a bright orange line on the outside. The fish is triangular shaped and facing the right. It has a large flat tail and small fins in front. Its mouth is small and beak shaped. It has a large black eye with a white outline. Its face is a series of lines of small dots that are yellow and red. Behind the eye, solid colorful lines: blue, black, pink, red, pink, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, yellow, red, yellow, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, orange, red, orange, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, green, red, green, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, yellow, red, yellow, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, orange, red, orange, scalloped black, blue. The tail has several horizontal lines of varying colors (green, yellow, white, red, orange). There are also lines of various colors between the outline of the fish and the edge of the fabric (black, yellow, orange, and purple). There are four shapes at the corners of the fish. The top left is a triangular shape with a green and black outline and yellow dots. The top right is a shape that resembles a bird with a long tail diving downward. It is outlined in yellow and black and has dark spots. The bottom right also resembles a bird diving and is outlined in green and black with yellow spots inside. The bottom left is flame shaped with blue and black outlines and yellow dots inside.
Kuna artist (Kuna), Fish Mola, cotton, 13 3/4 in x 17 1/2 in, Gift of Barbara Christy Wagner. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2016.109.1

The Kuna are Indigenous people living in present-day Panama. Mola, the Kuna word meaning “to cover” are hand-sewn, embroidered blouse fronts and backs made and worn by Kuna women. Artists use a technique called reverse appliqué to create Mola, layering two to seven pieces of different-colored cloth together. The artist cuts away parts of each…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Larry Poons

Image Description: Larry Poons. “Open Country”. 1968. Acrylic on canvas. 84” x 204”. Large colorful painting with a thin wood frame. The background on the left two thirds is a muted rose color and the right third is a yellow orange color. A straight line separates the two colors with a few diagonal brush strokes on the pink that create a lighter ink color and a series of overlapping vertical brushstrokes on the edge of the yellow. There are two additional light yellow strokes above and out to the right. There is also an area of lighter yellow blended into the upper right corner. The bottom left of the painting is a lighter pink color with an organic line in the shape of a steeply sloping hill. Just below the slope is a series of six brush strokes—pink, white, yellow, red, purple, yellow.
Larry Poons (American, born 1937), Open Country, 1968, acrylic on canvas, 84 in x 204 in, Gift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2011.98.3

Color can evoke such strong feelings and memories, and allow us to engage with our senses in new ways. This painting by Larry Poons calls to mind summer delights: cotton candy, rose petals, sorbets, sunsets, warm sand, early mornings, and more. As we get our first dose of fall rain and cooler temperatures this weekend,…  Read more