Visit to Portland

I just returned from five days in Portland, OR.  My trip was two-fold, to partake in the SAQA International Conference and to visit my son, who lives there.  The conference was terrific, many inspirational talks and break-out sessions and a great walking tour of part of Portland with members who lived there. I got to meet a few of my "blog buddies", whom I had never met in person and that was a lot of fun. Of course it's always good to meet up with old friends and there was a lot of that going on, too.

 On Saturday my group toured part of downtown Portland where we visited interesting shops selling hand made items, a yarn shop, a button and trim shop, a funky clothing shop (where I bought a great Shibori shirt), and the Pioneer Place Mall where we went directly to the third floor to see its very impressive gallery currently showing The Oregon SAQA group show, " Layers".  I loved the show and the space, but I'm only going to show a few of my favorites.

Exploring Layers by Amanda Miler

Rivets 2 by Sidnee Snell

Aspen Lea by Catherine Beard

My son is a foodie and Portland is a wonderful place for that and we went to three restaurants with the most incredible, unusual, and delicious food.  I hope my waistline didn't suffer.  All in all it was a super trip and I am inspired to get going in my studio