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Downtown Portland

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Cityscape by Jenny Armitage

Afternoon on SW 11th Street (watercolor 10 x 14) $200

This is downtown Portland about a block south of Burnside.    The little building peaking out on the left is our Portland mecca, Powell’s Books.  But it’s the bright old fashioned brick building lit up by the sun in contrast with the glass and steel building behind them that caught my eye.

I simplified the buildings considerably, taking out much brick ornamentation.  I eliminated a few street lights and lamps too.  I also moved the shadow forward a little to encompass all of the foreground cars.  Before I made the change, the closest left-hand car stole the show. The pedestrian was on the  on the scene, but not where I’ve placed him.  My applogies to the Joyce Hotel whose name I removed from their canopy since it drew too much attention to itself.

The palate is simple, cobalt blue, phthalo blue, quinacridone brown madder, and raw sienna.

Or purchase a print here.
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The Joke’s On Me

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Hungry, Vegan, and Broke

Hungry, Vegan, and Broke

Memorial Day Waterworks (17 x 19) $275

Memorial Day Waterworks (17 x 19) $275

I spent yesterday talking with people and watching their reactions to my paintings at the Artisan Village, a part of the Oregon State Fair. Mostly, the paintings I, and my family like are the paintings other people like. Also, many people from Wilsonville were charmed by Memorial Day Waterworks because they recognize Town Center Park. The Annex Pub and the seascapes were also popular. There were some surprises though. One of them was Hungry, Vegan and Broke.

I painted the two young men in Hungry, Vegan, and Broke as a kind of private joke. I saw them in in downtown Portland in front of Powell’s Books. And while they were obviously hot and tired, they looked healthy and able bodied. Certainly they didn’t look like they’d been hungry anytime in the recent past. And the sign was so absurd: “Hungry, Vegan, and Broke.” I could translate that sign two ways: “We Are High Maintenance Choosy Beggars;” or, “Feed Us Because We Are Such Good Moral Young Men.”

I liked my little joke, and I loved the afternoon sun on their skin. But I the reactions of my family and friends to the painting were mixed. I didn’t even consider making a print or greeting card of the painting, and I hesitated to frame it for the fair, but I did.   At the last moment I made some magnets of it too.

Well, the joke is on me.  Almost everyone who sees this painting smiles, and this is the painting everyone wants a print of.  I have sold more Hungry, Vegan, and Broke magnets than magnets of any other painting. Today I’ll place it more prominately in the booth.  Right now it’s down low and half hidden by a table.

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