…It was a perfect day to eat outside during our Brush painting class. Everyone agreed it was just like going on a picnic! The Ikebana House where we paint is nestled amidst a huge Bamboo grove along with a vista of various flowering trees and the inspiring Japanese Garden just over the ridge.
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Her book, BEIJING OPERA COSTUMES: The visual Communication of Character and Culture is lavisly illustrated, "a thorough examination of costuming (including make-up) in traditional Beijing opera. With her extensive fieldwork in China...it's a guide to the visual world of Beijing opera and the only book of it's kind in English...it's very hard to conceive of it being surpassed any time soon." David Rolston, Univ. of Michigan.
Jerry Williams the most irrepressible and delightful person one could ever hope to meet. Jerry has the most reputable career in theatre design, costume design, and ceramics beginning with studying set design (alongside James Cromwell...the farmer from the movie 'Babe') at the Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh followed by graduate school at the Univ. of Washington. This outstanding advocate of the arts feels art nourishes life. "In stage design you have unity, color, contrast, variety...these components of set and stage design are also the components necessary in life"...Art is connected with the higher power. God and art are inextricably linked; when you embrace art, you embrace God as well." Beautifully put Jerry!…that besides being an amazing composer/arranger (think break out ‘Classical Gas’…the most famous instrumental guitar piece of all time), Mason Williams is quite the universal renaissance man and here’s the short list…
One of my favorite ‘creations’ is a neat word play done by 
Edition of 100
I like the blue version best but didn’t think it would show well here. Can you see that the Wild Guesses are actually a series of two question marks that combine to make the guess/geese?
Another thing (among soooooo many) Mason has the most incredible falsetto and when he sings THE PLATTERS …’ONLY YOU’ you’ll say it’s the best thing since sliced bread!
There’s so much more to write 
I was so honored and gratified to see that Karen and Mason framed my Brush painting ‘Moonlit Bamboo’ and in all the excitement forgot to take a photograph. Mason…please do send me one.
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http://www.masonwilliams-online.com/
Mason Williams on Wikipedia
There was a short hop from Portland to Eugene.
Emerald Art Center
My week long workshop at the Emerald Art Center was an unmitigated joy from beginning to end and these accomplished artists welcomed me so grandly that they now all have a firm hold on my heart.
Special thanks go to the two facilitators at Emerald Art, Kathy Thompson (also a Brush painting teacher) and Leigh Avery. My every need was met from picking me up at the airport to having the pre-shipped box of paper and supplies opened and ready to go. From the beginning of each day, making sure that I had water, tea and assorted fruit and goodies to planning the lunch adventures which of course included a Chinese restaurant one day.
I wish I had taken a picture of the entire yard but suffice it to say that we had fresh picked blueberries, green beans and marvelous chard, lettuce and tomatoes each day. Jim is quite the gardener and to look at his handiwork was total perfection.
And here we have Luna, seven pounds 
Charles asked me one night if I was being a good guest and this was probably written for my defense.
Dottie is one of Oregon’s leading portrait artists, entrepreneur, advocate and supporter of the arts as well as the most delightful lady one is privileged to know. To see some of her amazing work, go to www.emeraldartcenter.com and click on artists…she’s in the top row.
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