Delays (02-25-10)

...More...setbacks...and...delays...(Snore).

My Old Kitchen (02-23-10)

Fun! My old kitchen was featured on "Hooked on Houses"!

Haiku: The Buyer's Lament (02-23-10)

A poem by Pascale Steig

House sold; moving on
Looking for a house
Alas: slim pickings.

Frantically looking
Days on end, reading the ads
Hoping for wonders

It's all said in code
Where "Lovingly Restored"
Means total mess-up

Mongrelization
Of styles, periods, and uses.
Sage green, brown and grey

The tiles, all the same
Gone the trims, the cabinets
Gone, the wood built-ins

The windows, vinyl
Gone, the charm, the history
The doors, hollow core.

Done in the name of
Updates, home improvement:
Obliteration

My heart beats faster
For two words: "Historic Charm"…
Perhaps this is it..?

Alas, alas, no.
With walls, leaning to the side,
The house is crooked.

It smells; well, it stinks
Unkempt, drafty, moldering
Unfit for humans.

The agent, he smiles;
If not this house, another...
...Or another yet.

Frustrations (02-20-10)

I am getting fed up with a certain real estate transaction... Our seller seems to be unpredictable and difficult to deal with.
The home buying process ought to be simple: one makes an offer and the offer is either 1.) accepted; 2.) countered; or 3.) rejected. There is no sorcery to this; unless it is our situation, of course :(

A Springtime Yeti-e (02-18-10)

This one's a tease...

Garden Gnome Wanted (02-18-10)

I want a swell garden gnome, like the one I saw at the Garden and Patio Show.

Yard and Garden Show (02-13-10)

I raced through the Garden and Patio Show today (there was too much to see and not enough time to do it). A lot of the displays were aimed at the new suburban markets: dull concrete patios with fire pits, stock shrubbery, run-of-the-mill fence designs...

I am tired of living among boxes in a rental house. I want a house of my own. I want a garden of my own.

Elton John/Billy Joel Concert at the Rose Quarter (02-10-10)

We went to see the Face to Face Elton John and Billy Joel concert at the Rose Quarter stadium. After hearing Gary play their music for the last 29 years, I wasn't overly enthusiastic about going; but this concert was so fabulous, I was won over by the great music and the performers' showmanship. Great time.

 

This is a view of the stadium from where we were sitting. The music was so loud, I was glad we weren't sitting any closer...but it sure looked like the people at the front of the stage were having a blast.

Some sketches of Elton John, Billy Joel, a few band members and screen backdrops.

 The sketches above are of the audience near us. I drew Christopher (top right middle), Valérie (second at lower right) and Monica-Sophie (edge of page on lower right).

I found the souvenir paper sign on the way out of the stadium, near a table where T-shirts and Polo shirts were respectively being sold for $40 and...$60! What a rip!

The Big Blue Dinosaur (02-10-10)

When my daughter Valérie (21) was about three years old, she once ran from the front of the house to the kitchen and breathtakingly told me about a Big blue Dinosaur that was eating little children (!). I took notes as she urgently described what the creature was doing outside of the house, and the Big blue Dinosaur soon became the stuff of our family legends...


Anyway, here is the Big blue Dinosaur, as I drew him for fun in my sketchbook.

"He was a Big Blue One"

Haunted-Looking House in the Old Neighborhood (ca. 03-09)

The Estate Sale over, it sat empty and forlorn, like a cursed, silent sentinel recalling terrible things passed.

The house came on the market two months after we bought our house in 1994. On a sunny afternoon, I went down the street to take a closer look at the house. I tried to peek in through the back windows, to see how it compared to our rambling fixer. Priced at $20,000 more, it was a clearly nicer house: cedar shake siding, boxed-beam ceilings, two staircases... A couple bought the house shortly thereafter.

Over the course of the following year or two, they embarked on a grand-scale remodeling project. Money was apparently no object. The roof was removed down to the attic floor, the siding was replaced after an earthquake-proof retro-fit of the outside walls, the attic walls were raised 3 ft., then the roof was rebuilt. Everyone in the neighborhood had an opinion about the project: they were either daring pioneers updating an old beat-up house in dire need of attention, or wild-eyed heretics bent on damaging a classic neighborhood landmark.

One day, when curiosity finally won over me, I knocked on the door and introduced myself. The wife, D., seemed pretty nice. She invited me in and offered to give me a tour of the house. I admired the curtains D. made out of brightly colored translucent silk to cover the small living room windows; but without a fireplace (removed to expand the back of the house), the space was now just like a large entryway. The dark stained furniture was Asian and Far Eastern; candles, statuettes and figurines were set on low tables and on shelves. D. told me of her plans to paint over the Pepto-Bismol Pink walls in the dining room, which clashed with the inviting cushions on a couch against the wall. I wished my house also came with glass chandeliers adorned with crystals. D. showed me the kitchen next. Even though it was spacious and one of the nicest new kitchens I'd ever seen at the time, it didn't fit with the Arts and Crafts details in the house. Her husband, J. had removed the service staircase; the back of the living room had been merged into an eating space and two columns were awkwardly merged into a wall. Still, I couldn't help comparing it to the orange Formica eyesore-of-a-kitchen in my own house. I felt envious. Right off the kitchen, French doors opened to a peaceful private yard fenced with tall bamboo. Back inside, D. led me to a wide, airy staircase going up to the upper floors. The rooms upstairs were spacious; the bathroom was old-fashioned and lovely, with a great clawfoot tub; there was ample storage space in a linen cabinet nearby. On the third floor, the attic had been transformed into a Master Suite/Palace with skylights, luxurious-feeling carpeting, a balcony at the back, and an amazing bathroom with expensive fittings; beautiful tiles covered the floor and walls. I wondered why I'd ended up with my ugly house, while these people had been fortunate to end up with a house I would have loved as it was before its unnecessary remodel, Craftsman detail et all.

I disliked D.'s husband J. as soon as as I met him: here was the driving force behind the dismantling of some of the things that had made this house great from the start. J., when asked, said they had moved from Northern California, and was vague about his occupation: he was, he said, and entrepreneur. Looking around at the messed-up living room, I thought that meant "Nouveau Riche." J. was clearly proud of his work on the house. To remove the chimney, he had instructed his stepson to go down to the basement and hammer away at the chimney's base with a mallet until the chimney came unraveling down the walls! J. then bragged that he would sell the house for over $300,000 in a few years' time (this, after buying it for a mere $160,000), and then he would buy himself five acres to raise sheep. What a jerk, I thought. He had messed up a perfectly great house.

As the years went by, and even though we lived down a block around the corner, I lost sight of D. and J. Although two of our children were the same age as theirs, we just ran in different circles. But I shook my head in disgust every time I drove up the street and saw the large 80s style round window looming at the top of the stairwell; it was like an open, unblinking eye. And like the rood over the side porch entrance, it was ostentatious...but, I had to admit, it somehow fit. Perched on top of a small earthen berm, the house, with its steep roof and tall trees nearby was grand.

Time went on. I rarely saw any activity near the house, only dim lights on the inside. The ubiquitous Tibetan prayer flags were frayed from flapping in the winter winds and faded from the hard summer sun. The concrete walls supporting the property were leaning a bit more each year; moss covered the slowly crumbling porch stairs.

Then, one day, I saw a sign advertising an Estate Sale on the sidewalk in front. I went down to the house, wondering if the owners were perhaps moving.

The house was full of people looking for a bargain. But what immediately caught my attention were the dirty, worn floors, and the grime all over. The kitchen in disarray; cabinet doors were torn off the hinges; granite counters were broken and chipped. The yard, - the once peaceful Asian bamboo-fenced refuge -, was overgrown with weeds, its small altar askew, the steps off the porch broken. The moldy smelling basement suggested long-term problems. As for the items for sale, they suggested misery, catastrophic events, or a hasty departure: a few pieces of prohibitively priced import furniture, a collection of old Grateful Dead CDs, half-burnt incense sticks, worn, faded cushions, rusty paint cans, unidentifiable tools, a few cans of food, half empty bags of cereals, mismatched cups and plates, and scraggly potted plants sitting here and there...

What had happened? Where was D.? Was this a moving sale, I asked the weary-looking man minding the cash box set on a card table. Looking away, he reluctantly gave me the shocking news: the owner, J., had recently passed away, and D. had herself had passed away from cancer several years before...

A sketch of Marty Feldman (02-03-10)

Recently, it seems that everyone on Facebook has been posting celebrity look-alike photos as profile pictures. I wanted to do something different, so rather than putting up a photo found on the web, I decided to draw my own profile image... This drawing was inspired by a shot of Marty Feldman in his role as Igor ("eye-gore") in "Young Frankenstein" (1974).

TV: "Lost": Last Season Premiere (02-02-10)

We've been without a television since the beginning of November, so we watched the much-anticipated Lost season opener at the house of some friends of ours (delicious brownies).

Like every time I've watched Lost, I didn't understand anything to what was happening. (In a nutshell: Locke isn't really himself, 'cause he's dead; Jacob is God-like but gets killed nevertheless; Sayid dies but -just kiddin'- he wasn't really dead after-all; various alternate reality situations run parallel to each other, etc.)

I did these drawings in my sketchbooks during the show.

I wanna move! (01-30-10)

I am having a bad case of (rental) cabin fever. At least, the rental house has great water pressure and the water is really hot.

Some good news...and some not so good (01-21-10)

The sewer scope was done today. Good news: The sewer line is okay.

We're still at the stage of negotiating repairs. Negotiations still underway...(since December). ...Still negotiating... (this has got to be the longest process ever to buy a house!)

We found a house...I think (01-19-10)

This is the house we may be buying. We just had a home inspection yesterday. The thing that really freaks me out, though (aside from the many repairs necessary), is that there are hobo spiders...

House Inspection (01-18-10)

The house sale is "pending" (we are the buyers).

The home inspection was today (and it was scaryyyyy)...

Faces at Church (01-17-10)

You might wonder why there are so many entries about Church... I simply find people at Church to be an unending source of material for quick sketches.

Some familiar faces

Portrait: Moso (01-16-10)

A quick sketch of Moso, that doesn't totally look like her...

Moso?

All these efforts for nothing...so far (01-14-10)

So far, we made FIVE offers and several counter-offers on various houses...with no satisfactory results.

Mary G. (01-11-10)

This is my friend, Mary G., whose pale ethereal beauty brings to mind a mermaid or a fairy (a "fée" in French).

Church Meeting (01-10-10)

Two quick sketches of people at Church...

Woman at a Restaurant (01-08-10)

I was at Claim Jumper with Gary, and a woman sitting at a table nearby caught my attention. She was in her 40s and pretty, and with the black dress and heavy jewelry she was wearing, was clearly dressed for an expensive date. It set my imagination going: was this a "kept" woman, who was meeting with her lover?.. At Claim Jumper, of all places?

At the Endodontist (01-05-10)

The two following sketches are a good example of what the luxury of time allows one to achieve, as opposed to a rushed sketch.

In the first sketch, I was sitting in a waiting room, and with no desire to read the usual old magazines, I had plenty of time to work and complete the sketch of the other woman sitting in the waiting room, first focusing on her, and then, filling out the details around her: the walls, furniture, decor, etc. Nice.

Woman knitting

The second sketch was started while I was waiting in the chair for the endodontist to come to look at my tooth. It is a quick sketch, on a spread that includes unrelated things, with merely some cursory details about the experience. And yet... it depicts that particular moment accurately.

Pain and Anxiety

Back at it with another offer... (01-03-10)

Despite my feeling ill with a raging toothache, we made (another) offer on the "Ducks and Bunnies" house...

New Year's Eve (12-31-09)

We attended a very entertaining New Year's Eve party at the Watts, with a brilliant and well-researched presentation about the prophecies of 2012 by Jesse C.

Jesse C. and his audience

At Claim Jumper's (12-29-09)

It was a pleasure to see Lyndon L. again after many years. We had a good time reminiscing and sharing stories about his and Gary's time spent in Verviers as missionaries.

Still looking... (12-28-09)

We looked at houses today... Time to consider pros and cons again. It's totally a drag, honest.

I can't think of how many houses I've looked at that, and the minute I walked in, I wanted to walk out right away.

We've seen it all: stupid floor plan, close-in but minuscule house, dumpy, massive fixer, steep driveway, no yard, no convenient bathroom, really nice but unaffordable, an abundance of Home Depot kitchens...or a really cute house, but far away from the city. There is no perfect house out there.

Annual Community Messiah Sing-Along (12-18-09)

This year again, we went to the Messiah Sing-Along at Central Lutheran Church. I sing Alto, but mostly follow the melody... so it was easier to just listen and enjoy Händel's gorgeous music (a German name NOT pronounced "Handle," but Hen-del"...).

I really like these few sketches; they are representative of the variety of people in the audience and how engaged they were in singing. The last sketch is of my daughter Valérie, with her sister Julia to her right (not visible).

We made an offer...again (12-14-09)

House offer revisited. Re-wait-and-see. I'm having mixed feelings about the subject; this house selling/renting/buying has been like pulling teeth.

Counter-Offer (12-07-09)

The terms of the counter-offer were so ridiculous, they were almost funny. The seller wanted to rent the house back from us, for a ridiculous price, and for an indefinite period of time. So, we rejected her counter-offer.

Offer (12-05-09)

We made an offer on a house. Now, it's time to wait...and...see.

A page from my sketchbook (ca. 11-25-09)

A page spread, worked on over several days...

At left, Julia, and at top middle, Wendy B.

LeeAnn B. at Church (11-22-09)

LeeAnn B. is always smiling and everyone loves her classes.

LeeAnn B.

Doodle Study in Black and White (ca. 11-09)

I love using my black pens. The following doodles were done with a fine point Sharpie. I wanted to fill the page with patterns as they happened spontaneously.

Video Games Live (11-07-09)

Great concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall: Video Games Live. Although my knowledge of video game music is limited to the Metroid series, this was a superb concert!

From a Book of B&W Photography (10-23-09)

This sketch was done from a photograph of (I think) an industrial or banker from the 1940s, found in an older coffee table book with many photos of famous people from the last century. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know who it is...

Mystery Celebrity from the Past

An Entry for 1000 Journals!!! (10-18-09)

Such exciting news! I stopped by artFIBERfest at Reed College. One of the organizers, Tracy Moore (whose journals are fabulous) had one of the journals from the 1000 Journals project with him, and he asked me to draw something in it. I also got to draw in one of his journals.

Left: what I drew in Tracy's journal; Right: what I drew for 1000 Journals

Best of all, he drew a House Fairy in my sketchbook, with a promise that she'll intervene to help me find a new house...

On the Bus (10-16-09)

I don't do comics often enough, but here is something I did while sitting on the bus...

I want things my way... (10-11-09)

...I want my plans to be implemented; I want to reach my dreams.

Photo of the kitchen in our old house (ca. 10-09)

Here is a photo of my favorite space in our old house: the kitchen I designed. I think the project turned out fabulous, especially with the color tiles on the wall. The kitchen "made" the house and gave it personality. I hope to find a house where I will be able to get creative like this again...
(Incidentally, the kitchen was featured in the 2007 Rejuvenation Lighting Kitchen and Bath catalog; there was an article about it in the Oregonian in March 2008.)

Stan Ridgway at The Woods (10-03-09)

Well, once again, Stan Ridgway came to Portland, this time for an all-acoustic concert at The Woods. Although I prefer the louder sounds of old Wall of Voodoo and Drywall, it was a very enjoyable time... Here is my sketch of the musicians (autographs removed).

Pietra Wextun, Stan Ridgway, Rick King

Thugs (09-15-09)

This newspaper photo of three would-be terrorists caught my attention. Interesting faces.

TV: "Lost" (ca. 09-03)

A few sketches done while watching Lost.
Funny to see some characters that were once very important but have been phased out (usually killed off either intentionally by friend-turned-to-foe, unintentionally by enemy-turned-friend, or through supernatural-yet-cheesy means by the malovelent island).

Portland Creative Conference (09-12-09)

I worked as a volunteer at the Portland Creative Conference at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.

I am really pleased with the sketch of poster artist Emek, especially since it features him talking about his well-known poster of a Decemberists album, which I asked him to sign in my sketchbook (autograph removed). Pretty cool.

Emek

Party in the courtyard

Valérie's Wisdom Teeth (09-03-09)

Valérie's wisdom teeth were pulled. She wasn't feeling very good, so I drew this to cheer her up.

Another Yeti (08-09)

This one's sweet...

Yet another Yeti (08-09)

This one's a bully.

Haiku: The Seller's Lament (08-20-09)

A poem by Pascale Steig

My house on Woodward
is lovely and for sale now.
Great neighbors. Much space.

Three bedrooms, two baths,
The best kitchen in the world:
A gourmet’s retreat.

Time passes, so slow.
The house sits immutable,
while my hair turns gray.

Fickle buyers, all.
Only complaints: too spacious;
the tree...too much shade.

Complaints, excuses:
No lawn, no fence, tree too tall,
house and rooms too big.

What about agents?
Large or small, from the same mold:
"Make it bargain cheap!"

"Price low! Give it up!"
But one thing is sacred, one:
The commission, always high.

"Sell my house," I say
to all agents who come by.
No results. Nothing.

Victorian House in Verviers (ca. 11-08)

For all the talk about houses, as this pretty much the focus of my new blog, I want to include a few photos of my absolute Best of Best, the ultimate reference of what I am looking for in a house: high style, and a moody personality, or, as my daughter Valérie would say, "gloomy, slightly impressive."
But there is no such thing on the West Coast...and if there ever was, it would be in a place like rotten part of Los Angeles or San Francisco, would have been abandoned, condemned and/or demolished...
This gem of a Victorian house is in my hometown in Belgium. Like the setting for a 19th century dark novel, it is precariously
set high on the side of a hill and accessed by a narrow dead-end cobblestone path bordered by the river; a tall spiked cast-iron fence secludes it from intruders. But the modern world has encroached: the freeway runs right over the top of the house.

The house's name is Béribou.

Trip to Washington (07-31-11)

I tried to draw some cars on the freeway. I am not very good at cars, but I found that if I focus on the general shapes, I get a result that works, kinda...

Then I tried to draw trees... Here, it was also a matter of getting the general shape down.