The Valley Gorge HUB mural, in The Dalles, Oregon, is one of my most favorite murals. This mural was painted in 2018 by Blaine Fontana, with help from Toma Villa, Jeremy Nichols, and Jeff Sheridan. This long mural is on E 1st St.
I took pictures of each section so you can see it more closely. This part features a Trout, Salmon, and Sturgeon.
This section shows a Black Bear, Bighorn sheep, and Cougar. A Yellow Warbler photo bombed this one.
This part shows a Yellow Warbler, Osprey, Blue Jay, and Raven.
The last section shows a Monarch Butterfly and a Chickadee. There’s a mural by another artist around the corner on this end of the building.
I’ve visited The Dalles in the past and didn’t realize the Valley Gorge HUB mural wrapped around the building. Here’s the mural on other parts of the building. You can see a Mule Deer, Red-winged Blackbirds, and an Egret.
Here’s an updated map of their locations. I like how they added a red line to show which side of the building has murals. This map was updated in January of 2023.
Where do you go when you’re looking for a quick recharge? To the National Neon Sign Museum in The Dalles, Oregon, of course!
On the main floor, you’ll see a rainbow of neon colors. The signs on display are from the late 1800s through the 1960s.
Do you recognize any of these iconic signs?
How about this wall filled with Coca Cola signs?
You can see car dealerships and gas station signs here.
The flying horse from Mobile has always been one of my favorites.
The one from Cadillac is colorful and classy.
Some make you smile.
Even when not lit up, the artwork is impressive. I liked these three whimsical signs.
Looking back
In another section of the main floor, there is a brief history of the process.
Signs from businesses line this room’s walls. I especially liked the 3-dimensional Regal cowboy boot.
French engineer and inventor Georges Claude is credited with inventing and commercializing neon lighting. He obtained a patent on his System of Illuminating by Luminescent Tubes on January 19, 1915. Claude held a monopoly on this type of product until the early 1930s.
The photo below, taken at the 1910 Paris Motor Show, shows the first public display of neon lights in the world.
The first picture below shows an early sign for the Claude Neon Sign business. The second shows the Claude Neon Float in the 1929 Shrine Electrical Pageant in Los Angeles, California.
National Neon Sign Museum Ballroom
Upstairs, there’s a large room, set up to look like an old town, called the Ballroom. As you may have guessed, you can rent it out for events.
You can see Medich’s BBQ restaurant and a shoe repair business below.
This picture shows Town Pride Frozen Custard restaurant.
Here’s a Philco store, complete with the iconic dog.
This shows a hat store, the BBQ restaurant, and the Vincent Hotel.
When we visited a week ago, they told us to stay tuned for big news. We just learned the National Neon Sign Museum was selected as the new home for the historic Jantzen Beach Carousel. Since the carousel uses more than 1,300 lightbulbs, it’s a good fit for the Museum.
Once restored, it will be placed on a lot next to the Museum. This large carousel measures 67 feet across and 28 feet high.
C.W. Parker Archives, Barbara Fahs Charles Collection.
This carousel was located in Venice, California in 1921, then moved to Portland, Oregon in 1928. It operated at Jantzen Beach, and at another location nearby, until 2012. The carousel was donated to Restore Oregon in 2017. They will work in partnership with the Museum to repair and repaint the carousel’s 72 horses (and 10 spares).
I saw this Burns Times Herald window in Burns, Oregon last April. Paintings of birds by schoolchildren decorated the Herald’s windows for the Harney County Migratory Bird Festival. Colorful paper streamers hung in the background.
I found paintings of ravens, jays, waxwings, eagles, hummingbirds, kestrels, warblers, and nuthatches. Can you find them?
I also liked the newspaper’s motto on their window. “Covering Harney County Like the Sage Brush.” The Burns Times Herald has been serving this community since 1887.
This month, I’m sharing an eagle drawing I created. This is a pencil sketch of Rapaz Nube, the evil character in one of the books I’m working on. Rapaz Nube translates as “Cloud Raptor.” He shifts shape and is always harassing the main character, Melodía. She and her companions go on a quest to return water to a parched land.
I’m also sharing a photograph I took of a Golden Eagle on its nest near Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. This nest is in the same area where my fictional novel takes place.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
I saw this Cedar Bear Herbal Supplements mural while visiting Vernal, Utah. I especially liked the blue and green colors in this mural. The artist did a great job of painting liquid, not an easy thing to do. The light outlines of cresting waves filled out the space and gave a good sense of movement.
Today I’m sharing a hummingbird painting I painted. I did a quick drawing with pen and ink and later filled in the lines with acrylic paint. The colors of the fuschia flower and leaves are reflected in the plumage of the bird.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
One of the prompts for the 2022 Inktober event was “ponytail.” My interpretation, shown below, was a quick pen-and-ink drawing of a pony’s tail. 😀
I’m also including a photograph of a ponytail. Okay, it’s not really a pony, but people often mistook him for one.
This is Calypso Blue, a miniature horse I once owned. He measured 32 inches at his withers. Miniature horses are supposed to have proportions similar to full-sized horses, only smaller in size.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
In February, we went to see firepits at Winterfest at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond, Oregon. You never know what kinds of things the participants of the firepit section will come up with. The firepits used to be on display on park service land along the Deschutes River in Bend.
This one looks like a Viking ship, complete with dragon head and tail.
Here’s a closer look at its head. Look at those teeth!
Flowers and forest firepits
This firepit looked like a round flower, full of flame.
I created this mountain scene table with my husband twenty years ago. He made the table from milled birch wood and vine maple, cut from our property. I designed, painted, and carved around the mountain scene on the table’s top.
Here’s a picture of the table while I worked on it. I painted the mountain scene with acrylics and used different colored stains on the game boards to mimic marquetry. Real marquetry uses different colors and types of wood that is cut and pieced together.
This succulent mural is at River’s Place, a food truck pod on the east side of Bend. We are lucky to have at least seven of these “pods” where trucks can hook up to water and power to serve customers. Each pod has indoor seating with numerous beers on tap. They also host musicians, trivia nights, and other events.
This mural was created by Nicole Fontana, of Fontana Painting. Succulents are one of my favorite types of plants because they have so much variety. She captured that variety well.
I have featured Nicole’s work in a previous post featuring whimsical doors in Tumalo. I loved the detail in those paintings and in this succulent mural.
This painting is in the eastside Lone Pine Coffee Roasters business in Bend. The mural was painted by artist Megan McGuinness and it wraps around three walls. I like how she outlined almost everything with white borders.
This scene shows a fox in the foreground and a snowy owl in the upper corner. The mountain on the right is Smith Rock, a local rock climber’s favorite. Crooked River wraps around the edge of the mountain.
This month, I’m sharing a Great Horned Owl painting I did over the past couple of days. I used acrylic paint on a piece of unfinished oak wood. Sometimes I paint the main subject shape with off white paint before adding the color. I used this technique in my High Desert Mural. This time I did not do the lighter base painting.
Today I’m sharing a quick pen-and-ink drawing of an Indian peacock I drew. This was for the month-long Inktober drawing challenge. The prompt that day was “ego.” When male peacocks prance around displaying their tail feathers I think of them as being proud, egotistical birds. In reality, they are trying to attract mates and protect their territory.
Here’s a photo I took of a proud Indian peacock. I increased the color saturation when I processed it to bring out his beautiful blue and green colors.
When I think of peacocks here in Central Oregon, I think of Richardson’s Rock Ranch in Madras. They have a large indoor and outdoor rock shop and peacocks wander freely around the buildings.
Here’s a photo of their old family home with the birds perched on the front porch and foraging in the front yard. Can you see the pheasant decoration on the side of the building? The peafowl must have been attracted to it since they are also part of the pheasant family, Phasianidae.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
In your travels near and far, you may find weird and wonderful sights.
Weird architecture
Sometimes you find a weird sight when you’re driving down the highway and look it up later. This is the Smith Mansion, located in Wapiti, Wyoming, halfway between Cody and Yellowstone.
Lee Smith, a former builder and engineer, began constructing this structure from locally harvested logs. However, he became obsessed with adding on to the building, which led to his divorce. For 22 years he continued construction so that eventually it was 5-stories tall. One day, unfortunately, he slipped while working and fell to his death. His daughter owned the house for many years until it was sold to a neighbor in 2020.
For a better look at this amazing structure inside and out, watch this video by Scott Richard.
Wonderful tastes
At other times you’ll go a little off the beaten path in search of a good meal. This delicious barbecue dinner is from the Apple Valley BBQ in Parkdale, Oregon. Parkdale, at the base of Mt Hood, is a small town with a population of about 650. Fruit orchards fill the valleys in this part of Oregon and the restaurant incorporates fruit into their meals. The coleslaw pictured contains slices of fresh pears. They use local cherry wood to smoke their meat. Yum, definitely one of my favorites!
This Sisters Oregon mural in Central Oregon is full of life. North Sister, Middle Sister, and South Sister volcanic peaks hover in the background. Local wildflowers and wildlife fill the bottom of the frame.
I especially liked the great gray owl in the middle of the mural. If you stand in front of this mural in just the right spot, it looks like you have wings. Great for pictures!
The Sisters Oregon mural was created in 2020 by local artists, Katie Daisy and Karen Eland. You’ll find it on the wall of Marigold and True, a boutique gift shop. Katie also contributed to murals painted in Foxtail Bakery, which I featured in a previous post.
As noted in this article in The Nugget Newspaper, Katie and Karen had known the store’s owner, Kelley Rae, for ten years. She commissioned them to paint this piece and it turned out beautifully.
I was in town taking pictures of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show when I stumbled upon the mural. The arts are alive and well in this small town.
This is a pencil sketch I drew of a White-faced Ibis. He is a character in a book I’m working on. The ibis, Arco Iris, gets his power from the rainbow obsidian stone he wears. Sometimes if you draw a character, it helps you write about their personality and physical traits.
I recently took pictures of White-faced Ibis in a field near Paisley, Oregon. The field was full of blue camas and it gave the scene a kind of magical feeling.
When you think of ibis, you may think of ancient depictions of this bird found in Egypt, but there are three species in the United States. You can find Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, and White-faced Ibis in parts of North America, Central America, and South America.
Inlay depicting Thoth as the ibis with a maat feather. Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The plumage of our local ibis looks black at first, but when you take a closer look, it’s iridescent. Their feathers catch the light as they plunge their long beaks into marshes and meadows in search of prey. They eat a variety of prey including insects, worms, and small fish. Ibis are particularly fond of crayfish.
When in breeding plumage, some of the White-faced Ibis’ feathers turn a bronze color, their legs turn pink, and a mask of pale white skin around their eyes appears. What better way to attract a mate than putting on a mask, pink leggings, and a bronze cape!
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
When cannabis was legalized for recreational use in Oregon in 2015, dispensaries popped up all around Bend. Dr Jolly’s is one of these appropriately named establishments.
The first picture shows a vibrant mural at the south end of the building. This looks like a color-filled view of Cascade peaks located near Bend. Red flowers and blue marijuana plants grow in the foreground.
The second photo shows a view of the front of the building. A hand points the way to the entrance. Barbers poles, with green stripes instead of red, flank the doors.
The artwork at this business was created by Janessa Bork and Josh Ramp, of VIVI Design Co., in 2020. Their website refers to Janessa and Josh as the “dynamic duo [who] founded VIVI in 2018 with a focus on unique tactile presence.” They create murals – inside and out, signs, menus, and other graphics. The pair’s impressive talent is on display at Dr Jolly’s and many other local businesses.
Here’s a pen-and-ink portrait I drew of a Bald Eagle. This stylized drawing captures their intense gaze and powerful bill.
Last week while I was photographing the “eyes” of aspen trees, I noticed a bald eagle overhead. It perched briefly atop a ponderosa pine to escape the Red-winged Blackbirds attacking it. It’s always amusing to see how large birds of prey react to territorial songbirds.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
You’ll find The The Bend Wall mural on the side of Newport Market, a neighborhood grocery store in Bend, Oregon. The bright painting covers a 100-foot long wall on the side of the building.
This impressive piece of artwork was created by Bend artist, Kim Smallenberg.
The mountain in the center of the mural is Pilot Butte, a dormant volcano. On the right side near the peak, you can see a small fire. On the Fourth of July, commercial fireworks are launched from Pilot Butte, and sometimes, it catches on fire. Our Fire Department is always there and ready.
A large metal sculpture of a bear sits in front of one end. The mural behind the bear shows dogs around a campfire. Bend is a dog-centered town. Many residents own one, or two, or…
I noticed these whimsical doors in Tumalo, Oregon while visiting a pod of food trucks. The Bite currently hosts five food trucks. You can get an assortment of beers on tap inside the main building. There is comfortable seating inside and out.
These paintings were done by local artist, Nicole Fontana. There are more pictures of her work at The Bite here. She even included her whimsical take on things in the signs for handicapped parking spots. 🙂
This Sisters quilt mural is located in Barclay Park in Sisters, Oregon. This work by local artist, Jerry Werner, celebrates all that makes this town a vibrant community. In the past, Jerry worked as an illustrator for Walt Disney. His artwork includes murals, fine art, paintings, illustration and graphics, and sculptures.
The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show bills itself as the world’s largest outdoor quilt show. More than 1,300 quilts are hung outside along the town’s main streets and visitors use maps to find them all. The quilts are amazing and show so much creativity and skill!
I did this Nanday Conure embroidery on a denim shirt for my brother when he had one as a pet. When I created this piece, I had never embroidered before so I used a running stitch throughout. Since the shirt was badly wrinkled when I took this picture, I dressed up the image by framing it. 😉
The next pictures show the birds in the wild. They used to be considered a type of parrot, but in 2005 additional research indicated they should be classified as a parakeet. They are also known as Nanday Parakeets or Black-hooded Parakeets. The Nanday Conure is native to South America but birds kept as pets and released are well established in parts of California, Texas, and Florida.
Today I’m sharing images of a Blue Jay in a craft project and an art one.
For these Blue Jay earrings, I scanned one of my pen and ink drawings and filled it in with blue color in a Corel program.
I reduced the images and printed them on cardstock. First I tried printing them on decal paper, but the color didn’t transfer well.
I cut out the teeny tiny images with these crane-shaped scissors and glued them onto blank wooden earrings.
The next picture shows a painting I did of an adult Blue Jay on a nest. I used watercolor paints to create this painting.
I previously shared this image in Jay – A bird always in my life. Different species of these intelligent and adaptable birds keep appearing in my life.
The earrings are a “craft” project and the original painting is “art.” What’s the difference?
The main difference between art and craft is that the art cannot be reproduced whereas the craft can be. Art is the creative expression of one’s emotions and feelings while craft is the ultimate creative, tangible output from a particular talent.
In other words, I could make multiple copies of the earrings created from a print, but I could never paint the exact same painting since my internal thoughts and feelings will be different.
Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.
Henry Ward Beecher
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
This Mix Tape A & B mural, by artist Erik Hoogen, is located at Silver Moon Brewing in Bend, Oregon. Erik worked on this labor of love seasonally for two years. This large work of art is located in a narrow alley so instead of trying to show it in one photo, I took several.
I am so impressed by this mural! It’s difficult to paint with a monotone palette and Erik made it look easy.
He captured the essence of these musicians from different times and genres.
Many of the musicians are portrayed in iconic poses.
Here are a few pencil sketches of a red panda I drew at a zoo. These animals are most active at dawn and dusk and when they’re asleep, they appear to sleep soundly. It’s nice to draw a critter who stays in one place for long periods of time. 🙂
This endangered species lives in a relatively small area of western Nepal, east into China. As shown in my photos below, bamboo is one of their favorite foods. With their dense, colorful fur coats and “cute” features, they make quite an impression on zoo visitors.
Their biggest threats in the wild include habitat degradation, hunting, and poaching. For more about red pandas, and to donate towards their conservation, visit Red Panda Network.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.
This Mt Pilchuck & Eagle table was made to raffle off for a fundraiser. I painted the tabletop with acrylic paint and lightly carved around the edges of some of the components. My husband, Gary, designed and custom built the table.
Here’s a closer view of the top.
This Mt Pilchuck & Eagle piece is a one-of- a-kind creation since we learned making something like this takes a lot of work. We previously made another table for ourselves with a different design that I may share in the future.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.
This Born Again Babaylan mural, created by Bekah Badilla, is located on the eastside of Bend, Oregon. Bekah is a Filipina/White American who was born in Alaska and now lives in Bend.
The first photo shows a close up of Babaylan.
The second photo shows the entire 18′ x 44′ mural in the light of dawn.
The artist put a lot of thought into this work. Here is an excerpt from her site describing the Born Again Babaylan mural:
I have always been impressed by the elegance of terns. Terns in flight have pointed wingtips and some species have deeply forked tails. Today I’m sharing a stylized pencil sketch I did of a Forster’s tern. These wetland birds can be spotted in much of North America at certain times of the year.
Here are a few Caspian terns I saw at The Narrows in Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, south of Burns, Oregon. They don’t have the black-tipped bill and forked tail of Forster’s terns, but still have the elegance of ferns.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.
If you’re looking for something artistic to do this month, consider participating in Inktober. Create a pen-and-ink drawing every day for a month based on prompts. Fun and challenging!
This brand new Landscape of Dreams mural shows special sights you might see near Bend, Oregon. The mural is located in southeast Bend at the Bend Upstyle store.
The dream-like mural includes a landscape of volcanic peaks surrounded by towering trees and colorful wildflowers. A bighorn sheep ram gazes into the distance. Meanwhile, a longhorn bull, with a quail perched on one horn, looks directly at you. What’s the quail whispering to the bull as they drift through the landscape?
This rendering of Landscape of Dreams was created and painted by Kelly Odden of Kelly Thiel Studio. She was grateful for the assistance of her friend, Kristen Buwalda, for several hours.
Kelly, whose studio is in Bend, creates sculptures and paintings that include impressionistic portraits of animals and people. When I contacted her about the mural, she said the following:
“One of the best parts of working there was the folks who would stop by to chat, watch and ask questions! I had everybody from house painters to moms with sweet, disabled children come over to chat. It was wonderful to connect with others like that!”
We are lucky to have so many special artists sharing their work in and around Bend!
I saw this impressive bison jump sculpture at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. Free Fall, created by T.D. Kelsey in 2001, depicts a hunting method in use for hundreds of years. Hunters herded bison toward a steep cliff, where they fell to their death. As I’ve mentioned before, bison are dangerous and this is a safer alternative for harvesting them. At the base of this sculpture, piles of bones appear in a recreated archaeological dig.
T.D. Kelsey was born and raised on a ranch near Bozeman, Montana. T.D. Kelsey: Realist, Romantic, and Inspired Sculptor describes his background, including time spent as a rodeo cowboy, pre-med student, rancher, and airline pilot. With encouragement from his wife, Sidni, Kelsey eventually began working full time as an artist. His love for animals shows in this piece and other sculptures and paintings he created over the years.
This is a flying unicorn mural I painted in my daughter’s room when she was little. She could not decide between a flying horse and a unicorn so I painted both in one. 😀
I prefer working on small projects and had never worked on something so large. Piles of eraser dust accumulated on the floor beneath my rough sketches. I used acrylic paints, and a lot of patience, to complete this mural.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.
The South Tunnel Murals, designed in 2012 by local artist, Paul Allen Bennett, are located in the Old Mill District of Bend, Oregon. These works were completed by 20+ designers from Nike working side by side with Arts Central Art Academy students and Boys and Girls club members.
See the tracks of shoes running along the lower border? I wonder if those could possibly be from Nike shoes. Hmm…
These brightly colored images of fish echo the inhabitants of the Deschutes River, located right next to this tunnel.
For now, there are no paintings on the exterior walls of the South Tunnel Murals. I’m hoping another artist will brighten up the dull concrete like they did for the “Tunnel of Joy” nearby.
Today I’m sharing kingfisher art. I drew the following images several years ago. In studies such as these you attempt to capture the essence of the subject. You’re not going for detail in this type of drawing.
John James Audubon
I’m also sharing images of belted kingfishers from a couple wildlife artists. The first painting is by John James Audubon. It’s featured in The Birds of America,published in 1827. I was fortunate to see a volume of this book in a library at a university.
At present, there are only 120 complete sets of The Birds of America known to exist. The 435 engraved plates used to create the original books measure 39″ x 26.” These enormous illustrations helped educate the public about the importance of birds. Interest in The Birds of America persists to this day. In 2018, a full set sold for $9.65 million dollars.
This is a woodland scene, painted and carved onto a 10″ x 10″ mirror. I created this work with acrylics in a folk art style and carved around the edges of each element. A meandering creek hosts a coyote, raccoon, and leaping salmon. Tall evergreens border the shore. The bald eagle is soaring over snow-capped peaks in the distance. This woodland scene is loosely based on where I used to live.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.
Photo editing is all about seeing things differently. I had fun with my Corel PaintShop Pro editing program in this post.
Making colors shine
I was impressed by the rainbow of colors at our local Farmer’s Market. This photo looked like it would be a good candidate for the kaleidoscope special effect and I was right. Wow!
The color or the structure?
I took this picture near Grizzly Peak in Wyoming and I couldn’t decide which edit I liked better — color or black & white? The blue sky in the background pops in the color version, while the structure of the trees gets your attention in black & white.
