Portland Art Museum 5/5

An outstanding multi-floor wall display of art and shadows.  Lots of interesting shapes casting interesting shadows.  I really liked it -- great concept!

great shapes & details -- very cool to view & study from different distances & angles

Looking down the wall...

[it really is looking down the wall, but to me my picture looks like a ceiling shot]

Looking up the wall...

Well, that wraps up my pics from a day in Portland and a week in Oregon back in August, 2011.  All in all it was a great time: visiting friends and relaxing along the coast, driving the Gorge, spending a day in Portland, listening to some great music at the Pickathon, and taking a few pics along the way.

[Links: A blog I've been following for a while is Semi-True Tales Of Our Life On The Road which provides a really nice armchair experience of Odel & Laurie's RV travels -- great pictures, great ideas of places worth visiting someday.   Laurie's latest post has some excellent Mt. Rainier pictures.]

Portland Art Museum 4/5

Portland Art Museum 3/5

a raven mask/headdress that can transform into a sun face

talon ankle wraps

a mask perhaps intended to be worn by one with laryngitis to convey their sense of hoarseness?

Portland Art Museum 2/5

 1937 Dubonnet Hispano-Suiz H-6C "Xenia"

Note how the doors open backwards on this car.  Incredible curves / engine grill.  The curved glass panoramic windshield design was apparently not used again until GM started using curved glass in the 1950's.

 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster

About 400 540Ks were produced, but only twenty-six Special Roadsters were completed before the war halted production.

 1931 Duesenberg SJ Convertible Sedan

Built by the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company in Auburn, Indiana.  The Duesenberg was the fastest American production car until the Chrysler 300 series in the mid-1950s.

 1939 Talbot-Lago T-150-C-SS

 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow

The Pierce-Arrow was the choice of wealthy owners and rivaled Packard for prestige.  It pioneered the extensive use of aluminum and was the first automaker to feature hydraulic valve operation.  This car is one of three survivors.

A very appropriate hood ornament for a 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow automobile

OK, well that's it for my car pics of the "Allure of the Automobile" exhibit at the Portland Art Museum, next up...  "normal" museum stuff!

Portland Art Museum 1/5

Cruising on over to the Portland Art Museum I found that they had a special exhibition full of vintage cars called "The Allure of the Automobile".  Certainly there have been many cars made in the past which easily qualify as art, perhaps less so these days.  Starting with my picture above, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta.

1953 Porsche 550 Prototype

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR

1957 Jaguar XK-SS Roadster ($7,500 in 1957)

1954 Plymouth Explorer Sports Coupe
wow, what a beauty!

1959 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

1959 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

1948 Tucker Model 48 Torpedo

I have many more pictures from the Portland Art Museum to post.  I really like this museum and appreciate their camera friendly policies (non-commercial, no flashes, no tripods, no monopods).  Well worth a visit if you are in the area.  [The automobile exhibit runs through September 11th, 2011].

Keller Fountain Park, Portland Oregon

The Keller Fountain design was inspired from waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. 

Portland sure has some beautiful city parks!

Galloping through Portland in a day

 OK, so I'm still catching up on vacation pictures...   On my recent Oregon trip I had only given myself one day in downtown Portland -- goal this time, visit PAM (Portland Art Museum) and walk around town seeking out some of Portland's street art (I really liked the bronze horses above galloping through the streets).

 I left my car at the TriMet MAX parking garage in Clackamas and took the Green Line light rail train from there into downtown Portland.  Free Parking + $4.75 for a 1-day pass good on all light rail, street car, buses.  No parking hassles.  Gotta love good public transportation! 

 Cool beaver sculptures cooling off in an urban fountain

 The fountain next to the visitor center in Pioneer Square.  At midday I came back here, bought lunch from a food cart and sat on the steps watching the world go by...  Plenty of other people doing likewise.

 but its not raining today...

 These giant umbrellas must be nice on rainy days.  I spent a week in Oregon this trip and didn't get rained on once -- that's a first for me.

 A giant sculpture across the street from Powell's Books.

I had a great time walking all over town, and took a lot of pictures at the PAM which had an impressive special exhibit of vintage cars and lots of impressive art in their collection.  Also on my Portland 1sts, I found the incredible Keller Fountain (not the one pictured above).  I'll be posting these pictures in my next four posts.

Every time I visit Portland I get more impressed by it.  Quite favorably.  Portland seems to have a really nice vibe to it.