Tools of the Trade Show Pt.2

The University of Oregon book store, called the Duck Store even though there were no actual ducks for sale anywhere, has two floors. Part 1 was just the ground floor stuff. Now, we'll show you the lower floor - for the most part.

But before we go downstairs let's take a bit more of a look upstairs. Marker art is really big nowadays

One of the finest marker and watercolor artists we've seen is Brandi York. Actually she is masterful in many media. Brandi is the sign painter for Trader Joe's. This portrait of a friend of hers is on her post card and the haunting gaze of this girl always attracts attention.

 

We don't know this girl's name but people would stop and look at the portrait and ask about her. Some would ask if she was OK or what she was so sad about. Brandi assures us that she is fine and was simply sitting for a portrait.

And Manga marker artist Marianne Walker was demonstrating the line of Copic Markers. She also worked with Bee Papers of Beaverton Oregon to develop a line of Aquabee paper especially for markers. Most papers will suck markers dry with a vengeance but not this new paper thanks to Marianne. Check out her blog.

And since we are now downstairs, this is pastel artist Dan Chen and one of the best. He specializes in wildlife but also does other subjects. He was working on this painting on Wednesday.

Dan paints in pastels and pastel pencil on industrial abrasive paper. He likes the colors and the way it works with the pastels. We have subsequently found that a couple of abrasive companies make a line just for pastel artists. Here is the finished work.

And this is a chicken that lives with a friend of Dan's. He describes the pigeon as the chicken's girlfriend. Dan says they are inseparable friends.

All in all we had a great time at the Tools of the Trade Show. And many thanks to the University of Oregon Duck Store for their help. The weather was wonderful and Eugene is a great place to get a fantastic breakfast - thanks to Studio One Cafe for helping us wake up each day and to the Campus Inn for a very pleasant and restful stay (thanks for the use of the chair, Sheila).

 

The Duck Store is open to the public and they carry the Orbital Easel - that's the important thing.