The Return of Nefertari in Portland

Yesterday, Mark and I went to the Portland Art Museum.  Mark wanted to revisit a exhibit of French painters from the 1890's (the Nabi Brotherhood) and I wanted to revisit the Nefertari exhibit.  Luckily, the weather cooperated and the drive was rainy and sunny instead of snowy and icy.

My impression that the Nefertari displays were oddly lit and poorly placed was reinforced during this second visit.  Several items were clearly meant to be seen from behind and were shoved against walls; coffin lids were placed next to each other so that one side was not accessable -- perhaps the museum's rectangular galleries constrained the displays, or maybe the curators wanted the best layout for minimizing COVID exposure.   

However, this time around there were fewer patrons thronging the halls, so I had more time to appreciate and photograph the New Kingdom artifacts.  Mark put it the best:  the exhibit is more more scholarly and archeological than it is artistic (sort of like one of those back study rooms at the MET); and reviewing my photos, many of them are studies in in form that I would refer to if I were designing graphics with Middle- and Late-Kingdom Egyptian motifs.  

Thinking back, my favorite pieces from the exhibit were the sculptures of Sekhmet, the lion goddess (Mark and I had a fun time looking at the ways the manes were different and how some Sekhmets looked happy while others looked fierce); the sculptures of the king between Amun and Mut; and a cat sculpture.  

Mark enjoyed the Nabi Brotherhood exhibit, especially some of the paintings of subjects interacting with their cats or dogs.  I will admit to being a philistine when it comes to paintings--very often I'll look at portraiture and it's either not speaking to me, or it's Yet Another Madonna and Child, or it doesn't have a strong narrative I can access, or it's Yet Another Crucifixion, or it just plain looks like an assortment of colored textures, or Look! It's Boobs!--but I did appreciate some black-and-white prints.  

Snow Wishes

More snow this morning--not a whole lot.  No moon or stars, only grey clouds making the snow a dusky pastel blue.  The forecast for today is a tug-of-war between snow and rain.  I expect the day to become darker as the rain washes away the snow.

Yesterday the sun came out and turned the snow brilliant.  The light bouncing off of everything lifts my spirit, and makes for some fun photography.

The cats are hopeful that the snow will go away, and seem dashed when we open the doors to that cold white stuff covering everything.   They spent most of yesterday on tables and chairs, in the sunlight, waiting for the snow to melt.

The dog loves it, though.  Mark has been making snowballs for her and filling some of them with dog treats.  

Snowy Third Day of Christmas

 

We've got about eight inches of snow, with some more on the way this evening.  The dog loves it; the cats hate it.  Oregon State University in Corvallis shut down; the University of Oregon was on a two-hour delay.  The city doesn't plow our street, so we're walking everywhere until driving conditions improve.

 

The sky has been so stormy the last few days that it was a real treat to see the waning crescent moon this morning.  I went out and took some pictures ere rosy fingered dawn appeared in the east.  I will have to take my tripod out with me next time I want to get some good moon photos; the majority of the ones I took were blurry.  

 

I had better luck photographing snow on branches--I can't put my finger on why snow on branches is pleasing:  is it the contrast of light and dark? or the ephemeral way the snow pressed down the branches? or is it the novelty of snow draping everything in white?  Some neighbors had left their holiday lights on, which made for some festive-looking photographs. 

 

I wanted to take some photos of snow flakes, but I think I've got the wrong kind of set-up.  When I tried to collect them on a plate yesterday, the plate was too warm and the snowflakes melted before I could really focus on them.  This morning's snow is dryer, but it's still clumping together, which makes it difficult to see the individual crystals.

 

Wrapping Up December 2021

  I envisioned myself blogging (and writing) much more this December than has actually happened.  Part of this is due to posting to social media more than actually blogging.  I suspect that I need to have add some time-keeping software to my apps to bring social media usage back into balance.    

To recap the last few weeks.   

Through a series of events, the Day Jobbe has expanded to full time.   It's mostly remote, and I drive in to work some days.  I am doing a combination of departmental intranet design and web site management.  It has been a reminder of how brutally insurance benefits are awarded (or not) to vested employees. 

 

Writing is going very slowly, which I find it tends to do this time of year.  

My extended family is doing mostly well and managing to stay healthy during the pandemic.  

The cats have crossed another threshold with the dog and are more likely to spend the night in the house (rather than the garage) with the dog.  The cold might have something to do with this.  They also seem more tolerant of the dog in general, and no longer zip out of a room whenever she appears.  

Smokey seems to have recovered from his earlier medical emergency.  He's still as fluffy as ever, but--whether through the medicine he's taking or through the touch of age--he is bonier than he used to be.  

On the design front:  last November I sat down and decided to see about reproducing an Islamic design I've always thought was an interesting interlocking of circles, triangles, and hexagons.  As is usual with these sorts of designs, one can make it tile infinitely.  Other design projects include designing this year's family calendar and paper projects.