Urban Sketchers Symposium 2010: Portland, Oregon, USA

view from Union Station footbridge.

Isabel Fiadeiro's presentation

dog park and warehouses 2 blocks north of Tanner Park.

Lapin and group at Ira Keller Fountain.

First day of Symposium anr color study from Jason Das' group.

I haven't had an experience quite like my 4 day jaunt about Portland and immersion in the extraodinary group of artist who make just a portion of the growing cadre called Urban Sketchers. To begin with, the symposium drew me to a pearl of a city in the verdant Pacific northwest. Having witnessed the decay, sprawl, and hollowing out of a number of American cities in my travels, I rejoiced in seeing a city whose policies of containing sprawl have actually served to keep the surrounding countryside intact and prevented atrophy in the core of the city. This in a city and state that have been under serious economic challenge and unemployment. There are far too many examples of cities suffering downtown neglect and the unrestained gobbling of surrounding farmlands by the cancerous spread of suburbs & exurbs. This is a city I hope to return to and catch a number of the sites I missed when I head back out to Oregon in the Fall.

But, in order to reunite with some of the wonderful, wonderful artists I met there I suppose I shall have to pack my arse off to Lisbon next year. Here are a number of the drawings I made during the USK Symposium. The ledger book I draw in is too big for my scanner and I'm not up to speed with my gear to post shots of the complete pages yet.

I wouldn't know who or where to start giving thanks to so I'd like to give my deep thanks to everyone, presenters and attendees that made for a truely special symposium. Maybe we'll trip over one another as we're sittin' on a street corner drawing. Cheers and keep on posting.