Pat Taub
Fourth of July
My Chicago family, son David, daughter-in-law Mel, and grand teens, Jane and Max flew to Portland to spend the fourth with me. Jane, a funky art student, and I combed the local thrift stores and took in the Katherine Bradford exhibit at the Portland Art Museum, while Max and I binged on the Netflix detective series, Lupin. We all spent Sunday at my country retreat where Jane painted my porch canvas cushions in exuberant colors. (See below)
Katherine Bradford
As a longtime fan of Katherine Bradford’s whimsical boldly colored art, I was thrilled to take in the Portland Art Museum’s Bradford installation, “Flying Woman,” which runs until September 11th. If you’re in the vicinity, don’t miss it. You’ll be charmed by Bradford’s lively work, replete with feminist themes. As an homage to her late mother, who loved to swim, Bradford frequently paints images swimming, like in this painting, “Mother Ship.”
Our Violent Nation
Like most of you, I was visibly upset by yet another gun massacre, notably during a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Il. This upscale, largely white community has been traumatized and probably won’t hold another 4th of July parade for some time to come. “Are we safe anywhere?” is what Americans are asking, following recent shootings in a grocery store, an elementary school, and now a parade. The increase in domestic shootings seems to have barely impacted Congress, who passed a toothless gun bill, before going on vacation, sequestered in their extravagant vacation homes.
Mourners react at a memorial site for the victims of a mass shooting at this year’s Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
Octavia Butler
I’m in love with this brilliant science fiction writer, whose dystopian novels, published in the ‘90’s, before her early death at age 58 in 2006, feel eerily familiar to our current circumstances, where we are on the brink of a Fascist takeover—some would argue we are already there. “Parable of the Talents,” written towards the end of Butler’s life, has me burning the midnight oil.
Lupin
This brilliant, fun-filled Netflix detective series provides an escape from our mad world. Lupin, a French series, offers ample shots of Paris, for all you Francophiles. Refreshingly, it’s devoid of violence, but with enough car chases to entertain my grandson, Max, who watched several episodes with me over his July 4th Portland stay.
