Category: Essays

On Drawing

On By debergstromIn EssaysLeave a comment

Sketchbook

Sketch book cover and early drawing from August 2014. The book was filled by August 2015.

Even before we ordered, Jennie would usually draw the beginnings of a complex pattern in one or two colors. Some times she would foil me by quickly drawing in as many different colors as she could before handing me the sketchbook.   If she had drawn curvy lines, then I would draw straight. If she drew circles I would draw squares, boxing in her circles. She would decorate my squares with squiggly lines. If she drew magenta lines, then I would draw green. When I tried to block the flow of her lines, she would boldly cover my lines with more aggressive marks.

By the time breakfast arrived the page was usually filled with our competing marks. I almost always conceded. When at the end of summer our Sunday sketchbook became filled, we began a larger one. But her first marks were no longer abstract squiggly lines, she had drawn a pony with large eyes and flowing mane. I looked admiringly at the picture but did not draw on the page.

The Destiny of Surface

On By debergstromIn Essays1 Comment

Rock-growth

Iron disk at Camp 18; Stone on the beach, Ostwald West State Park.

It does not seem to matter, edges, surfaces, none will last. The unrelenting assault by air, water, microorganism, blowing particles, transforms crystalline substance to a labyrinthine of complex material. At edges, growth and decay are indistinguishable. Mineral aggregate a foundation for rooting, iron in love with oxygen, in exothermic bursts combine. An explosion of amorphous form erupts outward embracing the atmosphere. Curious that there is such an affinity for the eye and mind of man.

On the Trail

On By debergstromIn EssaysLeave a comment

BronsonEvieTrail

Bronson and Evelyn on a trail in Western Oregon.

When we go for hikes in the forest Bronson takes the lead. There are sometimes side paths that lead off into mazes of bushes. It is always these paths that Bronson insists on following. Sometimes I can’t tell that there is a path; he is certain. I asked him why. He says he doesn’t’ know. But what can I expect of explanation from a five year old? Evelyn follows him, so I follow her, and down the less-traveled path we head. Evelyn is even less likely to provide an explanation, she’s just 3 ½. I don’t think explanation is necessary. Lacking complication, we have lots of fun.

Rising Star Café

On By debergstromIn EssaysLeave a comment

RisingStarCafeComposite

Rising Star Café, Wheeler, Oregon – clockwise from top left, café building, menu on September 6, 2015, Cioppino, British Columbia Rockfish, three desserts, and Wild Oregon King Salmon.

At the edge of the estuary, in sight of Neahkahnie mountain, just off highway 101, in the town of Wheeler, hidden behind a massing of blooms and a tangle of plants, is the Sunrise Café. There’s space for about 16 guests inside and perhaps as many on the patio outdoors.   The food is uncommon, each dish layers of taste and texture, enveloped by sauces that seem well matched to the critical palates of our family. And indeed when you enter, you seem to be welcomed as family. It was my impression on both of our visits that the guests around us were people who had returned again and again. We are by no means food critics, but as residents of Portland have accumulated considerable experience with Northwest cuisine. The Sunrise Café in comparison, while not experimental in the Portland sense, is just purely delightful.

Featured

Why Against Edges?

On By debergstromIn Essays1 Comment
OregonCoastLookingSouth
Oregon coast – Looking south towards Nehalem Bay

The genesis of the title came from an innocent statement in a conversation with Victor Maldonado in which I said,

“you know, molecules have no edges.”

Victor has not let me forget; we still often times begin new conversations with a restatement of that concept.

Now, I have no intention, at least at this point, of explaining the scientific concept of the lack of edges (or surfaces) associated with molecules. But, because of Victor I am beginning to catch glimpses of the implications of this concept. The depth and breath of subjects that relate to the concept are far too great for an individual to fully explore and comprehend. Nevertheless the notion of the quest is compelling, and this blog a mechanism for its documentation.

In the phrase, Up against the edge of a cliff, there is an implication of danger, just as there is with the phrase, against the edge of a knife. Yet both also imply opportunity. When you step over the edge you enter the territories of the unknown, the regions where discoveries may be made.   Retreat from the edge could be interpreted as prudent caution, but it may also imply a fear of the unknown and possibly even a poverty of curiosity. But should one have concerns at all when the journey is into the territories of the imagination? Here, isn’t risk nothing more than an abstract concept? That depends. Are you prepared to subject deeply ingrained beliefs, ones that may serve as guiding principles for the conduct of your life, to highly infectious ideas?

Edges are interfaces, places where matter and ideas between domains mix and cross-fertilize. The connections and re-combinations that follow are the source of new ideas, new forms, and new understandings. Therein lies the essence of my intentions, imagining connections, correspondences, juxtapositions, and relationships that would not otherwise exist; in short my imagination does not allow separations between ideas and forms. I am against imaginary borders implied by edges.