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Tag: Portland

  • Catch the Sleeping Bees at Spot Market 10/12/25!

    I always bring a pack of my small photo notecards with me when I’m exploring potential markets and stores. And almost every time I go out. It’s so hard to convey their incredible colors otherwise.

    I did just that, when I headed out to find the new to me “Spot Market PDX” in the Lloyd Center Mall in NE Portland, Oregon yesterday, Saturday the 11th. Silly me, I didn’t read the notice closely, and ended up stumbling on an entirely different but equally wonderful small artisan market – the Spectrum Market, for the LGBTQIA community. It was also wonderful, so many great artists with loads of cute and useful things, and whimsy. I highly recommend it! But, being straight, they weren’t so interested in me.

    It also took me over 30 minutes to realize this wasn’t the SPot Market! Which uses a lot of ladybugs and spots for their marketing. Indeed, the vendors and market manager confirmed it was upstairs as they began packing up at 5 pm.

    So I headed upstairs, and lucky me, I caught the last hour of the Spot Market after I found it all the way at the east end of the mall, near the old Marshall’s store (near NE 15th) on the left. And I bumbled in again. And met some more wonderful vendors and artisans. Who all raved about my cards. And even bought one!

    But I kept sharing my sleeping bees photos from last July, with the sweet shot and the “After Party” shot cued up in my photos (after I found it again – I take a LOT of photos all the time)! And then they announced there were two vendor openings the next day (Sunday Oct 12th). And the lovely watercolor artist I was with nudged me to inquire. I did, and they said “come tomorrow!” Boom! that simple! (Well, I did show some of my cards.)

    I was so inspired by this wonderful development, and the interest in my duo of sleeping bee images, that I stayed up way too late tonight (last night), and went ahead and developed the images and produced the first cards featuring them shown here:

    Photo of a notecard made with a photo of six longhorn bees sleeping neatly and sweetly away around the center of a red and yellow Gaillardia flower.
    Sleeping sweetly July 16th
    Photo of a large notecard with a photo of a gang of longhorn bees dangling from the tattered petals of a bedraggled Gaillardia flower. Looking like they were on a bender.
    The After Party 7/17.
    Photo showing a pair of small colorful photo notecards, one in portrait view the other landscape featuring the sleeping bees from the other two shots.

    I haven’t even been able to update my online catalog just yet, things are happening so fast! I’m not unhappy – just trying to keep up! I feel a bit like the bees in the “After Party” shot in the middle above, which is the shot I got the next day after I went back with my Nikon to try catching them sleeping sweetly again.

    No dice! Lol. They gave me the finger, and were ALL clustered on that poor bedraggled Gaillardia shown. Not a one was in the still fresh flowers that were still available. Oh no. Nope. They looked like a biker gang on a bender, giving me the bee finger! That’ll teach me to forget my camera! Ha ha!

    As I told someone again, the best camera to have is the one you have on you when the opportunity (shot) presents itself. Don’t underestimate your phone cameras folks! You can see the results are nothing to sneeze at!

    Speaking of which, the images above aren’t the best because I had already packed up my spot light that helps brighten them up. I’ll try to produce some new, better ones soon, hopefully. I’ll also try to get some up on eBay right away too.

    Oh yeah, you can also get Multnomah Falls from me IN PERSON! Else just at Crystal Heart Boutique in Hillsboro for now. Cheerio.

  • My First Last Thursday as Photograbee July 2025

    My First Last Thursday as Photograbee July 2025

    It was a hare-brained move, and a little premature, but… I realized on Monday July 28th that Portland’s traditional arts fair known as “Last Thursday” on NE Alberta Street (from 15th to 30th) was going to be happening THAT WEEK!

    And, while I wasn’t entirely ready for it, I figured – what the heck? I got nothing to lose, and might even make a sale or two. I’m only selling a couple of my finer images (not shown on here yet) in person still, including Multnomah Falls and Midnight Red Hibiscus. And some odds and ends I may or may not keep selling. (Images that is.)

    I trip-chained on my way, grabbing some more supplies at Office Depot to keep this business going. Then I found I was hungrier than expected on my way despiting eating lunch before, so I grabbed some fast food on the way that I knew I’d regret later. (I did, and how, ow, thanks MCAS – not.) But it is better for me to keep my blood sugar stable and my belly full than to run on empty. I’m glad I did. I also learned just how outrageous prices are getting. I won’t say what I got from where, but the price was easily DOUBLE what it was just over a year ago, gulp! Like, a small fountain drink was $3.99~! Yikes! (I rarely eat fast food – I’ve been fetching my houseless friend Larry his favorite hamburger now and then is all.)

    I hadn’t been to Last Thursday in over ten years, and research showed it was still running the same as before: first come, first served (you snag your spot as early as possible), no fee to artists (THANK YOU), and clean up promptly after and let traffic back through at 9 pm. Roger that. I got there right around 5 pm. Almost too late, but not quite. (I will try to arrive even earlier next time.)

    Photo showing a blue folding cart on wheels with an array of very colorful cellophane wrapped photo notecards in and around some whicker baskets. A sign in front lists prices, and a colorful golden honeybee image catches the eye.

    I only packed one small folding blue cart and stool, as I am disabled from EDS and had no help along, and that worked well, thankfully. (Where there’s a wheel, there’s a way I like to say.) I cannot swing the full canopies anymore – not alone, anyway. And even with help, they are a lot of work. (I’ve been there and done that, and was left stranded once by a friend who had promised to help.)

    Anyway, I made it. The weather was perfect – sunny, but not too hot. Only the lightest of breezes. (I’ve done street fairs before, and wind is as big a problem as rain, trust me.) I came prepared with duct tape, wet wipes, a garbage bag, markers, clothes pins, business cards, my note-cards, a sign, and cash for change. I was even able to help my neighbor with a few things during the event. (I met the amazing Cole Reed from OpenHausPDX.com. Great resource.)

    And it worked! I sold about half of what I brought, which again, was better than nothing. And, I enjoyed no less than two fun bands marching up and down the street and playing and dancing. One was called “Couch Brass”, the other “The Samba Band”.

    My biggest issue was getting gassed out by the super cute but unfortunately smokey two-cycle “Curiosity Cart” that rolled by. I’ve become much more sensitive to such fumes in my dotage, and yup, I was super sick for the next two days between that and the bad foodI wolfed on the way.

    I also ran out of small notecard stock – sorry guys! I realize you’re all ready to buy from me on eBay and there’s nothing for sale just now! I’ll be fixing that real soon, don’t worry. I just had to recover and tidy up some loose ends. (Including figuring out how to get a blog roll to show on this hybrid site of mine – I last set one up 13 years ago!) I’ve been blogging about EDS for 11 years now over at OhTWIST.

    Here’s some more photo and hopefully videos to enjoy. I am going to TRY to make it again this month, August, 2025. But, no promises. Your best bet for the latest is to follow me on any of my socials, linked below at the bottom of every page under their respective icons. My health can and does change on a dime, so even if I think I’m going the night before, I could be bed-bound the next day for no good reason. That’s how my disabled life goes, and why I’m self-employed, sorry not sorry.

    Photo showing a folding blue rolling cart filled with Jan's colorful photo notecards with a sign in front listing prices.
    Jan’s handiwork

    Alright, back to the workshop! I got customers waiting – thank you!! -Jan G, Photograbee August 5, 2025

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