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Years ago, a good friend handed me this "rock within a rock". He had this found on the Seaside Beach. It was a perfect example of erosion. A pebble sitting on a larger rock. Over time water eroded the stone underneath the pebble creating a little perfectly size pocket for the pebble to sit in. This probably took thousands of years. I call it the "Mother and Pebble" It was so precious I didn't want the pebble to all off and get lost. I decided to somehow weave the pebble to th

Whether or not people realize artistic expression is an essential part of their lives, they often demonstrate it. Years ago, in another lifetime, I was a Civil Engineer working for a large area firm. Everybody worked in the typical cubical buried under reams of paper, drawings, books, and calculations. For the most part engineer cubicles were all business with nothing interesting about them. But every now and then I’d visit a cubicle that would proudly be displaying a “Master

“THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMETHING I CAN DO WITH THIS #@*& STYROFOAM” Long before there was recycling for Styrofoam, you could only dispose of it in the garbage. All meat was sold in Styrofoam trays. That is…unless you purchased your meat over the counter where it was wrapped in paper. This drove me crazy. Always looking for ways to repurpose materials into art, it occurred to me to reuse the Styrofoam trays as a base to do a painting on. It would also provide a solid surface where

Let me introduce you all to Rick Bradley! Rick is one of CAA’s volunteers for First Fridays and the arts festival. He is also a fantastic painter. Up until a few years ago Rick had never picked up a paint brush. After retirement, he dreamed of painting. Rick loaded up on canvases, paint brushes, and lots of acrylic painting supplies. Between being self-taught and taking classes at Mt. Scott Community Center, he’s produced several paintings. Rick is constantly working on a new

& Get to Know Each Other Hello from the Cascadia Arts Association (CAA)! As the CAA team begins writing weekly posts for CAA’s blog, the big question is what we want to accomplish? I know I would quickly lose interest—and you might too—if each post didn’t tell a story and have pictures of fabulous artwork or events that inspire me. Our goal is to share with you our experiences as artists, volunteers, businesspeople, local government, and the community in how the arts enrich o

CAA is embarking on an exciting new initiative to showcase visual, performing, and literary arts. Our latest project, Gallery on the Boulevard, is a portable gallery that will debut at the remaining 2026 Troutdale First Fridays events along the Historic Columbia River Highway (the Boulevard) in downtown Troutdale. Visit us on August 7 and September 4 when we will be featuring visual arts. We will be selling the remaining artwork from our CAA Art Auction t hat was part of the

Let’s Make Some Art Together! Troutdale Community Art Project Before there was a Cascadia Art(s) Association, local artists who were the...