Wild Rivers Film Festival: Natural Bridges

Posted on by Thor

I drove north out of Brookings, Oregon the home of the Wild Rivers Film Festival. I wanted to see some of the untamed coastline. The Natural Bridges are located in Curry County along the coastline in the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor.

There weer some cars parked on the side of 101, the scenic highway that runs along the Oregon coast. I puled in and hiked with my art bag to a scenic overlook at the bridges. That spot however had a wooden platform with a high wooden fence. I decided it wasn’t the spot to sketch.

Instead I hiked a five mile trail along the upper rim of the cliffs overlooking the rock formations below. At the end of that trail I found this serene scene and I set up to sketch. I liked the abstract eddies created by the sea foam. The sun was setting in the west and I used its angle to decide if I had enough time to hike back to the car before it got dark.

The hike back seemed longer than the hike in. I paused one more time at the wooden platform along with a crowd looking at the rock formations and taking pictures. The place gets more crowded around sunset time since that probably makes for some fine tourist photos.

Heading back to the car I saw two men coming out from another trail that hooked off in the opposite side from the parking spots. They said that trail looked far more precarious and they just wanted a photo at the overlook.

I later learned that this second trail leads down to the bast of the natural bridge formation and it is possible to hike up onto the bridge itself. This is a very difficult hike however and people have died trying to get the perfect selfie. I was satisfied with my one sketch, and headed back to Brookings to get myself a pizza at Wild Rivers Hand Crafted Food and Ale. the reason I went is I liked the look of their logo in the Film Festival programing. It is definitely a family themed restaurant with an arcade area for the kids. All the kids must have been hyped up on caffeine because they were running around like Banshees. This was a major change of pace from the scenic overlook I had just left. I ordered a small pizza but it was still too much to eat, so I got up to ask for a take out box. When I got back, my table was already being cleaned. I got back just in time before the slices were tossed in the trash. Those slices made a good breakfast the next morning.

Wild Rivers Film Festival: Redwood Theater

Posted on by Thor

After the Wild Rivers Film Festival was a wrap, I explored Brookings, Oregon with sketches. I went back to the Redwood Theater which was the theater with the biggest screen. The theater was built in 1909 and just recently was purchased by new owners.

I liked the Theater’s mission statement, which was a commitment to free speech. “It is the commitment of the Redwood Theater to encourage free expression of ideas. We respect all viewpoints and do our best to be the vehicle for free speech and expression in our community, and to not judge the various views of perspective presented. We believe censorship has no place in free society.” Considering the position of the present administration to control free speech and limit journalists from asking questions to get to the truth. The theater’s stance is brave.

It was early in the morning when I sketched the theater. I put a bunch of colored pencils in my art kit in part because of this sketch. It would have been nice to draw white letters over the dark red sign, rather than painting around each letter. If nothing ese the pencils will offer an excuse for more playful application of color and texture.

I had to cross the main street of Brookings to find this sketching spot. The cross sections have buttons that you can push which actually stop traffic. One car rushing through the town didn’t respect the flashing sign to stop. I am glad I didn’t trust that vehicle to abide by the signage.

One pickup parked near the theater and a guy got out and changed the plastic bags in the public trash can. The biggest distraction while sketching was the huge 16 wheeler’s that roared through the town regularly carrying large tree trunks that were about two feet thick and the length of the flatbed. I remember these menacing trucks from my cross-country bike trip way back in 1982. When biking in the shoulder of the road, the wind gusts from these giants would almost blow me over. Now I just lament all the trees being sacrificed. That feeling is rather hypocritical since I am sketching on paper, which was once a tree as well.

Wild Rivers Film Festival: Chetco Harbor

Posted on by Thor

Besides seeing many films, I spent some time exploring Brookings, Oregon. I had already done a sketch of the boats crowded in the Chetco Harbor and then noticed this sweet fishing skiff dry docked next door. There was also a loud beeping sound from a blue rolling lift which was moving another boat to another spot on the dry dock. Since the move was in progress, I didn’t focus on that aspect of the ship yard activity.

There was a single man working on the under belly of his boat, removing barnacles, or resurfacing the hull. There must have been some problem because he spent much of his time on the phone gesturing and complaining.

The light weight collapsible camping seat I purchased for my Europe trip worked really well for this sketch. My butt is close to the ground, but that has an advantage in that I can lay all my art supplies on the ground and easily reach them. That is another reason I decided to do this second sketch, since setting up my supplies was a breeze. With this new set up I suspect I will be doing more sketches each day.

There was a public bathroom to my left. I noticed a man stepping over an obstruction with annoyance. It wasn’t until later when I left that I noticed that the obstruction was a man sleeping on the sidewalk with a bicycle lying next to him. For a moment I wondered if he was dead, but then I noticed his breathing. There were quite a few tent encampments on the outskirts of town. It seems some people want the felling of living in the wilderness while having stores a short walking distance away.

While I was doing this sketch a car full of high school teens roared past and shouted out the window in my general direction, “You are a freak!” Well finally someone is taking note. He is right, I take it as a badge of honor.

Wild Rivers Film Festival: Avigail’s Flower

Posted on by Thor

There was a party for the filmmakers and vip patrons at Abigail’s Flower in Brookings, Oregon. The same woman was running the bar that was in charge of wines at the pizza party the day before. The shop has an amazing eclectic mix of antiques and floral arrangements. When you first enter the door there was a wall above a couch covered with tall grass with the Pom Pom seed pods and the women seated on the couch and gossiping, were dressed to the 9’s. I felt under dressed since I didn’t pack a suit. I also didn’t pack a sweatshirt, jacket or wool shirt. I was so glad I found a wool shirt that fit at a bait and tackle shop. I was starting to look like a local, or at least one of the hikers that pass through the town each day.

As I was searching for an angle to sketch from, I met a married couple in the back and shared my sketchbook with them. I got to tell them about my film, which they had not seen yet. Hopefully I talked them into checking it out.

There were finger bites, my favorite of which was tomatoes, basel and mozzarella on a stick. Rather than getting a drink so early in the day, I had lemonade which was delicious. Avigail, in a lovely white dress told me I had to check out a wedding venue right out side of town. It is a wooden structure with a very interesting series of exposed roof beams. I looked it up online and decided to sketch nature instead of a wedding chapel. She said the number of weddings she has hosted at the venue has risen exponentially.

Overall, this was a pleasant gathering. I wanted to get to a final screening of my film, so I skipped out a bit early. When I got to the theater, I realized I had the day and or time wrong. A film I had already seen was about to screen. I therefore jumped in my rental car and rushed to another theater.I probably watched 4 or 5 feature films at the festival and there were others I hoped to see.

Brooking Oregon Harbor

Posted on by Thor

After the rush of films that I saw at the Wild Rivers Film Festival, I took a day off and explored Brookings, Oregon’s harbor and beach with my sketchbook. festival. I relaxed in my new camping chair while doing this sketch and it worked out really great. I end up sitting much closer to the ground which is actually an advantage because I can lay my pencil case next to me on the ground as well at a small pill bottle of water and both are easy to reach.

There is a homeless population in Brookings, Oregon. There are campsites just outside of town and one fellow was lying out on the sidewalk right behind the restroom that was near where I was sketching. He didn’t have a tent but instead just had his bicycle lying on the sidewalk next to him. On the bus ride back to the long term parking lot in Orlando there was a motorcyclist who had just slid and fallen on an off ramp. He had knocked over one of the plastic stanchions. The bus driver stopped to be sure the biker was alright and he stood up and waved. With no blood and no broken bones, it seemed all that was injured was his pride.

The interesting thing about sketching in Brooking is that there is almost always a fog rolling in. On some days it burned away but it often persisted all day long. In this harbor scene the far trees slipped in and out of fog as I sketched.

The ground here was a thin crust. I discovered this when one of the legs on my sketch toll poked through the surface. I stuck my finger in the hole and there was a deep hollow. I thought maybe a gophers was building tunnels but I didn’t solve the mystery.

I watched as boat owner after boat owner went down to work on their docked boats. One married couple were working on the engine and he shouted out to his wife that she needed to turn over the engine like she had done  the day before. One boat was named Thor, which I appreciated. This was the third or fourth sketch that I had done this day, and I was starting to relax into the flow of putting each sketch on the page with just enough detail.

Brookings Oregon

Posted on by Thor

I arrived at the Wild Rivers Film Festival several hours early, because I was ‘t sure what the drive time was like from Medford, Oregon. From the airport to the coast I drove over a mountain range and had a blast driving down winding switchbacks through magnificent scenery. I drive through the huge Redwood forest and down flowing rivers. I didn’t stop to sketch because I wanted to be sure to get to the festival on time. I had looked up the screening time on my film and suspected it would show with a shorts block early in the day.

with several hours to kill before the screening, I decided I should sketch the theater where COVID Dystopia would screen. The problem was that there was a fine misty rain. I picked up a poncho next door at a Dollar General. The poncho didn’t solve my dilemma however because the sketch9 pages still got wet. I went back to dollar general and picked up an umbrella. That worked better, but the mist was so fine that it found a way to still soak the sketch page. I gave up and sat in the car. I couldn’t just sit on my hands, so I drove a few yards in the parking lot and looked out over at gnarly tree roots from a fallen tree. The scene suited my mood. The fine mist created a foggy atmospheric effect that I liked.

Sketching in the car kept me warm and dry. As the sketch neared completion. I started to wonder why I wasn’t seeing anyone enter the theater. I looked through the inline program and found out there was a film production workshop at the Town library. Someone there would have to know what was going on. I still needed to pick up my filmmakers credentials and figured the some staff member at the library would know what direction to point me in.

The misty, mossy and lush landscapes of Oregon agree with me. I didn’t pack a jacket however and I was cold any time I hiked about. I now had too much rain gear and noticed that the locals just let themselves get soaked. I needed lo line more like the locals. I was taking precautions for the sake of my sketching.

Flight to Denver the Medford Oregon

Posted on by Thor

Getting to The Wild Rivers f Festival in Brookings Oregon was an adventure. I left around noon to drop my car off at the long term parking lot. My flight left about 3pm. I was hoping to bring the backpack on the trip but United Airlines has a policy of only allowing one carry on item per passenger. Although the backpack could easily fit in the overhead bins, I would have to check it. Since I don’t trust the airline to not loose my baggage, I decided to only take by shoulder art bad one change of clothes shoved in around my art supplies. I am on the last day of the trip now and I decided that was the right choice for this trip. I also decided I will never again fly United since this luggage policy was not made obvious before I purchased the tickets.

It was 102 degrees in Denver which could be felt the second we walked off the plane onto the gang plank. The lay over in Denver was short enough that I decided I didn’t need to do another airport sketch. I grabbed a quick bite of a cordon bleu sandwich which was delicious and held me over for the rest of the day.

The second flight was to Medford Oregon which is about a 3 hour drive from the coast. I had booked a hotel in Medford because I decided I didn’t want to make that 3 hour drive in the dark and I knew I would be exhausted. It was a good call. The drive to the coast was absolutely gorgeous driving up through the mountains and down winding roads that were cut into cliffs and meandered along snaking rivers. I passed into California and had to pull off into a produce inspection station. I was asked if I had any fruit in the car, and I let him know that I had 1 apple. the officer said, “Apples are fine” and I was on my way.

I drove through the redwood forest with giant thick redwoods trees right along the roadside. That anyone would ever want to cut one of these glorious giants down, is mind glowing. I read the user’s manual to figure out how to use the cruise control for the highway driving. But for the downhill slaloms, I let my foot off the gas’s and let the car tell me how fast to go through all the curves. It was a fun drive with very little traffic. I hope to stop at a few spots on the way back to sketch.

When I got to the Wild Rivers Film Festival, I was several hours early and could not check into the hotel, so I drove to the theater where COVID Dystopia would screen. The theater was closed. It was raining. I drove next door to a Dollar General and got a cheap poncho for myself thinking I would sketch the theater. I tried to sketch but the page got so wet that I knew a watercolor would be impossible to complete.  I drove back to dollar general and got myself an umbrella as well. The rain had turned into a fine mist. The umbrella would stop and heavy rain, but the mist still coated the page making a sketch impossible. I wanted to start my creative Film Festival experience but didn’t know how to start.