Medford – Analog Artist Digital World

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.

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.