No fooling: Deborah DeWit's Wetlands to show in Salem April 11

Topeka, Kansas, may have changed its name to Google, and Google returned the favor, but this is no joke: Wetlands, the documentary film featuring Deborah DeWit's own artistic documentation of a wetlands area in Tigard, Oregon, is a thought-provoking meditation on Nature as she stands in contemporary culture. This film unfolds to tell two stories of preserving and presenting this natural area: one through the eyes of a gifted painter and the other through the work of environmental engineers. The film has shown in the Portland area over the past couple of months, and now comes this announcement:

We are happy to announce a screening of

 Wetlands

                   Seasons of Mind

a film about art and the environment

Produced By Deborah DeWit and Carl Vandervoort

Music Directed by Jim Leisy

www.wetlandsdocumentary.com

 

at the Grand Theater in Salem, Oregon

Sunday, April 11th at 4 pm

 

191 High Street NE

Salem, OR 97301

503-362-9185

 

To purchase tickets in advance click here

https://robot.boxofficetickets.com/800-494-TIXS/WebObjects/BOTx2005.woa/wa/inspectProgram?id=98955&passKey=de63434de2&idForNetwork=171&passKeyForNetwork=f3a39af2f6

 

There will be a special exhibition of Deborah's paintings following the screening.  For more information please contact

Mary Lou Zeek Gallery

503-581-3229

www.zeekgallery.com

If you will be in the Salem area April 11, the film and gallery show would be very worth your while.

Upcoming Events for Barbara Blossom Ashmun

Spring is on the way; a few events for Portland's favorite garden writer are in order:

Thursday March 6, 7 p.m.
Beaverton City Library , 12375 SW Fifth Street, Beaverton, OR 97005, Garden Retreats: Creating a Tranquil Garden, slide show and lecture with Q & A, followed by book signing, Free event.

Saturday April 5, 10:30 a.m.
Smith & Hawken, 26 NW 23 Place, Dreaming Up a Garden from the Heart, lecture and reading from Married to My Garden and Q & A, 10 minutes, Cost: $15, each attendee gets a signed copy of Married to My Garden. To register, contact 503-274-9561.

Tuesday April 8, 7 p.m.
Forest Grove Library, 2114 Pacific Ave Forest Grove, OR 97116. Garden Retreats: Creating a Tranquil Garden, slide show, lecture and Q & A followed by book signing and sales. Free event.

Deborah DeWit Marchant at Powell's

Deborah DeWit Marchant, celebrated artist and photographer with two books – Traveling Light: Chasing an Illuminated Life and In the Presence of Books – presents Inspiration: finding the muse through books, art and writing at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 28th at Beaverton Powell's, as part of the Oregon Writers Colony Presents series.

Oregon Writers Colony Presents is a series of workshops for and about writers and writing, held the fourth Monday of each month from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Powell's Books Cedar Hills Crossing and Beaverton. Authors talk about the craft of writing, nonfiction or fiction. Free and open to the public.

Awaiting spring with Barbara Blossom Ashmun

Seems impossible that we can start planning for the spring already, but early-bird Barbara Blossom Ashmun, author of Married to My Garden, is getting ready for it with two upcoming events in Portland:

Friday February 15, 3:30 p.m., lecture and slide Show, Dressing Up Your Garden with Art, Yard Garden & Patio Show, Oregon Convention Center.

Saturday February 23, 2 p.m., lecture and slide show, Designing My Garden of 20 Years, Portland Home & Garden Show, Portland Expo Center.

The very busy Deborah DeWit Marchant will appear from 1–2:30 p.m. on Sunday, 9 December, at Friends of the Library Store. She will sign copies of her new book, In the Presence of Books, with introduction and text by PNW poet Kim Stafford. There will likely be some copies of Traveling Light: Chasing an Illuminated Life there also.

Friends of the Library Store is located in Central Library in downtown Portland: 801 SW 10th Avenue in Portland.

Deborah DeWit Marchant at St. Johns Bookstore

Celebrated Oregon artist and photographer Deborah DeWit Marchant will appear at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 December, at St. Johns Books. She will sign copies of her new book, In the Presence of Books, with introduction and text by PNW poet Kim Stafford.

St. Johns Books is located at 8622 N. Lombard Street in Portland.

Barbara Ashmun at Powells books

Barbara Ashmun will present a writer's life: hard work, Lucky breaks and connections at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, Oregon at 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 26, as part of the Oregon Writers Colony Presents series.

Barbara is the author of six books, including Married to My Garden and Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary (Chronicle Books, 2000). She writes a weekly garden column for the Portland Tribune, and has written for many garden magazines, including Fine Gardening and Better Homes & Gardens.

Oregon Writers Colony Presents is a series of workshops for and about writers and writing, held the fourth Monday of each month from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Powell's Books Cedar Hills Crossing and Beaverton. Authors talk about the craft of writing, nonfiction or fiction. Free and open to the public.

In the Presence of Deb

A couple of scenes from Deborah DeWit Marchant at the book launch party hosted by Annie Bloom's Books in Multnomah Village:


That's Deb signing a copy of Deborah DeWit Marchant: In the Presence of Books above, and Deborah with Kim Stafford posing with one of Deb's paintings, "Words of Nature," which appears on plate 52 in the book.

Kim was there reading some of his introduction to the book before Deb discussed her art. Among my favorite lines that he did not read:

Marchant has given us the emblems of book, cat, flower, window, reader, and sky in order to convey the quiet interior treasure of her vision. In a world on fire, this is holy.

Yes, there are many troubles in this world, but Deborah's art is not a contributor to any of that.

You can, by the way, read Kim's fragments on books and reading at our web site.

Deborah DeWit Marchant at 23rd Avenue Books

Deborah will be signing copies of In the Presence of Books at Twenty-Third Avenue Books on October 4th at 7:30 p.m., during Portland's First Thursday event.

About Twenty-Third Avenue Books
Noted for unique inventory of new fiction, selected classics and mysteries. But there’s plenty else - history, politics, biographies, memoirs, cooking, gardening, travel, science, human potential/psychology and more. Twenty-Third Avenue Books also stocks a large selection of reading glasses, and some of the most creative and artistic gift cards in Portland. Located at 1015 NW 23rd Avenue in Portland, in the Nob Hill district of Northwest Portland across from Good Samaritan Hospital.

Deborah DeWit Marchant at Beach Books in Seaside

Deborah DeWit Marchant will be the featured author during first Saturday Art Walk at Beach Books in Seaside, Oregon on Saturday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Since In the Presence of Books is an artbook, instead of a reading, she will talk on “Inspiration: finding the muse through books, art and writing.” Here's a bit about the talk: Deborah has traveled to remote places around the world for her photography. Yet her artwork and writing gathers people to the most private and universal sanctuary – cozy moments spent with a good book.

“Books were a home for a wayward traveler, a place to rest and find kinship,” says Deborah. “When I no longer traveled as much, books were the stopover, the hovering experience somewhere between far away and home. They represented that ironic human tendency to want both the freedom to explore the unknown and to remain comfortably in the known.”

Beach Books is located at 37 N. Edgewood. This cozy bookstore features mostly new titles, some used.

Launch party for In the Presence of Books at Annie Bloom's

If you're in the Portland area, please join us for the launch party of Deborah DeWit Marchant: In the Presence of Books. The party starts at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at Annie Bloom's Books, located at 7834 SW Capitol Hwy in Portland, OR.

In the Presence of Books celebrates quiet, private, comfortable moments of reading books. Her soft paintings (pastels and oils on canvas and wood) depict books and readers enjoying them in various scenes – grassy knolls, overstuffed armchairs by the fireside, in the car on a roadtrip, etc.

This artbook is full-color, high quality, and contains 55 original paintings and pastels, all of which have sold to private and corporate collections. It features an introduction and texts by prominent PNW poet Kim Stafford, and foreword by Randall Koch (Sitka Center for the Arts and Ecology).

We are told that Kim Stafford will join Deborah at this event.

About Deborah
Deborah DeWit Marchant is a highly collected, self-taught photographer, painter, and writer. She has been exhibiting her work in galleries in the Northwest for over twenty years, and her images have been used on the covers of books, magazines, and in calendars. Her work is housed permanently in the Museum of Art in Nevada and many corporate collections. She lives outside of Portland, Oregon. Deborah’s first book, Traveling Light: Chasing an Illuminated Life, has gone through two printings.


Book info: 112-page illustrated paperback with 55 color plates William, James & Co.
$35.00 U.S.
Order direct for fast, free shipping.
ISBN: 978-159028-196-3

Ann Ploeger's Big Night

On June 8, we welcomed PORTRAITS into the fold of William, James titles. As the book is due to hit the stores later this month, here's a little glimpse into the book launch party scene:




And a great time was had by all. PORTRAITS is Ann's first book, and the party was like a living, breathing version of Ann's amazing work.

The part was hosted by Sean and John at No Fish! Go Fish! You can view their portrait on page 53 of the book, and you can watch their commercial here.

Barbara Ashmun in St. Paul, OR

Barbara will read from Married to my Garden and talk roses at Heirloom Roses in St. Paul at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 16. Wear your favorite garden hat for a chance to win a signed copy of her popular book.

Heirloom Roses is located at at 24062 Riverside Drive NE, St. Paul, iin Oregon's fertile Willamette Valley, one of the finest climates in the world for growing roses. We are just 25 miles from Portland, the city of roses. This is a perfect time to visit.

Barbara Ashmun at Third Street Books

Third Street Books in McMinnville is hosting an event with Barbara at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 14 - sponsored by the McMinnville Garden Club.

In a talk entitled “Floral Prozac,” Barbara will identify the plants in a flower bouquet from her garden and read from “Luxury of Bouquets”, a chapter in her book Married to My Garden. There will be time for Q & A, followed by a book signing.

Gardeners are encouraged to wear their favorite garden hats. Barbara will reward the wearer of her favorite with a signed copy of her book.

Third Street Books is in the heart of Historic Downtown McMinnville, Oregon, an area rich with some of the best Oregon wineries, restaurants, art galleries and shopping available. It is a general interest bookstore with mostly new books, some used, and a great selection of magazines, cards, and other unique gift items.

Judy Daubenmier, Ray McGovern at Vox Pop in Brooklyn

On Saturday, June 9th, Vox Pop will host CIA veteran Ray McGovern and news media veteran Judy Daubenmier (Project Rewire). Ray will take the mike at 7:00 p.m. and hand off to Judy for a reading and talk at 8:00. The event is expected to go 'til 10:00. It's co-hosted by GNN, Guerilla News Network.

Special guest chef for the evening is Joshua Carraha, presenting Sushi Night, starting around 5:00p.m. and going all night. Sushi is $9.50 a serving, and Josh's Sushi menu includes crab, chicken, and vegetarian options.

Vox Pop is a coffeehouse, a bookstore and a publishing house describing itself as a community-empowering, retail-revolution, live-event-loving, info-shop dedicated to "vox pop," Latin shorthand for "voice of the people." It frequently hosts author readings, political candidates and musicians in unique, high-energy literary events.

Vox Pop is technically on the border of Kensington and Flatbush.
Address is 1022 Cortelyou Rd., Brooklyn, NY 11218

launch party for Portraits at No Fish/Go Fish

The launch party for Portraits, the debut collection of Ann Ploeger’s photography, will be held at No Fish! Go Fish! (3962 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR) on Thursday, June 7th, from 8:00p.m. to 11:00p.m.

Portraits is a full-color, high-quality presentation of Ann's stylized, iconic images of stoic domesticity in vintage settings. This is her first published collection.

In the book's introductory essay, writer and poet Jared Stanley writes, "The photographs combine high artifice with a humanistic delight in the variety and abundance of the humanity’s material production.”

Barbara Ashmun at Main Street Books

Barbara will be reading and signing copies of her book Married to My Garden at Main Street Books in Hillsboro, Oregon at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 2nd. This makes for a great itinerary addition for anyone attending the fabulous, renowned Hillsboro Farmers Market.

Barbara's appearance is a special event for Main Street Books, which generally sells pre-loved hardcover and paperback books, both recent and not-so-recent. Located at 211 E. Main Street.

Barbara Ashmun at 23rd Avenue Books

Barbara will read from and sign copies of Married to My Garden at Twenty-Third Avenue Books at 7:00p.m. on Thursday, May 24th.

Established in 1980, independently owned Twenty-Third Avenue Books is is noted for its unique inventory of new fiction, selected classics and mysteries (and there's plenty more). The shop is located at 1015 NW 23rd Avenue in Portland, in the Nob Hill district of Northwest Portland, across from Good Samaritan Hospital.

Barbara Ashmun at St. Johns Books

Barbara will read and sign copies of Married to My Garden at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22 at St. Johns Books, located at 8622 N. Lombard Street in Portland.

Barbara's launch party

Barbara Ashmun's launch party for Married to My Garden at Annie Bloom's Bookstore was a smash. Wine flowed, garden hats glowed, and books found loving homes. Here are some pics.

Barbara and publisher Jim Leisy

the fans!

the book signings!

author with her dapper husband