Jason Berlin Art Diary

La Luz Del Cielo

2011-12-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.
Philip Johnson 1906 – 2005

La Luz Del Cielo

My project for my final in Beyond Color Theory at OCAC with Michelle Ross, La Luz Del Cielo was activating with color the two triangular window spaces in the hallway by the stairs in the Jean Vollum Drawing, Painting and Photography Building. I used colored acetate normally used for gift packaging and gently tacked it to the metal frame of the window sills using Scotch transparent tape. This project acknowledged the practice of early childhood art projects using colored tissue to create flowers and colored shapes that were placed in windows to be illuminated by the sun. My choice of using primary colors red, blue, yellow, and green refers to the first colors we learn in school as young children.

La Luz Del Cielo also references the gothic cathedral and its obsession with light and Gerhard Richter’s Cologne Cathedral project in Germany, where he used 72 colors and 11,500 squares of glass to replace the south window that has had clear glass since the original colored glass was destroyed during World War II.

My goal was to enliven, add energy, and give the viewer an AH-HA moment.
Mark the groundskeeper thought that students had painted the rocks by the thesis studios and then realized that it was the light shining through my colored windows that made the rocks look red. Brian Shannon’s Drawing Foundations Class was outside collecting natural material to draw and thought that someone had painted the grass red. The class experienced the surprising effect which was created by light shining through my acetate covered windows. A group of first year young women students were walking up the stairs and stopped. “Look at your faces,” one of them said. Their faces were lit up with different colors of light shining through the window. They laughed as they spun each other around in the multicolored light.
These are some of the moments of surprise and joy that I had hoped to create with my colored window installation La Luz Del Cielo.
Jason Berlin

DubbleBubble

2011-09-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

I stopped by the local liquor store after work on Saturday to buy a little something.
A man likes a drink at the end of the day; my day ended at ten thirty pm.
On entering the store I passed a man slumping on the sidewalk with his back pressed up against the wall of the store. In his youth he could have been in the ads for Camel cigarettes. He was now past the point of rugged masculinity and was just rugged.
Worn out. He muttered to himself and talked to people who were not visible.
As I exited the store he asked me and the blond women entering the store for spare change. I ignored his plea and got into my truck and got out a piece of DubbleBubble gum. I walked to him as he held out his hand and place the gum in his upturned palm. I walked back to my truck as he stared at the gum. “Is that it” he said, throwing the gum to the curb. “Is that all there is”? I thought, maybe that is all there is, for you sidewalk man. I drove off thinking about the Peggy Lee song “Is That All There Is” and how that small piece of gum would have made him feel just a little better as the sugar flowed through his blood system and brain.
He reminded me of my cousin Phillip who wants it all for free and then is not happy with what he gets. I drove home listening to jazz while chewing bubble gum.

assemblage

2011-08-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Pump House Studio.
I hope this finds you doing well and that life is treating you kindly.
This summer I was invited to participate in an Assemblage show at Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery in Portland, OR. I have always enjoyed assemblage and collage art work
and have done both in the past. This past spring one of my classes at OCAC was with Bill Will. In his class we did a box assemblage project that really helped sharpen my skills in this area. When I am working on an assemblage art piece I am thinking of a story, a personal event, or of a person and how I can convey that to the viewer.
The things and artists that inspire me are my daily life, the Pacific Northwest, my peers, the Surrealists, Man Ray, Joseph Cornell, and Louise Nevelson, not to mention a host of others. If you are in Portland please stop by Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery and take a look at my efforts and say hi.
Enjoy.
All the best, Jason Berlin

Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery
120 NW 9th Ave, Suite 102
Portland , OR. 97209
1-503-224-3150
http://anniemeyerartwork.com/gallery/
Aug 31- Sept 30th
Opening reception Wednesday Aug 31 5-7 and First Thursday September 1st
I also have box assemblage at
Cannibals Gallery
518 NW 21st Portland, OR 97201
1-503-224-2663

2011-06-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings,
I hope this blog page finds you doing well and that life is going in your favor.
As a man I have the luxury of urinating just about any where I please. No back alley, shrub, darkened corner or wall is safe when a man has the urge to relieve himself.
The earliest toilets and bathrooms date back to Roman times. Emperor Vespasian who started construction on the Colosseum also introduced the first pay to use bathrooms and urinals. Romes largest public toilet was near the Theater of Pompey and sat as many as 100. This was all connected to the main sewer in Rome the Cloaca Maxima. Romans still refer to public toilets as 'vespasiano'. The famous outdoor street urinals of Paris and Amsterdam are called vespasiennes after the Roman emperor Vespasian. These urinals were common in the 1930s with more than 1200 in use. In Paris they have been replaced by Sanisettes that are more hygienic and less odorous. Todays newest urinal is the waterless urinal first invented by Klaus Reichardt. The waterless system saves between 15,000 and 45,000 gallons of water a year. The most influential urinal in the world of modern art is Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” (1917). His readymade signed “R Mutt”
changed the art world forever. I hope you enjoy my paintings of urinals and my rendition of a fountain.
All the best to you,
Jason Berlin

Black

2011-02-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the snow covered pump house.
I thought it was time to update this blog since I am snowed in again and have a little bit of free time on my hands. I have been a fan of the American artist Louise Nevelson and her work.
She is well known for her monochromatic assemblages in black, white, and gold.
They are made out of wooden found objects, crates and the discarded things of the every day. "When you put together things that other people have thrown out, you’re really bringing them to life – a spiritual life that surpasses the life for which they were originally created."
These works are inspired by the work of Nevelson.
I have been working on these assemblages a long time. I am elevating throw away objects and the discarded of the every day, giving them new meaning and elevating them to a higher level than what they were intended to be used for.
“I fell in love with black; it contained all color. It wasn't a negation of color... Black is the most aristocratic color of all... You can be quiet, and it contains the whole thing”. (Louise Nevelson)
I hope you enjoy
Jason Berlin

Chinatown

2010-12-19T18:41:00.001-08:00

Greetings from Pump House Studio, “The Mice say Hi!”.
This summer I took a trip to San Francisco and stayed in Chinatown, “the city within a city” which is one of my favorite places. The first Chinese immigrants arrived in American at the docks of San Francisco in 1848. Since then Chinese culture and the specific culture of Chinatown in San Francisco have influenced the Americana West Coast and the rest of the United States.
Chinatown in San Francisco is the largest Chinatown in North America and has the largest Chinese community outside of Asia. I also finally found the bed, (a Chinese wedding bed), I have been dreaming about since the 1987 movie The Last Emperor of China. I offer up my paintings of Chinatown as a homage and of course my bed, every artist needs a great nights sleep.
All the best to you,
Jason Berlin

Fear

2010-11-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

Greetings
I hope this finds you the reader and art seeker doing well in the day to day grind of life.
Here are some of my latest paintings celebrating Day of the Dead for Cannibals Gallery and a piece I created for the Fear show at Launchpad gallery in Portland, Oregon. The painting is called Reverend Mother and refers to the sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit from the book Dune by Frank Herbert. The book was first published in 1965.
One of my favorite poems is in the beginning of the book Dune. It is called The Litany Against Fear.
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
http://launchpadgallery.org/facing-fear/
http://www.cannibalsgallery.webs.com/
Enjoy,
Jason Berlin.

Art Box

2010-09-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings one and all,
I hope everybody had a great summer and that all your wishes and dreams came true.
At the tail end of summer this year I have been working on self portraits and had the good luck to find a free news box. I have painted it and place it between NW Glisan and NW Hoyt in front of Cannibals Gallery in Portland, Oregon. I am calling it an “Art Box”. In the tradition of Mail Art I am hoping other artists will drop off their postcards, Xerox’s, creative media and art works that they want to share and in turn take artwork someone else has left to share. I believe this has the potential to be fun, surprising and enjoyable for a wide variety of people. If you are in the northwest district in Portland stop by Cannibals Gallery at 518 NW 21st and look for my Art Box, take some art and drop some off. I am in the market for more Newspaper box’s so if you know of some for free drop me a line at ( jasonberlinart@gmail.com )
Wishing you all the best,
Jason Berlin

Wrestling

2010-08-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Pump House Studio
Wrestling is at lest 4,000 years old and has been written about in the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Epic Gilgamesh, the Old Testament book of Genesis 32:22-32.and in Greek mythology. A form of hand to hand combat, wrestling is still popular today as it has been throughout human history. There are many different types of wrestling in the world such as the classic Greco Roman, Freestyle, Submission, Combat Grappling, Beach, Sambo, Turkish Oil, Collegiate, Folk, Sumo and the world of TV Professional Wrestling. Like all sports and human interaction there is a push and pull of dominance and submission in wrestling and to not mention the homoeroticism inherent in wrestling is to pretend there is no elephant in the room. I have wrestled in the past and found the sport to be fun and vigorous and the singlets amusing to wear. I hope you enjoy the four wrestling painting I was requested to paint.
Wishing you all the best in life
Jason Berlin “ I gave as good as I got” Jason Berlin on Wrestling

Revolutionaries

2010-06-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

Greetings
I hope this finds you the art lover being treated well by life.
Last week my friend Quiche delighted me with a night out on the town in downtown Vancouver, Washington to view the “Windows Into Art” exhibit. This exposition of contemporary art in vacant buildings and in storefronts was conceived by artist K.C.Madsen as a way to exhibit contemporary art in the Pacific Northwest in a new way making it accessible to a wide range of people. Viewable at all times of day and night this show is comprised of twenty one different artists and takes place in seven different buildings all within walking distance from each other. The show runs from June 4th to July 5th. Look for postcards in the local business in downtown Vancouver or print your map from the web. I believe there is something for everyone to enjoy and if you can’t find something you like you might consider seeing a psychologist for some mental help.
http://www.windowsintoart.org/
This month, June I finished my spring term at Portland State University. I am working on a group of paintings for Cannibals Gallery for the July show on the theme of “Revolutionaries”. I find it interesting to think about who is a revolutionary and why. Has a person affected you? Do you live your life by their example or a quote they made?
I personally have many different people who have inspired me or given me something to strive for. One of my favorites is Johnny Cash, the Man in Black.
Wishing you all the best
Jason Berlin

Dim Sum

2010-05-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

Greetings
I first tried Dim Sum when I was twenty and I have been a fan ever since.
I have eaten dim sum in London, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver BC, Seattle and Portland, Oregon. My two favorite places for Dim Sum are both in the Pacific Northwest. Number one on my list is the Chinagate restaurant in Seattle, Washington. Dim Sum is served daily and on the weekends it is packed with locals families from Chinatown and Seattle it self. On Saturdays and Sunday there can be a bit of a wait to get a table around lunch time but I find it never is that long. This is a fun place to take friends and family. http://chinagate.cwok.com/ 516 Seventh Ave S Seattle, WA 98104. (206-624-1730)
My second favorite Dim Sum restaurant is House of Louie in Portland Oregon at 331 Northwest Davis Street (503-228-9898) in OldTown. This is the spot for Dim Sum in Portland period. On Sundays around two in the afternoon you can find your self waiting up to twenty minutes to get a table. The wait is worth it just for their paper ginger chicken. It is a constant stream of stainless steel Dim Sum carts full of mouth watering goodies all hiding under metal steamers. Both restaurants offer a Dim Sum menu that can be ordered off any time. I hope you enjoy my new Dim Sum paintings from the House of Louie.
Wishing you all the best and I hope happy Dim Sum eating.
Jason Berlin.

May

2010-05-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Pump House Studios.
It has been some time since my last blog, I find my time limited with working, going to university, painting for Cannibals Gallery and the day to day chores we all have to do.
I hope and always plan to write more frequently. So with out further ado I give you my latest musings about some highlight of my life that I have enjoyed the last few months. In April I had the chance to go see the Pacific Northwest Coast Kwakiutl ceremonial Indian dance and story telling at Lelooska’s Cultural Center thanks to my friend Larry Cwik.
This was an amazing night and brought back fond memories from my childhood when my parents where studying Northwest coast Indian art at the University of Washington with Bill Holm in the 1970s. I found the night to be entertaining and enriching. We are lucky to have this cultural treasure in our back yard so please take a look and go to one of their presentations. http://www.lelooska.org/
On May 1st I went to the Cascade Aids Project 21st annual Art Evening and Auction at the Bison Building with my friend Quiche. The party has been happening every year since 1990 to raise money to help fight HIV and AIDS. I find it outstanding to see so many diverse people coming together to do good. I was very pleased that my painting sold again this year. http://www.cascadeaids.org .AIDS Walk of Portland this year is October 3, 2010.
On May 21st Tess Morgan and I went to see the Rose City Rollers VS the Rat City Roller Girls at the Expo Center in Portland. If you haven’t gone to a Roller Derby you need to go, this is one hell of a good time, and as they say, it’s a game Brutal Beauty. Web sites are
http://www.rosecityrollers.com and http://ratcityrollergirls.com
I believe that one page of text is more than enough to subject you to. That being said I hope that all is well with you my dear reader and that life is smiling at you with loving eyes. Your artist in the pump house.
Jason Berlin

March 2010

2010-03-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

Greetings to one and all
It seems that spring is showing its first buds of life so I thought it was time to get busy and write something new.
I am a featured artist at Cannibals Gallery on NW 21st for the month of March so please go take a look and drop me a note. I appreciate your feed back.
Also showing at Cannibals in March is the Octogenarian show with the work of Selma Grossman.
Grossmans takes her clues from her rich Jewish heritage, her many years living abroad, pattern and line. I also had the pleasure of seeing the Portland Art Museums show “Disquieted”
Well known contemporary artists investigate the world we live in and deal with the issues of war, sexism, race, class, and the horrors of the modern age. I enjoyed the show and was taken in by the small sculpture of Ron Mueks, “Crouching Boy in Mirror” and the two paintings by Takashi Murakami and his team. The Disquieted exhibition runs from Feburary 20th to May 16th, 2010.
On view from March 4th to 27th at Laura Russo Gallery are paintings by Lucinda Parker and Rene Rickabaugh. I enjoyed Parkers smaller works the best and found them more intimate. Rickabaugh work is fanatically detailed. It is as if he has gone down to the subatomic level for his inspiration in his jewel like creations. All this great art can be seen at the following places.
Cannibals Gallery 518 NW 21st Portland, OR. 503-224-2663
Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave Portland, OR. 503-226-2811 info@pam.org
Laura Russo Gallery
805 NW 21st Portland, OR. 503-226-2754

2009-12-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

Shoes and boots have been around since man wandered out across the savanna and began his migration across the face of earth. Evidence and records from early civilizations around the globe all show evidence of foot covering. The shoe is mentioned several times in the Bible and the Hebrews used it in binding a bargain or a deal. The shoe and foot has been altered, bound, fetishsized, painted, tattooed, and worshiped. Shoes and boots represent rank, social class, and career. Shoes have influenced culture. Corporations like Nike and Adidas have made fortunes from the manufacturing of shoes. I prefer a good old work boot. Generally made from sturdy leather uppers and non-leather outsoles and sometimes with steel toes, they provide heavy wear and high traction. Work boots are commonly used for protection in industrial settings, construction, mining, logging and other workplaces. My painting is of a pair I own and wear quite often. They compliment my levi 501’s, tux pants and a kilt.

2009-11-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Pump House Studios.
These last few weeks have been a rowdy blizzard of parties, art events, music and just good old fashioned hard work.

So I will offer up the highlights for your reading pleasure.
I have seen the Portland Art Museum’s “China Design Now” a fine showing of China’s government propaganda and design that was created for the Olympic games of 2008.
On view from Aug. 22 – Nov. 29, 2009.

Raphael’s “Women With the Veil” a beautiful painting is on view from Oct. 24. 2009 – Jan. 3, 2010. I also enjoyed “Word and Image/ Word as Image”. A clever exhibition of the relationships between words and images. In the showing are works from Ed Ruscha (he’s one of my favorites) Warhol, Albrecht Durer, Kathe Kollwitz, Robert Rauschenberg and so many others all from the permanent collection. This show is on view from Aug. 22 – Nov. 29 .

No visit to the Portland Art Museum is complete without a look at John De Andrea’s “Dying Gaul” from 1984. On Sunday, Nov. 8 . I had the good luck to see Philip Glass’s “Orphee” at the Portland Opera at the Keller Auditorium. This was a triumph and a nice feather for the Portland Opera to add to its cap. I was pleased to see a contemporary set and costume. I loved the way the issue of the mirrors was handled with the use of body doubles.

The film I recently enjoyed which had a lot to say about how we live our lives is “ The Gleaners and I “ by Agnes Varda. This documentary is about scavengers, recyclers, the passage of time, love and great art. You can get this film on NetFlix. I give it a thumbs up.

Wishing you all the best in life.
Your Artist in Residence,
Jason Berlin.

October Galleries

2009-10-08T23:56:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Pump House studios
This month of October 2009 I have art work at the following shows/galleries
www.launchpadgallery.org/family
open-call group show about family of all types-lost, found, past, present, blood and otherwise About the Show With our 8th bi-annual open-call non-juried group show, we have enthusiastically and apprehensively invited 117 artists to explore what family means to them. The theme is a complicated one. Everyone has issues with family. Where we come from, who we are, who we want to become (and who we fear we will become) and where we each belong. All of these things are tied in a messy Gordian knot, laced together with a heavy braid of blood, sex, history, birth, death, adventure, childhood, friendship, loss and so much more
October 2nd - November 1st, 2009 Opening First Friday, October 2nd6pm-12amFREE! ALL AGES!! 534 SE Oak Street(1 blk N. or Stark, 1/2 blk E. of Grand) open Hours Wednesday-Saturday 12-4pm

Cannibals Gallery
518 NW 21st
Portland, OR 97201-1107
(503-224-bone)
Wed – Sunday 12- 5pm

3rd Annual Treasures of the Surreal Madre Art Show at Studio 11
- Happening October 9-November 1, 2009 with artist reception Second Saturday, October 10, from 5-9pm. The show is juried this year by Kristin Shauck, artist and art instructor. It is being held at Studio 11, 453-A Eleventh St., Astoria, OR. Also, come take a tour of all the other galleries in town having openings on Second Saturday.

Wishing you all the best for October and the coming year
Warmly Jason Berlin

Quick Mart

2009-09-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

The Lyle super-sized quick-mart and Laundromat
Lyle Washington

gum

2009-09-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

Gum
I like gum and I like to chew it. It freshens your breath after to much coffee. Chewing gum is relaxing. There is nothing better than a good snap and pop. The first chewing gum manufactured in the United States was Black Jack patented February 14th, 1871. Gum or gum like substances have been chewed from the beginning of time. The Greeks chewed a mastic gum resin from the bark of the Mastic tree. The Maya chewed chicle, “sticky stuff”. Early European settlers prized it for its subtle flavor and high sugar content. The ancient word is still used, "chicle" being a common name for chewing gum in Spanish and "chiclete" being the Brazilian Portuguese name. New England indians chewed a gum-like resin from spruce trees that was sold in chunks in the eastern states. Sweetened paraffin wax was all the rage in the 1850s. The oldest piece of gum is nine thousand years old. People on average chew three hundred sticks of gum a year and most gum is purchased between Halloween and Christmas. Today gum comes in many different shapes and flavors and sometimes it is even medicated but my all-time favorite gum is the gum of my childhood. The ball bubble gum in the glass ball vending machine.

paintings

2009-09-08T20:03:00.001-07:00

Greetings
Some pictures of new painting I have been working on enjoy.

Maryhill

2009-09-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings & salutations!
This past weekend my friend Tess Morgan, “The Songbird of Seattle”, and I had the opportunity to travel to Maryhill Museum in the Columbia Gorge and take in a little culture. Maryhill Museum is small treasure chest of art out in the middle of nowhere.
Samuel Hill bought the site of the present day Maryhill in 1907. Hill had the dream of establishing a Quaker farming community. He formed the Maryhill Land Company, named after his daughter and set about building a town and mansion. Problems of irrigation and the remote location proved too much for the project and all construction was stopped in 1917. With the prodding and help of friends Samuel Hill turned his mansion into a museum of art. His friend Queen Marie of Romania dedicated the museum in 1926 in a ceremony that was attended by more than 2,000 people and that received national attention at the time. Hill died in 1931 at the young age of 73. Hill’s friend Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, the wife of a San Francisco sugar magnate, took up the task of finishing the museum. She was elected to the newly-formed board of trustees and donated artwork from her personal collection. Under her guidance the museum was opened to the public on Sam Hill’s birthday, May 13, 1940.
If you can make the time go see this little museum. It is worth the day trip. Mary hill also has a nice sculpture garden populated with seven beautiful live peacocks.
Maryhill museum
Maryhill museum drive #35
Goldendale Washington 98620
Tel: +1 (509) 773-3733 Fax: +1 (509) 773-6138

No trip to Maryhill is complete with taking the cure. This trip we gave Carson Hot Springs a try. Rustic is the perfect description for Carson. For only twenty bucks you get to soak in hot mineral water in an old claw foot tub from 1901. After 45 minutes of soaking and in the hottest water a man can stand while listening to the soft drops and splashes of the other watery guests it is time to leave your tub and dimly lit tiled room. You head to the cot area of the spa. There you dry off and lie down and are wrapped in cotton sheets and are tucked in as tight or loose as you like by the reincarnation of Auntie Mame’s Chinese butler. You are left to nap in a room with other sleeping guests. Being somewhat claustrophobic I thought I would not like being mummified in sheets and wool but I found it comforting in a strange child like way. After our ‘cures’ we were both so relaxed we just wanted a nice cup of tea and to be back home. The spa rooms are separated by men’s or women’s. The distressing part of our trip was seeing the forest fire at Mosier, “The Microwave Fire” in the Columbia Gorge. It is a helpful reminder of how fleeting life is and how each vista and moment in time should be treasured. Till next time, I wish you, my dear reader only the best of life! Adieu.

portland pilgrimage

2009-08-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday I made one of my pilgrimages to Portland, Oregon, to take in a little culture and buy art supplies at one of my favorite art stores; Utrecht 1122 NW Everett Street (http://www.utrechtart.com/ ). I also picked up the book “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” by artist Ed Ruscha from Portland State University library. I first heard about Ed Ruscha in my art history class at P.S.U and his book back in the spring. I thought I would just pick up a copy at Powell’s book store. I was shocked to find out that the book cost two thousand to seven thousand dollars and is not a twenty dollar art book. A thousand copies of the first edition were printed in 1966 and the second printing in 1971 was only five thousand copies. Ed Ruscha took the photographs contained in this book with a motorized Nikon camera mounted to the back of a pick-up truck. This allowed him to photograph every house on the Sunset Strip while driving – first down one side of the street and then the other. The pictures were then pasted in order and the individual buildings were labeled with their respective house numbers. I have enjoyed looking at all the pictures and seeing the passing of time. It has made me want to drive up and down the sunset strip in L.A and see for myself how many things have changed.
After picking up my book I rode my bike down to the Elizabeth Leach gallery at 417 NW 9th to see the work of painter Chester Arnold. I was very pleased to see his paintings
He is doing large-scale representational paintings depicting piles of books and debris, burning paintings, and papers on the wind and land. I envied the person who bought one of his works. Another amazing artist I was very happy to see is Rosemary Powelson a member Black Fish gallery 420 NW 9th ave. Rosemary is doing mixed media works on paper and collage. Rosemary is quoted.” My focus has shifted from the details of my husband’s heart attack and the life threatening complications that followed to an examination of the poetic and ethereal topography of the heart. The text forms a new layer of information, and the relief shapes create physical suspension and the addition of light. To allow intimacy I purposely leave the surface of the collages open to close inspection and the transformation of light.”
I believe that both these artists work is worth seeing and looking up.
Till next time I wish you all the best, Jason Berlin

laundry

2009-08-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Monday 7/13/2009
3:05 pm 73f slight breeze

A Monday at the Kelso dry cleaning and laundry

I am at the Kelso dry cleaners and laundry. I feed two dollars worth of quarters into a well used speed queen commercial washer. It is warm out side but stuffy and damp in the Laundromat. This place is on its last legs. Some of the washer and dryers are missing fronts.
Half of them are broken. A good number of the fluorescent tubes are gone from their fixtures. Water damaged ceiling tiles hang from the ceiling. The worn floor is covered with a series of randomly placed mismatched asphalt tiles. Broken tiles checker the floor revealing the cement beneath. I sit in a comfortable black plastic lawn chair and wait for my wash to finish. A battered table filled with old People magazines and Christian propaganda pamphlets sits beside my chair. The photo finished faux oak table is adorned with fake brass piping around the edge. Old trophies honoring forgotten achievements line a row of dryers opposite me. My laundromat companion is a small woman. She loads a dryer with wet clothing and a bedcover that looks like it was from a motel six. Her young face is haggard and tired. She wears a pair of tightly fitting faded blue jeans. Chipped nail polish covers her toe nails. Her pink tank top of stretchy material is the top layer of her skin. A tanned back and an exposed flat stomach at the top of her jeans are revealed by the skimpy halter. A man rings the bell on the counter at the dry cleaning section of the store. The bell is answered by an old bull dog and a redheaded teenager who waddles to the counter. He is followed by two men. The man who comes to the counter is wearing an old Grateful Dead t-shirt. The skinny man behind him is wearing a frayed and previously white t-shirt emblazoned with a fad picture of a Trans Am. Tank top is joined by her boyfriend He leans against a broken washer as he watches her finish the laundry. He is thin with a famers tan, deep hollows line his cheeks. His white wifebeater is stained with grey patches. The door to the cleaner opens and a heavy set Hispanic woman enters. She drops off several white dress shirts and a pair of khaki pants to be cleaned. I suspect she is dropping off her work uniform or that of some one she knows. My washer turns off. I unload my wet clothes and transfer them to a speed queen dryer. It is machine number twelve. The dryer is a faded orange which suggests to me that it was new in 1982. It costs twenty five cents to get eight minutes of drying and the dryer sucks quarters like a slot machine. As I wait for my clothes to dry my feet begin to stick to the floor, glued by a mixture of dust, small threads, tiny bits of paper and lint. Another customer comes into the store. The man walks to the front counter and the clerk greets him by name, “William.” William drops off slacks, dress shirts and a sweater. The clerk in the Grateful Dead t-shirt asks, “Will Friday be good?” William says, “Yes, fine.” The men exchange some banter about mowing a yard with a riding lawn mower and with a cold beer in hand while watching a pretty girl in a bathing suit lay out to get a tan. They both laugh. I laugh too. I get up and feed another quarter into the dryer. By now no one else is using the Laundromat. Everyone is gone and I wait for the dryer to finish and sit, listening to the rumbles of the Speed Queen as it competes with the humming and whooshing sounds of the traffic on West Main. The fan on the ceiling above my chair is spinning away, it light sockets empty. I put another twenty five cents into the dryer for another eight minutes of time. I hope this is the last drying cycle for my load of clothing. This is not the Laundromat of my childhood filled with memories of happy times with my brother and mother. This place is sad, worn-out, and used up, just like its patrons. There is no pride of ownership here, just one last desperate attempt to eek out a few more dollars from the poor and displaced. An hour and a half has passed with a lifetime of my memories. I feel the need to get on with the rest of my day and life. An attractive young women walks in to pick up some dry-cleaning. She is dressed in a white hoodie, blue jeans, flip flops and she carries a big caramel colored leather purse. Her blond hair is pulled back in a pony tail; the all American girl. Black t-shirt man hands her a Jackie O type of dress in a subdued Pucci pattern wrapped in clear plastic. While she pays for her service, black t-shirt man talks to her about mowing his yard on Saturday if the weather is good. She smiles and says thank you to the man and leaves with her dress and bright future in hand. My dryer buzzes. I deeply hope my clothing is dry.