Oregon Art Beat; #426; Sally Adler Palmer

We're all just partners in crime, it's a team now, go ahead, anything. Okay, that's pretty good. I just want to need to see how it looks. I want it to tilt a little bit more.

Okay, that's pretty good. That's enough.

We're going to do three things inside. Individual shots of the chair, have you let me sit down and talk a little bit and get you playing it for you. Okay, so if you want to stay in the same outfit, find if you want to change one. I hadn't, because it looked like you spent days, you know, so that's good though. Sometimes, you know, I mean, if it weren't, well, we're on road trips, we're generally done. There was a kid blue singer in the gym, David Jack and Strang. Well, you know, we came down and we were going to go to his house and show us up at

his house with parents. That's amazing. So those are the three things we want to do. So if you do want to change, one square gets down there shooting it here, probably we'll just, he'll just get set up in there and start shooting some chairs. Here, hold back like that. Yeah, let's go to this way, right? I was going to do that. I bet you all these are coming out. What's that? Well, I'm just guessing. So what do you do when you're changing? And so when you remember how to put a mic on you, so what are you changing to to get mic friends with you? Right. So yo, you come back looking like Nina Simone, right? No, I do that tonight. Now I'm just doing this. Okay. Any colors you wanted to avoid?

Is it like a studio of black and white? Yeah. These are good characters. They're just a place in there. Some of the outfits are better than others. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I feel like I'm definitely supposed to be seeing you. You're really actually at this. This is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. No, this is this. That's a Wednesday night band with Molly and Dan Balmer. And the Dan band with Cher. And I come to see you. Yes, Dan. Yes, pretty. Okay. You ready? Oh,

hello. It's not raining. Okay. So I leaped down from stairs into myself. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You're going to just have her come with me. Yeah. Are you like picture of me up here? No. Oh, good. Hold on a little bit. Oh, you're just going to do it just the right little bit of the door. So this leaping part doesn't. Oh, thank you. Oh my God. Oh, I got to pull that up. I'm going to see. Is that better?

More normal? Well, I just don't feel any good. Okay. What were you telling me about this chair? This is one of the earliest. Don't worry, we're editing everything. I know. Don't worry about it. Okay. This is one of the very first hardwood chairs I made after I made a lot of them with 2x4s. Someone saw the 2x4 chairs and suggested I might try some hardwoods and they had some black walnut. Really nice black walnut in. So I made this one. But it's in the style of my very earliest

chairs. And what is that style? I mean, I'm a little bit simple. Simple. Yeah, it's just the first, when I made my first chair when I was 19, I drew a picture of a chair. And it looked just like that. I just sketched one out and I made one and that's what, how it came out. The first chairs were based on the dimensions of 2x4s, 1x2s, and 2x2s, so they were simple. I didn't have very many tools, so it took me a couple of days to cut the rockers because all I had was a little jigsaw. Hahaha. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.

Is there any particular advancements that you made or any kind of change in this chair from chairs that you previously made? Well, I started to realize that I had complete freedom. It's kind of exciting. So I began experimenting with different thoughts and feelings that came into my head. I made this one just before Valentine's Day, so it kind of had a friendly feeling. I just kind of started making the shapes that felt like Valentine's Day. Hahaha. What do you mean,

what caused that kind of change in your perspective? I mean, that you realized that, you know what I mean? I wish I had a really good answer for that. Well, it was just chair by chair. When I made the first black walnut, I changed the dimensions from 2x4s and 2x2s, and I realized I had the freedom to cut still square, but you know, other dimensions. And then it was like, then I started doing the carving a little bit on them. And it was just a step by step, so I kept some of the basic forms so that I could make it rock and sit right, and then just kept changing one bit at a time. And now I'm feeling more comfortable about changing large, you know, bigger things, but it's still based on the initial kind of central idea of balance, the way it balances and everything. But I had some really interesting experiences of

remembering chairs from my childhood, so there was a whole series of chairs that were just had the feel of different chairs from my childhood that I remembered from a museum. And then they started, you know, it was just other memories of shapes. I think I was thinking about those little seahorses or something, or just lots of childhood shape memories, but now I'm not doing that anymore. Now I've kind of done those memories, and there's kind of new things happening. The freedom comes as a result of gaining confidence in your abilities, or do you think? I think it kind of happened along with learning how to sing jazz. Yeah, because, you know, I started out singing just the straight song, and then I started singing with jazz players and started learning about freedom.

And so there's a real strong correlation, I think. I had never thought of that before, but I think that's kind of what happened. And there's a confidence that happens, I think, a confidence level that's grown to definitely, to not be afraid to do something that no one else has done. Can I talk? I have something to say, but I don't know if you want to read more. I know this. Because we can hear you. And

it just sounds like, oh, okay. I was writing something, I was going to give panelists at this school. Would you mind if we waited to talk a little bit about the music until we're like, I would not mind. So you're on camera. All right. I think that was the seahorse was, I think that was the one. What? Were the seahorses on this? I think the arms of the seahorse. I just was having a memory of a seahorse shape. Did you get that, Greg? All right. All right. Nothing.

Nice little squeak there. That's just like, as soon as I bring that suitcase out, she goes like, I'm not talking to you. You're going to leave me again.

They're expecting the answer you're mission you got and it's not going to. So it's going to ring for a while. You know, I

just might have to answer it if it keeps up. I'm not going to let the phone rule me and then it's just like. Somebody's very persistent. I know. That's a good way to make it stop. Oh, lowered. Hello? Hello? Geez. They hung up as I picked it up. I'm so curious now. What do you call the piece that comes across the front? Call it. Front cross piece in my mind. Here's a

really distinctive. Any seahorse like image in your mind about this one? No, the only last image is only once. I'm trying to remember this one. This one was one that just went together so quickly and easily. Sometimes they do that. They just go, whew, they're together. It was kind of almost like. Sometimes they're wood directed. And I'm connected with it enough that I don't think about anything. I just put it together. There's about three of them that have been like that. Three out of the hundred and twenty or thirty that fell together. We like about

it from the side because the way the backs are shaped, that one has a real nice connection. Well, if we're really nice to Greg, he'll get one of those shots. Are you hungry? You know guys, don't you? Yeah. Yeah. What's different about a camera like this than a home video that makes it have so much more

depth? You know, it doesn't look so too dimensional. Does that make sense? You know what I'm saying? It's expensive. Got it. Thank you. You have to ask him. I usually spend Greg's birthday with me. Yeah. You know, we did last year. You know, we did last year. That was the first day we shot with Robert. What's birthday did you have? 49. 49. 49. You see talented? Huh? Why? Okay. I did 50 this year. It's pretty exciting. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a

lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. We spent a lot of time on the road. So you don't have, I mean, you have the same car. Where were you just going in the car? That's a rental. Oh. We do not share hotel rooms, however. Okay. I did it, I did it, I did it, and as soon as he hit the lens I went down, I went into a play by play like I was doing a sports center heart rate, and now it's a sports center music. It's funny.

But it turned out, what was interesting is it turned out, before synthesizers, he was making sort of music concrete stuff back in the 50s. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was there was the end of it all. It was, it was interesting. What's his name? Don Hunter. Someone was telling me about someone else who was doing something like that way ahead, I wonder what was that person. So what is special about this wood? It's a regular western maple, but every now and then the tree does something real special and makes this pattern swirls, so it's called lots of different things quilted maple, curly maple, it's not exactly a bird's eye maple, but it's kind of, I think, caused by the same growth pattern.

So did the wood dictate the chair, in this case again? Well, it always does this, yeah, this one, mm -hmm, yes, so I think they're always prettiest from this side, getting to see the hole. Greg, she says they're prettiest from this side, let's just start shooting all over again, alright? Yeah, that seat is pretty amazing, that's one big old piece, I think, is that the one right there? No,

it's not, it's two, two big old pieces. I kind of hate to let people know about this wood because everybody that I talked to goes, where did you get that wood? Because it's kind of rare. That's okay, I will. Where did you get that wood? I'm that same person, you know, it's just, he cut it out of somebody's yard or something and it's

fun going to get them all and see them again, it's like having your children home for Thanksgiving or something. Actually, this one now belongs to the person I got the wood from because I owed him so much money for wood, I can't live this year. How do you finish this? Well the main part of the finish is the sanding, so getting them as smooth as I can, then I use an oil mix with a little bit of varnish, so I put it on like an oil and then sand it

with up to a thousand grit or higher buffing kind of sandpaper. They're never done, I just get tired. I send sandpaper home with people sometimes, they could think. So you see these sitting around and you feel like you want to do some more stuff to them? Oh yes, yes, a lot. Did you have any

interest in stopping in Eugene at those people's house? If you give me the address and let's see if I have time I would like to. Probably only time would be in the evening for them. Okay, I'll give you the phone number you can. Yeah, I'd like to get the phone number with the filmmaker too. What did you call this chair? My mushroom chair? Why? Well I went

mushroom hunting that morning and I came back and I made this chair and I didn't need to make it look like a mushroom but that's just how the shapes go in my head and come out in the chair design. But it has a mushroom kind of kept thing on you know. And then it was really pretty amazing because the woman that bought it saw and after she decided to buy it, I was talking to her about you know how it happened and she was what's the word my call and my whatever the word is for. She studied mushrooms anyway. She was a mushroom lady so it ended up really perfect. Six. Which parts of the chair we call mushrooms to you the most? Well that top cap, the rest of it doesn't so much but after spending that time in the woods, it kind of had a renewed sort of, I felt better making the chair than I had for a while. Just kind of the shapes and

things out there. Let's see. That one has the best arms of any I think. There's one of my very favorite chairs is in Portland so I couldn't get it but it has nice arms too. It's really elaborate but I made out of that one. It's huge, it's bigger than any of these. Be watching it. It's kind of the way it's placed in the week. It just kind of makes it sort of stand out. I don't know how that's amazing.

It's really popular in Corvallis and Eugene. I try to get that in Eugene a lot. Every six weeks or so. Coming back in July for Country Fair. I remember the country fair the first year they had it. I haven't done a lot of Corvallis musicians although I shot Irrani Farara here at the majestic when she played there. But she's not Brazilian. She's Argentina or Venezuela or whatever. And did Don Latarsky, Mason Williams sort of have to do Mason Williams?