​We are here as artists who work with heart and hand and passion and tears and joy and love and alone and in community. We create art with these being our primary tools in many mediums.

There is no AI here in the fulfillment of any work of art in our gallery.
We create our own creations.
We edit manually and true to our personal intention and our perception of reality.
We direct only ourselves.
Our art is us.

AI is a useful tool in many ways.
Art is not one of them.

Art is a direct relationship between the art and the artist; between the art and the viewer, and it stays with us until it goes to its forever home, whether that connection is made in hours or days or years or decades or after we’re dead.

AI has no built-in morality or ethics.
By definition.

In the exact contrary, AI has been built by gathering billions of images and words of the work of actual human artists and writers and collectors of history and knowledge, and coded to morph from that base of humanity to artificially manufacture the fulfillment of any request.

We are not okay with that, and we carve our boundary in granite here.
Heart and hand and passion and tears and joy and body and love and alone and in community.
There is no AI here.
- The Artists of Troutdale Art Center

Art Credit:
Looking Towards The Next Step; Loree Harrell
The first oil-based woodstain painting on coldpress in 2006.

CATCH THE WIND
Once upon a time soon, three friends meet each other for the very first time, at the very tippy top of an (always) very windy hill on a beautiful sunny day.  The day they meet is a Tuesday.

They have all been at the very top of this hill (each of them love so very much) being blown about a whole bunch of times before, but no one else has ever been here, so it is their each and own very Special Place.
On this Tuesday that we are talking about, right about after-breakfast,
The Boy thinks it is a very good day indeed to fly his new kite; and,
The Bear feels it is a very good day indeed for huckleberries in the sun; and,
The Horse knows it is a very good day indeed to gallop to the top and race the wind.

And so The Boy starts climbing from the town side;
And the Bear starts walking from the forest side;
And the Horse starts galloping from the field far away on the morning side;
and they all arrive at the very tippy top at the almost-exact same time.

There is a Moment where all their eyes are a little suprised, and then,
one smiles and flies his kite, and one snorts and ambles over to eat huckleberries, and one tosses her head and races the wind.

And, later, all three gather under the tree and enjoy the view. Together.

And every Tuesday after that until they are Old, they meet there on the very tippy top of an (always) very windy hill. 
Even when it rains.


LLH; 071224

 This was written as followup from the Corbett 4th and 5th grade tour.

We  talked about this amazing photograph of Matt's  (from over a mile away on shore) during your tour, and I wanted to follow up with you on some research I did because of our talk.

Towards the end of the day, one of you asked me if it was still a lighthouse, and I first said I thought so, because, seriously, you would still have to let boats know that a seriously huge rock was there, and then I got smart and said, "You know I actually  don't know the answer to that, but I will find out.".  I did.  

No, it is not still an active lighthouse. It was decommissioned in 1957.
I was correct about the construction era - it was built in 1881.
I was also correct about my awe about it being built without all the tools we have today to do something impossible. 
This blog has a good overview of the difficulties of building and living in Tilly.
 www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/02/20/tillamook_rock_lighthouse_in_oregon_has_a_history_of_death_and_madness.html

​I also rediscovered that the word I was searching for where the cremated remains are kept is columbarium, not mausoleum.  Mausoleum is for structures that house tombs or coffins.  Columbarium (isn't that a very pretty word?) is for cremains.  The plan was to house up to 100,000 cremains in that lower building (with waterproof.  There are currently 33.

I was wrong about the sale price.  I told you 1.5 million.  It's actually 6.5 million (the 1.5 million is what the owner was going to give back into repairs and cleaning), and, of course, you also need to buy a helicopter, so that'll make it an even 7 million if you go low end. 
So I'm out of the running, but you can invite me to visit and we'll sit in the tower and watch the waves crash on all sides of us and look at the teeny tiny landlocked humans a mile away on the beach.
https://www.opb.org/article/2022/03/29/historic-terrible-tilly-tillamook-lighthouse-for-sale/     

Not done with Tilly yet?  Me either...  ​

DECEMBER 2nd, 2022
5:00p - 8:00p

On December 2nd, 1992, Rip Caswell and Troutdale came together, and it's been three decades of growth and partnership in art since.

Join us for Rip's anniversary celebration and precast party at Troutdale Art Center, and see the new sculptures available on precast sale!

Rip's Anniversary & Precast Party
First Friday December 2nd
5:00p - 8:00p

TAC Holiday Arts Open House
and Caswell Precast Sale continue
through the weekend!
Saturday and Sunday 10a - 6p

Troutdale Art Center
903 E Historic Columbia River Hwy
Troutdale, OR 97060

Please accept our gratitude to each and every one of you for your service, sacrifice,  and protection. 
​You truly are guardian spirits.