N o vem b er 9, 2011
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
^ßortlanb (Dbscruer
Page 15
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
METRO
Artist’s Gallery is the Street
Former homeless woman paints from experience
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
Kate Ferris, a former art teacher
who spent eight months on the
streets after a life spiral of down­
turns left her homeless, displays
and sells her folk art to a market
unlike any other gallery in Portland.
Layered in oversized sweatshirts
and blue jeans, the dark-haired wife
and mother of four holds up a color­
fully painted cardboard sign to cars
parked at a red-light freeway off
ramp. Her blue-grey eyes wink as
passengers drive by.
When a former life of comfort fell
through, Ferris became witness to
the agonies of homelessness. For
survival, she began sketching the
most beautiful things she could think
of.
The artwork on Ferris’ s canvas, a
slab of cardboard to represent the
impermanence of materiality, a sub­
ject she knows firsthand, reflects
by
Kate Ferris stands on the
corner o f a freeway o ff ramp
in the Hollywood District o f
northeast Portland where she
has sold over 1 6 0 paintings
to car passengers.
photo by C ari H achmann /
T he P ortland O bserver
M K a H M R M M H H H M W H M H B If il
what she knows best, being a female owned a print shop in Milwaukie for
and living outside.
10 years, and taught on and off at
Her favorite piece details a strik­ 8th grade art programs. After she
ing mulatto woman dressed in a sold the print shop, Ferris opened a
gown of tree bark and embellished vintage store in Sellwood where she
by other patterns of nature. As one designed dresses. She bought a
of many underrepresented female house, and met her new husband,
artists, she paints to fill a void.
Jamie, a musician.
Bom and raised in Portland, Ferris
When she moved her vintage
attended a private grade school in clothes shop Epoch to Hawthorne,
■ ------------------------------------
It was embarrassing.
That s how I ended up
doing this. It was so abrupt.
— K ate F erris
north Portland before her family
moved to the country and she later
studied at Hillsboro High School.
Young Kate was particularly inter­
ested in art, especially by visiting
art teachers.
When she had four kids of her
own, she enrolled in college art
classes to brush up her skills and
began teaching art in schools for
three years. Following a divorce,
Ferris worked for much of her kids’
lives as a self-employed, single-par­
ent.
She did freelance production,
1
Ferris began to feel the weight of
running an independent business.
In attempts to ease the stress, she
opened shop later and for fewer
hours. Then the bad news arrived.
Her mother was to become bed-
bound with Parkinson’s disease.
Unwilling to let her mother be
taken to a nursing home, Ferris em ­
braced the full-time caretaker posi­
tion for the next two and a half years.
As the brain disorder stole her
mother’s memory and cognition,
continued
on page 27
MMMMI
Battling High Costs of Cooler Days -
Home
weatherization
and other tips
offered
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
With winter just around the cor­
ner, local businesses and organiza­
tions are dedicated to helping both
homeowners and renters face their
rising energy costs through afford­
able products and sustainable
weatherization practices.
For over 33-years, Community
Energy Project, Inc., based out of
northeast Portland, has empowered
local residents to maintain a more
energy efficient, healthier, and more
livable home and natural environ­
ment.
By educating individuals on how
to control their utility costs, while
simultaneously conserving natural
resources, the non-profit lives its
belief that people are the experts of
their own experience.
“What we have are people with
really low incomes and the price of
energy keeps going up,” said Sherrie
Smith, the energy project’s outreach
and marketing supervisor.
Created during the energy crisis
during the Carter Administration,
the organization has helped count­
less individuals from all walks of life
through their free weatherization
workshops, where residents can
continued
on page 27
Sam Pardue shows how residents can reduce their high energy
costs during the winter in an affordable and sustainable way
with his thermal window insert known as the Indow Window.
Pardue is the chief executive officer and founder o f the north
Portland business.
photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver