nolene bennett triska
“Unit 2, Oak Grove”
by Nolene Bennett Triska
I was privileged to live at Portland General Electric’s Three Lynx housing compound for two and a half years in the early 1990s. My first impression was that it was Malvina Reynolds’ folksong brought to life: there they were, the “little boxes on the hillside,” and I saw “a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one.”
Unlike the village of Reynolds’ song, however, they weren’t “all made of ticky-tacky.” The early-20th-century homes, along with the PGE personnel who resided there – from long-time employees with large families to new hires alone in their bachelor digs – were unique and had, each of them, something special to add to the community. We lived in a darling yellow bungalow at first, then moved to a larger, green two-story with an under-the-eaves space that I used as an art studio where I couldn’t stand up, but sat snugly nested.
The nearby Oak Grove power plant was fascinating. Stepping onto the spotless, gleaming turbine floor again during May’s Powerhouse Project Art Jam was a thrill. I felt the vibrations through my feet as powerful flows from the lakes that form the headwaters of the Clackamas River swirled through the vertical turbines and became – amazingly – transformed into power for homes and businesses by the old, finely tuned water engines.
It was difficult to choose an image to portray, but I picked the turbine floor, as I had at River Mill. The allure of radiant Palladian windows, polished floors and great machines in a cathedral of power was, once again, irresistible.
Medium: Watercolor
Dimensions: 30” x 42”
Price: $950
Contact: penandbrusharts@gmail.com
Please contact the artist directly for information about purchasing this piece.
Click on picture to enlarge.
