A Whole New World

This is what Arnold World does with paper napkins. He rolls them, curls them, twists them between his fingers and around an ordinary ballpoint pen, and makes paper flowers. I was out shooting fountains and reflections, thinking about posting a blip. We made casual eye contact. He nodded at my brick of a camera and said, "I'm looking for a photographer for a project I'm doing."

"What kind of project?"

"Paper flowers."

Having just read The Paper Garden, I was hooked. How many people can there be in Portland, Oregon who are making paper flowers? What's the chance I'd find such a person? Must be destiny.

He told me if I'd like to see some of his work, he left a few at Powell's Bookstore, by the coffee shop. He said he makes his paper flowers in the coffee shop at Powell's every Saturday. We shook hands. I told him I'll see him Saturday, and I headed for Powell's where, just as he said, there was a bouquet of paper flowers. "Oh yeah," the Powell's clerk nodded. "He's quite the local celebrity. People come here just to see him work."

I expect you'll be seeing more about this. If you'd like to meet the man and see a few more pictures of his work, I just posted  here.  I know I say it all the time, but I love living in Portland.

Another great thing about Portland is that we don't get hurricanes here. I'm sending loving energy to New Orleans and Mississippi.