Party raises thousands for school arts

Something wild was truly in the air Saturday.

The bluegrass twang of Bend's Moon Mountain Ramblers serenaded a jungle of art lovers at the My Own Two Hands Art Auction and Party. As the sun set behind the Cascades, festivities came alive inside Ponderosa Forge and Ironworks.

The annual fundraising event benefiting the Sisters Americana Project drew an abundant crowd to celebrate an evening of art, food, and community fellowship.

Artists and friends chatted and roamed through the crowded factory floor, past welding machines and steel tools, absorbing a tantalizing bounty of silent-auction paintings, ceramics, photography, jewelry and folk art displayed on sheet metal tables and work benches.

They grazed on gourmet appetizers, sipping Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from hand-painted glasses, squinting at auction sheets, scribbling down secret bids, hoping to claim the prize when deadlines fell, balancing plates piled high with fresh fruit, pasta, pastries, and cheese. There were white-draped tables of barbecued pulled pork and black bean cakes under stainless steel lids and baskets of fresh-baked breads and a small mountain of hand-dipped chocolate strawberries.

An eclectic array of amazing art to be auctioned off awaited the gathered tribe. Some highlights included:

A breathtaking cast-glass guitar with Breedlove neck and bridge entitled "Visual Music," by artists Dan and Susie Zeitner. The work was decorated and painted with an impressionistic woodland scene of aspen and pine, illuminated from behind by a small light.

Another magical Skip Armstrong woodcarving featured rainbow trout churning against a rushing stream.

Local artist Nancy Becker created a stunning piece she calls "Georgia Series Red Poppy," reminiscent of evocative Georgia O'Keefe floral paintings. It was a large, hand-blown glass dish with sand-carved edges in white, orange, and a vibrant red center.

Steve Mathews contributed a beautiful cribbage table appropriately named "Wild Game," carved and painted with colorful birds and fish in a Native American flair.

Festival board chair Jim Cornelius introduced Brad Tisdel, executive director of Sisters Folk Festival. Tisdel thanked everyone for their continued support of the Americana Project, now in its ninth year.

"We bring people together in powerful ways," he said. "Sisters Folk Festival and the Americana Project are known all over the United States. I'm proud of it, the work we're doing, and proud of Sisters."

He also acknowledged all the contributing artists for their gracious donations of visual art objects not only this year but in years past too. "We are very blessed in this community."

Since the scheduled auctioneer failed to show, Tisdel stepped in as a replacement and kicked off the show, assisted by Kathy Deggendorfer. Primal drones of a didgeridoo accompanied the barefooted artist Steve Frandsen, chest streaked with body paint, who strutted out to the dance floor in an Aboriginal mask called "The Wild Road," handmade from roadkill bones, an elk pelvis, and turkey feathers. He hopped onstage, removed the mask, and it became the leadoff item to be bid on.

The auction progressed through one magnificent creation to the next, each eliciting a flurry of enthusiastic bids, cheers, and applause around the Ironworks floor as wine glasses emptied and the evening wore on.

Bidding heated up for a custom, hand-signed "Jack Black" Breedlove guitar. The instrument was a one-of-a-kind masterpiece finished in gloss black. Sisters resident Don Mayne was the lucky winner.

Mayne smiled when people remarked that he didn't look like a Jack Black fan.

"I bought it for my granddaughter. Her name is Sage Redman," Mayne told The Nugget. "She's a high school student in Massachusetts and a very accomplished pianist and musician. I think she'll like it."

The auction culminated a weekend of events, starting with a community parade on Friday afternoon featuring participants in masks made over the past several months in a "Common Canvas" community art project. Community members strolled downtown Sisters taking in displays of My Own Two Hands art, then adjourned to Bronco Billy's Ranch Grill & Saloon for performances by Americana Project Musicians, Folklore Latino dancers and Travis Ehrenstrom and the National Theatre Project.