Hail Mary

Mary Tapogna, mosaic artist, at her Hail Mary gallery. (SOOC)

EMBELLISHMENT is the challenge topic.

I took lots of pictures at church this morning, but then I stopped at Laughing Planet and glanced at the Sunday Oregonian while my lunch was being prepared. There was an article about Mary Tapogna.

Her Hail Mary gallery is being closed! Not by Mary's fiat. The next-door restaurant, Cocotte, wants to expand after only two years in this location (Mary has been here for ten), and the landlord chose French cuisine over food for the soul. Mary's gallery will be open through the end of October, and there's a moving sale until then.

I love this gallery. Mary used to work in the back room, and I would sometimes stop by and visit with her. You can tell from the name of her gallery that she's Catholic, and that she has a naughty sense of humor about that. She's also a political liberal and makes hysterically funny, very affordable postcards on these themes, each one unique. Mary is the kind of person, and Hail Mary is the kind of place, that you think will always be there. But life brings changes. So I set aside my church photos and rushed up to have a final visit at Mary Tapogna's present location.

I knew this would have to be my challenge blip because there isn't anything short of Marcel Duchamp's urinal that Mary hasn't embellished. Lamps, picture frames, vases, crosses large and small (there's a little cross by Mary on my straw fish), dolls, bowls, trays, bottles, there's nothing that crosses Mary's path that doesn't get embellished with mosaic. Her portraits are brilliant, and I love what she does with bits of broken mirrors. In addition to the pieces she sells at Hail Mary, she also does commissions.

If you're in Portland and looking for a fun outing, stop by Hail Mary on NE Killingsworth while it's still there to enjoy.

Good luck to Mary as she moves into her home studio, continues her classes, and prepares for next spring's Vermont artist-in-residence gig. May this change bring many blessings!

Edit: I replaced the first photo, which was really a portrait of the gallery, with this one which I think is a better portrait of Mary.