The First Friday Art Walk is a beloved tradition in Portland. It has been a very long time since I've participated in the craziness that is First Friday, so I thought I'd make up for lost time and venture out to some of my favorite galleries in Portland. The night was cool, crisp, and abuzz with energy. There's always a great carnival atmosphere at First Friday, and this night was no different.

"Breastplate" by Crystal Cawley

My first stop was Whitney Art Works, where they were celebrating the opening "The New Recyclists," featuring the work of Crystal Cawley, Dan Dowd, Pam Brown, and Rose Marasco. Some artists recycled materials, whereas others "recycled" personal experience, revisiting the familiar by unfamiliar means.

Crystal Cawley did this particularly well, using the written word as her inspiration. Her deconstructed pieces were created using books. Words or phrases were cut out and put together in new ways, pages were removed from their covers and sandwiched together with pages from different sources.

"Circle #1" by Rose Marasco

Rose Marasco is one of my favorite photographers. I am drawn to the simple, nostalgic sensibility in her work. Her pieces in "The New Recyclists" showed a familiar form recycled in different ways.

Dan Dowd's eerie mixed media assemblages had a narrative quality with a slightly sinister edge. "Our Legs Fit Your Legs" was composed of an old suitcase, doll parts, and ephemera, including a handwritten letter. The individual items seemed like things you'd find in someone's attic, but together, they formed a strange and compelling tableaux.

"Black and White" by Pam Brown

Pam Brown's whimsical sculptures were created with diverse materials and offer strange juxtapositions. Hard, industrial materials such as wire are embellished with soft, organic materials such as feathers.

The ICA at Maine College of Art was showing "Ruminant," a juried faculty exhibition in which the artists each found a subject to focus on, and then present it in a new way. Ling Wen Tsai's quiet, contemplative photographs depicted reflections in rooftop puddles. By tightening the composition, the artist transformed puddles into passages to different worlds.

Yoonmi Nam's sumi ink drawings borrow technique and philosophy from the ancient art of Japanese sumi-e, but the subject matter is entirely the artist's own. The sparse ink drawings illustrated piles of building materials such as wood and bricks, as well as rooftops caving in and buildings falling apart. Stripped of all embellishment, the drawings are simple in form and focus.

I was especially drawn to Adriane Herman's "Wall of Intention," a grouping of nearly 900 lists, written by average people. Each list reveals its author's idiosyncrasies, from eccentric handwriting to funny doodles to personal goals, the lists are more than ephemera. They are little bits of the human soul.

Some of the lists are humorous, such as a reminder scrawled on a piece of toilet paper in what looks to be red lipstick: "Hey babe, don't forget to put the seat down." Another, hastily written on a piece of purple paper reads: "This bag is a reminder for something?" Some are poignant, such as a soldier's to do list. The first item reads: "Prepare for Iraq (again)." Another list, written neatly on notebook paper outlines a woman's plan to overcome the difficulties and disappointments in her relationship: "Get comfortable with the notion that he will never call."

First Friday is a great opportunity to expose yourself to the latest local art, and meet other art enthusiasts in the process! So mark your calendars for November 7th, and don't forget your comfy shoes.

* Images from Whitney Art Works