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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Bits ‘n’ Pieces: Vancouver painter lands first art show

The Columbian
Published:
3 Photos
Lindsey Swanke
Lindsey Swanke Photo Gallery

After taking several years off from painting to focus on school, Vancouver’s Lindsey Swanke has returned to art. Now she’s about to have her first art show.

Swanke, a 22-year-old recent graduate from ITT Tech in Portland, will have an art sale and reception at Gotham Tavern from 4-8 p.m. Saturday. She’ll have five pieces on display at the Portland restaurant and bar through the end of May.

“I’m really excited,” she said.

Swanke, a UPS supervisor, learned to paint from her grandmother growing up. She works in acrylic on canvas, and draws inspiration from a wide range of sources.

“I’ve done everything from a calla lily to the atomic bomb mushroom cloud,” she said.

Former Vancouver surgeon shares expertise in Africa

Dr. Alan Newman, an orthopedic surgeon at Rebound Orthopedics & Neurosurgery in Vancouver, recently returned from his third medical mission to Africa.

“I’ve always felt I was important to serve,” said Newman, 58, a former Vancouver resident who now lives in Lake Oswego. “It really puts me back in touch with why I went into medicine in the first place.”

In February, he traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, where he treated both clinic and trauma patients. The MCM Center, which has an established hospital, requested that Medical Teams International send Newman to share his expertise in arthroscopic surgery. Newman delivered arthroscopic equipment donated locally, performed the first arthroscopic procedures at the MCM Center and presented a lecture to medical staff. He and his wife, Shari, also managed to see some sights. They had one free weekend, so they flew to Lake Tana, the headwaters of the Blue Nile, and visited Lalibela, an ancient city with churches carved out of rock walls.

“It’s one of the wonders of the world,” Newman said. “It was pretty amazing.”

Vancouver designer sends green fashion down runway

Vancouver fashion designer Sarabeth Chambers launched her first line, Saffrona, in 2003 as a collection of bathing suits made from recycled fabrics. Now she has four eco-friendly lines, and will be featured this weekend at the Energy Trust Better Living Show in Portland. To learn more about the show, which begins today, go to http://www.betterlivingshow.org.

Chambers, 47, will showcase looks from her Saffrona and MEWV collections in runway shows throughout the weekend, and will debut her new line of organic men’s underwear, eco-under, at her booth. She also has her salvage swimwear line, now called Urban Metallics.

She sold her designs from a temporary store in downtown Portland with other designers and artisans over the holidays, but now sells online at http://www.saffrona.com and http://www.eco-under.com.

Chambers works with eco-friendly fabrics such as seaweed, bamboo and soy, and makes many of the garments herself. She uses natural products such as fruits and vegetables as dyes.

“Anything I’ve ever accidentally stained myself with, I use,” she said, adding that beets and spinach work well to color fabrics.

Bits ’n’ Pieces appears Mondays and Fridays. If you have a story you’d like to share, call Features Editor Elisa Williams, 360-735-4561, or e-mail elisa.williams@columbian.com.

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