Video (.mp4)
Green Water Cottage
aka the Thomas Goodwin Gallery
I stepped into the Gallery, on a bright morning; happy to finally catch it open. I’d been fascinated by the row of old buildings housing assorted little businesses all along the Main drag of Cloverdale, including the Thomas Goodwin Gallery. It bordered a waterway ( River?) so close to his back deck that I wondered how many times it had been underwater. It was charming though, as was the gallery. So was he.
Thom was just seeing off a friend and walked him to the door then turned and greeted me with grace and hospitality. I wandered from wall to wall, taking in his art, books, baskets, masks, and other collections and treasures. “Would you like a beverage ?” he said and I thought that was lovely., certainly old worldly. “Yes, I’d love one, thank you.” I answered. He stepped away for a short while and emerged from the back holding out a chilled, dry Martini – to this day, the best I’ve ever had.
Maybe that was because it was morning and I hadn’t eaten yet. Maybe it was the surprise of the gesture. Whatever – It was daring and divine for the moment. The conversation was interesting, and a little flirty.
We discovered that we had a friend from the area in common, an author by the name of Julius Jortner. His book of poems, “ Just As” was unforgettable. I’d purchased it years earlier at the same event where I first met Julius but I lost it somewhere on my travels. I found it again on the counter in the Gallery with other books for sale. “That’s my last copy,” Thom said.
The first time I’d met Julius, he’d worn his silvering hair in a ponytail and sported a white, silk, scarf, draped loosely against the standup collar of a brown, crushed leather coat. Casual elegance. I got the same hit off Thom as I did Julius. They were both confident, debonaire, and ageless..true gentleman.. if only for moments at a time. Julius wrote, even then, of sensuality, of longing and the loneliness that comes with aging. His book of poems was difficult for me to read then, too sad, but would I have understood it when I was young? I don’t think so. But now.. or years later, how would I feel? I bought the last copy. He would have given it to me. He made me feel very special during that short visit.
I saw the same confrontation of emotions in the Goodwin canvases – especially the larger paintings, as in Julius’s poetry. I see now that Thom is closing his gallery. He will still paint from his home studio the article said. I hope so. I really had wanted to buy his gallery on the water in the tiny town of Cloverdale the first time I saw it.
I’d sell color tinted black and white photos like they did in the days of old. I’d start taking photos again, images of the local folks – the three, little girls that I saw sitting on a log by river, the big Clydesdales grazing in the tall meadow behind the tiny Otis post office. I’d wait for the Dory-men pushing off into rough surf by the dunes, and ambush the fishermen patiently drifting the Nehalem that toast me with cans of Bud held high against a blue sky. The farmers on their tractors make for great farm scenes as they weave their precise rows in the rich,fertile bottomland. I’d look for the ladies that repaired and sold antiques, made cheese and ice cream, and find some that enjoyed hanging their laundry out to dry. How Id love to make portraits and paintings out of it all – the heartbeat of the valley. It would all be in my own Shoppe called The Green Water Cottage. I’d learn to knit and sit by that big window with the view of the Vascades, big, open meadows and the green-tinged waters that flow by just several feet from the back of the Gallery.
Thank you Thomas, for that marvelous morning with the best Martini ever. It made me want a cigarette to clamp into a long, jeweled holder and I wished, just for the moment, that I still had the long, thick, auburn hair like when I was 35. I’d flip it over my shoulder when I laughed at his wit. I’ve never been a smoker. Not much of a drinker either but I’d like another morning Martini. The visit to the Thomas Goodwin Gallery gave me a lifelong memory. It still makes me smile. Priceless.
And I still have time…I might yet buy a big painting. – Judi, November 28, 2023
Photo by the Oregonian:
