Densho Digital Archive - Rose Niguma Interview (denshovh-nrose

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MR: Was there much of a social scene among the Portland artists then?

RN: Social?

MR: Yeah.

RN: There is a lot of it, but I couldn't participate in any of those things because I have my brother. I have to take care of him, and he was top priority with me, and he trusted me, so I never failed him. I was always there for him. And also, he's helping me financially for me to continue, see. My family has been good; they have helped me. That's why I'm able to, that was really my life desire.

MR: There's a lot of art going on in Portland right now, Pearl District and lots of galleries. What do you think of all that?

RN: Well, they like to have exposure, so they'll have on the street, whatever, in order to show them. But the top art are in the gallery, real good top art. Even in them, they're not usually top art. We don't have any artists that became internationally known like up in Seattle like Mark Tobey and you know. The others, we don't have that. The only artist that became internationally known who came from Portland was Mark Tobey, not Mark Tobey, Mark Rosco. He did flat pieces of art like maybe three, but the painting is luminous, very luminous, so he had a technique. He knew how to do it because I've known him personally, do one flat piece of paint, and there's just nothing but paint, see, flat paint. But his was luminous, and he did that with under painting and coating several layers, so I liked his work. But he's the only one that amounted to anything from Portland. Well, they, [inaudible], he came from the east like if he were to have CS Patches work, it will be very valuable, but they're very scarce. But hardly anyone became internationally known from here. But up in Seattle, several of them did.

MR: Did you know the artists in Seattle?

RN: What?

MR: Did you know artists in Seattle as well as Portland?

RN: Well, I know maybe one or two. I have my cousin up there in the nursing home, but I don't have a chance to go up to see her. I really didn't have much chance because I was looking after my brother, see. But Seattle never appealed to me. It's a watery pool, surrounded by water, hills like that you know, and I like Portland. We have hills, but not that many. I kept wondering in San Francisco and Seattle, I kept wondering how on earth did people have houses there? It's about 45 degrees. Well, how do they get in and out? I kept wondering to myself. But somehow they do. I never watched them.

MR: Did you ever teach painting?

RN: What?

MR: Did you ever teach painting?

RN: Well, I taught children, Saturday children's classes for eight years old. I've taught that, but I never taught artists because you have, quite a bit of patience because they'll be some adult who think they know everything, you know. They'll be hard to teach. It's hard to penetrate mentally with a person like that. But there are people like that, and I don't think I have that kind of patience. But if they have talent, I'd be tempted, that I would.

MR: I'm going to jump back now and talk about the children that you took care of during the camp experience and also at University Homes. Do you still have any contact with any of those children?

RN: No, I don't, no. It would be so many years, and the children, they would be in their, probably be in their sixties. But I have their picture, you know, in my, right there.

MR: I just wondered because you seem so attached to some of them.

RN: No, well, at that moment. No, I did that because I wanted to help them because they would be behind when they get into regular life because one person that attended high school in camp went to university to study. He said it was very difficult because they were so behind. That's what he told me, and I understand it. They didn't have top quality people there like that awful nurse that, you know, gave me staph infection.

MR: You say you don't know what you're going to paint next. Do you have a subject in mind?

RN: Well, I thought I would like to do a painting for George. He passed away, so I thought I might like to. But he's a very, very tough because it has to do with Columbia Gorge that went back and forth, see. It's on my mind, but it would be very difficult.

MR: And why would it be the Columbia Gorge?

RN: What?

MR: Why would it be the Columbia Gorge?

RN: Because he was in the Dalles. And so when I went to see him, we drove through that beautiful magnificent area there, see, back and forth, so it stayed on my mind that I went through it with George. Like I painted my sister. My sister went to Hawaii and loved it, so I painted a bit of Hawaii for her. But I have Kay now to think of, too, so I have to hurry up and get well and really get on my toes.

MR: What various mediums have you painted in? What do you like the best?

RN: Well, I tried oil. But oil, you have to use turpentine, [inaudible] varnish and all that. Some of it could be toxic, so you have to have real cross-ventilation. So now I use acrylic, and acrylic is fast drying. That's acrylic on linen, so I use linen canvas. And for stretcher bar, I don't use stapler. Stapler will rust and that will destroy part of the canvas, you know, so I use aluminum tacks and copper tacks. Copper tacks are very difficult because they're soft. I use that. Now, I don't think I'll be able to stretch couple of stretcher bars that I have. They're beautifully made by my cousin Robert Dozono. He's very particular and very, I don't think I could stretch that. You really have to stretch yourself, so I have to get somebody to stretch the impression for me. They would do before. I stretched, these are chairs I had in my studio, so you notice the paint. They're paint covered. I stood on those and I painted and stretched the bar or painted if the paint was way up high, I would do that, things like that.