Paula (Houy) Bailey – Dome 8
On our very first day, Luis seemed very disappointed with his core crew.
I can’t imagine why. He got all of us beautiful and completely unskilled women. Kathy Kato, Mary Ann Mock, Christine Draper and I. (Sorry if I don’t quite remember what happened that long ago or if I forget who all was on this crew.) You’ve heard this before. He gave us each a hammer, nails, a board and told us to bang those nails into that board until we were able to get those nails in straight and with only two hits. I don’t remember a demo of any kind. He left. Probably to complain about our skill levels. We hammered away. I couldn’t bang a nail in with two hits that summer. However, angry at an unfaithful boyfriend, I was able to build a bench in dome #8 singlehandedly by the end of the project. Those nails went in by themselves.
Since 1973 when I graduated from Davis I have lived in San Francisco, Sweden, New York, Santa Rosa, San Rafael, Novato, Sonoma and since 2021 Silverton, Oregon. My husband Charlie and I moved to Oregon because of the alarming drought and wildfire threats in California. We may not have moved far enough.
As we wait for my new studio to be completed I’m enjoying painting landscapes of the beautiful Willamette valley.
My working life includes time in the home textiles industry, The Natural Bedroom. I held various retail and bookkeeping positions. I worked in the arts as an artist and an arts administrator for Art Works Downtown.
For more than 10 years I painted one iconic image, a votive, raising money for education for girls in Afghanistan.
The type of American education you and I enjoyed is now threatened.
I will continue to paint the light.
Enjoy the reunion.
